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A pair of scissors on formica table suddenly bursts into flames
- EncomLab 2y agoI was following this yesterday and there seems to be very little commentary regarding the lack of damage to the table surface or the color staining to the scissor blades. This looks far more like someone blowtorching the blades while holding the scissors over the table (one presumes outside) to get some of the plastic to melt, then later placing the cooled scissors on the table and moving it inside. Classic Reddit runaway arguments with no consideration that the OP is pulling their leg.
- baerrie 2y agoIn the closeup of the table spot you can see the formica veneer cracking upwards, also, you do see discoloration of the blade near the plastic. Most of the heat would be rising upwards so it wouldn’t hit the blade as much.
- alnwlsn 2y agoIt does seem awfully similar to that mouse that caught on fire a few weeks ago - https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1i7br8w/my_gigabyte_mouse_caught_fire_and_almost_burned/ https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1i7br8w/my_gi...
- dhosek 2y agoUntil I clicked the link I thought it was a post about spontaneous rodent combustion.
- yellowapple 2y agoThat could very well still be a possibility here.
- jrootabega 2y agoThere is a lot of superficial and structural burn damage to the desk there. (Not that I believe the mouse story is true.)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Verdex 2y agoThe more experience that I get the more I think that serious endeavors should include a magician. In this type of scenario where we're investigating an interesting one time event, it's important to try and decide how something may have happened. But equally important to try and decide how something could be faked to appear to have happened. In a world ever driven by attention and lies, it pays to have a professional attention grabbing liar double checking the facts.
- andyjohnson0 2y ago> They had been been used about an hour prior to open a bag of Smartpop. Leaky nearby microwave oven heated the metal part of the scissors?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- nh23423fefe 2y agocan microwaves actually heat metal? i thought microwaves needed dipoles, which conductors won't have?
- andyjohnson0 2y agoI thought that metal was heated by microwaves, but a cursory search (which I was too lazy to do before) suggests that it isn't. So I now think my comment is misleading.
- jperras 2y agoThose scissors apparently have a habit of the handle melting away (see reviews): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SSVNNZC https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SSVNNZC As one comment pointed out, they could be using nitrocellulose in the handle.
- jrootabega 2y agoCan you copy or screenshot one? Amazon requires login to sort through reviews for some people.
- jperras 2y agoThe reviews are on the Scotch site itself, not on Amazon: https://www.scotchbrand.com/3M/en_US/p/d/cbgnhw011057/ https://www.scotchbrand.com/3M/en_US/p/d/cbgnhw011057/
- fourthark 2y agoI find no mention of melting in the reviews. Are you joking?
- jperras 2y agoSorry, the reviews are actually on the Scotch site itself: https://www.scotchbrand.com/3M/en_US/p/d/cbgnhw011057/ https://www.scotchbrand.com/3M/en_US/p/d/cbgnhw011057/
- jrootabega 2y agoThe one review I found with the word "melting," or anything conceptually close to this, was "My Favorite Scissors have Died!" The person is not describing melting in the heat or deformation sense, which I think a lot of people would have assumed. Rather, they're exuding a liquid, like a lot of old rubber materials. To be generous, I'll wonder if maybe it's flammable.
- grues-dinner 2y agoAfter another pair of kitchen scissors had the plastic handle fall off, revealing a tiny metal tang creating the inevitable weak spot, I went looking for an all-metal pair. Not at all easy to source as it turns out, there are only a small handful of even vaguely reasonably priced models available. They're just scissors, how are we still as a species finding ways to make them shitter and more breakable? They're a solved problem and yet some guy managed to hit on a way make them out of melting plastic? I don't need them to be laser etched or artisanal or blessed by levitating monks or whatever. Just two bits of metal with a rivet that will still be scissor-shaped when I'm dead and buried. It's not even that much more metal than plastic handled scissors, and the hard bit is in the edges anyway, not the handles. It's probably never been cheaper or easier to make not-shit things and yet there's just so much shit everywhere.
- opwieurposiu 2y agoAnyone know what chemicals do they use to clean the screws on injection molding machines? Something that oxidizes plastic? The handles look like they were made in a 2-shot mold, hard plastic frame with soft plastic touch surfaces. If some cleaning chemicals got stuck between the shots they could eventually leak out and somehow start the exothermic reaction upon contact with air. I have been to an injection molding shop a few times and it always seemed like a lot of labor was going in to cleaning the molds and the injection screws. Maybe a worker found a shortcut.
- actionfromafar 2y agoI see two issues: 1 - the amounts would be so incredibly tiny, even microscopic, for it to get lodged in there. 2 - any flammable stuff would either evaporate or gradually oxidize.
- throwway120385 2y agoI guess I should make sure my scissors are UL listed from now on.
- kittikitti 2y agoThis is from Reddit, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Most people in the thread don't even trust it.
- jrootabega 2y agoYeah, there are many motives to fake this: - derive personal amusement - embarrass the credulous - drive traffic to the subreddit - serve as an experiment on credibility/marketing (to which we are contributing data, even here) - reddit karma and name recognition, which do correlate somewhat to monetary value if you're motivated enough, and if not, still give you concrete advantages - create future content for reaction streamers And the formula for tricking reddit like this is pretty well-known by many, so there's your means.
- zamalek 2y ago> reddit karma and name recognition, which do correlate somewhat to monetary value if you're motivated enough This is usually reason #1, and money doesn't have to be involved. Never underestimate the importance of imaginary internet points.
- jrootabega 2y agoTheir value is not imaginary, unfortunately, even without money ever being involved.
- NikkiA 2y agoFor me, it's always the 'Jason' factor. Everyone knew a Jason when they were a kid, someone who was seemingly a compulsive liar, and would just say anything and everything to have people listen to them, even if then to say 'that's horseshit'. Reddit seems to be full of Jasons.
- thomassmith65 2y agoUse your head! Would a person blatantly lie simply to get views on a social media site? No, it's much more likely that Scotch makes titanium scissors that spontaneously combust. /s
- spankalee 2y agoOT: I know people love to love the old Reddit, but the new UI moved away from React as is now a lot better for viewing galleries like this than the old one. https://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/comments/1ilmshx/a_pair_of_scissors_sitting_on_my_table_formica/ https://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/comments/1ilmshx/a_pair_o...
- cortesoft 2y agoI just hate infinite scroll
- vpribish 2y agois this not a viral ad for Smartfood (tm) Flaming Hot White Cheddar flavored popcorn snacks?
- 83457 2y agoAnyone know why this post was flagged?
- cheshire137 2y agoBig Scissor wants to keep us in the dark.
- thomassmith65 2y agoI flagged it because it's almost certainly a grade school prank. To link to a post like this - a post that a sensible person would dismiss out of hand - and to host a discussion around it, is bad for HN. It attracts the wrong crowd.