My drill press caught fire mid-job at a shop in Tulsa last fall

I was drilling a batch of 40 steel brackets for a local fence contractor, about three hours into the run when I smelled something burning. Looked down and the belt area was smoking, then a little flame shot out near the motor housing. I yanked the plug out of the wall before it spread, but the bracket I was working on had a scorch mark right where the bit was. Turns out the bearing on the spindle had seized up and the belt was rubbing against the motor casing until it ignited the dust buildup. I had to finish the last 12 brackets with a hand drill and a jig I rigged up from scrap wood, which took me another two and a half hours. That fire also melted the plastic guard on the press, so I ended up replacing the whole motor assembly for $180 instead of just greasing the bearing like I should have done weeks earlier. Has anyone else had a tool catch fire mid-shift, and did you stop to clean it out or push through the job first?

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abby_fisher1d ago

That motor assembly cost you $180 but the real bill was that scorched bracket, if that fence contractor ran it through a powder coating line the heat damage could've made it fail inspection and cost you the whole account.