Any slag chipping horror stories?

[blackwaterstout]

As a novice welder I haven't seen as much as most of you. But obviously there are reasons we wear safety equipment. I've been wearing a fire resistant welding jacket (not leather), safety glasses, and my helmet.

Last night I was laying down a second pass of 7018 in an open root and after I ran the bead I grabbed my chipping hammer to remove the slag. Well I've noticed that the slag doesn't come off as easy when its on top of a 6010 bead in a deeper root. I flipped my helmet up and started tapping on the slag and a piece jumped off and went in my mouth! Lol. Not sure why my mouth was open enough to get slag in it. Regardless, it would've make a great YouTube video. I immediately tried to spit it out but my lips were somewhat paralyzed. I'm sure I looked like a total idiot. It was probably on my lips for only a second but it felt like a minute. My welding buddy in the stall next to me thought it was quite amusing once he realized I was okay. After about 10 minutes a blister developed on my lip. So for the rest of the evening I chipped slag with my helmet down. Haha.

Anyone else have more serious issues? Slag in the eye? Slag down your pants?

[pin2hot]

Neighbor girl lost an eye. She just came in the shop when someone, her dad or hired hand, was chipping slag. Very unfortunate.

[A_DAB_will_do]

Sounds goofy, but chapstick or some other lip balm will keep that 7018 slag from sticking to your lips. Maybe it's just me, but 7018 slag and teh silicon from solid wire seems drawn to that part of my face.

[MinnesotaDave]

In high school welding (1986) I was wearing a synthetic material hockey jersey under my coveralls - piece of slag went down my shirt and melted it to my chest.

Burn #1 attributed to welding

[BD1]

All employees are required o wear the wraparound type glasses. If you wear corrective eyeglasses you must wear side shields. I remember a OLD POSTER in trade school; You can walk with a wooden leg but can't see with a glass eye. I said it was old.
Here's what works well for slag removal, one is a file with teeth ground into it and the other is a old wood scroll saw blade. A large hack saw blade works well too, about 1 1/2'' x 12'' or 18'' long. The file used to be full size at one time. This one has many years on it. It was dropped and tacked together.
Attachment 663681

[Justme]

Those look like prison shanks!

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk

[Antibling]

I've started to chip slag with my helmet down ever since I had a piece of hot slag shoot straight up my nose, and burn good.

[Doug247]

Stainless is worse, it will chip off on its own without warning! My favorite is when a piece of slag goes down your shirt and lands on your belt line, you don't wanna suck in your gut till it cools down cause you know where its going next!

[akatz]

Yeah, I got a little slag stuck in my eyeball. I chipped the main pieces off, hit it with a wire wheel and sent a little piece right up under my safety glasses. Just goes to show that you always gotta be extra cautious. Now I do all of my wire wheeling, grinding etc, with my helmet down. Let me tell you, it's not fun getting a rust ring picked out of your eyeball with a syringe!!

[weldermike]

Face ears up the nose lips tongue hiney crack weiner waste band down the boots and in the eye bad once. Ive been seen flapping around like a flounder, slapping my face with dirty gloves and making funny fart sound trying to spit it off my tongue. Always a crowd pleaser. Funnier to watch someone else thats for sure.

[Arizona SA200]

I agree with mike. Had it all. scars on my feet look funny and the ones on my arms make me look like a junkie. The worst one i have had i was sitting and it burned through my pants and ended up under my boys. not much fun.

[docwelder]

All employees are required o wear the wraparound type glasses. If you wear corrective eyeglasses you must wear side shields. I remember a OLD POSTER in trade school; You can walk with a wooden leg but can't see with a glass eye. I said it was old.
Here's what works well for slag removal, one is a file with teeth ground into it and the other is a old wood scroll saw blade. A large hack saw blade works well too, about 1 1/2'' x 12'' or 18'' long. The file used to be full size at one time. This one has many years on it. It was dropped and tacked together.
Attachment 663681

those look like the stuff that occasionally turns up on the am search of the cell blocks. i've seen those jaggedy files but never used one for slag removal.

[steven325]

About a month ago I was welding some stiff legs under a bridge and I started chipping the slag a piece flew in and burned my dominate eye left a gray dot and had blurry vision out of that eye for about a week before it healed. Hurt so bad I about fell off the pier cap. Probably should have went to the doctor but I'm stubborn lol

[docwelder]

i've had hot slag fall into my shirt collar and travel down to my beltline several times and had the usual minor burns on arms and hands but never anything major. i've had pieces of hot bolts fall into my boot and pointed a lit cutting torch into my glove once (not on the same day) but that's another story.

[Reverser]

Face ears up the nose lips tongue hiney crack weiner waste band down the boots and in the eye bad once. Ive been seen flapping around like a flounder, slapping my face with dirty gloves and making funny fart sound trying to spit it off my tongue. Always a crowd pleaser. Funnier to watch someone else thats for sure.

Absolutely hilarious, Mike.

I share a few of those while chipping slag, but most of my mishaps have been while using a cutting torch in a confined area where I can hardly move, and the slag dripping down on me. I especially hated it when a piece would get in my ear and sound like frying bacon.

[OPUS FERRO]

blackwaterstout

If: two days ago, I had told you that lips are flux-magnets, you would have laugh at me.

Be especially wary of the very last speck - it's the most magnetic!


Opus

[seabee78]

In the ear and up the nose are bad sounds and smells...lol. I had a big wad of slag land in my hood head band.....that was bad, burned a quarter size hole on my scalp right above my ear. From that point forward is when i started wearing beanies and hats with my hood.
Of course I've had many of the same that welder mike started as well...ahhh, to be a welder.

seabee78

[92dlxman]

I have asked most my coworkers if I have oversized lips because I became self-conscious about them getting burned so often. it is weird.

the worst was not chipping, but actually welding. last year, I was on a job adding supplementary steel to a hospital for seismic bracing. only way to see the top weld on the angle-clips was to just aim high, and slowly bring the rod down till the flux started to fall off of the joint.

I was sitting on some ductwork, and got a little carried away with the dripping slag thing and lost a good chunk to my inner thy, like between leg and goods. I flopped around bashing my head between beam and duct making a "pingpong, pingpong" kind of racket that got quite a crowd below my ladder. my flopping moved the sizzling mass between my meat and two veg.

at this point, I thought I was on fire as I have never had a "spark" burn for that long. previous experience with burning clothing tells me to grab the hot area (my hood still down) to snuff the flame out. I froze and pinched my nether-region to extinguish the assumed flame.

by the time I got my hood up, there is a guy at the top of the ladder screaming at me trying to figure out what was wrong, and after I realized that no clothing was actually on fire I just about pushed him down and out of the way so I could go somewhere private to check things out. in the sanitary privateness of the nearest porta-john, I ended up digging about a .22 caliber bb out of my, well, it was one of the two worst parts to dig something out of

I haven't sat down to weld since.

[blackwaterstout]

I have asked most my coworkers if I have oversized lips because I became self-conscious about them getting burned so often. it is weird.

the worst was not chipping, but actually welding. last year, I was on a job adding supplementary steel to a hospital for seismic bracing. only way to see the top weld on the angle-clips was to just aim high, and slowly bring the rod down till the flux started to fall off of the joint.

I was sitting on some ductwork, and got a little carried away with the dripping slag thing and lost a good chunk to my inner thy, like between leg and goods. I flopped around bashing my head between beam and duct making a "pingpong, pingpong" kind of racket that got quite a crowd below my ladder. my flopping moved the sizzling mass between my meat and two veg.

at this point, I thought I was on fire as I have never had a "spark" burn for that long. previous experience with burning clothing tells me to grab the hot area (my hood still down) to snuff the flame out. I froze and pinched my nether-region to extinguish the assumed flame.

by the time I got my hood up, there is a guy at the top of the ladder screaming at me trying to figure out what was wrong, and after I realized that no clothing was actually on fire I just about pushed him down and out of the way so I could go somewhere private to check things out. in the sanitary privateness of the nearest porta-john, I ended up digging about a .22 caliber bb out of my, well, it was one of the two worst parts to dig something out of

I haven't sat down to weld since.

Funny stuff but glad to hear you were okay. This all reminds me to be extra safe

[Ben Iv]

Ive had it stick to my lips and cheeks and go down my shirt collar. it sticks real good when your nice and sweaty...lol

[Gamble]

As BD1 said, wrap around glasses. I dropped a lot of cash on brand new everyday glasses Did some stick welding and chipping slag and it went IN BETWEEN my eye and glasses and put a nice deep scratch inside the lens. It could of been my eye!
And wear a hat or something. It got on my head a few times.

[weldbead]

i agree on the file//works great..used this one for years..

[docwelder]

c.r.s. permitting i'm going to try that.

[sae300]

7018 over head in mouth lol burnt in 5 spots

[BuzzBox]

I have had slag in and on anything you can think of........ no not that!!! You pervert!!

My nipple has a scar on it from last year.. I was welding in the vertical on a trailer, my leather jacket came unbuttoned and I didn't know!!! A little piece of HELL came down and burned through my shirt, AND RIGHT ONTO MY NIPPLE!!!! It gets worse, I was welding my girlfriend's (soon to be fiance) dad's stock trailer a new cross member under the deck. When I felt that little bastard hit my skin, I threw my stinger to side and tried to sit up, least to say I busted the lenses on my PipeLiner and screamed like a little girl. My girlfriend heard my scream, and to her it sounded like the trailer had fallen on me and I was being crushed... She screamed and started crying, her dad heard her and came out of his barn faster than I've ever seen him run. She told him the trailer fell on me and I was dead!!! By that time, I had collected my "marbles" and caught my breath!! I slowly crawled my way out, she saw me and jumped on me, still crying. I told her I got burned, her dad started laughing and she was still crying!! In the end, I replaced my lenses and got the job done.