Well this may or may not satisfy your quest for enlightenment, but I finished furniture for 36 yrs before back sugery took my out of the job, but I will tell you that there is a real and present danger when dealing with conbustible materials!! there are very strengent safety codes in place for these types of operations from insurance companies, local fire dept, OSHA, and as Jonathan said chemicals and sparks do not go together,even the tools that we used on the equipment had to be made of brass because brass will not spark. Our spray booths, lacquer pumps and drums all had to be grounded due to static electricity, we used mainly nitro cellulous lacquers and lacquer based paints some of which have a flashpoint that is 6x greater than gasoline, so the mixture of chemicals and electricity is not something to take lightly. I personaly have not been involved in an explosion but I have witnessed spontanious combustion on 2 different occasions one of which completely destroyed the company I worked for, burned it to the ground in a matter of about 20 minutes. I also have a very good friend who works for Valspar here in High Point, NC and about 12 yrs ago was working on a tanker trailer used for transporting nitro cellulous, he was doing routine cleaning between loads and had followed all procedure protocal and static electircity ignighted fumes and he sufffered 3rd degree burns over 60% of his body and was in the hospital for 8 months at one point they did not think he would survive but he did and still works for Valspar as the safety director. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not take this subject lightly and do not think for one second that it a myth because my friend it is NOT. Take the proper precautions when using these products, because you and your family's life and health depend on it!!!!!