Apartment said no casting

[warren5421]

Apartment complex manager was knocking on my door at 8:00 A.M. He informed me that someone complained about me casting on the deck. The complaint was "Why can he cast on his deck and I can't Bar-Bee-Que". So where do I go now to cast? Moving is not possible for 8 months. I had bought several molds for my .32 ACP: Acc. 31-077B, Acc. 31-087T, Acc. 31-090B from a guy who got them after reading some of Ed Harris's writings. I bought all his reload and casting items. I carry a 1903 .32 ACP so was going to cast and not buy lead from someone. I see Outpost75 likes the Accurate's 31-087T mold, so the question is are there any retail casters selling bullets from that mold

[Winger Ed.]

Put a fan in the window blowing out, and do it inside.

[jaysouth]

Put a fan in the window blowing out, and do it inside.

What he said.

If anyone complains, tell them that you are doing stained glass, and to mind their own business.

[roadie]

Put a fan in the window blowing out, and do it inside.

Exactly what I would do. Neighbors can be so petty.

I'd also move out as quick as possible.

[slim1836]

Ask him where in your lease does it state no casting? You rented and signed a lease. If he continues to not allow casting, he is breaking the lease, not you. He too is bound to the lease agreement and cannot make up rules as he so desires.

Slim

[sutherpride59]

Better to just cast inside with cleaned up ingots that have already been fluxed, use a wooden stick to stir and that will flux what little oxidation is there. Will also give a pleasant smoked wood smell or you can find what the least smelly flux is and try that, maybe borax or something like that. For fluxing and melting dirty stuff to make clean ingots I would borrow a friends backyard for an afternoon or buy a cheap gas stove and find a place in the woods, or in a fire pit at a park. A lot of Gus make clean ingots from a wood fire and a cast iron pot. Nothing suspicious in a park about cooking over an open flame with a Dutch oven. Of course you can always turn a camping trip into a bullet casting trip over an open flame with a ladle as well but you get the idea. If you do it inside and have flooring that needs to be protected they sell fiberglass “blankets” at Home Depot for welding in sensitive areas and that would work perfectly. Throw down a few cotton towels, plastic tarp and fiber glass blanket over it and even a small spill could be dealt with pretty easily with little or no damage or fire hazard. If I casted inside though I might consider bolting the pot to my casting table just to mitigate as much risk as possible. I’m lucky my apartment balcony faces outside and I have a small waist high wall that conceals my operations lol.

[muskeg13]

What are you using for flux? Casting in an apartment, or indoors, calls for a low/non-smoke producing flux with little smell. While others may not like it, I've always had very good results with Marvelux. During my time in the military, with relocation moves every few years, I was forced to cast in apartment type settings several times. I usually set up casting on the kitchen stove range top, under a hood ventilator that assisted in keeping the occasional light smoke and smells to a minumum.

[Texas by God]

I'd wager that some of our high volume caster members here would trade boolits for alloy or whatever (for 8 months) till you get out of there. No BBQ? WTH....

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[Bazoo]

You're a bit far from me, but maybe someone else would offer you to cast on their farm or in their shop. I would.

[Ed_Shot]

Put a fan in the window blowing out, and do it inside.

Been there done that 50 years ago.....didn't own a fan either.

[murf205]

Warren, I've been there brother and I know what you are up against. Do you shoot at an outdoor range? That might be a place to cast IF they have a place to plug your furnace in. I new a guy who rented a small storage unit that had 1 120v light in it and he screwed an adapter in the socket to plug a short extension cord into. He left the door open and went to work. He built a 2'x2' wooden table just high enough to stand and work. Some units have lights and some don't. Good luck

The world thinks we are doing something terrible when in fact, if we were making stained glass, we would be called artist! Go figure.

[Rcmaveric]

I too live in an apartment. I make lead ingots in the parking lot using my truck tail gate as a table.

I have a little casting station set up on an old in table in the dinning room that I don't use as a dining room.

We also have a no BBq policy on the back porch. I have casted off the padio with an extension cord.

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[2wheelDuke]

Your best bet would be friends nearby. Or maybe rent a warehouse space if it's got power. Some of my first casting sessions were in a rented unit that my brother was using as a motorcycle shop.

[Gunslinger1911]

Been there, done that. had a year of appt life (never more !!)haha

Get some BIG cookie sheets to catch all the "crumbs". Fan in window. Cast away. Get some of the lead cleanup wipes if paranoid of residue.

[dverna]

Too bad you are not on the top floor

BTW, if I lived above you, I would complain too. Not pleasant to have those fumes coming up if the renter above you is on their balcony or wants their window open if you are using a smokey or smelly flux.

[Chill Wills]

Ask him where in your lease does it state no casting? You rented and signed a lease. If he continues to not allow casting, he is breaking the lease, not you. He too is bound to the lease agreement and cannot make up rules as he so desires.

Slim

^^^^^^^^^^^
Correct.
Stick up for yourself.

However, for some people less belligerent about wrong(ing) our rights than me, the confrontation is not worth demanding our rights.
We are all different.

[Boolit_Head]

Sad thing is there are fire laws that prevent open flames on porches like that. But I doubt they cover a casting pot since it is electric. Manager is just not able to see the difference or really cares less and would rather appease your complainer.

[reddog81]

What type of casting furnace are you using? Something with open flame? Using the typical Lee melter or something similar isn’t really comparable to cooking with an open flame.

I tried casting in the basement once but soon realized it wasn’t really worth the mess. Do they have garages that you can rent?

[sutherpride59]

Ask him where in your lease does it state no casting? You rented and signed a lease. If he continues to not allow casting, he is breaking the lease, not you. He too is bound to the lease agreement and cannot make up rules as he so desires.

Slim

He has a really good point actually, spend some time reading through local ordnance and see if there is anything in the language that prohibits heating elements on the porch. If it’s clean alloy you can’t call it hazardous material as you won’t have lead dust to deal with. If there is nothing then your lease doesn’t cover it. It would be well working reason to sit down with the manager and explain that there is nothing in lease banning it, nothing in local ordnance, or in any fire safety codes that prohibit you from operating an electric stove on your patio. Just explain that it isn’t damaging, isn’t hazardous and he can’t actually evict you for not violating the lease unless he wants to cost the management company a lot of money in a lawsuit they can’t win for a lease violation that didn’t occur. A reasonable person could understand that it isn’t in the contract you signed and that you are free to heat up metal on your porch. If your neighbor is still jealous he can cook chicken on an electric stove on his porch too.

[David2011]

A galvanized garage oil drip pan makes an excellent tray for casting. They’re about 25”x48” and lead won’t stick to the galvanized surface. You can get drywall repair sheets 2’ square and put 2 of them under the drip pan to insulate whatever it’s sitting on.