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Thread: tinsel fairy doesnt care

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    I may be wrong but my understanding of the --- cool the mould using water --- is the mould is briefly touched against a wet pad of some kind, not having the mould sitting in water. It seems to me that sitting the mould in water (even very shallow water) invites water to seep upward, even into the cavities, between the mould halves. Not something I would think to be desirable.
    R.D.M.

  2. #22
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    Wet Cooling the mold: fill a shallow pan with old washcloths/rags or until they are above the sides of the pan, fill the pan with water, set hot mold on the washcloth the mold is closed tight and full of lead there is no way water can enter the mold and stay in it's liquid form unless you leave the mold on the rag long after it quits steaming. I have yet to damage a mold doing this?

    Water on the surface of hot lead is not a problem, the tinsel fairy is caused by water trapped in lead or? submerged in molten lead.

  3. #23
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I'm another that does not go full hazmat when casting. When I'm casting I wear glasses, long sleeve shirt, long pants and closed toe shoes. I'll wear about the same attire when smelting except I'll wear boots with the pants legs worn outside of the boot and gloves. My clothing is flame retardant, but only because I had clothing left over from the job after I retired.

    When smelting I'll run the exhaust fan thats in the gable end of my shop and a large floor fan near the doorway. I'll stay up wind of the pot when I'm working.
    Last edited by lightman; 03-19-2019 at 07:50 AM.

  4. #24
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I've worn glasses for over 70 years, not for protection but to see details. It aint that big a deal. When I weld, I wear a Darkening helmet. When I played football, I wore pads and a cup.
    Why on earth would anyone casting not protect the eyes from perminate damage??????
    Last edited by mold maker; 03-19-2019 at 09:10 AM.
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  5. #25
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    I don't mind a few burns on my hands in exchange for dexterity (no gloves). I've had a drop or two hit my face as well. But I don't go anywhere near the pot without safety glasses. I can live with a little pain and maybe even disfigurement. But not blindness.

    Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

  6. #26
    Boolit Buddy Kent Fowler's Avatar
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    Had a small visit myself a few weeks ago. I left some of Pat Marlins flake flux in a baggie out in the shop for a couple weeks after a casting session and when I added some to the pot this time the Fairy appeared. Not too bad but still made a pretty good pop. Took the rest of the flux inside and dried it out in the oven. Great flux by the way, just don't expose it too long to humidity.

  7. #27
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    When I cast I use sprue lube and open/close the sprue plate with my hand so gloves are important. I wear a cap to protect the nekkid top of my head, safety glasses, long sleeves (ALWAYS cotton only), long pants, shoes with socks and a cheap welder’s apron. I too upgrade to safety boots when smelting. If it’s hot I might trade long pants for knee length shorts but I still wear the leather apron. I don’t cast wearing shoes without socks.

    I’ve been watching a YouTube series of a couple building a large boat, a 74 foot steel sailboat. It was interesting watching them pouring the ballast. They poured 5 tons into each of the twin keels. There was some trapped rainwater. With the size batches they were pouring it would get your attention but it didn’t explode. It did boil pretty vigorously though. The channel is SV Seeker if anyone is interested. They have been documenting the build for 6 years.
    Last edited by David2011; 03-20-2019 at 12:24 AM.
    Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris

  8. #28
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    Been pretty lucky myself. But, day before yesterday....it don't take long to look at a still hot ingot. Kinda short on finger prints for a while.
    Pro Patria-Ne Desit Virtus

  9. #29
    Boolit Master

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    Even the smallest of splatters digs deep through skin, don't ask me how...ain't fun but tinsel fairy ain't gonna care for sure...

  10. #30
    Boolit Master
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    Yeah,those monotype letters had some moisture in them,having been stored in a plastic container... I added them to a hot WW dutch oven pot on a burner...

    That was 10+ years ago,I left the splashes on the garage walls as stupidity reminders. Some of them splashes are scary big.

  11. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by sureYnot View Post
    I don't mind a few burns on my hands in exchange for dexterity (no gloves). I've had a drop or two hit my face as well. But I don't go anywhere near the pot without safety glasses. I can live with a little pain and maybe even disfigurement. But not blindness.

    Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk
    Casting boolits I use thin leather gloves with gauntlets meant for mig/tig wielding

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    I agree with the glasses statement. Like others, I always wear glasses to see so I don't have to worry about that.

    I also "I can live with a little pain and maybe even disfigurement. But not blindness."

  12. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by beechbum444 View Post
    Safety glasses safety glasses safety glasses !!!
    This 100% If not a face shield. I'm ugly enough as it is and besides I have a mustache counting on me for protection.

    No fairy but close. Forgot to properly pre-warm a cast iron ladle and got recoil and pot went "whump" pretty good when ladle went into the pot. That made a believer out of me that is for sure. Scary stuff.

    Just recently I loaded a bunch of bar ingots into a cold partly full Lee 20# melter. The bars were all sticking straight up. The bottoms melted, the bars shifted and wedged and continued to lose more length off the bottom. Suddenly the bars that were all by this time wedged at least a couple of inches off the melt dropped in mass. What happens when a several pound blob of lead bars drop into a 3/4 full pot of molten lead? Just what you would expect SPLOOSH! over the sides of the pot and mostly on the table (steel) and the base of the pot. Learned something new I did, and was able to contemplate it as I cleaned up the splash and managed to free the melter from being stuck to the table.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

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  13. #33
    Boolit Grand Master

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    A billed ball cap will not only protect the forehead but it will help keeps splatters from dropping in just over the glasses into the eyes. Unlike hot liquids molten metals when they come in contact with skin they stick right there and the mass holds heat longer burning longer and deeper.

    When casting its a long sleeved shirt, glasses ball cap heavy shoes and gloves. When I smelted I added a leather apron to this.

  14. #34
    Boolit Master


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    In the early 80s casting mentor who lived a short distance from Galveston Bay was casting on a Saturday afternoon using borax for his flux. He continued the following morning and picked up his spoon which had some borax still on it from the previous day. When he pushed it down into the molten alloy moisture that the borax had absorbed overnight beckoned the tinsel fairy. Fortunately he had a full beard and moustache and was wearing aviator/motorcycle style glasses. He only got a couple of tiny burns with the facial hair and glasses catching the brunt of the spatter. I still have that spoon and think of his incident every time I pick it up. It is never put away with any residue on it lest I have the same experience with a poorer outcome.
    Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check