Ventilation

[RX7Dryver]

Hello,

This is my first post here. I am gathering the required materials for me to start casting, I am a newbie.

I have a pretty good idea about the procedures used and the equipment that I need to begin casting. (mostly from reading the Lyman cast bullet manual)

One question that I have that I cannot find any information about is what kind of ventilation is required when casting?

[testhop]

do it outside if at all possable if you must cast inside then use a fan like a big window fan
and use cross ventilation with a door or window open
make sure to wear gloves along with long sleve shirt long pants sterty shoes safty glasses

[454PB]

Welcome to the forum!

You'll get lots of opinions on ventilation. Do you have kids? Think of them when choosing a casting location. Casting outdoors is the least offensive, but not always practical. The neighbors might figure out what you are doing and call the EPA.

Now my personal opinion....

I cast in my basement for years with no ventilation, and two kids living in the house. Both are seemingly normal now, 30 years latter. If I did it today and anybody found out about it, I'd probably be arrested.

I now cast in a totally seperate building, with no ventilation. I use Marvelux for fluxing, which eliminates the smoke. I've been casting for 37 years now, and have no health problems, other than hearing loss from too much shooting and playing rock n' roll in a band. I'm also a smoker, and have been for 45 years. A lot of strikes against me, huh?

You will probably decide to play it safe and either cast outdoors or install a vent hood to pump it outside where your neighbors get lead poisoning. Good luck in your decision!

[NVcurmudgeon]

Yes, ventilation is desireable. I am personally more concerned about breathing flux fumes and the stick-on WW tape, rubber, plastic, etc. when smelting. Lead vaporizes at a much higher temperature than most of us are able to reach with Coleman stoves or electric boolit furnaces. The easiest way to ingest lead is to eat, drink, or smoke when casting. I never do any of those things while casting and am always careful to wash my hands carefully when I am through. For nearly 40 years i have done all my casting in drafty garages and sheds. Presently I cast in the garage with two man doors open to the prevailing wind, and the big car door open to leeward. In Nevada there is seldom a shortage of ventilation. After all those years of casting I test normal for lead. Common sense helps a lot, I don't like breathing anything that smells nasty, so I don't.

[750k2]

I went to the garage because the wife made me.
Don't cast in pajamas and slippers - a sprue in the slipper is no fun.
But I still drink beer and smoke while I do.
[smilie=s:

[dubber123]

I break about all the safety rules, indoors, in shorts, drinking beer, etc... I don't touch the opening of my beer though. I have been tested for lead twice in the last 2 years, both came in negative. My results might not be the norm, so cast how you feel comfortable, and get tested. I don't think the tests were very expensive, and were good peace of mind for me.

[BD]

I highly recommend smelting your WW/lead supply outdoors. Not so much due to lead exposure but because you never really know what kind of stanky flaming smoke your gonna get when smelting for ingots. That said, I've always cast my boolits indoors. I just don't think I'd have got much done outdoors in Maine @ 0 deg, and I'm not too enthused about casting outdoors at 100 deg in South Carolina either. I put a used kitchen range hood which exhausts outdoors pretty low over the pots and have at it.

I've had high lead levels since my youth. As a result I get tested every 2 years. My levels stayed +/- 20 or so until I was in my mid twenties when they started dropping into the low teens. At age 40 I started casting seriously to feed an action pistol habit. Then at 45 I shot one year of indoor Bullseye league in an old indoor range with very poor ventilation and my lead levels went from the low teens to 40. I really started to pay attention at that point and by age 50 I had them back down under 10. The last two years I've been shooting at a new, state of the art indoor range in SC and my last test was 14.

IMHO what I've learned from watching my lead levels is this: With proper precautions casting boolits has no real effect and your levels can actual drop despite increased exposure to boolit casting. It's the oxides of lead and, IMHO, lead styphanate from primers which are the more significant issues. Shooting indoors, even with the best ventilation available, WILL increase your lead levels. Also, if you're processing significant amounts of brass, cleaning it in soapy water before you tumble it can greatly reduce your exposure to lead styphanate from the primer residue dust that the tumbler creates. By staying out of indoor ranges, and washing my brass before tumbling it, I was able to bring my lead levels from 40 down to 8 in 6 years despite casting and shooting upwards of 10,000 rounds a year. And all of my casting was indoors. Don't smoke, eat, suck your thumb or pick your nose while casting. I've been known to drink a beer, but I'm careful not to touch the rim of the bottle. It's really just common sense.
BD

[Sundogg1911]

RX7DRYVER, Welcome!
I cast indoors (My garage/bullet barn) I but a range hood above my bench which vents to the outside http://mybulletbarn.com/reloadroom/ you can see a pic of the setup for casting. (Although that was before I got my Master Caster setup) I did replace the fan that was in the range hood with one that was a little better, but I really didnt need too. Just avoid smnacking, and smoking while casting. You're really in more danger from handling and ingesting the lead than breathing it in. The flash point of lead is much higher than the casting temperatures. Good luck with your new hobbie! (Or in my case, obsession) ;-)

[SharpsShooter]

I do all smelting of wheel weight, roofing lead etc. outdoors. As was mentioned, the smoke from valve stems, tire labels and god knows what else in a bucket will create a foul odor that can't be too healthy.

After the alloy is cleaned and ignotized, I do all my casting inside. If I did my job right when smelting, there is rarely any need for fluxing indoors. I am super picky during the smelting operation and as a result end up with clean ignots that do not smoke or create a offensive odor. I do not throw boolits back into the pot with lube on them since the lube will create smoke, they go back in the bucvket to be re-smelted. My casting bench is near a sizeable window if I feel the need to ventilate and I have a ceiling fan as well as a window version if something goes amiss.

SS