Popular Woodworking 2002-08 № 129, страница 85

Storing Finishing Materials

A few precautions will keep your finishes ready to use and your shop from burning down.

Storage is probably something you don't think much about until you start to accumulate a lot of finishes and tools, but storing your finishing materials properly will save you money and reduce clutter. And, in the case of flammable materials, proper storage could save your life.

There are three large categories of materials that need to be addressed when it comes to storage: flammable materials, products that can go bad if not stored correctly and finishing equipment that can be expensive to replace if stored improperly.

Flammable Materials

In terms of flammability, the finishing materials you use can be divided into two types: those that burn readily and can feed a fire that has already started in your workshop, and those that burn readily but can also start a fire all by themselves.

Almost all finishing products fit into the first category with the notable exception of water-based stains and finishes. If you have just a few small cans of flammable products sitting on a shelf, there's no particular reason for concern because they won't add significantly to a fire that's already burning so fiercely it engulfs them.

But once you start accumulating a lot of products, you should store them in a metal cabinet, ideally one that is designed for flammables. These are double-walled and commonly painted yellow. You want to keep a potential fire from getting to these products for as long as possible.

Oily rags fit into the second category and are probably the most dangerous item you can have in your shop because they can spontaneously combust. It is important to dis

tinguish, though, that it is only oils that cure, such as linseed oil and to a lesser extent tung oil, that are a problem.

But because of misleading labeling on finishing materials, you probably should treat all products that thin with petroleum distillate (mineral spirits) as potential hazards. This even includes oil-based stains because manufacturers are now substituting

more oil for solvent to comply with regulations on volatile organic compounds.

Drying oils cure by absorbing oxygen, which creates heat as a byproduct. If the heat can't dissipate from a pile of rags, it builds up until the rags reach their combustion temperature and a fire breaks out. The obvious way to prevent fires, therefore, is to spread oily rags out so they are open to the air.

86 Popular Woodworking August 2002