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View Full Version : Tinsel Fairy visit of yesteryear



LynC2
07-05-2014, 04:18 PM
I was talking to a fellow member here today after a range visit and the subject came up about the Fairy. The only time I encountered the Fairy was about 30+ years ago. Why it happened I don't know and can only speculate. One day I fired up my Saeco pot which was left with about 3/4's of the alloy I had previously used. Fortunately I had left the room for a few seconds when it was re-melting and it occurred. The pot was always in the house in my reloading room and nothing was introduced into it since my previous casting session.
My ceiling and reloading bench had a nice layer of alloy afterwards. Because of that I always keep away from the pot when I wait for a re-melt. Does anyone have any ideas of what may have occurred? :?: :?

JeffinNZ
07-05-2014, 06:20 PM
I wonder if some moisture had set in and was trapped around the sides of the pot and/or under the lead. Once super heated off it went. Either way that's one hell of a way to radiation proof your house.

Nueces
07-05-2014, 06:36 PM
What time of year was it?

I've seen a Texas june bug plop down the narrow spout of an open power steering reservoir and deep fry hisself. :mrgreen:

PbHurler
07-05-2014, 08:29 PM
I have read (I don't remember where) the advice to drain your pot to less than 1/2 full.

The reasoning, best I can remember, was that as the lead melts from the bottom up, it can create a pressure beneath the solid cap within the pot due to thermal expansion. When the solid lead, at the top of the melt reaches it's liquidous temp, the pressure below could relieve itself through the initial point where the liquidous point occurs.

I'm sure someone will come along to debunk this theory or can answer more definitively than me.

This is just something I barely remember reading about. Oh, I do drop the level in my pots as suggested & I have never experienced this phenomena (if it exists) myself.

LynC2
07-05-2014, 09:09 PM
I wonder if some moisture had setin and was trapped around the sides of the pot and/or under the lead. Oncesuper heated off it went. Either way that's one hell of a way to radiationproof your house.

I suppose that could be a possibility, but I was living in El Paso, Tx at the time and the humidity is usually so low that it's virtually non-existent most of the time.


What time of year was it?

I've seen a Texas june bug plop down the narrow spout of an open power steeringreservoir and deep fry hisself.
I honestly don’t recall, it's been too many years ago. However I do know that no june bugs were injured in the making the house radiation proof! ;)





I have read (I don't remember where) the advice to drain your pot to less than 1/2 full.

The reasoning, best I can remember, was that as the lead melts from the bottom up, it can create a pressure beneath the solid cap within the pot due to thermal expansion. When the solid lead, at the top of the melt reaches it's liquidous temp, the pressure below could relieve itself through the initial point where the liquidous point occurs.

I'm sure someone will come along to debunk this theory or can answer more definitively than me.

This is just something I barely remember reading about. Oh, I do drop the level in my pots as suggested & I have never experienced this phenomena (if it exists) myself.

PbHurler, that is an interesting handle to have to be replying to this post. :shock: However your theory is interesting and was exactly what I thought might of happened at the time as I couldn't come up with any other logical explanation. All I know is that it has left me a bit hesitant to be close to the lead pot when I do a re-melt, but it has never happened again fortunately.

hickfu
07-05-2014, 11:39 PM
Im still trying to figure out why I got just 1 splatter from my pot when I was making some pewter boolits for fun... I had just took off my safety glasses to rub my eyes and when I opened them and started to put the glasses back on, the pot just shot 1 little spurt into my right eye and DANG that hurt!!!! I have never been able to figure it out...

Oh and I never take off my safety glasses anywhere near the pot....

Bullwolf
07-05-2014, 11:47 PM
I occasionally worry about condensation when melting lead.

The safest advice I can give is not to add cold lead to your liquid melt. Especially when smelting down diving weights that have been submerged. I always add cold lead to a cold pot, and then heat it up to a liquid state.

If adding ingots to a already warm pot, I pre-heat them using a hot plate. Always wear the correct safety equipment, molten lead go splat very FAST and hurts really bad.

Gloves, eye/face protection, covered arms, legs and feet along with durable leather or cotton over clothing are all solid insurance when you're working with molten metal.



- Bullwolf

dondiego
07-06-2014, 12:52 PM
Could your wife or a child accidentally spilled something into the pot that seeped around the lead and forgot to tell you about it?

HeavyMetal
07-06-2014, 07:06 PM
I'm up for a condensation theory here ( but blaming the wife and kids is real good as well, let me know if you survive that one, LOL!)

I have seen ingots sweat as they were added to the pot, providing an interesting and bubbling result!

Depnding on temp setting on the pot, where the pot sat, how much was in it and, here's the kicker, what alloy were you using?

I have heard reports of Linotype doing this because of the way it melts which may have caused the rest of the alloy to sweat up a patch of water that then hit a hot spot as the alloy melted.

Before I became an Apt. dweller I had a casting station set up on the back patio so that such happenings, if they happened, didn't create an emergency of some type.

I have also seen pot covers on sale here and plan to either make or buy one in the near future.

KYCaster
07-06-2014, 11:02 PM
Any opening that will allow water into the lead should be big enough to allow steam to escape easily and water isn't going to survive in the liquid state up to the melting temp. of your boolit alloy.

I think Nueces nailed it.....june bug!

Either that or your resident skinks decided to sacrifice a virgin to the gods who dwell in the Lead Pot! :shock:

Jerry [smilie=1:

gotlead
07-07-2014, 01:10 AM
I'd like to know more about a pot cover or lid especially when smelting

EDG
07-07-2014, 02:50 AM
A couple of years ago I was melting lead about 2" deep in my pot. As it got close to liquid a little geyser about 1 " tall and 1/2" in diameter spewed up for about 2 or 3 seconds. Not very dangerous at that scale but it made me wonder what could happen with a lot more heat and pressure.

Jaybees
07-07-2014, 08:41 AM
There's an old pine stump about 3ft tall that we staple targets to or lean stuff up against at our shooting spot. It has begun to dry rot and after shooting one day, while everyone was just standing around BS's, I took out my pocket knife and started digging out some of the lead projectiles (ended up with almost 3 lbs). I had on cargo pants so I just put all of the lead in one of my pants leg pockets. When I got home that afternoon, I swung by my lead scrap bucket, emptying my newly acquired haul. What I had forgotten about was, earlier in the day, I happened upon an old unfired .22 round. Picked it up, put it in my pocket, never thought about it again............until my next casting session. Sounded like a grenade when it went off. Lead went EVERYWHERE! Luckily, a split second earlier, I had just turned my face away to do something else. I ended up with a couple of small burn marks on the back of my neck and ruined my favorite t-shirt but all-in-all, got extremely lucky.

OuchHot!
07-07-2014, 03:28 PM
I have had a pro-melt that was left near full start to drain as it warmed up from cold. I had an ingot mold under it and caught it in time. Pbhurler identified the mechanism as well as I could. I think it is just an expanding melt covered by top cap and the cap holds on to the pizzle rod. I've been careful to drain pots to 1/2 or less ever since.Sorry! I just reread the OP. Since you had alloy on the ceiling, obviously something got introduced into the pot and produced steam or gas.

jonk
07-08-2014, 09:03 AM
Regarding the condensation theory... let's just say that there's a reason why I don't pour into cold ingot molds. I always heat them with a torch until I see the moisture cook off.

As to adding cold lead ingots, if I have to do it, I hold them with a pair of pliers and gently ease a corner in so it is just touching- but not breaking the surface. I slowly ease it into the melt over about 30 seconds so it's heating and melting as it goes. Once I do 2-3 that way, the melt hardens up to a cheese consistency, so I can just dump more on top and let time and electricity do their things.

I only ever had a real tinsel fairy visit once, when I dropped some Marvelux into the pot and immediately stirred. For those who don't know, marvelux is quite hygroscopic. Let it steam and fizzle a good 30 seconds until you start to stir. I have since switched over to fluxing with wood chips or a stick; note also that a stick can hold a lot of moisture and should be eased in for the first time in a casting session.