A compelling argument for casting aprons

[lcclower]

http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/lcclower_2007/001.jpg

Yesterday the stool I used to sit on while casting collapsed. Abruptly.

I fell to the left and backwards, kicking the table on the way down and turning over a full Lee 20# pot.

I slapped the pot away from myself on the way down, ran backwards on feet and elbows like a sand crab, got my shirt and jeans off and ran to the faucet & garden hose, nekkid.
Ten minutes of cold water later, a check of my burned areas indicated nothing beyond blistering (barely 2d degree).

None of the lead got through my clothes and I'm not sore beyond the limits of a couple Advils. Scattered burns on the right side from tits to navel, and a couple of red spots on my right leg. No lead on my face or glasses.

I was freakin' lucky, and resolve to obtain a metal stool and a leather apron post haste.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

OH that sucks, glad your mostly OK, at least you didnt cook Frank & Beans.
Cut those jeans up and use'm as flux :mrgreen:

[ph4570]

Yikes -- good to hear you were not seriously burned.

[Just Duke]

Here you go guys and a 100 times cheaper than an ambulance ride or a trip to the burn center.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=36200
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=27984


http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/lcclower_2007/001.jpg

Yesterday the stool I used to sit on while casting collapsed. Abruptly.

I fell to the left and backwards, kicking the table on the way down and turning over a full Lee 20# pot.

I slapped the pot away from myself on the way down, ran backwards on feet and elbows like a sand crab, got my shirt and jeans off and ran to the faucet & garden hose, nekkid.
Ten minutes of cold water later, a check of my burned areas indicated nothing beyond blistering (barely 2d degree).

None of the lead got through my clothes and I'm not sore beyond the limits of a couple Advils. Scattered burns on the right side from tits to navel, and a couple of red spots on my right leg. No lead on my face or glasses.

I was freakin' lucky, and resolve to obtain a metal stool and a leather apron post haste.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Harbor Freight (ordering on-line is also possible thru their website) regularly stocks a set of welder's items consisting of an apron and welder's gloves. The set is made out of thick heavy leather and is very moderately priced. Some casting folks are still arguing about whether or not to wear gloves when seated at the pot, or to wear goggles or anything else. Its your bod and you can do whatever you like with it, but unless you like what you see in the earlier posts shown here (and some individuals might) or you enjoy getting burned, I think that the welder's set sold by HF is a good & wise investment to consider...and use when you are smelting and/or casting. LLS

[waksupi]

No way would I consider casting sitting down. Glad you're okay.

[.22-10-45]

Glad your pretty much OK...Could have been alot worse! A 20# pot of molten alloy can kill!
I know it has been posted before..but this really brings it home...DO NOT have small children around you when casting! Just thinking of a couple of tots in the path of that spilling lead gives me chills! Lets be careful out there!

[Just Duke]

No way would I consider casting sitting down. Glad you're okay.

I will be incorporating this posture on my new casting bench build.

[runfiverun]

i cast standing up,and my main [40 lb] pot is bolted to the bench.
it pours just below eye level,i have to stand on tip toe to flux and skim.
i want to be able to move if necessary.

[Just Duke]

my main [40 lb] pot is bolted to the bench.


To be incorporated into taller casting table

[snuffy]

I cast seated. Bad back, knees, neck and various other medical maladies make it nearly impossible to stand while casting or reloading. No Gloves either. I'm clumsy enough without having heavy gloves decrease tactile feeling. An occasional burn is a small price to pay for NOT wearing gloves.

The last 3 sessions resulted in one small burn on the side of my right thumb, result of running into the hot mold while reaching for something on the casting bench.

I wear long sleeves, full pants and always have shoes with tall socks on whenever casting or smelting.

[BruceB]

I applaud the use of the apron.

Who said anything about "HEAVY" gloves? I too detest the loss of "feel" with such things as welders' gloves..... but even a light pair of deerskin or similar gloves will still give time to avoid a burn until the glove may be yanked off.

Burns aren't always 'minor', and even small burns can lead to serious complications.

[bruce drake]

I always wear boots and use an apron, safety glasses, long sleeves and light leather gloves after an incident in 09 where I splashed an entire RCBS ladle onto my right wrist which resulted in a bad blister/burn on my forearm and wrist (my Timex Ironman watchband fairly bubbled up from the molten lead as well). I now have a couple of distinctive burnscars on my wrist on either side of where my watchband rests to remind me of that everytime I cast.

I'm glad to see the denim jeans helped you save the "priority equipment" but that t-shirt probably means your burns could have been a lot worse.

Bruce

[MT Gianni]

I am glad that you are OK. My casting bench is an old student desk. It does not have collapsable legs. To anyone contemplating a casting bench get fixed not follding legs.

[dragonrider]

You are a lucky guy, that could have been a lot worse. I cast while seated, boots, jeans, long sleeve cotton shirt, safety glasses, one welders glove on right hand. My bench is very secure, the pots are screwed to the bench, they ain't movin. My stool is on wheels, I can move back away from the bench very quickly.

[firefly1957]

Glad you are okay that stuff can do some damage.

I keep my lead pot as low as I can to the ground my table is only a little over a foot tall that way only my feet are below the melted lead. And I sit while casting .

[dragon813gt]

I have the welders apron from Harbor Freight and always wear it. It's an inexpensive item and unlike a lot of their products is decent quality. I also wear welders gloves. I can't imagine having to knock open a sprue. It's a lot faster and easier to do it by hand. And even with the gloves if I have trouble opening it up my hand gets hot, quickly. I to sit down, but it's on a bucket. I'm slightly above eye level with the spout. My bench is stout and the pot is nowhere near the edge. I don't know why people don't wear PPE all the time when casting. Hot metal causes a lot of damge quickly.


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[btroj]

I stand to cast. Always have, always will. No apron , no gloves.

[Hamish]

OH that sucks, glad your mostly OK, at least you didnt cook Frank & Beans.
Cut those jeans up and use'm as flux :mrgreen:

Tickled me when I was'nt the only one concerned about losing the lead!:bigsmyl2:

[waksupi]

I think I would frame the shirt and pants, and hanging them near the lead pot. Just for a reminder, ya know!

[Nazgul]

I only cast while standing. Raised the pot to eye level. Pot sits inside an old cookie sheet that will contain the contents of the pot if it leaks.

Don

[popper]

I suit up with jeans, shirt, gloves and shoes, but am casting sitting down now on old computer chair with casters. Saves the back and I can swivel to cast and drop. Next time at HF I'll look for the apron.

[Beau Cassidy]

Glad you didn't get hurt. Things certainly could have been worse.

I generally use boots, blue jeans, and long sleeve shirt. I also use a hat, painter's mask, and safety glasses. There has never been a spilled pot but I do get a fair amount of splatter and have had on one occasion a fleck of hot lead hit below my eye even when using the above. I try not to sit and prefer to lean against something solid.

[casterofboolits]

Thank goodness you escaped with minimal injury.

I have Levis with lead splatter and cotton T shirts with small holes in them from trying to pick small drops of lead off them and a hat with a large splatter on it cause I tried to feed a piece of water pipe into the smelting pot too fast.

I use welding gloves for smelting and work gloves with long cuffs for casting and wear a shop apron. All lessons hard learned over the years I had my casting business. Several scars earned in the early years.

I could support a 440 MoPower on my casting benches and two RCBS 10 kilo pots screwed down to the bench. I sit in an office chair on rollers so I can kick back quick if I have to.

[Dave C.]

IMHO casting while seated is the same as ridding a motorcycle with out a
helmet, you can, but the learning curve is steep and hard.

Dave C.

[casterofboolits]

I couldn't cast standing up if I wanted to. Two strokes on the left side and an arthritic left hip. Plus no stamina It takes me at least three trips to do our minimal dishes.

[Ola]

Wow, I thought that practically no one would cast standing up. But it seems to be very common. How long can you keep it up? An hour? 2 hours?

I've tried both and decided it is much safer for me to cast while seated. My seat is rock solid and the bench is too. Usually I can cast something like 20-25 lbs of boolits before I have to stop. It takes some time, so the routine creeps in and the fatigue starts to take it's toll. Because I'm seated there is less moving parts that can do something stupid.

[.22-10-45]

I've done a few casting marathons...of a solid 8 hrs. standing up..but try not to...My back pays me back for it the next few days!

[palmettosunshine]

First off, I'm glad you're mostly OK. Secondly, I don't feel so nerdish about my get up now when I cast. I wear an old bikers jacket, zipped to the neck and wrists, welder's gloves, a full face shield, jeans and steel toed boots. Might need to add the chaps (or an apron) and a respirator. Oh, and I stand to cast. Never occurred to me to cast sitting down. Granted, I'm not doing marathon sessions like some of you guys.

Again, glad you're OK.

[Oreo]

1. Leather boots are good. Sneakers made with synthetics anywhere are bad and will offer no protection at all.

2. Gloves tucked into long sleaves, and pants pulled down over the boot tops so that molten lead flows out and off instead of in.

3. A face shield is not eye protection.

4. Securing the casting pot to the bench with screws or clamps should be mandatory.

I think you folks mounting your casting pots up high are making a mistake. The higher the molten lead falls from the further it will splash when it lands, and the more things can be in its path on the way down. I have considered smelting with the pot surrounded by an expanded steel platform a few inches off the ground so that in the event the pot stand collapsed or tipped the lead could flow off my feet instead of around them. I keep my smelting pot no more then 1' off the ground.

[Cap'n Morgan]

I keep a simple first aid equipment - a bucket of water - close (but not too close) at hand. Actually I use the bucket for dunking the mold from time to time (a 500gr single cavity mold gets hot FAST) but if anything involving molten lead should happen, every second counts, and having immediately access to water can make a big difference on the outcome.

[Taylor]

Yep,cast while standing.Leather welders apron always!

[alamogunr]

I have always cast while standing. My casting bench is an auxiliary top on my table saw. After reading the posts, I'm going to make two changes. First, I'm going to look into the leather aprons at HF and then build a stand of some sort for my furnace to raise it to a level that allows me to see better. Now, my back tells me that leaning over to see the pour is not good.

I always use safety glasses w/side shields. I have a full face shield but it introduces just enough distortion that I'm not comfortable with it. My safety glasses were from my working days so I recently had new lenses installed. Much better!

[big dale]

This thread needs to be saved somewhere so that all newbies can be exposed to it...matter of fact we all should probably re-read it from time to time to make us think.

Have fun with this stuff.

Big Dale

[SharuLady]

If one raises their smelting pot or furnace to eye level and if either would collapse or spill or even a visit from the tinsel fairy would there not be more danger of the spill or the tinsel fairy be more expanded because of the height? Also from that height, once the spill has landed would the lead splash again causing more possible harm?? I don't know, I am just curious.
I smelt and cast lead to ingots but I can only stand for a period of time and then have to sit, so it all is set up to cast or smelt from both positions. I do have all the proper safety items and use them but in addition I also wear a brimmed dennim hat over the band of the faceshield to protect my head & hair.

[alamogunr]

I think that is a valid point if the pot were raised to eye level. I only intend to raise mine 8-10 inches to avoid bending over so far. I cannot see myself sitting down to cast.

My smelting pot, which is a 12" dia steel pipe with a welded bottom is
large enough that I can shovel the WW. The top is below waist level. Any higher and I couldn't use the big Rowell ladle to fill the ingot molds. I have about 3 buckets of WW yet to clean up and when they are gone, I'm thru "smelting" WW.

[Crawdaddy]

So glad you are ok. How long did it take before the "boys" decided to make another appearance?


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[ole 5 hole group]

I'm happy for you that you were fast enough to crab crawl your way outta serious trouble. Every now & then some caster across this Great Nation of ours will come in contact with melting lead unintentionally.

I use to cast all my boolits, fishing jigs and sinkers etc for several decades and never spilled a 20# pot. Heard of a few folks like you but never knew one.

Now we all take a few very minor burns from mysterious splatter from time to time but I still don't see a need for anything but a cotton long sleeved shirt and glasses when working around a well set up 20# lead pot.

Sometimes my dad would put on a deerskin glove when he added his own flux made from beeswax and whatever else he was trying to scrounge, as sometimes the lead would react like a drop of sweat was dropped into the pot.

The thing you don't want is having your 20# or 40# pot sitting on a flimsy table, as you'll bump that table sooner or later and maybe even bump that table a couple times some days before you learn how to standup from your chair/bench.:?

[lcclower]

+1, Oreo, on bolting the pot to the bench top. My new bench is set up with the pot screwed down.

[Lance Boyle]

Well you're halfway to your Holloween TinMan costume.

glad you're ok.

I stand but I'm new and don't have much space anyhow. I have a RCBS production pot on top of my table saw. I wear old blue jeans a T shirt with an untucked loose flannel shirt over that. I've had a few very minor splatters embed in my jean thigh or shirt front.

I wear glasses and wear leather work gloves too. The gloves are pretty good except when your neighbor distracts you and you hold on to the hot end of the mold too long.

[Cowboy T]

WOW! Another voice to the chorus of "glad you're mostly OK".

I do cast while sitting down, but I wear a full face shield, a hat, welding gloves, an old thick leather jacket with a high neck, denim jeans with thick long-johns underneath (my casting is typically done during winter), and some good, thick leather hiking boots.

Someone who goes by "L. C. Clower" on YouTube posted on my YouTube channel (sfliberal) about this thread, and thanks go out to him. That could've been really nasty. As a result, I will be buying a good, thick apron for use during casting sessions.

The Tinsel Fairy did come to visit me one time (yes, I had to learn). Splattered all over the front of me--face mask, leather jacket, etc. Thank goodness I had my stuff on, because I walked away from it totally unscathed, but plenty wiser. Yes, a full face shield *does* provide eye protection; I know this from experience.

[Nocturnal Stumblebutt]

Judging by that shiny spot on the crotch of your jeans I'd say you were very lucky

[Oreo]

Yes, a full face shield *does* provide eye protection; I know this from experience.
A face shield provides face protection. It is insufficient for protection of the eyes both in terms of paths around the face shield that can still lead to the eyes as well as insufficient impact resistance. If you want eye protection wear proper goggles. If you still need face protection you wear a face shield over the goggles.

I don't mean to nit pick. It's an important technicality that damn near cost my coworker his eyes when concentrated caustic soda solution splashed in his face, and managed to get past his face shield and into his eyes.

[lcclower]

Yeah Cowboy T, that's me.

Got some new Northern Tool welding gloves and face shield today, still undecided between leather and corrugated iron apron.

[troy_mclure]

I use a cloth cooking apron, it saved me when I dropped a 3lb ladel of lead, it splashed all over the apron but got no farther.

[bearcove]

If you want to wear gloves try a pair of TIG gloves. Good feel still but has gauntlet to cover wrist. Leather apron is good