Everyday, I walk past my casting setup thinking I should fire it up and try some of my new molds. The temperature here in the Frozen Mitten is about 1 without the 30 mph wind chill. Only 60 days or so and I should be read to get started again.
I am considering talking to some contractor about a room in the basement with good air exchange so I can cast all year round. Anybody got a setup like that and how much did it cost???
Leadmelter
In the Frozen Mitten
I cast indoors year-round. Because I planned ahead when I built my house, there was plenty of attic room and a good place to route the 6" steel exhaust ducting and remote fan.
I'd be looking for an in-line fan or a cheap, kitchen vent-a-hood in the 500 cfm ballpark, plan to build sides for it and maybe hinge a clear panel of Lucite to the front to give some added protection and lower the hood a bit. Also figure out how you're going to vent fresh air inside to replace exhausted air, and how you're going to heat that cold incoming air.
Gear
I hear you Leadmelter. I cast yesterday afternoon in my uninsulated shop. The temps were in the low 20's for highs and single digits after dark. A fire in my woodstove kept it bearable until dark. After dark it was useless. I found a warmer place to be. Funny how in the summer running an electric lead pot indoors makes you much hotter but on a cold day it does nothing.
David
Yeah, it does NOTHING.Originally Posted by whelenshooter
I'm in Michigan as well. Went out the garage and fired up the melter thinking my activity would eventually warm the garage up at least a little bit...........nope, all it did was keep my hands warm.
~Charlie U.
Northern MI here. I have a bunch of new molds to play with but not in this weather. Gear has it right.
Don Verna
I built a casting corner and vent system into my reloading room so I could cast in the summer. We have the opposite problem most of you are having now. I can cast outside just about any day between November and March.
Gear
I cast outside almost year round and have cast as cold as -15 C (5 F). A guy just has to cast when he needs boolits.
I dress warm and wear gloves. The cold doesn't seem to hurt the casting at all.
Longbow
From Alaska, I say, "Boo Hoo." I cast when I need to, or want to, either in the garage or kitchen. Luckily I have a heated garage now. Before, I didn't cast in the house unless my wife would be gone for a while. You can cast on the range top if you have a vented hood to take the fumes outside, but don't use flux that will create smoke.
We have had below zero temps here in WV. I cast out on an enclosed porch. With a solar heater set close, the old coleman stove running with a pot of melt, it isn't too bad. I throw my sprue into a Lee electric pot, but it doesn't contribute much to the air temp!
Just an old dog who started on the Coleman stoves years ago, and after trying the electric pots, I still do way better with the Coleman stove.
Maker of Silver Boolits for Werewolf hunting
It's not the temps for me - I work out in this ****.
I can't keep my moulds up to temp no matter the pace.
Maybe if I needed some 300+ grainers but all I'm low on is
38's and small cal. rounds.
To damn cold to go shoot anyhow - at least for me - severe hand pain from
frost and prior bone mishaps.
I'll wait til at least highs in the mid 20's
I cast in an unheated shed year around. I use a fan behind me to blow the fumes away from me, and add a jet kerosene heater in low temperature situations. I am considering an indoor vented corner in my reloading area, but I also want 'enough' safety space between the casting and reloading areas.
Recently added a hot plate and coffee can mould heater to my set up due to a brass mould cooling off too much between casts even in warm weather. This works for my iron moulds, too.
Coldest casting day so far was -5 degrees F (I cast at night) but the shed kept the wind off and I made about 500 Mihec 0.356 boolits, 800 H&G #68's and 300 0.358 x 158 grain RN (HEAVY 6 cavity mould) in that session. Time limited by the tank on the jet heater: fill it then run it Dry. $4.39 for heat. Have to remember to add that into my cost for these boolits.
+100 on dressing appropriately, old/unusable hunting gear is my choice. I prefer casting in warmer weather but this work-gig interferes with my casting, reloading, and shooting hobby. I did that retirement thing (twice), but SWMABO likes to shop.
I found that I cannot water drop in this weather (LOL) and that begs the question of BHN: anyone know how the ambient temp affects BHN? I suspect the 0-32F hardens the boolits a bit more and may speed the age hardening a bit but wonder if the 30 day BHN is any higher for these than the >32F batches. I will try to remember to check back in 30 days with that answer.
Last edited by DRNurse1; 01-25-2014 at 09:08 AM.
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DRNurse1
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I cast in my attached garage. Stays warm enough to allow casting in all but the coldest weather. I cast in heat too, I just grin and bear it.
How do yo keep the flux/smoke off of your hat?
_________________________
DRNurse1
Education is one thing you can give away freely while suffering no personal loss and likely increasing one's own knowledge.
Properly vetted source information prevents GIGO, the scourge of the internet.
I don't wear my hat when casting, it interferes with the headphones for music!
I don't wear my hat at the range either, it shades the rear sight too much.
19 this morning, but going to 51. Let the casting begin!
(And I want a heated garage too!!!!!!!!!!!) or any garage.
KE4GWE - - - - - - Colt 1860, it just feels right.
I turned an old cab-over camper into a casting shed. Sheltered from the sun, wind, rain, etc. air-conditioned and heated.
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. -- H.L. Mencken
The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.― H.L. Mencken
I said last night I'm either rabbit hunting or casting tomorrow. It's 10 degrees out now. I run two Lee pots and start a Mr. Heater L.P. when it's real bad. The winds howling so I think I'll cast some Lee TLWC 358. I have one dog on each side of me as I type and I think they are OK with that also. Wind has been bad last few days here.
"Some times it's just better to smile an walk away."
-161
"Think ya used enough dynamite there, Butch?"
-Butch Cassidy & the Sun-dance Kid
Hadn't thought much about how ambient temp affects BHN but I am guessing not a lot if any unless there was a significant breeze. Still air is a good insulator.
If it was cold... like 10 to 20 degrees below freezing and you had a fan running to blow air over fresh cast boolits they might cool fast enough to harden some. Easy enough to check if you have a lead hardness tester which I do not at present.
I can't say I have noticed any difference in performance of boolits cast in +35 degree C heat or -15 degree C cold.
Longbow
What temp do you run your pots at?
I can't seem to keep small moulds up to temp.
Small meaning in the 38 cal. range
Ignore this non-thread related post, but had to ask:
Alonso, or Ferrari in general?
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