The tinsel fairy is real and she is a brutal teacher

[williamwaco]

I drop my sprue cuttings back into the pot pretty much every time. They are still pretty hot when they go back in. I don't thing that there is any real danger there.

Depends on how far you "drop" them. They don't have to be wet to spalsh.

[JIMinPHX]

Good point.

Mine drop about 1-3" from a gloved hand, depending on how full the pot is.

[XWrench3]

never preheat my ingots. I made them myself. Don't know how the moisture would get into the ingot after I make them. Just trying to understand how this would happen.

CONDENSATION!

i do not usually pre-heat my ingots either. i do load the pot completely full prior to plugging it in. i have had a few snap crackle ***, but the tinsel fairy has not come visiting me while adding ingots. the one thing i do with my ingots (if i am going to cast more than a pot full) is set as much as i might use along side the pot, which is out in the open air and sun. that probably dries them off pretty well, which is why i have had no trouble. i guess i will have to be more carefull from now on. the tinsel fairy has visited me on occasion. fortuneatly, only in smalll amounts. where i usually get it is from adding in sprue knock offs, while i am water dropping boolits. it is imposible to not have a few splashes when water dropping. so when i add them back into the pot, i put the cover on the pot (a peice of license plate) and add a tablespoon full at a time. i have gotten a few small burns. fortuneatly nothing serious. i seriously hope your feind is not injured bad (permanant scarring, infection, loss of use of body parts, etc.). the school of hard knocks is not freindly either. i should know, i have been there enough in my lifetime.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I always pre heat my ingots on the edge of the casting pot prior to using them. All that being said I am going to Harbor Freight tomorrow to buy a face shield to go along with my canvas hat with a long brim, leather welding gloves with a gauntlet that almost reaches my elbows, leather apron, long sleeved shirt and leather boots and of course dungarees.

I have a lot of respect for the dangerous but captivating alloy we play with.

Luck and preparation have allowed me to pretty much escape from getting burned or injured during smelting or casting operations and that started almost 20 years ago. However I am always willing to learn something new.

[Southern Son]

For any laddle casters . . . pre-heating your laddle is also a good idea before sticking it into a molten pot.

+1. I put some lanolin grease on my ladle when I finish casting to stop any rust. Sure enough, I forgot and dipped it in the melt one time. Not nearly as spectacular as the WW I dropped in with water in the gap around the clip on the WW, but it still spat at me.

[MtGun44]

HMMMM. I've been dropping ingots into pots for 40+ yrs, never had anything beyond
a bit of boiling and bubbling occasionally. Can't even imagine how many times I've
dropped an ingot into a half full pot of molten metal.

Bill

[odoh]

I too 'insert' ingots into melts.When ingotizing, the center is the last to solidify w/contractional forces creating a dip/low spot that can be seen. It seems to be less pronounce if the ingot mould is hot. Fast cooling of the ingot creates minute fissures/cracks in that area which can collect otherwise unnoticed condensation hence the bubbling and hissing. Being aware of the potential to awaken the fairy, I slowly add by using channel lock/vicegrips dipping the end of the ingot into the melt and holding it there for a bit allowing heat tranfer/conduction to hopefully evaporated most/any collected moisture in the area that is still above/outside the melt at that point. Only when satified that its safe to I allow the rest of the ingot to slide into the deep. While I never awoken a fairy w/adding an ingot to the melt, the bubbling has impressed me to exercise a measure of caution. Afterall, its my skin and the foregoing is within my power to do.

[watkibe]

I never add ingots to a melt. I decide how much to use to start with. As I cast, I knock off all the sprues into a small metal baking pan. Every dozen or so, I empty the sprues back into the melt. Any bullets that miss the "water-drop" bucket or are otherwise damaged or imperfect go into the pan also. I finally end up with an almost empty pot that I pick up and pour out into a muffin tin "ingot mold".
No problems so far, but I'm sure there's somebody who is going to tell me how lucky I am that I haven't had a catastrophe yet.

[songdog53]

I have never had any problems from ingots dropped into hot melt but learned that a cooler ladle will spit at you and even saw chips from firewood cutting will cause spitting and awake the Tinsel Fairy. But can see where cooler ingot will have some condensation on it and cause her to come calling.

[Love Life]

Saw my buddy yesterday. He has deep burns along his forehead and upper right arm. The doctor cut away all the dead skin so he should heal just fine with minor scarring. As I told him it was a good thing he was already ugly. He said it was the craziest thing he's ever had happen to him (which is saying alot). He said it blew about 10 pounds out of the pot, and lucky for him most of it ended up on the floor and the wall. He now sees the wisdom in preheating and will continue to cast his own.

[Doc Highwall]

The ingots that are the worse are the ones poured in layers with a small ladle or lead that is cooling too fast as it is being poured because the temperature of the lead is too low causing layers with cracks and crevices holding moisture.

[odoh]

The ingots that are the worse are the ones poured in layers with a small ladle or lead that is cooling too fast as it is being poured because the temperature of the lead is too low causing layers with cracks and crevices holding moisture.

I recently started to have a bernz torch handy. I hit the mould a bit before the pour as it seems to level the surface abit and for the rare occasion I'm unable to ladle a full 1# I'll hit the surface of the lead just prior to the followup pour to aid in fusion of the layers

[Doc Highwall]

I bought a ladle that holds 5lbs and now it is no problem.

[41mag]

Well I have only been pouring boolits for a couple of months if you put all of it together. I have however been playing with lead for quite a hwile making up my own surf weights which sometimes can weigh upwards of a couple of pounds for shark fishing.

One hot afternoon I came in from work and set up everything to melt down a pot full for weight making. I had already set up and had the pot going for a while and was adding weights a few at a time. Out of nowhere I got blasted by a cool breeze, which I knew immediately what was fixing to happen. I only had time to shut the valve on the fish cooker when the huge rain drops started hitting all around.

I have to say I have seen a LOT of crazy stuff in my lifetime, but that had to be about tops. I watched from a good distance as things just went haywire in that pot. I bet it easily blew more than half of it out in strands and blobs across a 20' area of my back yard. The lone summer rain cloud had come across from the front side of the house where I didn't even notice it until it was too late. The sun was still shining while this was all going on and to be honest it was pretty cool looking, but it sure was a bummer cleaning it all up.

Since then I have had a VERY great respect for what could happen, and I keep everything under cover of some type nowadays. I even had it blow once when one single drop of sweat fell into the pot. Now I keep a towel wrapped around my forehead as well.

Preheat, you bet, make SURE moisture don't get in the pot, oh yea.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

My casting room is in a climate controlled garage. It never gets below 50 and never above 80. I keep the moisture down with a dehumidifier. I have not had any problems with adding ingots but this may be because of the lack of moisture in the air and the fact that the ingots are not too cold. I do believe that I will start to preheat my ingots though. A little bit of extra safety is not going to hurt a thing. Burns from lead are not a good thing.

[lwknight]

Since then I have had a VERY great respect for what could happen, and I keep everything under cover of some type nowadays. I even had it blow once when one single drop of sweat fell into the pot. Now I keep a towel wrapped around my forehead as well.

I know that strange things happen but the moisture has to actually get under the melt to explode. A drop of water on top would just fizzle and maybe spatter a bit.
Imagine that a water drop landed on the ingot that you just dropped in and got submerged then you get kablewy everywhere.

It was a lead pipe that got me. I had only a shallow melt and several pieces of pipe started into the pot. I thought that as they melted off the heat would preheat enough to expel any moisture. Eventually the melt got deeper and a piece of pipe slid in pretty fast then blew several pounds of lead everywhere. I have a scar on my arm to remind me everyday.

[colonelhogan44]

I smelted ~40 pounds of lead outside, over an open fire in a drizzle. Rain pattered on my molten WWs for over an hour, with no ill effects.

It's only a problem when the water gets under the lead.

[Edward429451]

Lead pipe is a prime way to get a visit. Remember that pipe served its life under ground with pressurized water in it. If there was a flaw or void, it probably was filled with water and oxidized over.

This is incorrect. I've been plumbing a long time and never have seen lead used underground or on any supply line which would be the only possible pressurized application. Lead pipes were only used above ground in non-pressurized gravity drain systems. They use cast iron underground.

Ya know, casting didn't used to be so dangerous. You gave it the respect due to molten metal and ya got lots of Boolits for your efforts.

[a.squibload]

Love Life:
Best wishes for the patient, have him check out aloe vera juice / gel to put on his burns. Good right from the plant, cut leaf open and spread on the gel, feels cool.
Can get it in a tube.

I made a propane tank pot, it's pretty big. After pouring or casting a potful
I don't really want to add more so I shut it off for a while.
Usually get down to a shallow puddle in the bottom.
Start over, add WWs or ingots, ramp up the heat.

Saved the top part of the tank and made a lid, fairly heavy, will start using it
when melting just in case.

I can stand some pain.
I can go a long time without beer.
No reason to put myself through either condition if I can help it!

[dagger dog]

I had stored ingots outside in my unheated garage, they were about 6 month old. Started a casting session ,pulled these ingots from the cabinet and noticed they were a little white colored from oxidation, well when I droppedd a couple into a half full pot they blew out. !

I was lucky and only lightly spattered , no damage.

I'm keeping all my ingot in a temp controlled A/C heated area now. I believe it is the oxidation that harbours the moisture, you know that white powder that collects on lead. Stop the oxidation and the moisture has no place to gather, the ingots stay shiny, etc.

Sorry to hear about your friend hope he heals well.