List -
In my years as a tool and die maker, I've been privileged to work with a
bevy of talented and intelligent guys from a variety of backgrounds. One
fellow in particular hailed from Perrin, Texas, and to watch his welding
abilities in action was to witness fine craftsmanship elevated to the plateau
of art. The guy always wore new blue jeans with the crispest creases fore and
aft, and never had holes burned in them (unlike the other fellows in the jig
shop). So I asked him his secret.
Turned out it had been passed down from his Dad, who had been a top-notch
blacksmith all his working life.From the time he bought those jeans, his wife
ironed them out to form the creases, applied a layer of spray starch, ironed
again, applied a second coat of starch, and ironed them yet a third time. When
he was welding, they shed sparks and molten slag like magic. And no - they
didn't itch.
I usually wore a denim shop apron that quickly got nasty with ground
aluminum dust and other metal grindings, plus cutting oils and coolants from
close proximity to various machine tools. A couple days of serious benchwork,
and it was time for the washing machine. A second apron in my tool stack
rotated into service when the dirty one when home.
Friends, I gave his ol' Daddy's secret a try on my shop aprons with a few
variations (no wife and no creases), and they lasted three times longer
between washings. I love it! It is a darn good tip, and I felt duty bound to
pass it on.
And yes - I've set myself on fire without even using a torch. I was
deburring an order of titanium parts I had just machined, and as the sanding
belt shed dust it collected on my apron (I've got a pretty good belly between
the grinder and the floor). The white sparks off titanium get pretty warm
sometimes, and they finally ignited the dust in a quick flash! After I blinked
a few times, I looked down to see a glowing red circle about nine inches in
diameter that exposed my tshirt underneath the apron.
Needless to say, that apron quickly sailed into the nearest sink to be
extinguished. Wish I had know then about the starch trick, it probably would
have saved me that little embarrassment................
See you later on the shop floor? -- Chris Pile aka aircap
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