Quickie with the fairy

[brassrat]

Yes, she appeared and I was a movin. My ladle was soaked with water from my ingot cooling, flat pan of water and there was a little explosion when I went to scoop out a few new ladles worth of hot lead. I got a pic of tinsel everywhere. Got a little mark on forehead. Don't be a dummy like me.

[Shiloh]

Post the pic!!
Shiloh

[Geezer in NH]

Happens

[D Crockett]

it not a good idea to cool ingots that you just made in water. first off they can get cracks in them and water can get into the cracks and sit there for a while I did this one time and I will never water cool a ingot again about a month after I had water cooled the ingots I was making some 44 bullets and put in one of the water cooled ingots and all heck broke looser when the fairy came a calling. when casting we have to be very careful or we can get hurt some times very bad some times if we are lucky not so bad. one idea I just had is if you have water cooled ingots hit them with a propane weed burner to get all the water that might be in the ingots out . and get enough ingot molds so you do not have to water cool ingots --------note to brassrat if you need more ingot molds give me a pm I will make you a bunch ---- D Crockett

[brassrat]

No pic dagnabbit ! No camera and my phone messed up the pic. I learned that numerous ingots are needed but hopefully I will be good for awhile. I got 4 more this week $1.29/1 at Dollar Star and nice. Without water, it takes forever. Thanks Mr. Crockett but I will just be more careful. Your mishap is a great teachable moment but not dumb at all. Me, I had the, just poured ingots, in a tray and poured water in the tray. This seems ok ? but ladling back into the water filled tray to fill the next batch of ingots may be pushing it, but not one drop of lead got spilled in a couple dozen ingots. I did my 1st. Lee 200gr acp pours today too, yippee for CB!

[Bigslug]

And in case you've ever wondered, her full name is Aieegh Sonova Beech.

[brassrat]

Yes, I did call her by name. There was tinsel everywhere and I think I will have to nicely sand and paint the club picnic table. I was so careful to keep and use a couple pieces of roof flashing, as protection too.

[matrixcs]

Even when you know better a momentary lapse can be disastrous. Still picking tinsel from my stucco 2 years later.
Hope your burn was not too serious and heals soon.

[BK7saum]

Glad you werent seriously burned.

I water cool my filled ingot molds by placing them on a wet towel. Lots of steam, but no water introduced directly into the mold cavities or directly on the ingots.

I smelt with a large bottom pour smelter and pour 7.5 lb ingots in c channel molds. I place a wet towel down and put the ingot mold on the wet towel, then dispense into the mold. Slide the mold and towel down and then place the next mold down on the wet towel.

Not saying this is the best method but it does work well with my setup

Brad

[captaint]

Nasty little(hopefully) reminders, these. I'm sure most of us have had one. More than once I have dipped one tool or stick in the pot and heard that "grumble". Whoops. Got away with one there !!!

[Echo]

I place my ingot moulds on a cookie sheet covered by an old towel, and soak the towel, and I mean SOAK THE TOWEL, with H2O. Four moulds are all I can get on, and when the last is poured, the first is set and can be de-moulded. Use channel-locks to grab the moulds by the little lip, take to the patio, dump, repeat, and get ready to pour 4 more sets of ingots. I generally flood the mould to make 5-lb ingot gangs, easily broken apart to go into the furnace.

[popper]

I wear a ball cap when working with hot lead. Get some of that silver ointment - still got a spot on the forehead that is finally curing from a year ago.

[John Guedry]

I'm of the school that puts the ingot mold on a wet towel. Works for me.

[1911KY]

I prefer to not have water anywhere near me when melting lead. I would rather it take a little longer to cool things down, than be burned by melted lead.

Murphy's law holds true!

[Blackwater]

I've made a few mistakes in my time as well. Blew up a Super Blackhawk once, but that's another story for another day. All I want to say here is that none of us has a big red "S" on our chests. We're ALL fallible. It's just the simple effect of being human, and some psychologists have pointed out that in our modern world, full of neon signs to grab our visual attention, and radio and TV and all manner of electronic gadgets constantly assaulting our ears, we have come to a point where we habitually "tune out" to much of whatever's going on around us. When we're casting, and doing anything that can be dangerous, like reloading, etc., etc., etc., we simply HAVE to put our FULL attention on what we're doing to the exclusion of all else. What we'd LIKE to do doesn't make any difference in what we MUST do if we're to NOT blow our dang fool selves up! Blowing up that SuperB was an experience I'll never forget, and since then, I've been much, Much, MUCH better at paying attention to what I'm doing when loading, working around power tools, etc., etc. Haven't had a goof up since, except very minor ones. You can bet your sweet bippy that I check EVERY case before corking it with a bullet for powder and powder level in the cases. Anything that stands out gets re-dumped. Many other proceedures have been re-evaluated since that fateful and very scary date, and I'm a MUCH better reloader because of it. Still not infallible, though, so I keep one eye on me and the other on what I'm doing, and if my attention strays, even for a moment, I stop, take a breath, and resume with full attention on loading/casting/whatever. I may not be too bright, but I CAN learn if the lesson is "hard" enough! As a buddy has said, "A man CAN ignore reality and Truth, but he can NOT avoid its consequences." Buddies like that help keep me focused!

[Butchman205]

I have a contraption for cooling my ingots...the ingot mould sits securely on top, and the water filled contraption has "side drain holes" to prevent overfilling...with crossbars installed so that the mould CANNOT go to low in the holder. It's supported underneath and on the sides of the ingot mould.

However, since I'm a forth generation coal/iron/steel man...I dress in full heat protection for the unplanned occasion if/when the fairy comes to visit.
Knee high leather boots, cotton jeans, cotton shirt untucked (if hot something gets in your shirt, you don't want a quick move to allow it to go down in your pants), cotton Fire Retardant over shirt or jacket, hat pulled down low, safety glasses, and quality leather gloves.
I know I'm overdoing it on the safety stuff...but that's my way. The few times I've had an almost ugly oops...I was more than prepped.

[SP5315]

Since my first visit with the tinsel fairy, I've been partial to wearing welding leathers goggles and a full face shield when smelting. Glad you werent seriously burned.

[brassrat]

I am rethinking a face shield and have a tinsel shaped fairly large, but not, too bad, burn on forehead.

[jonp]

Wet towel. When the towel dries out or gets too hot to cool the mold I take a breather and run it under cold water again.

The only time I use water is when I cast. I usually do that under running water because I like the excitement. :kidding:

[MrWolf]

I use three corn bread moulds and two RCBS ingot moulds. Fit perfectly on my smelting setup. I cool them on a couple of drenched towels. Just refresh the towels with cold water as needed. The cycle fits my needs.