Casting indoor

[michaelcopeland2]

OK I have a ? Win you guy cast indoors whst kind of filters do you all use or do you just open the door with the fan need help I cast in my shop and the smell is just too strong I had my shop door open which is a 10 foot door roll up door with window open and a squirrel cage fan blowing can anybody suggest a filter to blow it out where I don't have to sit here and breathe it in thank you guys I'm new to casting and reloading and I so far I'm loving it

[williamwaco]

Do not cast indoors.

I do it on the porch or in the garage.

[tazman]

I have a small fan a few feet away from me, set on low, blowing at my back or from the side depending on the day. This blows the fumes away from me where I don't have to breathe it in directly.
I also have a fan blowing out the door or open window. This keeps fresh air circulating into the room and avoids the buildup of fumes indoors.
On a nice day, I will roll the table outside to cast and will still use the fan unless there is a good breeze.
I don't have a filter setup and don't feel that I need one given the circulation I have.

[groundsclown]

Yeah I'll probably get flak for this but...I cast indoors.
READ: CAST...Not smelt.

All smelting is done outside for what should be obvious reasons. Clean lead is then used in my bottom pour which I don't flux (never needed to) & thats done in the air conditioned back room of our house.
I also don't cast daily. Maybe once or twice every 4-6 months as needed.

But ya know what?
I don't use those sanitizer wipes for grocery carts the store offers.
I eat bacon.
I use real butter.
I take 4-5 advil instead of the recommended 2.

Yeah. I live on the edge ;)

[bangerjim]

I NEVER cast or re-melt inside. No matter how hot is it here in AZ. I "do it" in the shade of a huge tree with my evap cooler blowing nice cool air at me.

Too much garbage to ever do it inside.

[GhostHawk]

I cast indoors with a small lee dipper pot all the time. I really don't worry about venting that pot much. Temps don't get that hot, and I'm always remelting sprue cut offs or adding an ingot to keep it cool. Pretty much just me and the dog in my casting room.

Now I smelt on the kitchen stove, for that I won't do it unless it is cool enough that I can open the house, couple fans blowing to keep the smoke down. Helps cut down on the fumes. But with fluxing and melting there is more smoke than just casting from clean ingots.

I do about 2-3 casting sessions a year. Did one this week, melted down what feels like a 40 lb block of some unknown mixture.
But it scratch's like lead, cast ingots like lead, I'd guess by the looks of it in the pan that it is likely wheel weights or a mix.

But with some tin I recently bought here it makes DANG pretty shiny .223 55 gr bator bullets.

52 ingots, weight runs from 10 oz to 1lb each. Should last me a while.

[varmint243]

This setup works for me

http://home.comcast.net/~varmint243/pwpimages/casting-setup.jpg

[dtknowles]

I have always cast indoors and did not use a fan until about 10 years ago. I like the smell of wood smoke, I use wood chips for flux. I have breathed the smoke of wood fires often but maybe it will kill me some day, who knows. I don't cast a lot and I use mostly clean alloy that needs no smelting.

Tim

[michaelcopeland2]

Just wondering because I work in the foundry and we had a lead hit yesterday buy it was 50 tons not 20 lb and all the metallurgist was telling me that I should not be doing it inside and I'm like why I have fans blowing I have a door open

[Vann]

I smelt outside, but do all my casting in my purpose built reloading shop/gun room. I usually open the windows and doors and have a fan blowing behind me. When I remodel my shop I'm going to add a vent a hood over my casting table.

I always hear people saying how bad casting is supposed to be but from my understanding lead doesn't let off any vapers until it reaches it's boiling point. At least that's what I heard. As a kid I remember my dad casting over a stove, and I know my father in law did the same for at least 30 years.

[dragonrider]

I cast indoors in my garage shop in the summer with the AC on, in the winter with the wood stove burning. Don't know why anyone makes a big deal out of casting indoors, there is no reason not to. Don't know what the smell is you mention, hot lead has no smell that I have been able to detect. Smelting of course is done outside, all fluxing is done while smelting hence there is no reason to flux when casting, so no smoke in the shop.

[michaelcopeland2]

I cast indoors in my garage shop in the summer with the AC on, in the winter with the wood stove burning. Don't know why anyone makes a big deal out of casting indoors, there is no reason not to. Don't know what the smell is you mention, hot lead has no smell that I have been able to detect. Smelting of course is done outside, all fluxing is done while smelting hence there is no reason to flux when casting, so no smoke in the shop.
At 2000 degrees it let's off a gas

[tazman]

At 2000 degrees it let's off a gas

Yes it does.
I worked in the heat treating dept at my factory for over 40 years. We used heated lead(1500F) as a heat treat medium. I was within arms reach of that lead most of the day.
We had hoods over the top with blowers sucking out the air as well as large fans blowing air at us from the back and sides. The surface of the lead was covered with a combination of charcoal and melted salts(definitely not table salt) to keep the lead from oxidizing as much as possible.
The biggest problem we had was getting water drops from the nearby(2 feet)quench tank splashed into the lead. I was well acquainted with the tinsel fairy although we used another name for her.
We were tested every year for blood lead content. During that entire time I never tested higher than about 7-8 ppm and usually around 4-5 which is well below the safety levels.
The people who got in trouble at our shop for blood lead content were smokers or would eat in the department without washing their hands first. Basic safety precautions are simple and work well.
Other than the nasty smell, there is little in the way of lead fumes coming from a 700-800 degree lead pot. The dust from handling the lead and the scrapings from the top of the pot pose a greater danger than the fumes. Just a little air flow will remove the fumes.

[BNE]

I built a "hood" over mine and duct it to a small squirrel cage fan that blows the fumes out of the garage. The hose and the vent itself are 4" clothes drier. I don't know the CFM of the fan but it will suck the flames up the pipe if I put too much wax in the pot. This works well for casting.

All that being said, I smelt outside and I will open the garage door when it is not hot out.

[Teddy (punchie)]

From what I understand some have already touch on this. Only ways you can get lead into your body is eating it, breathing if boiling ( vapors), or from fine dust ( breathing).

I use fans.

I forgot the one about lead poisoning that the deadliest, being shot.

[Boolseye]

I cast by an open door in my basement, which opens out onto my driveway.
Work bench is right next to the door. I clean up with TSP, I use a piece of plywood on the bench
and in the winter I keep my molds on the woodstove right behind me.

[Dusty Bannister]

My options are limited and I cast in an unheated wood constructed shed. That way there is little chance of condensation on a metal roof dripping in the hot melt. I do have one substantial improvement over just casting inside a crude structure in that I use a casting cabinet. It is about 2 ft wide, about 1 ft deep and perhaps 4 ft tall. I had a piece of scrap plexi-glass on the back of the cabinet so there is sufficient light to see what I am doing. The sides are thin wall paneling and a plywood top. The front is open with a small extended lip on the top front that may or may not help contain any smoke or fumes when fluxing. I placed a piece of plywood on the table saw, the cabinet on the wood, and installed a strong pedistal to hold the various casting furnaces so the nozzle is about elbow height as I cast standing. I installed an exhaust fan in the top (heat rises) and it is ducted via flex aluminum duct under the eves and out the side wall. The exhaust is on the east side of the shed, on the downwind side of the shed as our prevailing winds are generally SW or NW. The exhaust fan is probably one step up from the bathroom fan, and a bit noisy, which helps me to remember to shut the thing off after the pot cools down. The side of the cabinet allows for easy mounting and monitoring of the PID for pot control. The probe can be slipped into a bracket on any of my casting pots and is removed from the melt when a casting session is done while the melt is still liquid.

Since the shed is unheated, I find that when the ambient temp gets down to 40 degrees, the quality of the castings suffer. When the temps in the shed get too hot and humid I suffer. So this arrangement is not for year round, but it does extend the casting seasons throughout the year. This arrangement allows for me to have adequate air exhange in the cabinet for safety, yet does not require that I suck the air out of the entire shed to maintain clean air during a session. That can be helpful in the cold season.

This is the way that I do it, and everyone is responsible for their own safety practices, just as we are all responsible for our reloading and gun handling practices. I enjoy my hobby and want to be able to safely do it for as long as possible. Good luck and stay safe. Dusty

[Kraschenbirn]

When I built the workshop onto my garage, I installed a 20", industrial-type exhaust fan at one end to eliminate smoke, fumes, etc. from the welding bench. Fan is a considerable overkill for the small amount of smoke/fumes from my 20-lb bottom pour so I've never really considered the interior air quality an issue. Prior to building my current shop space, I cast in my basement with the pot underneath a range hood that I'd 'upgraded' by replacing the original rinky-dink fan with a unit from an old-fashioned mainframe computer cabinet vented through a window opening.

Bill

[bob208]

I cast in doors no special fans or filters do it in the winter most of the time. I used to smelt in the basement. did it in the coal furnace that I used to heat the house. all the fumes went up the chimney.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I cast inside the house, 2nd floor, in a room that use to be the kitchen of the upstairs apartment. My bench is next to a window, and I have a fan that I run when I want to cool a mold, but I don't run it all the time. I never flux in the casting pot, in fact I always spoon on a 1/2" layer of dross on the top of the melt, right before I start casting, it insulates the melt and holds the temperature more consistent. No smells.

[HABCAN]

dragonrider's post #11................+1.
I smelt only out in the open-door garage in the Spring as soon as local temps hit 20*F, then cast all year only indoors in the 'gun room', and if fluxing (very seldom) needed, open the window and any smoke sucks right out. No fans. No filters. Been smelting/casting like that on and off for over seventy years and no ill effects. (Started with lead soldiers as a CHILD.) Never had a visit from the Tinsel Fairy. Maybe being properly scared to death of molten lead has something to do with it.

[gwpercle]

The real danger comes from spilling lead on the formica counter top or vinyl floor....wife gets upset !

[RKJ]

Yeah I'll probably get flak for this but...I cast indoors.
READ: CAST...Not smelt.

All smelting is done outside for what should be obvious reasons. Clean lead is then used in my bottom pour which I don't flux (never needed to) & thats done in the air conditioned back room of our house.
I also don't cast daily. Maybe once or twice every 4-6 months as needed.

But ya know what?
I don't use those sanitizer wipes for grocery carts the store offers.
I eat bacon.
I use real butter.
I take 4-5 advil instead of the recommended 2.

Yeah. I live on the edge ;)

My God Man! Stop the madness. :)

I cast in my basement garage and have the door open most of the time and a small fan blowing.

[Frank V]

I have cast indoors & would open a window, but moved outside under the carport.
Now I have a garage & cast in the garage. I open the big car door, & the door in the back of the garage. Usually there will be enough air movement to pull the smoke out the smaller door in the back. I adjust airflow by how high I open the big door.

[Yodogsandman]

I smelt outside on a good day. I cast inside my closed barn, mostly. When I flux or reduce inside, I leave for a little bit and let it clear out before going back. I thought I needed a fan for a while but, my blood levels were real low (<3).

I did have slightly elevated lead blood levels (<10) for about a year that I traced back to gathering range scrap. I screened the bullets from the sand, shaking vigorously and then dumped them in a bucket. This put lead oxide dust in the air which I must have ingested by breathing it in.

[michaelcopeland2]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/25/695c16ff5fad779a8c6f0736521bbfee.jpg I got it

[groundsclown]

So I see I'm like most here & cast indoors. No special fans or ducts. All done in the FL room (those from FL or the south know what that is) which is also my reloading/computer room.
Again I don't flux, no need to & the only smells I get are from the 2 cycle oil I use on the sprue plate...applied with a bare finger!! But then I pump my own gas like a man ;)

I'm not suggesting everyone throw caution to the wind. Quite the opposite. Do what YOU feel comfortable doing...or what your spouse feels comfortable with.
Personally I'm more concerned with the dust from emptying my tumbler...And even then I dump it into a separator & churn away without a mask. I do wash up often though when casting/reloading etc.

[glicerin]

X2 BNE: suck the fumes from top of lee pot thru a small hood to outside. Mostly for flux fumes( wax may eventually choke the fan), and dusty oxides from the lead surface.

[Boolseye]

I did have slightly elevated lead blood levels (<10) for about a year that I traced back to gathering range scrap. I screened the bullets from the sand, shaking vigorously and then dumped them in a bucket. This put lead oxide dust in the air which I must have ingested by breathing it in.
Same here. I was at 16 a couple years ago, don't know where its at now.

[toallmy]

Just been casting for about 6 months in the basement with a lee 20 . Much better than the barn with my smoking gas burner it almost choked me first time out . I melt up my lead and clean it up outside . I flux with beeswax in the house .I am going to get the doc to check my lead level next trip to office,but I am more concerned about handling the lead I am a hevie smoker.that's what is going to get me.

[Ola]

This video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzrXKT8KWj4) gave me the idea. Because there isn't a suitable hole nearby in any of the walls of my reloading room, I couldn't do it the same way. So I included a flexible duct pipe. The other end is attached to the fan, and other end is above the pot. It sucks the fumes right out.

Just in case someone gets interested:

-a computer fan (had to buy it because didn't have one big enough. used, 2 dollars)
-a used transformer (actually a charger from a battery operated drill. Free)
-a flexible duct pipe (hardware store, about 12 dollars)
-some duct tape

[Swede 45]

I do pretty much all my casting and melting indoors at work.. (Isn´t it great to be able to do private stuff on pay time? :razz: )
I have a hooded outlet fan above my workbench that extracts 860 liters of air / second.. (Aprox 30 cubic feet/sec ?)

At home I cast in my garage when needed.. got my bench along the outer wall..got a old kitchen fan mounted above the pot with ventexhaust outside..
And that fan has a worklight that gives good lighting of the pot too ..

[varmint243]

My lab tests are back
It seems my lead level is elevated
I salvage range scrap, cast, reload, and shoot.
I smelt outdoors and cast at the edge of my garage with the big box fan blowing out the door.
I believed I was being appropriately careful, apparently not careful enough
Others should take note
There is no substitute for actual testing/test results


================================================== =======================
Lab Test: Lead
Lab Type: Chemistry/Hematology
Ordering Provider: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ordering Location: MARTINSBURG VAMC
Specimen: Blood (substance)
Date/Time Collected: 21 Aug 2015 @ 1402
Collected Location: MARTINSBURG VAMC
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Test Name: LEAD
Result: 18 High
Units: mcg/dl
Reference Range: (0-10)
Interpretation: --
Performing Location: MARTINSBURG VAMC 510 BUTLER AVENUE , MARTINSBURG, WV
25405-9990
Status: Final
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments: Testing performed at Quest Laboratories, Chantilly, VA.
================================================== =======================

[Texantothecore]

I cast on a rolling cart from hf. Just roll it onto the driveway and cast away. I also use a shop fan. It works for me.

[white eagle]

Lab results are not a worry at least long term
had the same tests done mine was elevated as well
however I had just recently worked around lead
after I stopped it went down,confirmed by retest
I cast in a semi open area in a garage with the door open
never enclosed might be at more risk of contamination in a totally
enclosed space.....food for thought [smilie=s:

[jmorris]

I cast in my shop and the smell is just too strong...

What is the smell? I smelt outside as there is stuff burning out of the pile of scrap but when I re melt the ingots and cast there is no smoke or smell.

[trapper9260]

I cast indoors but smelt out side.I set up usen the chimmy that can not be use for wood stove or furnace anymore because of the shape it is in.So I got a bathroom fan from Menards and then made a hood and put AL flashing on the bench also a small light and the fan sucks the fumes so much that it draws all the heat out of the house and then put a board over it with holes drill in it to control how much heat would be draw out.Have no problems.

[Cherokee]

Melt and flux and clean my alloy outside, pour igots for casting later. All casting is done inside in A/C basement, no special vent arrangemens. Been doing that since 1968.

[robertsm53]

Flux outside, and cast on a bench with window fan in front of me sucking from behind me and blowing directly out the open window

[porthos]

I cast indoors . I made a alumimum frame out of aluminum 1x1 angle. it sets around my furnace . above the furnace is mounted a small fan (I think that they are called computer or instrument fans) on top of the frame a funneled hood is above the fan, connected to the hood is a several foot section of flexable 3 inch duct work such as used for cloths dryers. I have glass block windows in my basement. the windows have a 2 block section that is a screen. it vents the fumes outside. I think that it works well.

[srd]

Just like groundsclown..I smelt outside and cast inside . My loading and casting is done in my basement loading room. No fans..special duct work or open windows. After 40 years of dong it this way why change what works. I guess my only question is...What smoke and smell from casting bullets ? Must be after 40 years of living dangerously has ruined my sense of smell and eye sight.

[Frank V]

Just like groundsclown..I smelt outside and cast inside . My loading and casting is done in my basement loading room. No fans..special duct work or open windows. After 40 years of dong it this way why change what works. I guess my only question is...What smoke and smell from casting bullets ? Must be after 40 years of living dangerously has ruined my sense of smell and eye sight.


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