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Johnch
12-17-2005, 09:52 PM
I messed up tonight , boy did I ever !

I normaly bring in lead 2 or 3 days before I am going to cast and put it on the back of the work bench to dry out and warm up . ( 12 out side and 12" of snow )

But tonight I got the bug to cast .
So I broght in 50 lb of WW + 1% tin in ingots .
I loaded the 20 lb Lee pot and got 2/3 of a pot up to temp .
I had to use the bathroom so I sat 3 ingots on the rim like normal to dry and warm.
I thought I only brought in dry ingots !!

As I left ( a small room in the basement ) I must have slamed the door or something .
One of the ingots must have been wet or had a chunck of ice on it and it fell in
Because I heard a HISS and then pops , then all hell broke loose .

After all the noise stoped I went back in .
The 2/3 full pot was almost empty .
I now have lead on everything , walls , floor ,bench, tools and even the ceiling . [smilie=b:

I have the pot inside a exaust hood of sorts , but the door was open .
Because I planed to load up the cast iron pot on the hot plate , when I got back .

I am glad I was out of the room .

All I can say is be carefull if you set ingots on the rim like I used to do ( last time was tonight )



Johnch

versifier
12-18-2005, 12:51 AM
I bet it was condensation. When you brought them inside, the cold ingot pulled water vapor out of the warm air and it condensed on the ingot's surface. Just like when the toilet fills with cold water in the summer and the tank starts dripping on the floor, or when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass and it starts raining. You'd never notice it if they'd been sitting there for a few days.
Just so you don't feel like the only idiot around, I'll move over and make some room for you on the bench. [smilie=1: The tinsel fairy has decorated my shop before, and also me a couple months ago. I was smelting down some scrap lino from an old print shop and was adding it out of the bucket, trying to save time instead of looking the chunks over first. One of them had water in one of the hollows. KABOOM!!! I figure about five pounds altogether got launched. One big blop hit my glasses smack in the middle of the right lens while another burned the bejeezus out of my trigger finger. My hat, apron, shirt, jeans, and boots all got thoroughly decorated, too. Cheap lesson, I figure.... it does get all nice and sparkley now with the Xmas lights! :roll:

9.3X62AL
12-18-2005, 02:05 AM
A couple reminders to all of us to stay safe when handling the Silver Stream receptacles and their contents. Thanks for sharing these, gentlemen.

Buckshot
12-18-2005, 04:59 AM
...........Versifier, "The tinsel fairy has decorated my shop before,..."

You're killing me![smilie=l:

You bet, make sure you don't invite the Tinsel Fairy! I've had a pot go boom, I've had a unsupervised pot empty it's contents all over a linoleum floor as the contents melted, and I've had a half full pot slide off the shelf and hit the floor.

http://www.fototime.com/EB8491CA90B0461/standard.jpg
This is my casting setup. The pot is now screwed to the wooden base. Previously it was not. The wood it sets on is sloped down and that piece of 1/8" galvanised steel (wind break, as I also cast with the garage door open) just leaned against the back of the pot. Brainy, eh?

The neighbor kid was over one day watching me, and standing a couple feet to my right. I guess there was about a half pot of lead remaining. I'd turned to my left for something on the reloading bench and I heard this sliding sound. The neighbor kid hollered, "HEY!". Just as I turned to look I saw the pot slide over the edge and tip. It was light enough so that piece of steel pushed it along to the edge.

In that 1/2 nanosecond (you know how fast thoughts go through your head?) I assembled a half dozen possible scenario's of what I might do. I wasn't wearing any gloves so they were all discarded. I just knew when it hit the floor lead was gonna fly :D All I could think to do was take a step back and turn away from it.

Crash, it hit the floor and could feel a splatter on the back of my pant legs, and the kid exclaim. No problem for me. I have tennis shoes with lead spots, and several T shirts thus adorned (by the Tinsel Fariey :-) ) so now I would have some pants to match. The neighbor kid was wearing some nylon type warmup sports pants. My cotton Wranglers stood the heat a WHOLE lot better then his 8). After he peeled the lead splatters off it looked like woodpeckers had been after it!

The Lee pot is tough, as it is still doing it's thing.

.................Buckshot

1Shirt
12-18-2005, 10:19 AM
I can equate with Versifier and the splatter on the glasses (both lens). Mine happened close to 35 years ago when I had no money, only two rifles, one mould (sing.Cav.311284), a big cast iron frying pan, and a gas three burner in the basement. Had the pan about half full of ww's probably about 15lb, and had my ingots sitting on the cold floor. It was about 20 degrees outside in Kansas in Jan, and the only heat in the basement was from the three burner, and the floor was cold. I had good warm clothes on including a turtle neck, I added about three ingots from straight off the floor, and my pan blew. Hell of a mess to clean up, went about 3ft. high above the pan on the wall, all over the front of me, but fortunately, only small splatters on my face. It was the glasses however that got my attention most, as the right lens had one splatter on it about the size of a dime. That would have cost me an eye for sure. Rapid condensation did a job on my pan full and me. Have not made the same mistake again, and hope to be smart enough to not ever have it happen again. I heard about a guy who got a quantity of greasy ww's, and washed them in soapy water to get some of the grease off. He was ok when he put the (what he thought were dry)ww's in a cold Lyman pot ant turned it on, as the heat burned off the moisture in steam as it was heating up. However when it was molton, he added a fistfull of the still moist ww's, and got splattered big time. Was wearing only a tee shirt and shorts and shower clogs. Was told that was his last time to venture into the casting arena.
Like the old Pa. Dutch saying "Ve get to soon old, and to soon smart".
1Shirt :coffee:

yammerschooner
12-18-2005, 11:49 AM
I have been lucky enough to avoid the tinsel fairy.

Per suggestions I received in another thread about a month ago, last week I picked up one of those waffle makers to use as a hotplate. The waffle pattern plate can be turned over to make a flat skillet surface. I haven't tried it yet, but now that you have brought the condensation thing to my attention, I am really glad I will have it next time.

Knowing my luck it will get too hot and melt my ingots on the warming pan while I am not paying attention.

Bent Ramrod
12-18-2005, 01:09 PM
Two other sources of unwanted excitement at the lead pot:

I scrounge a lot of .45 hardball from a disused pistol range, finding the alloy very consistent for pistol and low-velocity rifle bullets, and worth the trouble of salvaging. Getting the lead out of the jackets is a chore, though, and complicated by the fact that the lead can melt (and expand) in the nose of the jacket while still solid in the open base. A little more heat, and a fine stream of lead spurts out under pressure, with the usual surprising ranging ability and burn potential that only a high sectional-density, high heat-capacity material like lead can induce. Kind of like sticking your spoon into your morning grapefruit; the spurt aims for your face no matter where you are.

I also came upon a sure-fire way to get attached oxides and lead occlusions off my casting ladle at the end of a session. Just fish the accumulated bullets out of the water quench and plunge the hot ladle in. Most all the grunge is shed in one big "whoosh." However, days or weeks later, when that cast-iron ladle appears bone dry, a similar "whoosh" will occur if it is plunged into molten lead.

I'm blind as a bat without my glasses, but never have been tempted to replace them with contacts. With my peculiar variety of interests, I've been very glad over the years that those shields are in front of my eyes.

versifier
12-18-2005, 01:50 PM
I have to fess up and give credit where credit is due: my daughter announced to the family "Guess what? The Tinsel Fairy came to daddy's shop last night and it's sooo pretty! She even decorated his clothes, too! Everybody come and see!" [smilie=1: :-D

NVcurmudgeon
12-18-2005, 03:03 PM
I've told this story before, but we have a lot of new members, so here goes. A friend of mine was temporarily without shop space, so I let him set up his press on the end of my casting bench. Friend John was incredibly sloppy with primers, both live and used. I growled, but to no avail. One day, while ingotizing carefully sun-dried, then stored inside, WW, there was an explosion that set a new altitude record in my shop, reaching a high garage ceiling. Oddly, nearly all the blast went straight up. The bucket I was smelting out of was under the bench, near John's press. I then went through the bucket with a fine tooth comb and found a live small pistol primer stuck in a WW clip, and several used primers in the bucket. I moved the bucket. John is a very close friend, and one I owe a lot to. Besides that he has since moved to Montana.

PatMarlin
12-22-2005, 03:09 PM
About Glasses,

I'm wondering if the glasses I have provide any protection? They are new, not safety rated far as I can tell, but they are big, granpa kind of glasses :mrgreen: . The only time I use them is while casting and reloading, and don't seem to need them for reading much lately.

Maybe I should stop that.

C1PNR
12-22-2005, 04:59 PM
One thing I've been doing the last several years is getting all my lenses in polycarbonate. I even had one "office" set made with the oversized lenses.

The extra cost is worth it in knowing that whatever pair I put on, I can safely shoot, load, grind metal, etc. I usually use the 1.50 "Safety" glasses for grinding, etc., but sometimes don't have them handy so the regular glasses substitute.

I think I mentioned the remodel of the outside of the house finally removed the last traces of the visit of the Tinsel Fairy to my driveway a few years ago.8-)

versifier
12-22-2005, 07:23 PM
Pat, as I understand it, polycarbonate's forte is impact resistance. While certainly it's the very best choice for shooting and for working around power tools, as far as protecting your eyes just from lead splashes I would think almost anything would do the job. The important thing I think is to have SOMETHING between one's eyes and the lead pot, and I would use whatever I had rather than go without. As many of us do lots of other things in the shop, too, it only makes sense to go with polycarbonate lenses. 8-)
Before I needed to wear glasses all the time (now I'm on bicyclefocals) I used to have a pair of goggles or clear wraparounds hanging on or near every power tool (also ear protection) in the woodshop I shared with my dad and brother so there'd always be a pair handy and there'd be no excuse for not wearing them. Dad likes glass lenses, so most of them are still there and in regular use by him and my nephew. :D

The Nyack Kid
12-22-2005, 08:35 PM
i thank God that i have not been visited (yet) by "the Tinsel Fairy" .however her little sister "the Splater Pixie" is a regular around my pot.

David R
12-22-2005, 09:20 PM
I was smelting some old plumbing. I saved all the joints to keep for the solder. I put them in then fire up the pot. I put an old bathroom sink faucet with the pipe soldered to it. I dopped in the hot pot and the lead pumped out the spout like a percolator. Luckly I dropped it pointing away from me. My only mishap so far....My stone driveway has silver sparkles.

David

Haywire Haywood
12-22-2005, 10:21 PM
I have an unused toaster oven on my bench, I preheat my molds and ingots in there with it set to 400ish. Works out well, altho the wire shelf in there objects to the weight of the ingots.

Ian

wills
12-23-2005, 01:29 AM
About Glasses,

I'm wondering if the glasses I have provide any protection? They are new, not safety rated far as I can tell, but they are big, granpa kind of glasses :mrgreen: . The only time I use them is while casting and reloading, and don't seem to need them for reading much lately.

Maybe I should stop that.

I may be wrong but I think all perscription glasses are impact resistant now. Check with your optometrist.

3584ELK
12-23-2005, 11:50 AM
I liken this to the aviation saying of: There are those who have and those will...land with the gear up! I have been in an aircraft landing with the gear up and it is a very sad and sickening sound, not to mention LOUD!

But I digress. I made a few pacts with my spousal unit when I took up casting recently:
1) I will always wear safety glasses and my denim apron when casting ofr melting WW's
2) I will always wear the respirator with carbon filters when casting or melting WW's

All that being said, I put my little pot on a bookshelf with plenty of light nearby, but no books or other flammables. I have an oak block to set my drossing spoon, hot moulds, and dross on until it cools.

Despite all the precautions:

I had a dry (or so I thought) ingot call the Tinsel Fairy to my shop just last week. I always drop ingots in at arms length and quickly move at least 10 feet away. It paid off because SOMETHING made a nice little explosion. I now have a nicely decorated casting area! The bookshelf did an amazing job of containing the spray, due to the sides and small area.

I am MUCH more careful when I am smelting ingots outside, digging through the WW crap and waste. Its interesting what those kids will throw in a wheelweight bucket!

versifier
12-23-2005, 12:24 PM
I took to plunking an empty bean can on top of the melter immediately after adding an ingot, just in case anything wants to spit back at me. I now hold it above, between me and the pot when I'm loading it for smelting ww's or lino and plunk the can on top as they melt. If the tinsel fairy comes back with any enthusiasm, I'll probably get beaned with the bean can in addition to additional decoration, but it gives a little peace to what remains of my mind. :grin:

grumble
12-23-2005, 01:10 PM
Speaking of aviation sayings, my favorite is, "The three most useless things in the world are runway behind you, altitude above you, and potential airspeed."

Not real sure how to adapt that to the current conversation except to say that an untinseled smelter is an unused smelter, and certainly not very useful.

Maven
12-23-2005, 02:11 PM
The "tinsel fairy" has visited me or at least tried to on several occasions, but said visits taught me to always wear a full-face shield. These are inexpensive compared to your eyes,easily replaceable and available at your favorite hardware store.

3584ELK
12-23-2005, 02:27 PM
Speaking of aviation sayings, my favorite is, "The three most useless things in the world are runway behind you, altitude above you, and potential airspeed."

Not real sure how to adapt that to the current conversation except to say that an untinseled smelter is an unused smelter, and certainly not very useful.

or...The three most useless things in the world are runway behind you, altitude above you, and fuel in the truck."