Noobie to Noobie: Stupid stuff we do that we don't want the others to know about

[Texantothecore]

It is not a good idea to try and place your bullet furnace on one of those card tables that are cotton backed vinyl covered and try to cast bullets. Especialy if the card table is your friend's card table! Marks will be left on the card table from a number of hot items and splattered lead is notoriously difficult to separate from melted vinyl.

This applies under all circumstances unless your friend is a craft person who buys used, ripped up card tables at the local flea market for a buck a piece and regards them as tools that are used up, rather than an asset. Which is my situation, happily.

Just a heads up on this.

[MT Gianni]

It is amazing to me how much abuse a piece of cardboard will stand. Get some that was used to ship an appliance in. Mine has lasted for 4 years or so with drips, hot molds and sprues all resting on it occasionally. It is probably due to be turned around so the other side can be used, yea I am cheap.

[theperfessor]

Glad your friend is pretty tolerant. I'd worry more about a card table collapsing or breaking with a lead pot etc. on it. That would add injury to insult so to speak.

[Mk42gunner]

Noobie to Noobie: Stupid stuff we do that we don't want the others to know about

It isn't just noobies that pull stunts like this.

Not admitting to anything at the present time, (no pictures were taken of my goofups).

Robert

[Rocky Raab]

Hey, as long as there's no emergency room record of it, it never happened!

[StratsMan]

Other plastic items in the garage fall prey to Liquid Boolits as well... I thought sure those plastic rain barrels would be safe, but I didn't expect something to hold open the valve on my Lee furnace. Two or three pounds of molten Pb poured out before I could stop the flow... Way more than enough to overflow my table top and find its way to the plastic bbl's below...

Being cheap like MT Gianni, I usually use a leftover hunk of drywall, about 24x48 inches... it insulates anything I put it on, fairly sturdy if well supported, and easily replaced. Did I mention it's cheap??? I've been using the same piece for about 4 years... haven't turned it over yet...

[sisiphunter]

Same problem here years ago with a junk endstand or so i thought until the mrs saw it and decided she wanted it. Hahah

i went to homedepot to.make a table. Used some left over fence boards for legs and got cut up pieces of press board with a hard vinyl type coating for a top. They were left behind in the cutting room so the fella just gave them to me.....works great. Its covered in lead splatter marks and such but hey its my casting table and was super cheap since i used free/left over materials.

[429421Cowboy]

I would be pretty scared to put a molten container of lead on a wobbly card table, for reasons beyond damage of the table!

[303Guy]

Hee hee hee! I won't tell you about some of my goof-ups! :oops:

Some were just plain dumb!

Vinyl floors are not a good thing to be casting over either.[smilie=1:

[Lizard333]

Not boolet casting but about ten years ago I borrowed a plastic folding table from parents for an up coming BBQ. Well, I ended up putting a rotisserie with a 60 pound pig on top and proceeded to roast the pig. Apparently I thought the table would take the high heat from the charcoal required to cook the pig with no undo results. I was wrong. I bought that table, learning something new. I still have that wrinkled table top, and think about that screw up every time I use it!

[Texantothecore]

Hee hee hee! I won't tell you about some of my goof-ups! :oops:

Some were just plain dumb!

Vinyl floors are not a good thing to be casting over either.[smilie=1:

Man, that is bad. That would be awful to repair...

[Texantothecore]

I would be pretty scared to put a molten container of lead on a wobbly card table, for reasons beyond damage of the table!


It is a really solid table. If I ruin the top I may just put a pressed board top on for her. That way she can drill it for jigs and etc.

[Texantothecore]

Hey, as long as there's no emergency room record of it, it never happened!

uh..well...not quite, MRI images are required for it to have happened. Just sayin'

[DragoonDrake]

So just some advice, when you are making large batches of alloy and using lee ingot molds. Do NOT put the (what I thought were solid) ingots into a bucket of water to cool. Just sayin

[Texantothecore]

So just some advice, when you are making large batches of alloy and using lee ingot molds. Do NOT put the (what I thought were solid) ingots into a bucket of water to cool. Just sayin


Oy....I'll bet that was exciting.

[Arkansas Paul]

I've been casting for a total of 4 days now, and I've already learned something.

WEAR GLOVES!!!

I don't know if you guys are aware of this or not, but molten lead is pretty hot. [smilie=b:

[mdi]

I've been casting for a total of 4 days now, and I've already learned something.

WEAR GLOVES!!!

I don't know if you guys are aware of this or not, but molten lead is pretty hot. [smilie=b:

I remember being very excited after my first "perfect" bullet dropped from the mold. So excited, I pulled off my glove and picked it (the bullet) up. Yes Virginia, newly molded bullets are pretty darn hot...

[Texantothecore]

I've been casting for a total of 4 days now, and I've already learned something.

WEAR GLOVES!!!

I don't know if you guys are aware of this or not, but molten lead is pretty hot. [smilie=b:

I just picked up some gloves yesterday as I had a near disaster a few weeks ago.

I also picked up a safety face shield from Lowes for 14.00 after an itsy-bitsy drop of lead flew up and landed on my nose. A warning that didn't do much harm.

[Texantothecore]

Not boolet casting but about ten years ago I borrowed a plastic folding table from parents for an up coming BBQ. Well, I ended up putting a rotisserie with a 60 pound pig on top and proceeded to roast the pig. Apparently I thought the table would take the high heat from the charcoal required to cook the pig with no undo results. I was wrong. I bought that table, learning something new. I still have that wrinkled table top, and think about that screw up every time I use it!

Just for your own information, that plastic probably melts at about 275 degrees and catches fire somewhere around 350 to 400.

Don't ask how I know.

[mpmarty]

Don't throw loaded rounds in the trash and then dump it in your wood stove with a glass door. DAMHIK

[Wolfer]

When it's really cold out and you decide to smelt some WW don't set the muffin tin on the frozen floor and pour the lead in. It will condensate on the bottom of the muffin tin and you can guess what happened then.

[DIRT Farmer]

Then there was the dud primer that some how got into the saw dust bucket I keep for flux.

[supe47]

When I first started loading 45 Autos I didn't bell the cases enough and ended up with a small lip of lead on the finished rounds and they would not chamber fully. Decide to make a "tool" with a 45 case with a cut in it to turn the lip of lead off. But it need a little sharpening so off to the grinder. After a "wee" bit of grinding I noticed the case had a live primer in it. About the time I turned the pliers over to have a better look, the primer touched off from the heat sending the primer out of the shell and into the knuckle of my pointer finger. I didn't know at the time the primer was in there but while washing the blood off, the black and chrome was a dead giveaway. Darn, I just shot myself without a gun and with an unloaded boolit. Polish jokes came to mind. I can say that because Polish jokes were originally about Russians (their greatest feat of propaganda) and I'm part Russian. Guess I got Russian fingers....and Roman hands.

[foxtrapper]

Small cast iron pot on moms kitchen stove. Maybe that why I can't........................................what was I saying?:grin:

[Shiloh]

Glad your friend is pretty tolerant. I'd worry more about a card table collapsing or breaking with a lead pot etc. on it. That would add injury to insult so to speak.

That would NOT be a situation. My casting setup is on a rock solid Craftsman workbench.
wouldn't have it any other way.

SHiloh

[Shiloh]

Don't throw loaded rounds in the trash and then dump it in your wood stove with a glass door. DAMHIK

Don't think the slow leak from the LEE pot will fix itself when you walk away.
Ask me how I know.

Shiloh

[DragoonDrake]

Always have a pan big enough to hold the entire pot of alloy that Mr. Drippy can hold.

Don't have wax for fluxing on the low side of the pan that is not big enough to hold all the alloy.

Remove the rug from under the bench that you are casting on.

Don't try to peel up the rug right away if you did forget to move it.

This was all in one night. I stopped early that night.

[Texantothecore]

That would NOT be a situation. My casting setup is on a rock solid Craftsman workbench.
wouldn't have it any other way.

SHiloh

The rock solid bench is what I will end up with but at the moment I am doing it on the cheap and it is the only thing available.

I'll probably whip one up with my trusty circular saw. The guy next door just threw away a pallet in the trash and I was really tempted to snatch it and turn it into a pouring bench. Didn't do it and now I regret it.

[Texantothecore]

Always have a pan big enough to hold the entire pot of alloy that Mr. Drippy can hold.

Don't have wax for fluxing on the low side of the pan that is not big enough to hold all the alloy.

Remove the rug from under the bench that you are casting on.

Don't try to peel up the rug right away if you did forget to move it.

This was all in one night. I stopped early that night.

That was either a very long night or a very short one.

[Texantothecore]

Don't think the slow leak from the LEE pot will fix itself when you walk away.
Ask me how I know.

Shiloh

Ok, I'll take the bait. How do you know and how many pounds of lead did it take to set your card table on fire?

[Texantothecore]

I remember being very excited after my first "perfect" bullet dropped from the mold. So excited, I pulled off my glove and picked it (the bullet) up. Yes Virginia, newly molded bullets are pretty darn hot...

I wonder if there is anyone who pours who hasn't done something like this when they first started. I can still feel the pain of my first perfect bullet.

[Texantothecore]

Small cast iron pot on moms kitchen stove. Maybe that why I can't........................................what was I saying?:grin:


Don't bring up the subject of making your own black powder when you are in the company of your wife and her girlfriends.

"Sure you can make Black powder on the kitchen table, if you want to be single again."

[Mk42gunner]

"Sure you can make Black powder on the kitchen table, if you want to be single again."

So the garage is okay then, right?

Robert

[runfiverun]

the lee will leak till it's empty unless you get lucky and it just drips fast and builds up a stalagmite to the spout.
usually it will just hit the drip pile and shoot all over the front of you changing direction at random.
causing magic dance moves with arms raised and feet moving better than jose guervo can make them go, it's even better when you have a hot sprue in one hand and a hot heavy mold in the other.
you are goin nowhere trying to duck and dodge the lead stream, and get it stopped somehow, with both hands full of stuff that needs to go on the bench which is directly below the stream of directionally challenged hot lead, the real cool part is the hot sprue is right on the hole in your glove which gives the arm motions a groovy wave action and one jazz hand which off sets the footwork and juking motions.
i still haven't found that sprue,and no dance america has not called back.

anyways the handle is on the right side of the pot.

[1bluehorse]

the lee will leak till it's empty unless you get lucky and it just drips fast and builds up a stalagmite to the spout.
usually it will just hit the drip pile and shoot all over the front of you changing direction at random.
causing magic dance moves with arms raised and feet moving better than jose guervo can make them go, it's even better when you have a hot sprue in one hand and a hot heavy mold in the other.
you are goin nowhere trying to duck and dodge the lead stream, and get it stopped somehow, with both hands full of stuff that needs to go on the bench which is directly below the stream of directionally challenged hot lead, the real cool part is the hot sprue is right on the hole in your glove which gives the arm motions a groovy wave action and one jazz hand which off sets the footwork and juking motions.
i still haven't found that sprue,and no dance america has not called back.

anyways the handle is on the right side of the pot.

VIDEO'S, I want videos..........[smilie=l:

[Texantothecore]

So the garage is okay then, right?

Robert

I haven't ventured in that direction. I hope she will forget the original conversation before I broach the subject again.

Will probably be like the conversation concerning building my own ultra-lite aircraft: "When I see daylight between the ground and the wheels, you have a divorce".

[10x]

I remember being very excited after my first "perfect" bullet dropped from the mold. So excited, I pulled off my glove and picked it (the bullet) up. Yes Virginia, newly molded bullets are pretty darn hot...


Anyone have to tell you to drop it?
Or did you figure that out very quickly?

[ShooterAZ]

Mine was when I dropped a chunk of paraffin wax into the pot and was stirring it with my face over the pot. My girlfriend was watching and I thought she was gonna die laughing at me when it went poof...Instant mustache & eyebrow trim.

[olafhardt]

I found out how much the guys on this site like to tell on themselves when I asked if anybody else had shot their chronograph? Evidently we love to tell how stoopid we can be. That's one reason I trust this site way more than the gun rags or a lot of other sites.

[Max Brand]

Don't forget that you can always deny your goof ups as long as no one took pictures.
Keep cameras out of the casting room.
Always cast alone, you don't want witnesses.

Max

[nanuk]

muffin tins with fresh melt in them pass heat quite well through the gloves..... and carpet doesn't seem to hold up well under the tins either... 6 nice little "Hard Round Melted Circles" in the office....

[Texantothecore]

Mine was when I dropped a chunk of paraffin wax into the pot and was stirring it with my face over the pot. My girlfriend was watching and I thought she was gonna die laughing at me when it went poof...Instant mustache & eyebrow trim.

Not to worry. Walgreens has a sale on eyebrow pencil. Enjoy.

[Texantothecore]

I found out how much the guys on this site like to tell on themselves when I asked if anybody else had shot their chronograph? Evidently we love to tell how stoopid we can be. That's one reason I trust this site way more than the gun rags or a lot of other sites.

Yep, I have to agree. Good solid info on what works and what is simply stupid stuff.

[jandbn]

I thought I would be smart and take a chisel and hammer and split a smelted pewtermini-muffin. I thoughtfully laid the muffin on a towel on the cement step and proceeded to precisely cleeve the little muffin to add 2% to my WW. About half-way through the muffin, instead of a sharp whack, there was a dull thud. I picked up the towel and there lies a large 6x8 inch diamond shaped wedge of cement step!:oops: The wife still doesn't know as it was the back steps which she does not use in the winter. To quote Pa Kettle: "gonna hav'ta fix that one of these days."

I gave up trying to cleeve the muffin. Instead, I grabbed the pliars and dipped the pewter muffin into the pot alloy to melt off just the right amount.[smilie=b:

[Texantothecore]

I thought I would be smart and take a chisel and hammer and split a smelted pewtermini-muffin. I thoughtfully laid the muffin on a towel on the cement step and proceeded to precisely cleeve the little muffin to add 2% to my WW. About half-way through the muffin, instead of a sharp whack, there was a dull thud. I picked up the towel and there lies a large 6x8 inch diamond shaped wedge of cement step!:oops: The wife still doesn't know as it was the back steps which she does not use in the winter. To quote Pa Kettle: "gonna hav'ta fix that one of these days."

I gave up trying to cleeve the muffin. Instead, I grabbed the pliars and dipped the pewter muffin into the pot alloy to melt off just the right amount.[smilie=b:

Ice damage Ma, 'seen it a thousand times.....

[Longwood]

Ice damage Ma, 'seen it a thousand times.....

It is a simple fix.

[Sonnypie]

Don't throw loaded rounds in the trash and then dump it in your wood stove with a glass door. DAMHIK

[smilie=w:
:lol:
How to clear the house in a hurry!
LMAO! :lol:

[Sonnypie]

and I'm part Russian. Guess I got Russian fingers....and Roman hands.

Roaming... roaming hands.

How about a nice Italian Pinch? :kidding:

[jandbn]

Ice damage Ma, 'seen it a thousand times.....
I can hear (and see) Pa Kettle saying that to Ma! LMAO:smile:

[jandbn]

It is a simple fix.
I don't know about your better half, but mine would have hissy fits if I did that much damage to the steps! Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how I look at it, it is just a chunk out of the topside of the step; no hole as in the pic.

[mpmarty]

Define a Hissy Fit please.

[357maximum]

Define a Hissy Fit please.

If you know any teenage females tell them that they cannot use the car and that they can earn their own money you ain't given em any. You will never ask what a hissey fit is again.:Fire:



You can also look up 6.5 or RPM theory here to see a slightly mundane version of a hissey fit. :lol:

[Norbrat]

If you know any teenage females tell them that they cannot use the car and that they can earn their own money you ain't given em any. You will never ask what a hissey fit is again.:Fire:


Which is why it should be called a "Hersey" fit!! [smilie=1:

[Inkman]

the lee will leak till it's empty unless you get lucky and it just drips fast and builds up a stalagmite to the spout.
usually it will just hit the drip pile and shoot all over the front of you changing direction at random.
causing magic dance moves with arms raised and feet moving better than jose guervo can make them go, it's even better when you have a hot sprue in one hand and a hot heavy mold in the other.
you are goin nowhere trying to duck and dodge the lead stream, and get it stopped somehow, with both hands full of stuff that needs to go on the bench which is directly below the stream of directionally challenged hot lead, the real cool part is the hot sprue is right on the hole in your glove which gives the arm motions a groovy wave action and one jazz hand which off sets the footwork and juking motions.
i still haven't found that sprue,and no dance america has not called back.

anyways the handle is on the right side of the pot.

Highlighted for emphasis. Also when you're in the heat of a great casting session and the groove is on. Funny how it takes a bit to realize that warm feeling on your pants leg and you glance down to see tiny little lead specks here and there. Man those little guys sure can stay hot.

Al

[SlippShodd]

Last night I had a little time, so I decided to run a pot and get a little ahead on some boolit stock. Needed a bunch of .45s, but decided to pace myself with 2 moulds and had the RCBS 38-150 along for the ride. Had worked the pot down and stopped to reintroduce the sprues and maybe take a moment to empty the drop bucket. Set both moulds on the rim of the Pro-Melt to keep them warm. Had about 1/3 of a pot of molten metal when I reached across the pot for something and knocked the 38 mould into the melt, blocks first. [smilie=b:
D'yaknow how long it takes to remove a 2 pound sprue from a totally encased mould?
30 years of casting and that's the first and hopefully last time I do that. :oops:

mike

[Rangefinder]

I've been casting for a total of 4 days now, and I've already learned something.

WEAR GLOVES!!!

I don't know if you guys are aware of this or not, but molten lead is pretty hot.

On the other hand, I've done metal work most of my life--hot forges, etc. I've done kitchen work most of my civilian life--hot sautee pans, broilers, etc. My son often shakes his head at the lack of heat-sensitive nerve endings in my hands when I grab something in the 160-170 degree range and don't notice until someone else lets out a yelp. On occasion I shake my own head at the lack of thought-sensitive nerve endings between my ears, usually about the time I notice something swelling, gushing, or otherwise just not right by appearance after working on something and remarking to myself "Hmmm, that's gonna leave a mark--again"...

[Edubya]

I was making a batch of lube and set it aside for a few minutes while I was taking care of something else. Meanwhile the lube hardened up and I had not poured it into my molds yet. I decided to melt it fast... I put it into the microwave and started preparing my molds. Just as I got them ready I turned my attention back to the micro to see the lube explode. The lube had not cooled all of the way through and when the the top had solidified, it made a perfect fitting seal. It took ma a couple of hours to clean the mess.

EW

[Texantothecore]

I will certainly remember the lube explosion. I would not have thought of that, but it could be castrophic at my house.

I will also be purchasing an apron this week. I have no intention of bronzing or leading some of my body parts.

[MT Gianni]

Last night I had a little time, so I decided to run a pot and get a little ahead on some boolit stock. Needed a bunch of .45s, but decided to pace myself with 2 moulds and had the RCBS 38-150 along for the ride. Had worked the pot down and stopped to reintroduce the sprues and maybe take a moment to empty the drop bucket. Set both moulds on the rim of the Pro-Melt to keep them warm. Had about 1/3 of a pot of molten metal when I reached across the pot for something and knocked the 38 mould into the melt, blocks first. [smilie=b:
D'yaknow how long it takes to remove a 2 pound sprue from a totally encased mould?
30 years of casting and that's the first and hopefully last time I do that. :oops:

mike

A similar experience with a 4 cavity sent me to buy a hot plate to preheat with.