best pouring weather

[akriverrat]

what do you guys consider the best pouring weather? ive poured lead during the winter below freezing and didnt have any problems.

[Calamity Jake]

I get my best boolets when it is cool/cold and raining.

[Shiloh]

You can pour anytime.

For me standing on an upper midwest frozen garage floor no higher than single digits is no fun. I've done it though with the water quench bucket icing over. Same with mid summer in 90 degree heat and humidity with sweat pouring of you.

Now if one pours inside....

Shiloh

[felix]

Condensing atmosphere. ... felix

[The Dove]

Any time it's too krappy to shoot!

The Dove

[sundog]

What Jake and Felix said. I mentioned this many times here on the board. My very best casting days are cool and wet/rainy. Extremely high quality boolits. Like Dove said, when it's too crappy to shoot.

Actually a day sorta like when you get absolutely soaked out quail hunting and it hasn't really rained, but it's been cool and overcast, and maybe a little misty or drizzly. A day when you come in from the field and a shot (2 or 3 even) of your favorite adult beverage, neat, warms all of the way to your soul...

But, if it's not like that, any time will do, as long as beads of sweat are not sizzling off the melt.

[mainiac]

I do most of my casting in the winter. I limit it to above zero though. My hands stay warm but my feet get cold standing in below zero temp. When i water-drop my boolits, i shovel in a half pail of snow in the bucket as a cushion. See, there is a use for the white stuff!

[GSM]

Cool with a bit of humidity - things just seem to go well.

[runfiverun]

i like a high humidity situation.
i have a humidifier for the winter and an evaporative cooler for the summer,
that i keep in the casting room.

[Tom Herman]

I don't have the luxury of a covered place to cast, so I have to do it without it raining (or at least not raining hard).
Hot weather sucks, as the molds have to rest a lot.
Very cold weather isn't much fun, either....

"A bad day casting beats a good day at work"

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[montana_charlie]

The most efficient cure for cold feet is a warm hat.

But, if chilled concrete sucks the heat from your feet...and you don't want to carpet the garage...flatten a throw-away cardboard box for a 'mat' to stand on.
It's a pretty good insulator; lasts a surprisingly long time; catches a lot of those 'spatters' that can't be peeled from concrete; and might save the day if you drop something fragile.

Being in a garage turns 'weather' into a minor factor, but it can be cold. One of those red 'infrared heat bulbs' sold for keeping newborn chicks warm can be mounted in a clamp-on bulb holder. Clamped to a rafter above you or some other likely support, it can keep you nice and toasty (or at least thinking you are). At 150 watts, it doesn't burn much juice, and it only heats 'you'...not the whole environment.
Adjust your comfort level by standing closer to the bulb...and conversely.

Given a shelter that provides a roof and wind elimination, the only time weather is a real factor is when you need to get into the realm of the true 'afficionado of molten lead'.
I'm speaking of conditions that include harvest moons, thongs, and eye of newt.
But, that is only for those special projects when 'average conditions' just don't hack the program.

CM

[bbs70]

I'm laid off for the winter.
So I'm casting all the Boolits I can while its cold, I don't like the idea of sweat dripping off my noggin with the heat and humiditty here in the summer.
I must admit, I cheat a little, I have a portable heater in my garage and it makes a big difference.
Nice being comfortable while doing something you enjoy.

But I smelt for ingots outside over a patio wood burner because of the lead smoke, man it can get cold fast when the wind kicks up.
But lately the temp has been in the mid 40s and 50s, crazy for this time of the year, but I'm not complaining.
So, this being the first day of 09 and mid 40s today and 55 sat, I'm going out and do some smelting.
Figure I might as well start the new year off right:-D

[Sprue]

Casting boolits.... anytime that I take a notion or get a new mold.
Melting WW's...... when I accumulate enough ww's and skies are clear w/temps 12-33 ° C

[mooman76]

I usually don't cast outside any more so the weather isn't a factor except summer. I cast in the garage and it's too hot for that for me. Outside I like to cast when it's comfortable to be out there without a coat so I'm thinking mid 60's to the 80's.

[mainiac]

The most efficient cure for cold feet is a warm hat.

But, if chilled concrete sucks the heat from your feet...and you don't want to carpet the garage...flatten a throw-away cardboard box for a 'mat' to stand on.
It's a pretty good insulator; lasts a surprisingly long time; catches a lot of those 'spatters' that can't be peeled from concrete; and might save the day if you drop something fragile.

Being in a garage turns 'weather' into a minor factor, but it can be cold. One of those red 'infrared heat bulbs' sold for keeping newborn chicks warm can be mounted in a clamp-on bulb holder. Clamped to a rafter above you or some other likely support, it can keep you nice and toasty (or at least thinking you are). At 150 watts, it doesn't burn much juice, and it only heats 'you'...not the whole environment.
Adjust your comfort level by standing closer to the bulb...and conversely.

Given a shelter that provides a roof and wind elimination, the only time weather is a real factor is when you need to get into the realm of the true 'afficionado of molten lead'.
I'm speaking of conditions that include harvest moons, thongs, and eye of newt.
But, that is only for those special projects when 'average conditions' just don't hack the program.

CM

My other BIG problem is that below zero my beer freezes!

[mooman76]

My other BIG problem is that below zero my beer freezes!

That's an easy fix. Drink faster.[smilie=w:

[montana_charlie]

My other BIG problem is that below zero my beer freezes!
Drink coffe, tea, or hot chocolate. Beer just numbs your brain...which can be a handicap around guns, motorcycles, and molten lead.
CM

[FISH4BUGS]

.....anytime the propane heater will bring it above 45 or so that you can cast easily and well. Some of my most relaxing days have been this winter when it is howling snow in blizzard conditions, and just go out and fire up the heater and about an hour later you are good to go.
The shed is attached to the house but it is not heated. I have cast in the heat of summer and sweating around a pot full of hot lead makes me nervous.
In my opinion, anytime you can can comfortably cast is fine. I don't think ambient temp has any effect on the activity except for the human impact.

[Bret4207]

Gotta agree with Charlie, beer and casting, or anything to do with guns and machinery, is bad news in my book. I can get hurt easy enough stone cold sober, I don't need any "lube" to grease the skids for that!

I was out in my gun shop/milk room yesterday. Turned on the Kerosun heater and it was very comfortable even at 4 F outside. My floor is concrete too and I was thinking of putting down 1" styrofoam with 3/4" plywood flooring over that. It'd make a nice comfy floor I think.

I cast whenever I get time, which hasn't been often. Hopefully I'll be doing more of it soon!

[eka]

Mainiac,

You may be the first fellow to need a beer warmer. :D

[zampilot]

Ditto Shiloh and Mooman.
It started out 13 below today.