Don't burn the damn house down!

Some of the best safety advise you will ever here: "Don't be stupid!"

Living by those three words will help keep you safe and out of trouble.

The following is a story of one of the many times in my life where I forgot to "Don't be stupid!".

I have quite liked this new sealant I've been putting on my hives.
It's my first season doing it so I don't know how long it will last before it needs reapplied but I think it will be a while.

Like water off a duck!

It makes the wood look beautiful.  And the water runs off like magic. I can't help but think it will last a long time.

Recipe:
1 part boiled linseed oil (I buy it raw and boil it myself)
1 part melted beeswax
1 part turpentine

I boil the oil and melt the wax at the same time (never sure how long to boil the oil to be able to call it boiled?), Once I decide is it boiled (or just when I get bored waiting), I turn the heat off and add the turpentine. I then poor the mixture into a can or metal container and set it somewhere to cool. It cools into a paste that can then be rubbed into the wood with a cloth****. When it dries, the wood looks great and feels waxy.

****Oils in cloths will self combust. Use care and put used cloths in an appropriate metal container (or just burn them).

This last time I made the finish I decided to apply it while it was still liquid so I could just paint it on with a paint brush. I had made some hives with some rough cut western red cedar and applying with a cloth was difficult.

I boiled the oil. I melted the wax. I left the heat on low to keep it warm and I added the turpentine.
Boiling oil, even with wax, doesn't really boil. Not like a rolling boil. Not like water. It just gets hot.
The turpentine added to the boiling oil/wax boiled like crazy. The fumes coming off the top eventually contacted the flame and poof. Burning oil fire!

I had cleared a huge area in the middle of the garage. I was wearing my safety glasses. I thought I was prepared. I thought I was being safe. I thought wrong. Instantly the garage starts filling up with thick black smoke. I had the back door open and the garage door cracked for ventilation but not enough to let the smoke out. Also the flames were licking the rafters! This was one of those "Oh F*?@, what now?!" moments. I actually said that out loud. I quicky looked around as I tried to decide what to do. My leather gloves were right there. I was tempted to pick it up with the gloves and take it out back to just let it burn.  The thought of boiling (and burning)  oil splashing all over me (and the garage) quickly changed my mind. Lid! Lid! where is my lid!? Old pot - no lid. I did the next best thing and put a board over the pot and held it down for a fewseconds. Instantly put the fire out. I turned off the burner before lifting the board off the pot (half expecting it to reignite. It did not. Whew! It took a while to get the heart rate back to normal. Lesson learned I think (I hope).

Here is a picture of the board I used to smother the fire. I might frame it. It kind of looks cool. Not cool enough to risk the house again, but still cool.

I still painted the hives with a paint brush until the mixture started to set. I then was able to put a very low flame under it to keep it liquid (with no fumes). I'm pretty sure it was the fumes from the boiling turpentine that caused the initial ignition. Scary!

Live and learn.