Glue Guns and Vixens
All is going good with me. I've been working very hard on building suits for Eurofurence. It's been a very busy month. I do have one new suit to show today. But first I want to share an interesting experience I've had!
A couple nights ago I plugged in my glue gun. I do this several times a week, if not several times a day. This time was different. About 7 minutes after plugging them in I heard a fairly loud and weird “Beeeoooooofffff” sound beside me. I looked over to see one of my glue guns glowing with intermittent bursts of bright orangy-coral bursts of light! The arcs were forming just above the trigger inside the gun. For a couple seconds I froze considering grabbing a camera, but the gun started to emit a sickly orange-black oozing smoke. I was sure that smoke was pretty toxic so I gave up on the camera, unplugged the glue-gun, and rushed outside. I vented the studio and waited for the gun to cool.
We had to literally break the gun apart to see what went wrong inside. It was all fused. Apparently the main heating chamber cracked somehow and molten charred glue flooded inside the gun. Whether this is what shorted it out, or happened because it shorted - I dont know. Here's a couple pics -
It's a bit of an eye-opener. I'm generally pretty careful with my glue-guns. I own several and this is my first incident with one. There have been times I've left one on unattended. Generally I'm cautious but I wont worry about leaving the room for a few minutes. I'm sure most people who use one know what I mean. You just really don't expect them to go into nuclear melt-down mode! But, as this one shows, it can happen. If I hadn't been sitting right there it could have been a real mess. Maybe even a fire. It's just something to keep in mind. In the very least - keep your glue-guns on a nice burn-proof surface and away from anything combustible!
Before I go back to sewing, here's a pic of one of my latest suits. Pictures of her altogether will come soon. This is Ginger Vixen. Treat her nicely, she's a real sweety! :)
A couple nights ago I plugged in my glue gun. I do this several times a week, if not several times a day. This time was different. About 7 minutes after plugging them in I heard a fairly loud and weird “Beeeoooooofffff” sound beside me. I looked over to see one of my glue guns glowing with intermittent bursts of bright orangy-coral bursts of light! The arcs were forming just above the trigger inside the gun. For a couple seconds I froze considering grabbing a camera, but the gun started to emit a sickly orange-black oozing smoke. I was sure that smoke was pretty toxic so I gave up on the camera, unplugged the glue-gun, and rushed outside. I vented the studio and waited for the gun to cool.
We had to literally break the gun apart to see what went wrong inside. It was all fused. Apparently the main heating chamber cracked somehow and molten charred glue flooded inside the gun. Whether this is what shorted it out, or happened because it shorted - I dont know. Here's a couple pics -
It's a bit of an eye-opener. I'm generally pretty careful with my glue-guns. I own several and this is my first incident with one. There have been times I've left one on unattended. Generally I'm cautious but I wont worry about leaving the room for a few minutes. I'm sure most people who use one know what I mean. You just really don't expect them to go into nuclear melt-down mode! But, as this one shows, it can happen. If I hadn't been sitting right there it could have been a real mess. Maybe even a fire. It's just something to keep in mind. In the very least - keep your glue-guns on a nice burn-proof surface and away from anything combustible!
Before I go back to sewing, here's a pic of one of my latest suits. Pictures of her altogether will come soon. This is Ginger Vixen. Treat her nicely, she's a real sweety! :)