Who's Been Burned?

[308Jeff]

I'm asking this for a learning experience. Hidden dangers, mistakes, etc.

I'm a big (insert synonym for Liberal here) when it comes to getting burned. Even had a sunburn once that kept me in my hotel room for my entire Florida vacation. With that in mind, I have no idea why I'm venturing into messing with molten lead...

I try to take every precaution, and think ahead, but I'd really like to avoid doing something that's gonna get me hurt.

So for those of you who've gotten burned in this hobby/passion, I'd love to hear your stories as an education of what to be careful of, beyond what should be obvious to me.

[308Jeff]

Mods, if I have this in the wrong forum, please feel free to move it.

[10 ga]

Are you an EPA shill??

[maxreloader]

the EPA is a figment of the dimocrats imagination... they saved it to the cloud in case the POTUS hits the DELETE button LOL!

[brassrat]

Lol !

[obssd1958]

There are few times when casting, that I haven't at least been singed...
but then again, my wife says if I'm not bleeding, I must not have been doing anything!

Seriously, the thing I see more folks doing without thinking, that gets them burned - is picking up a boolit to see what a nice job they've done! (Take it from me, you only do that once per casting session!!!)

Don

[psweigle]

Keep any and all liquids away from the molten lead. It WILL explode. It didn't happen to me, but a very good friend of mine spilled a little drinking water into his pot. He is very lucky he had his glasses on. And as stated, don't pick up a really shiny and perfectly cast boolit until it is cooled off. I have done this. It hurts.

[rancher1913]

if you use proper PPE you should never get burned

[6bg6ga]

When one plays with lead you run the risk of getting burned. Lead can splatter. lead can have moisture in it. It can just happen. You do your best to be careful.

[retread]

I would say the top dangers are using the improper equipment when melting lead. Do not use aluminum or pot metal containers when melting lead. Use steel, cast iron or Stainless steel. The support for that vessel must be strong enough to support the weight of both the pot and lead even when real hot. Next in my thoughts is the infamous "Tinsel Fairy". She shows up with a bang when any water makes it under the surface in molten lead. It can be trapped moisture in lead being added to the melt or by stirring in fluxing sawdust that is not dry enough and maybe some others I do not know about. She visited me once (sawdust with moisture) and I don't want to invite her back. I was luicky and did not get hurt but a had little chucks of lead stuck to all the clothes I was wearing. Eye protection is a must. I wear welding gloves when casting open the sprue with my hand, not a mallet). In general you are safe it some common sense and careful attention is paid to what you are doing.

[country gent]

Several things to do are always wear heavy pants boots and shirt. Leather gloves welders gauntlet that come up to almost the elbow are best. A leather apron if there are concerns other than standard casting. Safety glasses or a face shield. Last is a simple billed hat. this protects almost all the exposed skin that's normally exposed. When casting always pre heat ingots before adding to the pot. Fill the pot to start then set the next batch on top to warm and dry any moisture condensation they may have picked up. Work in a comfortable position and not right on top of the pot, give yourself a little wiggle room. Last is have a clear route if something does go wrong you can get away.

[Springfield]

The baseball cap is an often overlooked safety item. Glasses keep splatters from hitting you in the eye if they are coming straight on, but the cap keeps out the ones that get lobbed at you and try and get behind the safety glasses. I get splatters on my arms once in a while, and yes it leaves a little burn that takes a week or so to go away. You can't brush off a lead splatter soon enough for it not to burn. This isn't water at 212, it is lead at 650. It makes a big difference.

[tomme boy]

Worst I had in a mishap melting lead was when I was processing range lead that I had. I friend of mine used to take a M2 50 cal belt fed to the local range to make everyone go oh and ah! Well he had all kinds of tracers and spotting rounds that he would mix in to shoot. Sometimes they would work and sometimes not.

Well I must have had one of the spotting rounds in the mix and it went off in a nice big blue flaming mountain of lead. About 80 lbs blew out of the pot.

After that, I sorted out all of the 50 cal rounds in the mix. Glad I was not near it when it went off!

[runfiverun]

I could tell you where I have been burned.
and I could say which ones hurt the most.
i'll just say if you fiddle with this stuff long enough your probably gonna get a scar.
whether it's a little line on your forearm, or something worse somewhere else is up to you.

[zubrato]

Well, I've definitely burned myself out of my own pure stupidity. Was smelting some plumbers lead, and got like 40+ ingots on the pavement. I'm tired and waiting for the rest of the pot to get up to temp, and took off one of my gloves, can't remember what for and moved a few cooled ingots onto the pile. Except one wasn't cool, in fact it was searing hot. Won't forget that one for a long time. Not too bad though, with some aloe Vera only blistered for about two days, and luckily t was my left hand though it was the pads of my fingertips. That part sucked.



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[Hickory]

A little off the subject of lead handling but still within the realm of safety, always have a fire extinguisher on hand. If it can burn you, it can catch things on fire.

[TexasGrunt]

There are few times when casting, that I haven't at least been singed...
but then again, my wife says if I'm not bleeding, I must not have been doing anything!

Seriously, the thing I see more folks doing without thinking, that gets them burned - is picking up a boolit to see what a nice job they've done! (Take it from me, you only do that once per casting session!!!)

Don

Last year I was in the garage casting some 1-2-3-4 ounce cannonball sinkers. My wife was leaving to go shopping and accidently triggered our house alarm. The alarm company calls my cell, problem is my cell doesn't receive a signal in the house.

So I was sitting there expecting a visit from the local sheriff. Sure enough, one shows up. He gets out and verifies I'm supposed to be there. Watches me cast for about a minute while asking questions. Before I could stop him he picks up a 4 ounce cannonball that I had just removed from the mold. He figured out it was hot pretty quick. It was all I could do to not laugh.

[Toymaker]

I'm with Country Gent on equipment, plus long sleeves. I wear all cotton fabric or leather. I stand or use a bar stool to park my butt on the edge.
Glad I do that - last summer I had a bird fly through the carport where I cast. Right over the pot. He ran a perfect bombing run. It hit dead center in the pot and lead flew everywhere. Smelled bad too. But because I was standing and not sitting I was long gone and nothing even got close. Many years of casting and that's never happened before. Never heard of it happening either. When you grew up I hope you had the motto "Be Prepared".

[Bent Ramrod]

Lead has a high density, which means a droplet, once set in motion, will fly a surprising distance. (This property is why we use lead for boolits).

Lead also has a high heat capacity. This means a droplet that flies through the cooling air and lands on your arm will still be hot enough to burn the spot it lands on, and still contain enough heat to burn your fingers when you try to pull it off.

Heavy leather gloves make me clumsier, so even though my hands are protected, I seem to splash and spill more, and worse, so the end result is still the same. My brother gave me a pair of those Action Pistol shooting gloves. I don't shoot Action Pistol, but they seem to be sensitive enough for good mould and dipper manipulation while still affording some protection.

I notice less splashing and flying particles using pots that are wide and relatively shallow, like my SAECOs, as opposed to my narrower, deeper Lee pot. The Lee is a good, reliable pot, but the extra vertical means more energy for the lead spilling back in, which means more energy in the droplets that come flying out as a result.

But, yeah, I get burned, fairly routinely. Mostly minor "pinpricks" and "bugbites" on hands and arms; more extensive when my fingers inadvertently contact the metal parts of handles, dippers and pot. "Life is Suffering, Casting is Suffering; Suffering is Suffering," to misquote Woody Allen.

[Dan Cash]

I bought a couple hundred dollars of "tin" from a one time member here that was not. That smarted. Other than that, just the odd small spatter which is taken care of by gloves, long pants and sleeves. Boots are my daily wear so I don't think about them but a spill with low quarter shoes or sandals would be a painful disaster.