Casting inside garage?

[Jal5]

I don't think I ever saw anyone mention where they do the boolit casting indoors or outside? Obviously the smelting should be done outside.

I have a garage that is part of the basement of our house, right above is the family room-dining room, etc. Our furnace does draw air from the garage so paint fumes and the like unfortunately go through the house. In this case, should I cast inside or not? I could crack the garage door a couple of inches at the bottom.


Joe

[gunsablazin]

I cast in my basement, right next to the garage door, which is opened all the way. I also use a fan to help pull the flux smoke outside. I plan to cast boolits as long as I can get free/cheap lead, so I like to limit exposure as much as possible.

[MakeMineA10mm]

I'd do a lot more than crack the bottom of the door. I learned to cast in my mentor's basement, which was below the living rom, but we had restrictions of only casting when mom wasn't home...

With drawing air in like that, you either need a new air return system (never a good idea to draw in garage air -- don't know that'd pass inspection in my city), or at least set something up where you can shut off the air return.

[waksupi]

I do my casting inside, no extra ventilation. I keep my lead below the boiling point.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have been casting on my kitchen table for years. Convenient to the fridge and john. I put a couple of layers of newspaper on the table and floor to catch the ones that get frisky and cast until I wear our or I run out of alloy.

I flux with CFF from Pat Marlin and I love the smell. Of course I smelt outdoors and make sure the wind is blowing away from me.

[beagle]

I've cast in a similar situation for years and only experienced difficulties when melting down WWs. I eventually did that with the garage doors up and all was well.

I had no problems with regular casting using regular ingots./beagle

[Trey45]

I cast in my garage, sometimes I open a door, other times i don't. I'm of the waksupi mindset, if I don't boil the lead, I have nothing to worry about.

[357shooter]

I do my casting inside, no extra ventilation. I keep my lead below the boiling point.
+1, cast in the garage all the time with the doors shut.

[zxcvbob]

I cast and smelt in my garage. (Cast with the doors and windows closed, smelt with them open.) My bll is a little elevated*, so I've giving up smelting for a while and taking Vitamin C tablets. Will do the smelting outside from now on once I start again. (also need to move my brass tumbler out of the basement) All my scrap lead has been rendered into ingots, and I have hundreds of pounds of 'em, so I don't really need to smelt anything until next year.

*bll was 17 point something, which isn't really bad, but it was going the wrong direction so I'm being more careful now.

[Doc Highwall]

If you have two windows in your garage you could set your casting area next to one and remove a pane and replace it with a piece of plywood and use a dryer duct for exhaust and make an inlet at the other window or just crack the garage door open. That way the air flow will go away from you, just make sure the out side wind currants do not bring it back into the garage. If you have clean lead ingots and use something like wood chips for flux you will have no problem. Most of the bad smells and nasty things from wheel weights comes from the road oils and asbestos from your breaks. Washing them outside and letting them dry before melting them into ingots solves 99% of the problem. I believe unless you boil the lead you cannot get lead poisoning. The most likely way for you to contaminate your self is by touching the lead with your hands and then eating food or touching you eyes or nose without washing your hands first. You could use some of the ceder bedding for pets as a flux and you will have a nice ceder smell in the garage.

[dakotashooter2]

I have an oven hood over my pot. Most hoods are a recirculating type so I cut a hole above the fan and installed a duct sleeve. Then I duct it out through the wall. Mostly to keep the smells of fluxing out of the garage.

[GARCIA]

Got my little place in the garage. Momma does not like it being done with the garage door shut. So to keep her happy and me out of the dog house the garage door stays wide open. All smelting is done outside.

Tom

[Larry Gibson]

I smelt out doors because of the smoke and oders and cast inside the garage. My cast set up is by the back garage door (regular door that leads directly to the back yard). In the summer when it is warm I open one of the main garage doors and the back door. A small fan then is aimed across the top of the Lyman Mag 20 furnace, or the propane burner with pot on it if I am ladle pouring, out the back door. When winter or when cooler I just open the back door when fluxing and turn the small fan on. All the smelly fumes are hustled out the door. When the smoke clears I shut the door. Works for me.

Larry Gibson

[leadman]

I made a "casting closet" for my garage as my bbl was high. I like to stand when casting so made 3 walls with a bench inside. There is a 20" box fan in the wall opposite where I stand. This draws the fumes away from me and out the open door. The breezes coming in the garage used to blow the fumes back over me before I made this setup.
The bench top has a molding lip on it to prevent any spills from coming off towards me.

[btroj]

I cast I'm the garage all the time. Door open when weather allows. When it is cold, the door stays closed.
Have not died yet.

[mini14]

i cast on the tailgate of my truck with the garage door open

[Jal5]

Thanks for all the replies.

I will try it inside with one of the panes removed from the garage door and insert a dryer vent. I can always blow a fan through it to create a draft of whatever smells, etc. are created.

Joe

[mdi]

Like the majority of caster that replied, I smelt outdoors, standing upwind of the pot. I have a small clip on fan (rite-aid cheapo) that I aim about 1 foot over the top of my pot and from my right to left. That way the fan gently blowes any fumes away (I know, it ain't lead fumes, but I do flux occationally) without blowing on the back of my head! One window open, door ajar, so air flows from window to door...

[mrbill2]

I do all my smelting outdoors and bullet casting in the cellar. Because I have emphysema I need to vent all the fumes and smoke outside. Here is what I came up with. Blows everything out the cellar window. I used a bathroom ceiling fan and 4" clothes dryer duct work.

[Leadmelter]

I just got back into casting and in mean time I finished the basement so now more casting down there. I got a nice equipment rack from work that can hold my pot, sprue box and bullet box. There is a shelf under it for tools, flux etc. I bought a single burner electric hot plate from WallyWorld. (Best trick I learned on this site)
I usually leave the garage door open about a foot. I turn everything on and is usually good to go in about 45 minutes.
With my asthma, I am usually good for about three hours. I move quick and use my inhalers.
Good Luck!

Gerry

[Echo]

I smelt outside, and cast in an ex-store-room that I've converted into a reloading/casting room. I's about 6x12, and lined with cabinets, and a bench I made next to one wall. If the fluxing smoke gets too oppressive, I can open the door, and the door to the back yard, and vent the smoke so I can see again. Weather here is so benign that a space heater is all I need in the dead of winter to keep everything snug. Problem is I have to make sure it's on the other circuit from the pot, or the breaker blows, and it's a trek to the panel to reset the breaker. I will NOT include a picture - I am totally embarrassed by how messy it is.

[troy_mclure]

i cast in my garage as well, garage door is usually open depending on weather and mosquitoes. i flux with sawdust or dowels so i have no bad smells problem.

[casterofboolits]

I am lucky enough to have an old food service building in my backyard. My casting room is 20' X 30' and has two ten foot exhaust hoods in it. One I smelt under, the other I cast under. I have cast in a basement next to a window with a fan to exhaust fumes and smoke. You don't want SWMBO PO'd by stinking up the house!

[Cherokee]

Bulk melting of scrap lead, making alloy, making ingots I do outside. Casting from ingots I have done inside for 40+ years.

[rockrat]

I cast in the shop. Warm in winter and cool in summer. Do my rendering outdoors and blending in the barn.

[MT Gianni]

I have cast in a garage wit hthe door open an few inches as my wife can smell things I can't. I now cast in an adjacent shop.

[excess650]

I do the smelting outdoors in my driveway, but cast in the rear of the garage. I removed the window and replaced it with plywood, installed a fan to draw and push the fumes out. Above my casting area (under the window)is a plywood hood, so most fumes are vented out.

[dragonrider]

I smelt outdoors and cast in my detatched garage that I heat with a wood stove in winter, AC in the summer. I don't flux my casting pot, except to stir with a wooden stick, so I don't stink up the garage when casting.

[AZ-Stew]

I render my alloy to ingots outdoors to avoid smoking up the shop. All casting is done in the shop with the doors closed. There are no windows. I installed a bathroom fan in the wall near the pot, but it is less than effective. Three years ago my blood lead level was 4. Two years ago it was 2. I didn't see any point in having it checked last year. There is always a drink of some sort a few feet from the pot. I always wash my hands thoroughly before eating. No problems.

Regards,

Stew

[Recluse]

Everything gun-related happens in my shop, except for smelting lead.

Made the mistake of doing that just ONE TIME when there was a light rain outside and I didn't want to smelt under our covered deck where I normally do.

Hooooollllyyyy Cow and pass the cornbread I won't ever do THAT again!

I flux, flux, flux and then flux some more when I'm smelting so that I don't have to flux much while casting. I have air-conditioning and a ceiling fan in the shop, plus three windows and fans, but I still don't like all that smoke hanging around. I light off the smoke as soon as I drop the flux (old lube) in the furnace.

All reloading and tumbling and brass sorting and the such happens in the shop. Have FIOS cable tv, telephone, fridge, stereo, running water. . . all I need is a cot and john and my wife might kick me out of the house for days on end. :)

You NEED a place to reload and cast that is to yourself, seriously. The "me" time is essential for your mental health and well-being, and I don't like having outside distractions bothering me while I'm reloading or casting. I can keep the TV on or the stereo on, but it is just "electric wallpaper" which actually helps keep me more focused on the tasks at hand.

:coffee:

[Merlin43]

In my office (one of three unused bedrooms, since all the kids grew up) - computer systems on one wall, storage on another, alloying, casting, reloading, & general gumsmithing on a third, desk & technical library on the 4th. Window with close-fitting 22", 1HP fan for things that make smoke or stink pulls air from inside door past melters and lab gear.
I keep thinking about using the barn, but it's too darn hot, too darn cold, full of farm stuff, and too far from the coffee pot.

[HATCH]

I do all my smelting outdoors and bullet casting in the cellar. Because I have emphysema I need to vent all the fumes and smoke outside. Here is what I came up with. Blows everything out the cellar window. I used a bathroom ceiling fan and 4" clothes dryer duct work.

thanks for the idea, I am gonna build one of those...

[BLTsandwedge]

I've got one hard and fast rule- don't cast in the bathtub.

[mpmarty]

I've got a 96' X 36' shop with a covered carport attached that is 42' x 14' and in the carport is where I smelt and cast. never inside. I've got my propane tanks and all that in the carport under cover and it has a sally port to my shooting range also.

[Calamity Jake]

Do all my casting in a closed garage with a vent hood only used when fluxing.
Didn't have the vent hood until about 10y ago.

[Merlin43]

I've got one hard and fast rule- don't cast in the bathtub.

BWAHAHAHAH!
Sorry, but I couldn't resist. The image is confounding.
I *do* "sky-clad" metallurgy, but Nadine? Whoo-hoo!

[AZ-Stew]

I've got one hard and fast rule- don't cast in the bathtub.

I don't know... Sounds like the prefect place to water drop. (Be careful where you drop! You might end up like that Jerry Lee Lewis song, "Goodness, Gracious, Great...)

Regards,

Stew

[warf73]

+1, cast in the garage all the time with the doors shut.

Same as above its now cold here so its time to really start casting.

[XWrench3]

when it is cold and snowing, i cast inside the garage. but when the weather is decent, i cast outside. i prefer outside. i do vent the garage when i am casting, by opening up the either the side door, or the main door a couple of inches. my garage has two roof vents, and since hot air rises, i figure that is enough.

[cajun shooter]

I have a 12 X 24 shop that is about 35 yds from my house. I do all my smelting outside under a covered shed. My casting is done in the 12X24. I have my casting bench next to a 4 ft open door. I also purchased and installed a electric attic exhaust fan in the wall above the bench by cutting a 18X18 hole in the wall. This fan runs the entire time of any casting session.

[MtGun44]

Basement, no special ventilation. DO NOT flux with wax or lube.
I can get away with stirring with a dry stick and a touch of wood
smoke smell because my wife is really reasonable.

Lead does NOT get into the air in any significant amount at casting temps
so their is no safety issue, HOWEVER you may get odors that the wife won't like
if you are not careful. Not a safety issue, but it may very well be a peace in the
household issue if you stink up the house.

Bill

[Judan_454]

Bullet casting in a garage here in the winter is tough.When the temps get below 20 degrees.

[alamogunr]

I smelt(actually, clean up WW) outside. I cast in the shop. For an extended session, I will open the access door to the attic and let some of the odors out that way. If I'm ladle casting, I do it outside with a plumber's pot. Like others, I keep a few cut-offs from the saw to stir with. Like some others said, I keep the lead below the boiling point. I don't think I have the capability to heat lead to its boiling point.

John
W.TN

[DJ1]

I smelt outdoors, and cast in basement with no issues.

[FISH4BUGS]

Smelting is ALWAYS outdoors. Casting is indoors in the casting shed (a closed shed in between the house and the barn) with no ventilation at all. In the summer I might open the shed door (a slider type barn door) to keep it cooler, but most of my casting is in the winter with the shed tight as a drum and heated with a propane heater. I am more worried about letting the cat out accidentally. My girlfriend would never let me cast another bullet if that happened.
I get my blood tested for lead every year as part of my annual physical and there is no problem.

[nouseforaname1246]

smelt outdoors cast in the basement. i went to home depot and got a little 20 dollar ventilation fan for a bathroom, mounted it above my pot, rigged up a cardboard hood and ran some dryer vent tubing through the basement window. takes care of any smoke from fluxing.

[*Paladin*]

Smelt just outside the garage and cast in the garage. And yes, winter sucks. I spent several days this winter wearing insulated cover-alls in the garage casting. I need a wood stove...

[nwellons]

Screened porch works for me year round in Georgia. Roof over my head, good ventilation, and bugs stay outside.

[Jal5]

I did a lot of smelting last fall outside, and this winter did the casting in the garage. If possible I opened the garage door a little for ventilation. I plan to set up a hood for next winter when I cast in the garage again. Once the weather improves here a little more everything will be done outdoors.

[Colorado4wheel]

Smelt on my back porch.

Cast in the garage. I use candles for flux. The wife likes it.

[Down South]

I cast inside my shop. Doors closed in winter and open in summer.

[fredj338]

I cast in my garage, just leave the door open a bit to keep it ventilated. Lead fumes are realyl not a problem. Smelting fumes can be for sure, it's done outside.

[ChuckS1]

I cast in the basement and will open the door when I'm fluxing, but otherwise no special doodads for ventilation. Unless you're casting 24/7, I can't see any harmful effects from casting indoors. My personal opinion is that the potential "hazard" is way overhyped for the hobby caster.

[Echo]

Smelt outdoors on old picnic table. Keeps the smoke out of the house.

Cast indoors. I suggested building a casting bench out on the patio, but SWMBO would not hear of it. I work in my reloading room, erstwhile storage room off the garage, where I have a space on my bench where I can mount the Dillon, or the Star, or a casting furnace. I even use sawdust for flux, and allow the smoke to add to the ambiance...

[ColColt]

I cast in the garage(enclosed) the two double garage door are steel insulated so, it never gets anything close to being as cold or hot inside it as outside. Typically, if it's 30 degrees outside it'll be 60-65 in the garage. The 2" insulated doors does wonders and they're sealed well top to bottom and side to side. Fortunately TN winters are not like MN or NY, thankfully.