Accident Smelting lead

[silverman1]

When I process wheel weights,I first phisically sort the weights,in a large wood oval salad bowl,a handfull at a time,and use a dial indicator magnetic base,to pull out all the steel weights,and the release knob on the base when turned releases the steel.
I then pour what is left,as lead into A 5 gal pail,after pulling out all the valve cores,tire tags,and weights that are marked Zn ,and they usually are painted silver,along with all the trash ,goes into anothe bucket.
I use a LARGE torch,and set my pot on fire bricks outside,and do my melting,sheltered from wind by my shop.
I have a ladel with 1/4 in dia holes in it,that I use to skim off the clips,and zinc,that accidently gets into the pot.
I had a 1/2 pot (1.5 gal size) 3/4 full of lead,and was shaking weights from the bucket,into the pot.
I stand with the bucket shielding me,L hand on bottom,and right hand holding the top rim of the bucketand usually just keep one eye over the opening between the bucket,and pot ,to be able to see how much is in the pot. (I wear a full plastic face shield,while doing this,and padded welders gloves)
While pouring this in,I saw what looked like a quarter,drop into the pot,and as soon as I recognised what it was,it blew up. It was a CR 2032 button battery.
I had molten lead splash up onto my right glove,and leather gloves as they are ,seem to hold heat forever,even after removed from the heat source.
The lead hardened around my middle finger,and the ring finger on my right hand.
I could not get my glove off fast enough,I tried to shake it off first,and when that did not work,I grabbed it by the finger tips,and pulled it off.
As I was doing this,I could hear lead raining down on the metal roof on my shop.
By the time I had got my glove off,I had two burn blisters on each finger,the size of nickles.
OUCH! There was a rain barrel 6 ft. away,and I immidately put my hand into the water to stop the burning.
Even with a face shield on,I had an 1/8 in dia splat of lead on my cheek,just under my glasses,and when I pulled it off ,skin came with it.
BE CAREFUL GUYS THIS HURTS !
I am trying to type with my fingers all bandaged up.and thought I would share this with you.
Wear long sleeves gloves face shield etc.
The place where I bought my lead sells cleaned lead in 1# bars,and next time I get some,
I am going to buy those.
I bought 209# of wheel weights,for $79.00,and I got 65# of lead after cleaning.
They sell their bars for $1.00 per pound,and the more you buy,the cheaper the price.
So for my $80 ,I could have had 100# of lead.
Lead is getting harder to get around here,and a local scrap yard ,had wheel weights in 5 gal pails sitting outside.
One of the buckets split open from freezing,and some weights were spilled.
So the EPA fined them for lead on the ground.so they are no longer buying/selling lead.

[PTS]

Wow, what an experience. As I am very close to casting and eventually smelting for the first time, I thank you for this story and advice. It will be heeded. I already have a face shield and such.

[Mitch]

Hi silverman
sounds like it could have been worse with out the gear.i am glad to here is was not.
you are very close to me going to send you a pm

[mold maker]

Another reason to diligently separate WWs from ANY trash/junk/dirt, before it goes into the pot.
Who would have thought that little battery had a heat expandable content? Didn't battery fires shut down the use of a new commercial aircraft recently?
You just can't be too careful, and it's so simple to do.
It takes a little time to handle each weight, but it can take a very long time to heal, when you don't. Just a little carelessness can do perminate damage.

[w5pv]

I hope there was no permant damage to you,I was smelting some lead for ignots and didn't pay any attention to a spider web in one of the compartments but when I poured the lead and got a surprise when the lead blew and spattered.It touched the skin in a few places but no long term damage.The lesson I learnt here was to keep everthing clean,take time to clean spider webs and other debris from the molds.

[Dannmann801]

Dang! Thanks for sharing that advice. Gonna pick up a new faceshield today after reading that.

[runfiverun]

I pour my ww's out on a piece of sheet metal.
I have already sorted them but this gives me another chance at looking them over before they go in my pots.
I then scoop them up with a shovel.
the shovel is used to put the ww's into the pots.

[masscaster]

Hi silverman1,
Glad to see you were wearing some protection, and came out somewhat unscathed.
Could have been much worse!
I once swept up a Shotgun Primer, and put it in my floor/bench clean bucket. Needless to say it caused quite the tinsel fairy greeting!!

On another note, if you happen to get Galena stuck on your person use some Margarine or stick butter.
Gently massage it where the lead is stuck and it'll fall off with minimal, or no skin loss.

Careful now!
Jeff

[montana_charlie]

the shovel is used to put the ww's into the pots.
That sounds like a better plan that pouring from a bucket ...

[imashooter2]

I pour my ww's out on a piece of sheet metal.
I have already sorted them but this gives me another chance at looking them over before they go in my pots.
I then scoop them up with a shovel.
the shovel is used to put the ww's into the pots.

Similarly, I turn my range scrap buckets out into a wheel barrow to give me one last chance to look it over for dud .22s and load the pot with a garden shovel. At least I'm not standing right over the pot if I miss one...

http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/scrap600.jpg

[groundsclown]

the shovel is used to put the ww's into the pots.

I only do about 100-130lbs at a time right now & that fits in my "re-purposed" propane tank, so they go in cold. Should I start doing multiple batches or adding more WW's to the melt then, Im going to start using a shovel...great idea

[silverman1]

Grounds;
When i run the pot down to app.1/3 left in it, is when i add more lead.
It melts a lot faster when you add more lead .
And I am definately goung tp use a snovel next time.

[cbrick]

I sort all weights using four buckets and every single weight is snipped with wire cutters. The bucket full of the weights to be sorted, in another bucket goes only the softest of the stick-on's, another for the clip-on's and one for trash. It's a PITA and it's slow but I know what's in each sorted bucket and no trash of any kind goes into the melting pot. Once it's finished it's well worth while, until it's finished not so much but I have confidence in the ingots I put in my casting pot.

I've found all sorts of weird stuff in WW buckets from syringes, used condoms, razor blades, cell phones and yes, even batteries.

Glad you had protective gear on and weren't more seriously injured. Safety first, always.

Rick

[PS Paul]

Fined for lead on the ground? Doesn't lead appear in the ground NATURALLY? Sheesh. ridonkulous.

[WHITETAIL]

Yes, +1 on the shovel (long handle).:coffee:

[ubetcha]

Fined for lead on the ground? Doesn't lead appear in the ground NATURALLY? Sheesh. ridonkulous.

Yes it does,but apparently the EPA doesn't know that.They seem to impose their will on everyone for any reason the same as our Prez.

[silverman1]

Speaking of the EPA,an old army buddy,works for a company,that has [I AM TOLD] a permit,to dredge sand from the Mississippi to help clean the shipping channels,as this lessens costs for the Army eng.corps.
They wash the sand as it is dredged,all cans bottles,car parts[even a slightly rusted Rem 870 loaded shotgun] is screened out,and removed for disposal.
The sand,is dumped into a barge floating behind the dredge.
The sand is then unloaded at the companies property,and sold by the truckload.
An EPA inspector showed up,to make sure all was right,and levied MILLIONS of dollars in fines on them,because they dumped thousands of tons of SILICA [a known carciniogen]also known as SAND onto the ground,and shut them down,waiting on court appeals etc. [I own 5.5 acres of sand in OHIO !]
In the words of Buggs Bunny; ''What a MAROON!''

[fredj338]

That is why I sort by hand & don't just dump stuff into the pot. Range scrap can have live 22lrrds, ww can have valve stems, they also can cause an explosion. Glad it wasn't worse, reminds me to wear my face shield when smelting instead of just safety glasses.