So I learned something the hard way.

[Dorado]

Ok, I'm a total beginner to casting. When starting I made some ingots out of some lead I found and cleaned up. I water quenched them to speed up cooling. What I didn't count on was a water pocket forming in one of them and the next time I went to use it, it blew up in my face...Literally. I now have a nice set of burns, some on my face, others on my hands. I took it as a lesson on not allowing water to get into a hot lead pot. OUCH!!!!

[Ole]

Face shields and long sleeve shirts are cheap!

[Springfield]

Buy more ingot moulds, lots safer and cheaper in the long run. I have enough to do 75 lbs at a time, in 3 different configurations. I have had smelting pots throw lead on me a couple times, never want to do anything to make it worse. Damp ingots are bad enough, bubbling away in the casting pot.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Sorry to hear about that but thanks for reminding me. I was casting some HP boolits awhile back and water dropping them. I reached into the bucket because I saw a badly formed boolit laying there. I grab it and .......... I came so close to dropping it into the pot. If that hollow point was full......... not good.

[fredj338]

Instead of water quenching, just use an old towel & wet it really well. Put the mold on top of it after your pour to help it cool faster.

[mroliver77]

All my ingots are preheated or put in a cold pot and brought up to temp along with the pot. That's your one mistake we allow you. ;) Welcome and keep us updated on your progress. There is a lot of information in the stickies and such to aid a newcomer to casting.
Jay

[*Paladin*]

Glad to hear you weren't seriously hurt! I'm surprised I haven't done something like that yet. I'm still new enough at this that I haven't dared try to take any short-cuts. Short-cuts usually get me into trouble anyway...

[stubshaft]

I go to the Salvation Army or Goodwill store and buy old muffin tins that I use for ingot molds.

Sorry to hear about your visit from the "Tinsel Fairy".

[runfiverun]

if you let ingots sit outside they will oxidize and hold moisture also.
i just melted down 350 lbs that would boil over a pot if i dropped one in.
figured safe than sorry.

[lwknight]

A fan blowng on the ingots and mold will speed up the cooling exponentially.
I've gotten blasted melting lead pipe that had water trapped in it.
Scars are a permanant reminder that stupid can hurt.
You are not alone. We learn best from hard knocks and sometimes it takes a knock for a hard head like me to learn something.

[RKJ]

if you let ingots sit outside they will oxidize and hold moisture also.
i just melted down 350 lbs that would boil over a pot if i dropped one in.
figured safe than sorry.


I was wondering why the "muffins" I use (stored in my basement garage) sizzle and pop when I put them into the pot. No problems yet, but now I know and will be more cautious. To the OP Hope you aren't too bad and heal quickly.

[XWrench3]

just go to the goodwill store and pick up several cupcake molds. they are made of aluminum, and will transfer heat quickly. i have something like 7 or 8 of them. and you can get them dirt cheap. i can smelt a lot of lead, pretty much continuously by employing all of them. by the time i have the last one filled, the first couple of pans are solidified. i just dump them out and let them finish cooling in the air. refill the empty pans and repeat as i go.

[mdi]

Glad you survived your meeting with the tinsel fairy! Lessons learned? Don't get in a hurry. Get multiple ingot molds. Don't get in a hurry.:mrgreen:

[ghh3rd]

Instead of water quenching, just use an old towel & wet it really well. Put the mold on top of it after your pour to help it cool faster.
That's how I do it, and they are ready to tip out of the mold in a few seconds... however, if the towel is really wet, be prepared for an instant cloud of steam to head toward your face. How do I know...... :)

[FISH4BUGS]

I was casting using a Saeco 4 cavity 230gr 45 ACP rn bullet. After about a half a pot of lead (Lee 20 lb) I figured it was about time to stop and cull the rejects, pick up the sprues and other lead and put them back into the pot. I picked up a cooled poorly cast bullet and not really thinking, dropped it into the pot, and it was like doing a cannonball into the pool. A drop of hot lead popped up, hit me on my lip, and did a nice burn instantly. When it scabbed over it looked like a cold sore.
Moral of the story is don't drop bullets back into the pot. Put them in a spoon and gently lower them into the pot.
That could have been my eye. I wear glasses anyway so I was OK there. But..........

[Tom W.]

I keep a multitude of ingots on my reloading room, which is in the house, heated in the winter and A/C in the summer. I also have my computer in here , too. I have a Lyman ingot mold that I cast most of my ingots in, and the ingots that I store in here sometimes don't get used for six months or more, but when I add one to my pot, I do so with a pair of channellocks as the things have a tendency to boil some. I know full well that they are dry, so I'm at a loss to explain it. I do not make the ingots on a rainy day, so I dunno why they act so, but at least I'm aware of the fact and take the proper precautions.

[dagger dog]

dorado,

I had a experiance quite near yours but was a bit luckier.

Smelting my accumulation of wheel weights and casting into one of the Lyman ingot molds went with out a hitch. I stored the ingots in a cabinet, that is in my unheated or cooled garage. These ingots sat there for a couple months over the very humid summer.

Dying to try out a new Lee mould I fired up the pot with 3 of the ingots in place, and they melted as usual, after the pot was all liquid, I added another ingot into the molten lead.

It exploded! I was lucky enough to be wearing my gloves, and the drops that hit bare skin were small, I wear glasses for vision , had some drop onto the tops of my sneakers, and burnt the skin on my feet.

I now keep my cleaned lead ingots stored where I can control the humidity , in the house.

[FISH4BUGS]

Are we saying that storing the ingots in a basement that gets humid in the summer can allow the lead ingots to absorb moisture? I find this hard to believe but hey, I can be educated.

[Tom W.]

Mine don't explode, but they do boil really fast. I suppose if I warmed them up it may do different, but I just don't want to risk it.

[dagger dog]

Well I might be a little theatrical is saying that it exploded, but you definitley didn't want to be standing beside me , boil fast is an understatement!

[44fanatic]

Glad it didnt turn out worse. Had an Army doctor tell me once that there where two things he could not fix...hands and eyes. I make it a habit to wear gloves and eye protection when ever Im working with molten lead.

Had a "pop" in my smelting pan today and then noticed a spot on my glasses...glad I was wearing them.

[Dorado]

Wow, and here I was thinking I was the only bonehead doing something stupid!!lol. All I got from my "pop" was a little burn under my lip. The worst part about it is that I cut it up every time I shave. I was lucky that I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and that it didn't get into my eyes. I've since started wearing glasses and make it a point to be wearing a long sleeve shirt. It may get hot here in the summer but it's better than losing an eye.
Thanks for telling me about the oxidation, I'll start bringing in my ingots when I'm done with them. Oh and that's a great idea about the Goodwill cornbread molds.

[Willbird]

Just one more use for an $8.98 walmart hot plate. I use mine with a piece of steel on top(some use an old circular saw blade) to preheat molds...then I stack ingots on it and let it warm them up, not enough to melt but warm enough to get a bit soft...this makes reheat go faster when you drop them in the pot.

Bill

[dagger dog]

You know I had sometime to analyze the statement I made about the humidity in the ingots causing my near catastrosphe.

I stored the ingots in a cabinet , and if I recall correctly they had a white oxidation on the exterior,I do believe it was the oxidation that absorbed the moisture not the ingot, and then when dumped into the furnace , caused that blow back.

[jlchucker]

Face shields and long sleeve shirts are cheap!

And unlike a seeing-eye dog, you don't have to feed them once you have them. BE CAREFUL AROUND HOT LEAD NEAR WATER!!!!!!!!