casting clothes

[MosinRob]

Hey guys, Im pretty much setup to cast some .530 round balls for my first time. Question i have is do I have to have a separate pair of clothes to wear for casting? Im just worried with my kids and the whole lead thing in all. Thanks guys.

[rockrat]

I don't and I don't think you will have to either. Just don't let them around as the lead is unforgiving if you spill any on you or them. Just be careful and don't get distracted. Be sure to wash your hands afterwards, after handling the lead.

[ShooterAZ]

I do wash the clothes I was wearing at the time separately. Maybe overkill, maybe not.

[garym1a2]

Casting shirt is long sleeve cotton Tee. Also wear googles and gloves. I got hit by a sprayed of lead once, ruin my glasses, lots of lead spot on my shirt. No burns on me.

[geargnasher]

I've been known to cast wearing only my underwear, riding boots a leather apron, and a pink fez in addition to the safety glasses and right hand glove, but I wouldn't recommend that to just anyone ;-)

As far as lead contamination goes, I DO recommend the leather welder's apron, fold it and put it away when not in use, the rest of you won't be too contaminated except for your hands.

Be aware of everything you touch after handling lead, things like doorknobs and drinking cups/glasses are ways to spread the lead oxides to others, and probably the most realistic hazard to children. If you can't wash before leaving the casting area, use a paper towel to handle doorknobs and faucet hardware until you can get your hands washed. A nail brush of the sort you can get for a buck at most auto parts stores is really handy for scrubbing the lead out of your fingerprints where it likes to hang out. Other that that, and keeping your contaminated fingers away from your own food/drink/tobacco/gum/mouth/face and using decent ventilation when casting, I don't think you have much to worry about, even in the laundry.

It's a toxic, stable heavy metal, not plutonium.

Gear

[Doc Highwall]

The only thing I can add is wear natural materials like cotton. The reason is they only burn if something hot like molten lead spills on them. Synthetics materials can melt and cause more problems then just the burns themselves.

I also wear a leather welders apron and a ball cap backwards when wearing a face shield to protect the top of my head and the back of my neck.

[cbrick]

Im just worried with my kids and the whole lead thing in all. Thanks guys.

The biggest concern is the age of the kids. Lead is far more toxic to kids under the age of 5 than it is to you or me. That's the reason for taking lead out of paint, little kids will eat paint chips and chew on painted surfaces. When younger than 5 (I like to think 7 years myself just for safety) lead can enter the brain via pathways that are no longer open after 5 years.

It is toxic but not radioactive, you have to eat it or ingest it in some way to be effected. It does not absorb through skin. It is accumulative, a little doesn't do much but if you keep ingesting small quantities of lead it builds up over time.

Keep youngsters completely out of casting areas, other than that common sense goes a long way. I have been casting most of my adult life and my lead levels are at the very low end of adult normal.

Rick

[geargnasher]

The only thing I can add is wear natural materials like cotton. The reason is they only burn if something hot like molten lead spills on them. Synthetics materials can melt and cause more problems then just the burns themselves.

I also wear a leather welders apron and a ball cap backwards when wearing a face shield to protect the top of my head and the back of my neck.

+1 on natural fibers, particularly cotton and leather.

Gear

[runfiverun]

i wipe down my hands with baby wipes before leaving the casting area.
i may or may not be wearing shoes when i am casting.
but i am wearing gloves okay a glove on the right hand for opening the mold and stuff.
and i wash my hands with de-lead soap when i get in the house.

if i am smelting down ww's and scrap lead it's clean up then head straight to the shower.

you can get the soap at grainger [or you could i have about 2 gallons of it left and haven't bought it for quite some time]

[popper]

Casting clothes stay in the garage where I cast, they will never get washed. Not worried about contamination, it's just a worn out pair of jeans and a long sleeve cotton shirt - no loss. I wash hands and face after casting. Now loading, when I handle lead a lot, wash up good.

[Hank10]

I started casting about 1941, back then cigarette packs had a lead sheet to keep the tabacco fresh. We'd search the garbage and gutters for discarded packs to get the lead, back then no one had ever heard of lead being toxic, we carried .22 cartridges ,for our single shot rifles, in our mouth when hunting. I've even swallowed a few. I put on a long sleeved shirt and a baseball cap and leather gloves for burn protection when casting. I've cast millions in the last 70 yrs. Wash my hands when they're dirty, never taken any special protective action from the lead. Just recently had my blood cheaked for lead, Dr. said it was normal. Not advising, just saying that of all the things we do daily casting bullets is one of the safest. IMHO H10

[1Shirt]

I use the same method as Popper clothes wise. I wash multi times after casting in particular, and at least once throughly after loading cast, or sorting and weighing cast boolits. No apron, but firm believer in cotton clothes, and leather glove on right hand. Had never heard of delead soap, good tip.
1Shirt!

[Linstrum]

I've been known to cast wearing only my underwear, riding boots a leather apron, and a pink fez in addition to the safety glasses and right hand glove, but I wouldn't recommend that to just anyone ;-)

Gear

Hey, geargnasher, the next time you do that, how 'bout trying it out in the woods at midnight when the moon is full while dancing around an old tree stump full of spunk water like the rest of us do? You non-conformist, you! Oh yeah, I forgot, also use dog ear wax as boolit lube, too.

About lead, yeah, it is NOT plutonium, and in the solid metallic state is just awful inert, that is why it used to be used in soda-acid fire extinguishers to hold the concentrated sulfuric acid. In a finely divided metallic state, as an air-borne metallic vapor, and in chemical compounds is where you get into BIG trouble, but as far as the vapor form goes, you've got to get it WAY FAR above the temperature needed for casting. If you get your casting alloy hot enough to be a vapor problem you are also in danger of ruining aluminum molds and burning out an electric melter. Maybe even setting the workshop on fire, too. That said, ALWAYS use good ventilation, lead is a cumulative poison and I've been at it since 1964, which is a very long time for getting exposed here and there. Like Hank10 says, he's been at it 23 years longer than me and he's still around.

Like was said, wash your hands before handling anything that will get in your mouth and don't stir up dust from dirt and debris generated during cleaning wheel weights and casting.

rl 1,139

[geargnasher]

That was back in my college days when I cast boolits out of a pot on the gas range in my travel trailer. I couldn't run the AC and cast at the same time in the small space due to ventilation issues so I shucked clothes to deal with the heat. Apron overlapped the tops of the riding boots to keep out errant sprues. There was some dancing and chanting going on too, and every once in a while a howl at the moon, activities mostly related to the aforementioned errant sprues.....

Gear

[Bigslug]

It was when Geargnasher filled his quench bucket with sheep's blood that his friends grew concerned. . .

Toxicity aside, a dedicated casting "uniform" is a good idea for a couple of reasons. It's fairly dirty work anyway, and this will keep you from inadvertently wearing nicer things you don't want damaged. It also prevents you from starting the casting process wearing clothes that you haven't given proper thought to with regards to their use as a safety barrier.

[ChuckS1]

OMG, another one of the "I'm gonna drop dead and my house/kids/dog/whatever will be forever poisoned if I/they/it even touches lead" thread. A little common sense goes a long way, but for those who want "special" clothes, here's what you should be wearing... :)

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p121/ChuckS1_photos/madison.jpg

[gunseller]

I started casting in 1967. Only way to get lead balls for my C&B Remington revolver. I have no idea how much shooting it takes to wear out a C&B revolver but I did it with my first one. Last year my blood work said everything was fine. When casting I wear a cotton long sleeve shirt and blue jeans. I have a pair of litely insulated leather gloves I also wear. The gloves are kept with my molds but everything else goes into the wash like all other cloths. I cast outside and stand up wind of the pot when casting or smelting.
Steve

[HangFireW8]

I started casting about 1941, back then cigarette packs had a lead sheet to keep the tabacco fresh.

According to Sharpe circa 1939, that cigarette pack metal was tin. Still good stuff for casting. :)

HF