I'm thinking there may be a gremlin on this train. QltrSue, your iron may have been a close call for a fire. My homemade light box was also a close call today. It's a cardboard box with an old windowpane on top and two halogen lights inside. I forgot to turn them off and was gone for a couple of hours. Things were really hot when I got back. No mechanical failure, just brain malfunction.