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posted by cmn32480 on Friday November 11 2016, @02:23AM   Printer-friendly
from the following-bad-advice dept.

3Ders.org reports

[On December 21, 2015,] a British 17-year-old named Tom Taylor was killed in an explosion after using hairspray to make objects stick to the bed of his 3D printer. An inquest found that the hairspray had left a cloud of propane in the air, which was then ignited by a spark from either the 3D printer or a power outlet.

In an effort to help makers maximize the potential of their low-end 3D printers, various websites and online communities have recommended ways to make [PolyLactic Acid AKA "Poly" AKA] PLA objects stick to the bed of [a fused deposition modeling (FDM)] 3D printer more effectively. These DIY methods have included use of tape, kapton, and hairspray--with the latter explained in articles like this 2013 Hackaday contribution. The tragic death of British teen Tom Taylor has just given makers everywhere cause to abandon this technique, after an inquest heard that flammable gases from the hairspray exploded after being ignited by an electric spark.

On the afternoon of his death, 17-year-old Taylor was using his 3D printer to make a school art project at his family home--a converted retail building in Lincoln, UK, which also served as the family's independent magic shop. The teen was using the hairspray technique to provide extra adhesion to the 3D printer's build plate, allegedly in accordance with an article he had found online. However, after gases from the hairspray had built up over several hours, a spark--which may have come from the 3D printer itself or a nearby socket--caused the cloud of gas to ignite, causing a large explosion.

The fire from the explosion was worsened by large quantities of flammable flash papers stored underneath the desk at which Taylor was working--these flash papers, commonly used by magicians, were to be sold at the magic shop, but are usually stored in sealed containers and destroyed after two years. When the explosion occurred, Taylor attempted to escape from the back office, but inhaled fumes and died from smoke inhalation.

[...] Companies like FLEKS3D and LokBuild have proposed safer solutions for warp-free FDM 3D printing, and the popularity of their products may rise in the wake of this incident.

Some topics I am seeing: propane; workspace ventilation; unsafe storage methods; hoarding expired goods.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 11 2016, @06:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 11 2016, @06:45PM (#425760)

    Unless he was printing up his own fake ID. Hmmmmmmmm.