gloves or no gloves.

[huntnman]

did'nt use to,20 years ago,getting back into casting, but I will now. thanks for teaching old dog new tricks

[Cowboy T]

Today, after scraping a small splat of lead off my face shield,
I thought "Dang, should have taken a pic for CB".
It was right at eye level.

Welders gloves for me. Had plenty of welding slag burns (most on ankles,
one on my eye), but only tiny splatter burns from lead.
Sometimes I don't wear long sleeves,
could be a mistake if a drop goes down the cuff of a glove.
I stand while casting.

Yep, that about echoes my experience. I don't find gloves or the face shield cumbersome at all, and even if I did, better that than burns from 700 degree lead.

[ihmsakiwi]

+1 on gloves, mine are a pair of relatively thin welders gloves. Went "commando" a couple of weeks ago and got a splash on my wrist which has just stpped scabbing. Peter.

[williamwaco]

Long sleeves, long pants, shoes, eye protection, alas - no gloves while casting.
Shoes were the hardest lesson to learn. Don't know how many hot bullets I stepped on before learning that lesson.

I occasionally get burns but nothing serious. I have one right now about half the size of a dime on the back of my hand. Didn't come from the actual casting but carelessly laying my hand on a recently dropped bullet. ( Yes, mother. I shoulda had a glove on.)

I NEVER drop anything into the pot so splashing occurs only when fluxing.

You asked about casting. That is not the complete story.

I do wear a glove on my stirring hand when fluxing. I use paraffin to flux. I do not have a thermometer so the paraffin is my temperature gauge. If the fumes don't ignite, the metal is not hot enough. I have no idea what the temperature is but I learned this rule of thumb from an old-timer who learned to cast in the 1930s. It worked for him and it has worked for me for many years.

I put sprue cuttings into the ingot mold under the bottom pour spout and "weld" them together. Return the sprue/ingots and add new ingots with vice grip pliers.

Occasionally on a long session, sprues accumulate. I put them in a box and save them. I then add them to the pot as "kindling" next time I start it up. They reduce the melt time from a cold pot significantly.

[Three44s]

The tinsel fairy knows no friends!

Gloves ........... yes.


Three 44s

[Echo]

I wear work gloves for casting AND for smelting. Always. I pick up the sprues and return to the pot as soon as possible, and I'm not man enough to do it bare-handed.

[Suo Gan]

I wear work gloves for casting AND for smelting. Always. I pick up the sprues and return to the pot as soon as possible, and I'm not man enough to do it bare-handed.

You have to move FAST!!

Are you guys really using that tiny sprue plate...the one designed to be whacked with a mallet and use your poor hand and wrists? Do you place your hammer head on the nail and smash it with your gloved fist to drive the nail too? Saves a lot of wear on the hammer but not your HANDS! OUCH!

[geargnasher]

Yep, really we are. The key is to flick the sprue plate open right as the sprue stops moving and "hazes" over, it's firm enough to cut win little effort but not molten enough to smear.

Gear

[Pertsev]

Gloves,yes,thin for casting,welder gloves for smelting. Glasses,YES ! Suprised someone here admitted to NOT wearing glasses.Have seen this sort of stupidity in the workplace before,sometimes with very bad results.Flip flops when casting ?? Same as wearing flip flops when riding a motorcycle...............

[sirgknight]

Never used gloves for casting, but have always used thick, long welding gloves when working with the big pot for making ingots. I cast from a sitting position and always cover my legs and feet with a large, thick beach towel; this protects from any accidental splatters or drips. I also wear glasses. I flux with small pieces of candles and those sometimes act like little shooting stars as they are melting on top of the lead. I don't "beat" on my mold but I do lightly tap the sprue with a large wooden dowel. I usually cast with two molds at the same time, even different calibers. Been casting for about five years now and (knock on wood) have not had any problems. I do, however, take my time when melting and casting. If I can't take my leizure when I do this, I just don't do it. One small note: I have designed a casting shelf that holds the bottom pour pot, sprue ingots, and cast bullets. I sit right up against this shelf so that everything is right in front of me. The pot is bolted to this shelf so that it cannot be accidentally bumped and spilled. When water-dropping I have a 5-gallon bucket off to the side half filled with water so that I have to slightly turn away from the pot to drop the bullets. No splash can reach the pot.

[shooterg]

Gloves, smelting AND casting. The lead isn't any cooler when casting.

[Clinebo]

[QUOTE=BruceB;1255531]In my industry (mining) it's called "PPE"...Personal Protective Equipment. Its use is MANDATED by law and regulation. This stuff saves thousands of workers from injury or death every year.

We may go along for years without really needing the insurance provided by such gear....but when the NEED arises, there will be NO TIME to re-think the issue. If you're not wearing it when the eventuality arrives, you are in for a WORLD of pain, and possibly scarring, crippling or blindness.

WEAR THE GEAR!

Like Bruce, I worked in an industry that pushed safety,(paper mill). We had monthly safety meetings and several times guys would talk about how they were saved by wearing thier PPE. One of the slogans was "Take 2 for Safety". Before starting any job you were supposed to take a minute or two and think about doing the job safely. It worked and our accident rate dropped. It only takes a second to lose an eye, or get burned.
So Take 2, and be safe out there!

[montana_charlie]

Yep, really we are. The key is to flick the sprue plate open right as the sprue stops moving and "hazes" over, it's firm enough to cut win little effort but not molten enough to smear.

Gear

I count to see how long it takes the sprue to solidify and change color. Once the count gets up to 'six' I have reached operating temperture, and no longer count that segment of the cadence.

When the sprue freezes and changes, I start counting. I will cut the sprue at 'thirty' and drop the bullet at 'forty'. Those time periods keeps my mould at the right temperature and prevent 'sprue craters'.
Even after waiting thirty seconds, the sprue cuts easily. I invert the mould, grip the plate in my palm, and turn it like opening an upside down jar.
All of the sprue and excess lead ends up lying in my palm.

My gloved hand is on the plate for a count of about 'two', and it takes another second to dump the scrap in the pot.

The gloves are uninsulated 'drivers' made of buckskin. I use them for everything from loading hay to fixing fence. As long as you don't hold a piece of hot lead for more than about three seconds, the leather never gets hot enough to be uncomfortable.

CM

[a.squibload]

CM:
Steel or brass molds, right?
Seems like a long time for aluminum.
I've been getting those craters in the base, maybe I should slow down.
When I get done casting there are sprues all over the place,
I'll try your upside-down jar method.

[Shooter6br]

Check out MP molds U tube video on casting using gloves to open the spure plate. i tried it and like not hiiting the spure at all i use a aw hide mallet so i dont think it is bad forthe mold

[montana_charlie]

CM:
Steel or brass molds, right?

Yes, iron.
I have a couple of large block aluminum NEI's, but I haven't cast with them since learning this cadence.

CM

[Slainte]

Gloves, Safety Glasses, Apron, Safety shoes are a must for me.
I don't like the pain !

[LAH]

Glove on right hand with Master Pot. No glove with Master Caster. Very, very few burns the last 38 years.

[donaldjr1969]

Hello everybody. Boolit noob here. While I am not casting, I plan to start when I am done with school next year and hopefully back into the workforce.

Anyway, I chose gloves because I plan to use them when I do cast. When I was a freshman in high school (1983-1984), I was one of the select few my metal shop teacher permitted to pour molten aluminum when we did sandcasting. Obviously it was a safety requirement not only for holding the handles on the crucible, but for pulling the crucible out of the furnace. I have never had any grip issues while pouring the heavy crucible so I know it would not cause any grip issues holding a boolit mold.

[XWrench3]

i can not even imagine casting without gloves. if you have ever had even a small visit from the tinsel fairy, you would never think about working without gloves again.