Acetylene fun - Not! 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
After borrowing a torch and buying gas to cut up & remove an old
water tank on some of my family's property, I had partial bottles
of Oxygen and acetylene left over. I had heard about fuel-oxygen
explosives, and always had wanted to try it. It just seemed wrong
to "waste all that leftover gas"
I set the torch to the "leanest" possible burn, snuffed the flame
by smacking the tip on a flat surface and filled a kitchen size
garbage bag (13 US gallons, or 49 liter) with Oxygen and acetylene
from the welding torch. I attempted to fuse this with an
approximate 6" piece of "cannon fuse" (visco fuse).
I lit the device out on a big rock by the river... I remember
seeing the fuse light, and starting to back away. The next thing
I knew, I came to in the river. Both of my ear drums had been broken
and was bleeding from both ears as well as my nose. My beard and front
head hair were singed and curly, but I had no burns on my exposed skin.
I had a perfect image of the folds, seams and buttons of the cotton
welder's shirt I was wearing imprinted as bruises on my chest and arms
on the side facing the blast, however. I though I had broken ribs, and
went to the local ER for X-rays. I WAS wearing glasses, which I later
fished from the river...
Either a spark from the fuse touched the bag or perhaps the bag had
a small leak. One way or another, I'm lucky to have lived.
It took over 3 months for my ear drums to heal completely, and I don't
hear high frequencies as well as previously.
At the emergency room, the workers said "Oh, when we get a
welder here, he usually dies". Submitted on 11/15/2002
Submitted by:
Anonymous
Reference:
Personal Account,-Ontario 1993
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