Had a forge fire burn out of control last Tuesday, lost a week's worth of work

I was working on a set of fireplace tools for a customer in Portland, got the steel up to welding heat, and then a gust of wind from my shop door caught the coal bed just right. The fire jumped to a pile of dry oak shavings I had sitting too close, and before I could grab the extinguisher, it had singed my bench and melted the handles on two nearly finished tongs. Took me three hours to clean up the mess, and I had to start those tools over from scratch. Anyone else here had a shop fire scare that set back a big order?

3 comments

3 Comments

norab211mo ago

I used to be one of those people who thought a shop fire was either a total loss or no big deal. Reading this changed my mind completely, especially with what @felix_williams71 said about losing a week of work and materials. Having to restart a custom order from scratch would mess with your schedule and your head, not just your bench. The whole "at least it wasn't worse" angle feels hollow when you're staring at melted tongs and a pissed off customer. That Portland client might not care about silver linings if their fireplace tools show up late. A controlled forge fire is part of the job, but one that takes out a finished project is something else entirely.

fiona_murphy1mo ago

Man, that sounds like a rough day. At least you didn't lose the whole shop, which is basically the only silver lining I can see (a very thin, blackened one). I've had small flare-ups myself where a stray spark hits a pile of rags, but nothing that melted a week's worth of work. Hope the Portland customer is patient and doesn't mind a slight delay for "fire-related artisanal adjustments.

felix_williams711mo ago

Are we really calling a shop fire just a "rough day"? I gotta push back on that one, @fiona_murphy. Losing a week of work to melted metal sounds like a major deal, not just a minor setback. Sure, the whole place didn't burn down, but you're talking about time, materials, and probably a customer on the hook. I'd say there's a big difference between a rag catching a spark and a full-on blaze that ruins a project. Maybe the Portland client has a right to be a little annoyed if their order is late, but I get that you're trying to find a bright spot in a bad situation.