Badly Burned!!!

[brasshog]

I can relate to this story. I cast bare hands always myself and am guilty of it. I'm big on ventilation, a clean work area, absolutely no liquids stored on or around the table, wearing pants and boots, etc. I've got a cat that has learned to watch and wait to get into daddy's lap. She's smart and didn't learn the hard way fortunately. She will come up to me, look up and meow, and wait for me to back away from the table to pick her up. If I don't after a minute she leaves. However, people are dumber than animals and I'm hear to tell you. I have had to put up a colored safety rope between the doors so that people simply can't walk into my shop without asking. My buddy (who reloads also) walked in with his 13yr old daughter knowing well what I was doing and gave her a playful shove. She tipped and grabbed my 4x6 workbench for support. In front of me was a fresh batch of lead in a very full pot. I caught a crotch full of lead and ruined a good chair that day. Anger and a lot of words we quickly exchanged. Now there is the rope and a sign. I will get a welding apron soon also. I have had to also remove all of the extra chairs in the shop due to another buddy that sat down and plopped his feet up on my desk while I was casting. There is now a separate desk twelve to fifteen feet away from my work table for someone to sit and drink a soda and they must enter through a side door (herd the cattle). I'm glad that you weren't hurt badly in your incident. Be safe everyone.

[mozeppa]

i'm the luckiest man alive...tinsel fairy.

below eye and on eye lid ....not in eye.


WEAR EYE PROTECTION!.......IT"LL STOP YOU FROM WEARING AN EYE PATCH......ARRRRRR!

[NavyVet1959]

My buddy (who reloads also) walked in with his 13yr old daughter knowing well what I was doing and gave her a playful shove. She tipped and grabbed my 4x6 workbench for support. In front of me was a fresh batch of lead in a very full pot. I caught a crotch full of lead and ruined a good chair that day. Anger and a lot of words we quickly exchanged. Now there is the rope and a sign. I will get a welding apron soon also. I have had to also remove all of the extra chairs in the shop due to another buddy that sat down and plopped his feet up on my desk while I was casting. There is now a separate desk twelve to fifteen feet away from my work table for someone to sit and drink a soda and they must enter through a side door (herd the cattle).

Interesting incidents. I would be inclined to consider a redesign of the tables so that they would be less likely to shake and cause a spill of the molten lead. If I'm casting in my garage, that could definitely happen to me. If I'm casting inside the house, it would be a bit less likely since I am casting on a counter where the base cabinets are attached to the wall.

[54bore]

I did a really stupid one when i first started, i bought a Lee 4-20 bottom pour, when it arrived it was nasty weather outside and i couldnt resist trying it out so i set it up in my kitchen on the kitchen table, i opened the windows and used a small fan on low, i only poured a few bullets just to try the new pot out, looking back this is the ONLY time that pot didnt leak, and i was totally unprepared for a leak. I think back at how lucky i was that everything went perfect that evening. I cast outside on nice days, i have had a couple close calls but never been burned (knock on wood!) i wear a pair of elbow length welding gloves to protect my hands. I had just plugged my pot in another time and just as the alloy started to liquefy a small stream shot up out of the pot turning into a long tensel string, there again im SURE glad that didnt happen in my house! Another time i was melting down range scrap, i came up with the brilliant idea to Squeeze the few solid bullets in the bunch with a pair of pliers to hopefully break the shell and release the lead, it worked! But shot the lead directly at my chest and burnt little holes all over my fleece jacket. I look back at how DUMB it was of me to do the few i did. Live and learn, and hopefully not get burned or hurt badly in the process!!

[Multigunner]

I don't think I've never gotten a blister from casting boolits, but I've burned the heck out of my hands getting a pizza out of the oven, go figure.

[dtknowles]

I got my first lead casting burn at about age 12. I was using my chemistry set alchol lamp, lead sinkers and a kitchen spoon. Dumped the spoon full of molten lead on my thumb. Ouch. I still don'the wear gloves, just am careful.

Tim

[Multigunner]

"I got my first lead casting burn at about age 12. I was using my chemistry set alchol lamp, lead sinkers and a kitchen spoon. Dumped the spoon full of molten lead on my thumb. Ouch. I still don'the wear gloves, just am careful.

Tim "
I also got scorched a few times casting tin soldiers as a kid. Never a blister or worse, only very red skin . Plenty of cold butter from the ice box probably prevented blisters from forming. Contrary to popular belief chilling the burned area immediately with ice or very cold anything is good for burns.
I now keep a squeeze bottle of an Aloe based salve in the door of the fridge. Perfect for pizza burns.

[dtknowles]

"I got my first lead casting burn at about age 12. I was using my chemistry set alchol lamp, lead sinkers and a kitchen spoon. Dumped the spoon full of molten lead on my thumb. Ouch. I still don'the wear gloves, just am careful.

Tim "
I also got scorched a few times casting tin soldiers as a kid. Never a blister or worse, only very red skin . Plenty of cold butter from the ice box probably prevented blisters from forming. Contrary to popular belief chilling the burned area immediately with ice or very cold anything is good for burns.
I now keep a squeeze bottle of an Aloe based salve in the door of the fridge. Perfect for pizza burns.

Yeah, ice then aloe. Works for me. I got a small but blistered burn from my large soldering iron a couple weeks ago. Only hurt until I could get the ice on it, then the aloe, it has healed fine.

The burn I got at 12 hurt for almost a day, I had to keep it iced the whole time. I still have the scar. Mom did not know about aloe then.

Tim

[shoot-n-lead]

That ice and aloe is a great immediate treatment for minor burns...prevents them being worse than they would be without it.

[tankgunner59]

I pour in the back yard on a big homemade table. I had a serious thought the last time out about just this kind of thing. So I went to HF and bought a full length leather apron and I use it to cover my legs at the table as well as the gloves. But I'm gonna check out the Ove' gloves.

[mold maker]

the Ove glove is great for hot objects but the open weave would be worse than nothing in cases of liquid lead.

[54bore]

I have 2 Ove gloves i bought for Casting, but i dont like them, they make my hands sweat. I wear a pair of leather welding gloves, they work way better for me, i dont use a sprue bat, i open the sprue with my gloved hand.

[Springfield]

Most of the molten lead pours off the "ove glove, the weave is very tight and thick. Been using them for years. My hands don't sweat with them, but when I dye leather I wear nitrile gloves, now those make my hands sweat like crazy.

[jmort]

To each his own, but why use anything other than the Ove Gloves???

[dragon813gt]

To each his own, but why use anything other than the Ove Gloves???

Because you can't throw them off quickly like you can welding gauntlets. Everyone is going to have their own personal preferences. I prefer the ability to shed the gloves quickly.

[NavyVet1959]

When the professional welders of large steel objects start using Ove Gloves, *then* I'll think about them.

[lightman]

I can't tell if I ever replied to this thread or not.
My attire when I'm smelting is blue jeans worn outside of work boots, a long sleeve heavy shirt (FR because I had some from work), long cuff leather gloves and safety glasses. I have a strict rule to never add lead to a pot with molten lead already in it. I smelt in my shop using a homemade propane burner that is more than strong enough to support the weight. I keep the doors open and run an exhaust fan that can change the air in the shop several times a minute.

When I cast I usually wear about the same clothing except sometimes without the gloves. I use a 4 or 6 oz plastic mallet for a sprue knocker. The table is more than capable of supporting the pot and any lead that is "on deck" and all cords are routed to the back of the table away from any traffic.

I usually keep an ice chest close by with some slushy ice and a clean towel, just because.

[NavyVet1959]

I usually keep an ice chest close by with some slushy ice and a clean towel, just because.

Because it's a good idea to keep ice cold beer on hand anyway.

[adam_mac84]

Been reading all the stickies I can find... Will put away my cotton work gloves and search the garage for the welding gloves!!

[Grmps]

Regular glasses aren't 100% safe. I dropped sprues in the pot as I turned to dump the mold and got lead splatter around the side of the glasses -- eyelid and around the eye = pain and fear. Need full top and side coverage to protect the eyes.
I now make sure I have 1/4 inch of kitty littler on top of the lead to prevent oxidation and lead splatter