Badly Burned!!!

[303Guy]

A full ladle of hot molten boolit alloy was dumped onto my BARE HAND!! Onto the hand holding the mold, which in my panic, caused the mold to go bouncing across the concrete floor of the shed. You can not even begin to imagine the pain.

Thank you for posting the warning! I have been doing the exact same thing! (Well, I'm using a bottom pour but still, no gloves!) There are a number of precautions I could actually be taking that I am not. I will revise my practices - I am only just getting into it and doing it wrong!

[Whitespider]

A leather apron and welders gloves are less than $10 each at Harbor Freight. Pretty cheap insurance...

I already own both, the apron hangs on the wall between the welder and casting bench, two pairs of welders gloves setting on the welding bench. I use them when smelting WWs, the apron mostly for protection from the filth.

I don't believe I'll be going to that extreme when casting boolits, I prefer some finger dexterity as I'm a ladle caster. But I will be looking for some thin, well fitting leather gloves that cover the wrist. Until I find the right fitting leather, some cotton Jersey gloves will suffice; even cotton would have stopped the direct contact of molten lead to skin.


I don't allow children into my casting area, the daughter knows not to approach when the pot is hot. The one-year-old hasn't been taught yet, but he requires content supervision right now. I was casting with the overhead doors open when the family approached, little guy got away from mom like they do. After she saw my hand, less than five minutes later, I'll bet she won't let him get away from her again. Still, I believe I'll set up some Hog Panels around the casting area from now on.

I had a pretty good rhythm going, opening the mold about four times a minute, and that's fast for me and the ladle. When Tristan ran up to me I had to stop and get him away, talked to the wife a second and went back to casting. The interruption threw my rhythm off, messed up my timing, and as I was trying to get it back... well it ended the casting session.

And yes, I had to survive the "SWMBO Lecture"!

[jonk]

I've managed to pour molten lead on my leg, arm, hand, and wrist before. Never a whole ladle full though, just a few drops. I do not envy you.

I now wear long pants and a shop apron but I won't wear gloves. I'd rather risk a burn and have the dexterity and control that comes with a bare hand than lumber around with gloves on. That just makes for stupid fingers letting go of things. But, to each his own.

[ghh3rd]

putting wood in the fire place

We only get to do that two or three days of the year here in Tampa Florida

[Old Ironsights]

This post is exactly why I use a Drip-o-matic and not a ladle.

[johnly]

Sorry to hear of your injuries. For gloves, I use a pair of USAF Nomex gloves the the fueling crews wear. They are light and flexable, and are long enough to almost reach your elbow joint.

John

[jnovotny]

Glad to hear you didn't get it too bad. Definetly keep an eye on that burn, first sign of infection get your butt to the hospital. Keep on casting John.

[bedwards]

Thanks for sharing that. It took nerve to admit it. I will be using gloves and long cotton sleeves from now on after reading it.

be

[Coastie]

Don't forget to protect your feet. I used to cast while wearing my moccasins -very comfortable until I slopped some lead. The wool sock saved my foot, but was a very painful lesson. Now I wear my high top leather work boots when casting.
Keep a close eye on your burn - if it looks like any infection get it looked at - a deep burn can go bad fast.

[Fatman]

No matter WHAT!!! go to your Doctor and get the hand looked at!!!!!!!! With lead burns if even a minute spec was on the skin it could have gotten caught in the blister and with the blisters infection could start inside and you won't see it until too late. Too Bad be embarrassed when you go to the Doc.

After I was taught to make sinkers, I had to have supervision for about a year. When I turned 13 (1975) I was left on my own, I used to use a wire rack to hold a piece of L shaped steel pipe and into the opening chunks of lead went. Enough to make a few sinkers at a time but YEah right not enough to get really burned.

Well little brother walked by with a glass of water and spilled some and didn't tell me!!!!!!!! I poured the lead into the old Palmer mold and the lead shot straight up into my face!!!!!!! Have two spots where facial hair wont' grow and the worst was a burn to my eye!!!!!!! Splatter went right under the edge of my glass's.

Stuck my face in a bucket of water that I had just in case and no scars on the face (Don't do this anymore) and I had to be taken to the ER to get the small piece of lead out of my eye, but every time I have the little blue light glucoma test I get the you know you have a burn scar on your eye. It shows as a little black spot under the light.

Take the advice of all here and go get checked just to be safe, and have a major talk with the family about RULES when you are casting. They work and everyone is safe.

Fatman

[Ancesthntr]

Whitespider, glad to hear it wasn't worse, though I don't envy you the experience, the recovery or the SWMBO lecture.

I'm new to casting, don't even have a heater yet for my DO or the electric bottom-pour furnace yet, but I did get the welder's gloves at Harbor Freight, along with safety glasses. I'll get the apron that I looked at and said "oh come on, moron, you don't need that." Workboots with heavy socks, crappy old jeans (with no holes) and a long-sleeved shirt will complete my attire. I also like the idea of a bucket of water being available for cooling down an injured body part, though it'll be far away from the molten lead.

3 stories about burns. One involved a 2nd cousin of my father's, over 90 years ago. I was doing family research and found out that he died at age 2. I ordered the death certificate, and found out that he died after being scalded by a pot of hot water that fell off a stove. I've never forgotten that - though I never knew the boy or any of his close family, having small kids myself makes even hearing about this stuff hurt.

Second story was me, circa 1965 as a 4-year-old. Mom was ironing, the phone rang and while she was in the kitchen I decided to see how hot the iron was. With the palm of my hand. No lasting effects, but I did LOTS of yelling and crying, and spent weeks in a bandage.

Third story was about 2 years ago with my son. This time I was ironing, and I left the room for a few seconds to get something while he was sitting down nice and peacefully, mesmerized by the TV (or so I thought). Next thing I knew, BOOOOM, and he starts screaming. He knocked over the ironing board, and then grabbed the iron on the floor from the hot side. I grabbed him and put his hand under cold water immediately, and left the iron on the floor. 30 seconds later I picked it up, with a big brand from the iron on the carpet. He hurt for a few days, no permanent damage, though he remembers it well. So do I - I've purposely left the brand in the carpet as a reminder to myself.

Lesson: don't **** around with kids and hot stuff. What can go wrong absolutely WILL, and someone will get hurt or worse. There is NO F'ING WAY that anyone in my family will get near my casting equipment while it is in use or for hours afterwards. No critters to complicate things, and I'm going to keep it that way.

Once again, this wonderful forum (well, its members) has provided an invaluable bunch of information. Sometimes it is good stuff, sometimes it is how to avoid the bad stuff. Thank you all for your input, and for Whitespider my sincerest wishes for a quick and complete recovery, with as little pain as possible and no infection.

[gasboffer]

Years ago I was casting from lead bullets mined from the berm. Don't have a clue why or how, but a .22 cartridge got into the pot. I was across the room when the lead shower came down. Not that fast anymore, (76)
clyde

[lathesmith]

Like others have stated, casting with gloves is an absolute MUST. Even the thin latex-type gloves are much, much better than nothing, and are amazingly effective at preventing serious damage to your hands from various sources. For casting, though, there are better gloves to be had; the important thing is to get some and USE them. I have used leather ones in the past, these are quite effective if somewhat cumbersome.
As for kids getting around the casting area, it is OUR RESPONSIBILITY as casters to make sure that reasonable precautions are taken. This will vary, depending on the kids and their ages, but this must be thought through and taken seriously. You may not get a second chance...
Like others, I WILL NOT CAST if Distracted. If I have a visitor, I stop, period. Enough said.

White Spider, I hate to call you lucky; that was a bad accident for sure, and yes, it could have been much worse. Here's to hoping for a speedy and complete recovery, and painful reminder to all of us to take shop safety SERIOUSLY. Our ability to continue to provide a livelihood for our families and ensure their safety depends on US, no excuses.
lathesmith

[geargnasher]

This post is exactly why I use a Drip-o-matic and not a ladle.

I always use leather gloves but have been looking for something better due to the work gloves having mostly thin cloth on the back. My drip-o-matic got me on the back of the hand a few weeks ago. I was fiddling with a stuck hp pin for a few seconds and didn't notice the rapid drip-drip-drip coming from a hang-up in the spout until it started splashing on the back of my left glove and burned through the cloth. Still nursing scabs where the drops burned straight through.

I don't envy anyone getting even a mild burn, thanks White Spider for sobering us up with a reality check. After all, if we can't learn from your mistakes, why would you bother to make them in the first place! I'm glad no one else was hurt, hope you have a safe recovery and +1 on getting some professional treatment, I don't want to hear any experience-based advice from you in the future about seeking timely medical attention to avoid amputations.

I am going to bolt my pot to the bench, aquire a full-face shield, and get some of those Nomex gloves before I cast again.

Gear