Who's Been Burned?

[reddog81]

I use a lid on my Lee 20 pot. It helps the pot warm up faster and keep the heat in better. I guess it also keeps anything but from accidentally spilling in. I don't drink when casting and I do it inside my garage so I'm not sure what could end up in the pot but you never know...

My lid came with the $1 pot I bought at the thrift store to scoop lead out of my smelting pot. 40 lbs of melted lead in a cast iron pot isn't something I wanted to be lifting and pouring ingots.

[PS Paul]

From my experience, let me say this: don't cast in shorts and sandals! Especially if you've got a leaky bottom-pour spout. Funny how just a small splatter from a drip can cause real pain when it lands on the top of your foot. Ouchie.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Ive been wondering about lids. Thought maybe even screen style splash guard might be helpful.

Yes, like the "sneeze guards" at the buffet line. It redirects what you don't want, where you don't want it, to someplace that you'd rather it be.

[Bob in St. Louis]

....and now that I think about lids.... that's where you could place the next ingot "on deck", to preheat it before it goes in the pot.
Just an idea....

[kmrra]

Always beware when melting range lead , I had a live 22 round sneak into my batch one day and it went kaboom , wasn't no big deal but it will make you jump, Luckily I was standing away from the pot that day , so I didn't have any splatter get me , But the lesson I learned was to double check and double check , and If that fails I step away now every time I smelt scrap till I know it clear .

[bob208]

I had a .38 s&w get in my pot one time . I as out in the other room when it went pop. lead all over the bench. after that I am more carful and do move to the other side of the room.

[Yodogsandman]

Don't let the dog or cat around when casting or smelting. They don't know any better. My wife tried to put the dog on the chain once when I was smelting in the chains area, wow.

I blew up 2/3 of a #120 pot while smelting down range scrap one time. I dumped the last 1/4 of a 5 gal pail onto the top of about #80 of molten lead. It was the last pail and I was lulled into thinking it would be OK. Nope, had about a cup of water in the bottom. I was able to push the pail on top of the pot which diverted most of the blast from the tinsel fairy away from me. My brimmed, base ball type hat saved my eyes along with the glasses. The worse burns were to my uncovered arms (T-shirt) but, above the high cuffed welders gloves. just two spots about the size of a nickel. I had put my arms up in front of me. If you hear any sizzle or bubbling, quick, cover up and get out of there!

I had let my pant leg ride up while sitting to cast and had a boolit get into my boot....ye..ahh!

Wear your PPE and you'll escape most burns. I don't wear gloves when casting but, I still get a few splatter burns here and there.

[Spector]

I dropped a 325 grain boolit from the mold into my shoe once and was not in a position to move quickly because the pot was sort of between my legs. I did my best to kick my shoe off to release the boolit from the side of my foot, but no luck. Did not want to heal so I went to my my doc finally and she gave me Silvadene burn ointment to get it to heal. Longer pants would have prevented the mishap in the first place.

Mike

[longbow]

Well, class me in with those that have been burned and expect to be burned again. Not badly but spatters happen.

I have cast for over 40 years and used to cast with virtually no PPE which is not a good idea. Now I always wear safety glasses, long sleeves, long pants, closed shoes and some common sense. I do not wear gloves as I find them awkward to when handling moulds and ladle.

On the note of PPE, best to wear natural fibers like cotton or wool. Nylon, acrylic, polyester and the like will melt if lead spatters land on them and the molten synthetic will burn you. Wool is warm especially in summer but it is also very good for protecting you from molten metal. Leather is also good but most of us don't have leather jackets and pants or welder's aprons to wear for casting. Everyone has cotton and it is pretty good. Blue jeans and an old cotton sweatshirt or heavy cotton short are good insurance as are closed and substantial shoes. When someone posts that they got burned when casting in shorts and flip flops I start thinking about the Darwin awards... just don't be stupid like that.

I have had occasional spatters from dropping boolits/slugs back in the pot but no real burns from those and certainly no scars. However, one time I messed up and wound up hitting my ladle with something which flipped some molten lead out of the pot onto my right hand between first and second fingers and got a pretty good burn which did leave a scar. That was just plain clumsy but it is also why we wear PPE. But having said that, like Bent Ramrod, I find it easier to cast without gloves so do not wear gloves.

I am generally very careful about melting and handling molten lead and yes, water or any liquid like pop, beer, coffee or whatever can create a steam explosion if it gets in your lead so keep liquids away from liquid lead!

More importantly when you are melting ingots or wheelweights, do not put cold or wet ingots or hand fulls of cold or damp wheeweights into a pot partly full of molten lead! Damp ingots of wheelweights can cause a steam explosion and cold ingots or wheelweights can form condensation when exposed to the heat and so cause a steam explosion. This is something to be aware of and make sure you put cold or damp lead into an empty pot for melting or pre-heat the lead so it is dry and warm before putting it into a pot with any molten lead in it.

Also, while not a burn issue something you should be aware of is that while I do not subscribe to the fear of lead poisoning from breathing lead vapours (we do not run high enough temperatures to produce lead vapours when casting) we do produce dross which contains lead oxides so don't go tossing the dross around and making a dust cloud! Also, wash your hands before eating or drinking anything because you are handling lead and lead has lead oxides on it, get them on your hands then onto your slice of pizza, sandwich, cookies or whatever and you are not doing yourself any favours. I speak from experience here because I have worked in and around a lead refinery and am working in a lead refinery again surrounded by about a half dozen pots of over 200 tons each of molten lead. It is actually fairly hard to get leaded unless you are sloppy in your handling of lead and dross and not maintaining hygiene. Anyone who casts boolits occasionally and gets leaded is just plain sloppy but you do not want to get leaded so don't be sloppy!

Lecture over.

Cast, be careful, use some common sense and enjoy! Be happy!

Longbow

[fredj338]

Well there is getting burned & then getting burned. Wear gloves, a face shield if you are the nervous type, shoes are good, pants are good as are long sleeve shirts but I confess to only mandating safety glasses & a glove on my casting hand. Yes I have burned my fingers, but I have done that on the stove.
Melting scrap lead, totally diff animal. I take much higher precaution as I have had small irruptions from trapped moisture or once a valve stem snuck in. Casting with clean ingots though, you have to really screw up IMO to get a pot to irrupt.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

In 1989, I took my first long motorcycle trip, from MN, to the west coast.
I normally have short hair, right before the trip, I got a haircut...extra short.
after the first day of travel, a very sunny day of Freeway driving across S. Dak, we ended up near Rapid City, not only was my scalp burnt, but I had a bad case of dehydration...probably closer to death than I realized. Lesson learnt, a helmet or a bandana on the head, and bring lots of water or be sure to drink plenty of water at gasoline stops.

Oh were you talking about casting? LOL
Here's one I've never mentioned to anyone...don't load dummy rounds with live primers, then try to melt the lead boolit out of the case, cause your RCBS collet bullet puller won't grab that lead boolit and you don't have an inertia puller. That day, I ordered the Lyman inertia (hammer style) bullet puller, after I cleaned up 99% of the lead splatters (and my shorts).

[308Jeff]

In 1989, I took my first long motorcycle trip, from MN, to the west coast.
I normally have short hair, right before the trip, I got a haircut...extra short.
after the first day of travel, a very sunny day of Freeway driving across S. Dak, we ended up near Rapid City, not only was my scalp burnt, but I had a bad case of dehydration...probably closer to death than I realized. Lesson learnt, a helmet or a bandana on the head, and bring lots of water or be sure to drink plenty of water at gasoline stops.

Oh were you talking about casting? LOL
Here's one I've never mentioned to anyone...don't load dummy rounds with live primers, then try to melt the lead boolit out of the case, cause your RCBS collet bullet puller won't grab that lead boolit and you don't have an inertia puller. That day, I ordered the Lyman inertia (hammer style) bullet puller, after I cleaned up 99% of the lead splatters (and my shorts).

[John Allen]

Oxygen Regulator caught fire this is one week after. Not from lead but hurt just the same.

[308Jeff]

Shazam! I feel for ya, brother. That's gotta smart for sure.

[TexasGrunt]

I got bit twice today.

I was smelting pewter. The spoon I use to flux missed the table and hit the floor and bounced up under my pants leg.

Then later on I had a sprue jump off the top of the mold and go right in the cuff of my leather glove.

[Skunk1]

Sunburns, lots when I was a kid. Blisters like you wouldn't imagine. Tshirt and jeans I'm good all day. Take any of that off and I'm in trouble.

Casting? I think it's inevitable to have a brain fart sooner ot later. Forgot (don't ask) to put my gloves on once. Even burned myself grabbing the wood stove handle.

[375RUGER]

I've had several live rounds go off when rendering down range lead. Once got it all over my jeans, when that happened.
I dumped a whole 60# pot over one time. I don't remember all the details but something was unstable and the whole thing dumped over. I didn't get burned, I jumped back out of the way.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I've never been burned casting, but I poured very hot tar on my hand once, while doing a roofing repair. It hurt like fury till I spent most of the night picking off the coating of tar and skin which constricted the blisters, and then (though even the casualty department didn't believe this) it never hurt again, and I was able to drive myself there. I may never eat chocolate-coated dates again.

They taped me up in a plastic glove with Flamazine ointment, and the result was quite miraculous. I had to keep tipping out fluid for the first week, and when it was removed after three, it looked like the hand of a long-drowned corpse. But it then healed with amazing speed. I can still see a wide tracery of scars because I know to look, but I healed permanently where I am convinced there might have been residual stiffness in earlier times.

[Geezer in NH]

To answer your question. Yes you seem to be a big (insert synonym for Liberal here)

Buck up

[rintinglen]

I have been speckled a few times, but only burnt twice, The first time, I had taken off my glove to pick up an ingot to add to the pot. It must have been wet at some point and had a bit of water in some un-noticed gap or crack, because the tinsel fairy hit town with a resounding hello and a dollop of liquid lead splashed across three of my fingers on the ungloved hand.
Nowadays, I wear welder's gloves, safety glasses, heavy jeans out side my work boots, thick wool socks and long-sleeve flame resistant shirts, topped off with a broad brimmed hat, or a baseball cap. And I don't go gangsta.