What is your favorite industrial smell?

[syncroid]

Marvel Mystery Oil

[nzporsche944s2]

The smell from the rack of tyres in a bicycle shop

The smell of cordite after a gunshot

The smell of the interior of my fathers new Mercedes - kind of a sweet leather smell mixed with I don't know what (plastic resins?). Very distinctive smell. It smells expensive

[MT930]

Burning Jet A Fuel

Unburned 100LL AV Gas

Burning IMR 4064 Rifle propellant

Old Jeeps.

[BE911SC]

Model glues and paints are up there. Been at it since I was 5, 48 years ago. I still have an ancient jar of liquid cement from the early '70s and one whiff takes me right back--the newer formulas smell slightly different. (Yes, I have always ventilated my work space.)

Race gas.

The interior of my '84 911.

My 911's exhaust. I disconnected the brown wire to the DME and I run ethanol-free gas.

The interior of a new 737-900ER, leather, that smells just like my dad's '67 Healey.

[Rusty Heap]

The Smell of Nitromethane from 2 cycle model airplane engines, the old COX .049, or Fox or OS MAX engines.

I'd always go droll over the .049 control line kits at Kmart or Sears, now nervous nannies say Johnny may hurt himself

poor kids today don't know what they're missing getting a nice deep prop cut from hand flipping the prop over then you get some of that model Nitro fuel in the cut, good stuff.

[IROC]

I worked in a couple of printing factories and always loved the smell of the solvents they used with the printing inks.

Now I love the smell of neutrons.

[Gretch]

Industry........... ohhh I forgot one.........

The small of Montreal strippers........... WOO!

[dheinz]

I love the smell of broken glass...

[oldE]

When you're ploughing a furrow, there's a whiff of diesel in the air, but the smell of the fresh turned sod overpowers it.
I grew up on a small farm. Maybe that's why it is such a powerful one for me.

Fresh cut softwood too.

Best
Les

[Jeff Higgins]

I'll have to second the smell of fresh cut lumber at a sawmill. As far as any of the industrial chemical and manufacturing smells, I cannot think of a single one I can say I "like" - maybe cutting/welding steel, but that's a stretch. Maybe I've been exposed to too much of too broad of a variety...

Which leads me to the jet fuel some of you have mentioned. Yeah, I like the smell of burnt jet fuel, but the liquid itself? I've spent way too many days inside wing tanks in the hot sun to ever like that smell again.

[Otter74]

The smell of the Blommer's chocolate plant at Kinzie, Milwaukee and Des Plaines in Chicago.

The smell of my garage with the 911 in it.

[KevinTodd]

A two-stroke motorcycle running Castrol R.......

An old road-side service station with a small gas heater on the floor, a peanut vending machine a greasy lift a few feet away in the service bay.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

1. The smell of crackling hot porsche 911 aircooled heat when it warms up the original houndstooth? carpeting on an old 911. This doesn't happen with cheap aftermarket carpets- ONLY ORIGINAL PORSCHE CARPET!!!!!

2.The sweet smell of coated brazing rod flux when it melts.

3. The smell of nitrocellulose laquer.

4. The smell of a coleman gas camping grill.

5. The smell of new car tires.

[URY914]

Garage fart. They are so raw and refreshing.

[pavulon]

I love the smells at Road America vintage events--bratwurst, freshly burned race fuel, burgers...

[LEAKYSEALS951]

I love the smell of recently spent fireworks.

[gsxrken]

Old railroad ties (not new ones). Driveway sealer
Oil based paint thinner takes me back to my grandfathers basement like a Star Trek transporter.
Cam2 race gas burning
As others have said, the whiff of an automotive paint booth
Arc stick welding smoke (another transporter for me)
I like the smell of old backhoes. Not sure what it is but I imagine it's a leaky hydraulic fluid getting hot, and like another poster said its all mixed in with an earthen smell.
I love fresh hay smells
And I love the smell of old VWs. My 930 has its own signature smell but the old bugs is even better.

Why are nine out of ten of the great smells all carcinogens? ;-)
Great thread, Fred!

[Shadetree930]

The smell of the old Ford Rouge foundry back in the 60's.

[A930Rocket]

100 octane race gas exhaust.

Fresh turned dirt by a dozer.

[masraum]

At first I was thinking, "what the hell is he thinking about, of course not." But as I read some of the responses, I thought, "OK, yeah, that's not bad and does bring back good memories from one thing or another".



But....

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

I also like the smell of burnt transmission fluid, positraction additive in dirty gear oil and diesel fumes, but only outdoors.
The smell an electircal component makes when it lets the smoke out ( David will be familiar with this one soon enough .

Gear Oil, burnt tranny fluid, cooked electrics? Blech. I smile when I think about working on some of that stuff, but I don't think my brain could ever wrap itself around the smell of gear oil being good.