I had my first unfortunate lead spill last night. I was chugging along pouring some 200 gr SWC's when I got the bright idea to start fiddling with handle adjustments on my 4-20. It was pouring a little faster than I wanted so instead of just lowering the adjustment screw down to an acceptable level I got the bright idea to turn the valve rod adjustment screw to try and slow it down. Well that was my blonde moment, because the pot just started pouring lead! I tried to hold the handle down to stop it and of course it did nothing, so I started turning the adjustment screw to stop it and it wasn't working either.
After a minute of constant pouring I finally got it adjusted to where it stopped, but by then a good 5 lbs or more was in the catch pan and waterfalling onto the floor.
All I can say is thank goodness I have smooth concrete in my garage! It did splatter all over everything within a 4 ft radius, including my boots and a little spatter on my pants. Using a metal scraper I managed to get everything cleaned up and with a flat shovel scooped up and into a bucket. No burns anywhere, thankfully.
What a PITA that was. I had an aluminum catch pan under the pot but it wasn't ready for that kind of flow!
Note to self, use a deep metal pot with an almost empty casting pot when adjusting the valve rod and handle.
Be careful out there! One dumb decision and you too can enjoy a beautiful silver waterfall!