New bullet caster's note to self when sizing at kitchen table.

[Tallbald]

Do not place kitchen trash can under sizing press to catch stray shavings. I will against my better judgement dig through cold coffee grounds, greasy paper towels and crumpled cigarette packs to find a sized bullet that rolled off table and bounced off stuff just like a pinball way down into yuck pile. Don

[roberts1]

lol Not to mention, contaminating the place where one eats with lead.

[Harter66]

I don't know, I draw the quit line at soggy butts. I've chased boolits all over the floor and spent way more time digging in the primer/brass catchall bucket than the boolit was worth too.

[RED333]

Yall ever look for an unfired primer in the trash, only to find it wet from the mess in the trash can?
Well I have.

[dondiego]

Yes, and you can dry them and they work too!

[MaryB]

Waste lead shavings I could add to the pot? Never! I work on top of a cookie sheet to catch things. Got a deal on a 6 pack of 1/2 size sheet trays for $30 a while back and they get used for all kinds of stuff. 2 are sitting under plants right now, 1 under my sizing press...

[slughammer]

Lead shavings? You need to taper your sizing die at the mouth. That shouldn't be happening.

[olafhardt]

I just drop them on a rag sometimes on the floor of the rat infested shed I cast in. Since they are hard to pick up with gloves on, I gotta wait till they cool off and use my fingers. The really hard things are small rat dropping sized screws and pins. A trick I have is to use a magnet which ignores most of the rat droppings.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

I may be sending to much money, but I keep a clean garbage can under my loading area , to avoid the dumpster diving...been there done that...keeps the little lady happy, I don't use the kitchen for reloading:bigsmyl2::cbpour:

[22-250ohio]

Best to not use the wife area of the house for reloading. In my mind lead in the house is a no. Not to mention if I was to mess up the kitchen there would be a world of hurt headed my way

[44man]

Lead shavings? You need to taper your sizing die at the mouth. That shouldn't be happening.
Finally, someone sees the problem! Where are shavings coming from?
My kitchen table is an antique maple one my grandmother owned that I refinished. Wife makes me put a pot holder under hot dishes, I don't want to be bashed!

[6bg6ga]

Not good sense to do anything related to lead in the kitchen. Reloading and such should be done either in the garage or the basement.

[Lloyd Smale]

in all my years of casting i dont remember ever shaving lead off a bullet while sizing it.

[10mmShooter]

if the bullets or ram or die are out of alignment you can shave bullets that way. Ram and die and bullet to be sized need to be aligned to avoid this. Also a little extra chamfer on the die will help too :)

[Tatume]

lol Not to mention, contaminating the place where one eats with lead.

+1, I wouldn't do it in my house. That's what porches, garages, and workshops are for.

[bedbugbilly]

You can make it much easier on yourself if you would just use a lead magnet to find 'em. :-)

I have the same problem where I size in my basement work area . . loose one every once in a while not he floor and I swear there is a hole somewhere that they roll in to - I usually find 'em when I sweep the area though. Ive been married well over 40 years and I know better than to do some things in the kitchen. lol

[Tallbald]

I guess I should be more specific folks. The only lead shavings that I found were a few "fins" from the base that occurred at casting. Sometimes I'd flip them off or place the entire bullet in the re-cast pile. Only a few fins showed up and fell to the press base. The trash can was in case (and I'm still new to casting and sizing). The sizing die is fine and consistent.
Miss Penny and I are second marriages for one another. She's a country girl who grew up with tractor parts in the kitchen occasionally, lots of love at the stove and table, and family activities in the kitchen. I was a suburban boy but the kitchen table was the center of activity for my family. Heck. Even weak newborn baby calves in the winter were bottle fed in her kitchen. God's creatures deserved care too. Penny and I together lay out quilts and leather for cutting in the kitchen, we both cook as we can with our physical limitations, we have four indoor rescue dogs, and there's no such thing as "her space" or "my space" any more than there's "her money" or "my money". We are a bonded married couple going on 8 years together. We've been through the bad and know what's good.... each other and the other's joy. Penny refuses to let me get hot or cold by insisting I reload in the garage or shop. Kitchen table loading was her idea.
Again the only trimmings from my sizing die are from my lower skill level casting. I believe the sprue plate wasn't held snugly enough to the mold blocks and caused the "fins" I found, and I'll work on my technique. Don

[bangerjim]

Pb, like vampires, not welcome in my house and neither ever cross the house thresh hold. I keep all my Pb processing and loading in my back shop....far away from any food prep or living space.

And I also have never shaved lead off a boolit when sizing. (no fins ...ever) And the little tiny bit you have there...is it worth diving for? Not for me. Any possible scraps from my sizing, case brass trimmings, depriming, etc go either in a plie either under my press/tools or the floor and are vacuumed up later and thrown away. And yes I throw all spent primers in the garbage. Not worth the time or effort to try to take them to the yard and sell for the tiny few $$ of scrap they would bring.

You should check your drops for fins and if they appear, check/clean your mold halves for deposits that are holding the mold apart. That is why I water drop to cool the slugs so I can check a few every hundred or so. No need of blindly cranking out hundreds defective boolits, being afraid to "break your casting rhythm", when you can easily correct the problems on-the-fly.

And I sure would figure out a way NOT to work with casting and loading in the kitchen!

My opinons. All work perfectly for me. Your mileage may vary.

banger

[Garyshome]

That's NOT the best place to be working on reloading/sizing!

[mdi]

Yall ever look for an unfired primer in the trash, only to find it wet from the mess in the trash can?
Well I have.

Yep, and I dried it out and Loaded it!

[Lance Boyle]

I have against my better judgement done sizing on my kitchen table and counter top. Afterwords I was a cleaning nazi, cleaning the surfaces as well as the floor very thoroughly. I have probably been exposed to more lead eating rabbits and squirrels I shotgunned.

That said,.... if you have another place such as a shed or garage/barn then that's the place to be. I did all my casting in the garage with the doors and windows open with a fan blowing the air from me.

[MaryB]

The little bit of loose lead is not going to contaminate every surface in the kitchen guys. Work over a tarp or a large rug, take it outside to shake it out and store it outside so it doesn't get mixed with the rest.

[Tallbald]

Thank you Mary B. Thus my trash can under the press, and sweeping the floor when done. Don

[kbstenberg]

Thank you ALL. I thought I was the only fumble fingers of the group. I swear even if I intend on loading 1 box of ammo I will drop 2 or 3 primers and bullets. Kevin

[GoodOlBoy]

well I am with the "use a different trash can" crowd. My trash can in my work/reloading room never leaves that room. Then again I don't chase lead shavings because I have never had them to chase. My Lee molds are all good to go "as cast" so far.

that's not to say I haven't had to chase a piece of fumbled brass, or a fumbled bullet into the can, but there ain't nothing wet in there.

GoodOlBoy

[44man]

Lubing boolits is my problem, I lube by smearing Felix in the grooves by hand and running through a Lee die. I drop one once in a while and my little dog is always sleeping under my seat. I pick up boolits that look like porcupines. Then get the hair stuck to my fingers. :bigsmyl2:

[mdi]

Lots of "Oh no, working with lead in your kitchen will kill you!" replies, but in the average kitchen how many much more toxic materials routinely stored? Look under the sink for some real killers...

[Harter66]

Lots of "Oh no, working with lead in your kitchen will kill you!" replies, but in the average kitchen how many much more toxic materials routinely stored? Look under the sink for some real killers...

I bet you're 1 of those guys that sees somebody crying don't floridate my water it's toxic metal and go " yeah and chlorine is a poison gas":bigsmyl2:

[Pinsnscrews]

well it is...:kidding:

[gcsteve]

I just drop them on a rag sometimes on the floor of the rat infested shed I cast in. Since they are hard to pick up with gloves on, I gotta wait till they cool off and use my fingers. The really hard things are small rat dropping sized screws and pins. A trick I have is to use a magnet which ignores most of the rat droppings.

You've got some serious rats with a high iron/steel diet!

[armexman]

Newbie here; how does lead come off the boolits and contaminate surfaces?
Thanks
Answers will help me decide to stop casting them forever.

[mdi]

Newbie here; how does lead come off the boolits and contaminate surfaces?
Thanks
Answers will help me decide to stop casting them forever.

Don't you know that lead is a living creature, similar to a virus, just hard? If you come within 22.75 feet of it your hair will fall out, and your eyes will turn orange, then you'll go blind. To use it to make bullets ya gotta wear a full Haz-Mat suit and afterwards decontaminate yourself and the entire area, extending 142.375 inches from the casting area and post earning signs around the neighborhood. Regardless of your precautions though, you children and grandchildren are doomed to a life of mental problems...

Chicken Little was right!



:kidding:

[mdi]

I bet you're 1 of those guys that sees somebody crying don't floridate my water it's toxic metal and go " yeah and chlorine is a poison gas":bigsmyl2:

Hardly! I just use common sense and know what's real and what's scary old wives' tales...

[44man]

Don't you know that lead is a living creature, similar to a virus, just hard? If you come within 22.75 feet of it your hair will fall out, and your eyes will turn orange, then you'll go blind. To use it to make bullets ya gotta wear a full Haz-Mat suit and afterwards decontaminate yourself and the entire area, extending 142.375 inches from the casting area and post earning signs around the neighborhood. Regardless of your precautions though, you children and grandchildren are doomed to a life of mental problems...

Chicken Little was right!



:kidding:
Please make this a sticky, I cracked up big time---WONDERFUL!

[bangerjim]

Newbie here; how does lead come off the boolits and contaminate surfaces?
Thanks
Answers will help me decide to stop casting them forever.

Serious answer.................... look at that blackish stuff on your fingers after handling lead and cast boolits. Now.... go eat a sandwich without washing your hands. Or cut up some lettuce & tomatoes. Or other food-prep stuff. Rub your eyes or pick your nose!

That is how "things" get contaminated with Pb. It's not little sparkly things or lead gas from melting (!!?), it is from the oxides and transfer on your hands and surfaces that get into YOU.

(And it is alive!) [smilie=p: HA.....ha.

banger

[MaryB]

I repaired electronics for 27 years, many a time I grabbed a sandwich on the run with solder on my fingers. I even used my teeth to hold the solder sometimes if I needed a third hand and nobody was handy. Lead levels were always normal.

[edctexas]

Amen. I started casting lead toy soldiers with Grandpa. Played with them. Then fishing sinkers cast with Grandpa. Then shooting in the barn at rats with single shot 22. Held the spare rounds in between my lips. Shot competitively until 30. Practiced with yes you got it, cast boolits. I was a ham radio operator and experimenter as well as employed in electronics. Solder, you bet. Third hand was again my lips. I am 68. Still have normal lead levels. Mind you I am not saying there isn't a hazard from lead, just that some greatly exaggerate the risks.

Ed C

[bangerjim]

armexman was just asking the path of contamination. I answered but never said it was lethal. Can be for some......not all. There is always the 98 year old codger that smoked a cigar every day since he was 12 that is the exception to the rule! You never know.

But you can always be careful.

Feel free to eat, wear, lay in, handle all lead all you want.

I for one try to avoid personal contamination when at all possible.........like casting and loading in the kitchen and food prep locations.

Caveat emptor :popcorn::guntootsmiley:[smilie=6:





banger

[Harter66]

About 3 yr ago I tested high at 11 ,this year I was at 3 . And what changed ? I was layed off more than I worked ,everything I worked with was 50,60,70s vintage lead based oxidized od green. Some of us just Suck it through our skin I guess. I've had no issues with metallic lead in fact I played more than ever casting and loading.

[mdi]

All kidding aside (if that's possible for me) yes lead can be harmful. I just get a little snippy when a new caster asks a question and gets a bunch of "Chicken Little" type answers, seemingly enough to discourage anyone from getting near lead. Yes, I played with lead (and mercury) as a youngin' and made thousands of sinkers (on Ma's kitchen stove), I also used solder a lot and with both hands busy stripped solder off the roll with my teeth, I have been casting my bullets for mebbe 20 years, I worked for 25 years in downtown L.A., and my blood lead levels were normal. But I didn't grind/sand/wire brush any of the "school bus yellow" painted vehicles or equipment, I didn't/don't try to "boil" my lead and I keep it at reasonable casting temps., I didn't/don't chew on newly cast bullets as I cast, and I merely wash my hands when I am through casting. Yep, lead can be toxic, but if you use that thing between yer ears it won't be a problem...:veryconfu

[MaryB]

Lead itself is not that dangerous as long as you aren't eating it daily. Lead oxides are the danger area. Like the lead in paint, really old lead can be oxidized if exposed to acidic environment...

[olafhardt]

We ate a lot of shotgun harvested game when I was a kid. There were always a few shot in
the toilet bowl. They don't flush well at all.

[mdi]

Lead itself is not that dangerous as long as you aren't eating it daily. Lead oxides are the danger area. Like the lead in paint, really old lead can be oxidized if exposed to acidic environment...
Thank you Mary. If a new casters questions could be answered with this kind of common sense answer, we'd all be better off!