Equipment related. Lead Safety Consideration Questions

[adam_mac84]

Ok, so more of a question of WHERE to put my equipment.

I currently have my reloading station in the basement in a side room. Off of a main living area where we watch TV and such.

Recent addition of a baby (first). He is not crawling, but will eventually.

I dry tumble, and as such, get walnut media on the floor. I have been noticing some getting tracked out of the room onto the area rug where I previously just vacuumed it up. Now that I have the kiddo, am getting more concerned.

I am considering building a 10x20 addition on the back of the garage (checking building ordinances currently). Sort of an enclosed lean-to with a window and possibly some sort of exhaust fan.

Currently, when handling lots of dirty brass or sorting, i wear surgical gloves. Bare hands when loading (need the fine motor). I wash with de-lead soap and change shoes/shirt after.

Is it overkill to be thinking of building a whole room outdoors for my reloading/casting equipment? I am tapped out on my fuse box, so am trying to figure out how much I can actually add to the existing electrical without problems... but I also need to consider temperature (if toring primers/powder). In Michigan, we will swing from teens to 90's in a year (winter/summer).

Overkill? Paranoia? or Appropriate? You know... first time parent jitters probably

[William Yanda]

I am an empty nester grandparent. I commend you for your concern for the little one. Youngsters are known to be more susceptible to lead. Cleaning brass is a known source of lead. You are correct to remove your activities from the premises where the little ones crawl around on the floor.

[adam_mac84]

I am selling my wife that an additional 200' of storage/workshop space will be additional home value should we ever sell... we are a bit tight on storage in our ranch home as it is with the finished basement. I guess the next question will be the estimate from the contractor. I'd hate to put a price on his health... but it might come down to not reloading till he is old enough to not be crawling around and putting everything in reach in his mouth.

based on his daddy, he needs all the brain cells he can get

[jessdigs]

Casting fumes are bad. I just recently experienced the lead casting fumes, and they are all bad. I am getting into lead casting now.
I found my son recently with his hands on the media separator playing with the stainless steel pins, and I immediately made him wash his hands, and warned him not to do it again.
I remember biting split shot lead weights when I was a kid, and storing lead air gun pellets in my teeth. I'm pretty sure that is what made me so awesome, but I don't want my kids exposed to lead in any way.
Keep the kids away from lead, and as soon as they are old enough to understand, warn then of it. Lead can cause serious learning disabilities.

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[TexasGrunt]

Casting fumes are bad. I just recently experienced the lead casting fumes, and they are all bad. I am getting into lead casting now.
I found my son recently with his hands on the media separator playing with the stainless steel pins, and I immediately made him wash his hands, and warned him not to do it again.
I remember biting split shot lead weights when I was a kid, and storing lead air gun pellets in my teeth. I'm pretty sure that is what made me so awesome, but I don't want my kids exposed to lead in any way.
Keep the kids away from lead, and as soon as they are old enough to understand, warn then of it. Lead can cause serious learning disabilities.

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How hot were you running that lead? Lead doesn't emit fumes till it's almost 1600°.

[Paper Puncher]

For your electric check if your panel can accept a tandem/half size breaker. You might be able to pick up a circuit or two that way. The next option would be a sub panel.

You could set up a "portable" casting station and cast by the garage door or even in the driveway.

[jessdigs]

Not that hot. I was melting some 60/40 lead/tin and 50/50 lead tin. It was also a new melting pot, so some of the smoke could have been for that, but the fumes coming of looked nasty.

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[TexasGrunt]

Not that hot. I was melting some 60/40 lead/tin and 50/50 lead tin. It was also a new melting pot, so some of the smoke could have been for that, but the fumes coming of looked nasty.

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Looked nasty? How so? A new pot has a protective coating so it doesn't rust while waiting to be used.

[hutch18414]

That new pot was just cooking off the shipping oils. I wished that I had run mine outside the first time I ever used it. Fumes off the melted lead are not the real danger for the little one. The fine dusting of lead oxide that eventually accumulates in areas where smelting an casting occur are the real problem. Just like the lead dust from tumbling brass. Yes, moving your set up into a separate space would be a wise move. I have read 2-3 articles or threads where it was said it is nearly impossible to completely remove the lead dust, I have no idea how true this might or might not be. But dealing with a very young child, I would err on the far side of being over cautious.

[jessdigs]

Maybe it was too hot. It did get a rainbow Sheen on it when it cooled. All of this is kind of new to me, and melting the solder that I get from work is new also. .
Maybe I'm just paranoid. I work for a gas and electric company that still has lead cable in service, and still splices lead shielded cable. We are required to take a refresher course every year on the dangers of lead.
They show pictures of people with lead poisoning, and how it gets in the joints, and cartilage.
So any visible smoke or fumes scares me. Am I overreacting?

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[TexasGrunt]

Maybe it was too hot. It did get a rainbow Sheen on it when it cooled. All of this is kind of new to me, and melting the solder that I get from work is new also. .
Maybe I'm just paranoid. I work for a gas and electric company that still has lead cable in service, and still splices lead shielded cable. We are required to take a refresher course every year on the dangers of lead.
They show pictures of people with lead poisoning, and how it gets in the joints, and cartilage.
So any visible smoke or fumes scares me. Am I overreacting?

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Yes you are. Unless you're licking the boolits you're good to go. It goes without saying that any hand to mouth/face/eye contact while handling lead is to be avoided. I don't think that any commercial lead melting pot in correct working order can get the lead hot enough to worry about.

[jessdigs]

OK, thanks for the advice, and sorry for jacking the thread with my questions. I have young children in my house too, and am worried about exposing them to it. Nobody told me when I was young.

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[runfiverun]

melting lead is not that big of a deal.
oxides and excess lead chips etc. can be an issue.
some simple little things will help mitigate that.
mop the floor and wash your hands.

I worked with lead oxide [at work] for a couple of years while I operated a casting business on the side. [basically exposed to lead of some sort just about every waking moment of my day]
we had our blood tested regularly and I was never any higher than normal levels.

to alleviate the dust issue get a wet tumbler to augment your dry system.
vacuum around the dry tumbler and use a containment system. [I use a cut off fiber drum to pour my cases and media into the sifter and let the media fall into the drum then put a lid on it]
a little bit of ripped up [used] dryer sheet in the tumbler will pull the fine dust from the media and help it last longer too.
some mineral spirits or other liquid will help mitigate the dust in the tumbler bowl also.

keep your casting pot and stuff in a metal containment area then you'll catch and can recycle all the little bits and chunks.
break and dump your sprues over a small cake pan and dump your boolits out in another one lined with a towel.
it's simple little stuff like this that makes the difference.

[adam_mac84]

I remember biting split shot lead weights when I was a kid, and storing lead air gun pellets in my teeth. I'm pretty sure that is what made me so awesome, but I don't want my kids exposed to lead in any way.

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. YUUUUUUP

Thanks all! I am hoping to do some re-structuring of the current room this weekend. I guess i have to look into wet tumbling. I really like the quick and dirty of the dry tumble. Maybe dry tumble (in clean media) with my NuFinish after wet tumble/dry for preservation (i like the coating it gives)

[runfiverun]

yes a combination works best.

quite often I use a protracted system.
I dry tumble the cases just to get extra gunk off them before sending them through my dies'
then I lube, size and trim, then I will do a quick dry tumble to get the lube off my sized cases.
then run them through the wet system to get things really clean.
then into a second tumbler with separate dry media [still wet from the pin tumbler] with the nu-finish to dry and coat the cases.
then I champher, check primer pockets, prime, and load.
[or put into storage for loading later]
the extra work/time to me is worth it.

for pistol stuff I generally wet tumble then dry tumble with the nu-finish then load.

[No Blue]

OP, I lived 24 years in the mitten, everybody had figured out you do summer things in the summer. Winter things in the winter. And spring and fall you played it by ear.

So this time of the year, you load the bullets you cast last summer or fall; when you could be outside and let the lead fumes poison the neighbors.

Up north you have to brighter than the average bear; it's not Texass where you can do jazz outside most of the year.

Go build the addition, I did one the same size 34 years ago. Put the dirt bikes, metal lathe, other stuff out there and got the garage clean.