FIRE!!!!!

[Crakkers]

I was cutting some corrugated card after school the other night and I noticed that the hoeycomb bed actuallu caught fire = NOT the card!!

I opened the lid and removed the card - only small flames. BUT in noticed the flame was slowly spreading across the honeycomb left to right. As I said, only small flames which did not blow out with repeated "heavy blowing". So I removed the honeycomb bed and tokk it outside - still aflame!

The flames basically self burnt out as the got over to the right hand side of the bed.

Some points..

this emphsisies the need to be watching the laser - how many of us walk off?
I am fixing a fire blanket and a small hand held exstinguisher adjacent to the machine
I will brief staff and pupils on this near miss & update the risk assessment.

BUT

Why did this happen? No change to the settings which we have used to cut card a 1000 times. Is it a build up of acrlyic gunge on the honeycom? If so can we clean via soaking in acetone? Or do we replace it? If so from whom and at what cost? Is it stainless steel or ali?


Crakkers

[Denford Admin]

Hi, I'll ask around for comments - it depends on what you mainly cut on the machine, but it could be down to residues left from materials like acrylic.
We can supply another honeycomb bed anyway.
We do put warnings on the machines that they shouldn't be left unattended, but how you can enforce that is another matter.

[Denford Admin]

FYI:

Probably debris which has fallen through into the base of the bed. Most likely acrylic - once it has caught fire, it is almost impossible to put out. I am talking from experience: when we had a little fire, the acrylic debris under the honeycomb had caught fire and would not go out, I had to throw it in the snow outside.