Hats off too ya

[sfcairborne]

Just got done smelting a five gallon bucket of wheel weights in the good ole Oklahoma heat. For all of you guys that smelt more than that, at any one given time. My hats off too ya.
it was freaking hot out there this evening.

[Scharfschuetze]

Hats off to you Sfcairborne. Now you know why I don't call OK home and prefer the NW.

[sfcairborne]

Yep, I spent 6 years up in ft. Lewis loved it, and miss it

[Bzcraig]

Smelting is a fall/winter event for me.....................

[Mk42gunner]

Just got done smelting a five gallon bucket of wheel weights in the good ole Oklahoma heat. For all of you guys that smelt more than that, at any one given time. My hats off too ya.
it was freaking hot out there this evening.
Now you know why I normally pick the coldest day of winter to smelt down Wheel Weights. Its still hard work, but at least I am not going to sweat so much that I get dehydrated.

[Scharfschuetze]

Yep, I spent 6 years up in ft. Lewis loved it, and miss it

Which unit at Fort Lewis? They now call it JBLM (Joint Base Lewis McChord). You can tell by my avitar where I was at.

[w5pv]

I have a 5gal bucket of wheel weights that needs to be processed but it is just too hot.

[toallmy]

Try figure out what you need a year , and do it in the spring and fall . A nice stash ready to cast with , let's you pick the day to cook up more . Heck I'm waiting for cooler weather to just go shooting . I was trying out some cast rounds Sunday with sweat running in my eyes . At least that is what I blame the pore shooting on .

[Walter Laich]

I can handle the heat down here along the Gulf Coast these days for about 60-90 minutes; after that I'm toast--literally

[Blackwater]

Here in Ga., we've been having near 100 degree heat, and humidity is high to boot, so your sweat can't evaporate and cool you down. I have some smelting to do, but I'm simply not up to it in THIS kind of weather! When you're no longer 10 ft. tall, bulletproof and immortal, patience becomes a very good alternative. Works for me.

[mdi]

Well, not to rub it in fellers, but I chose my home because of the weather. I spent some time in the Dallas area, working outside (delivering Dr. Pepper) and went through all the heat and humidity, enough to last me the rest of my life. I spent a little time around Hesperia, CA and dealt with heat. I lived and worked in Los Angeles for 35 years and when getting ready to retire, I visited potential areas at least twice a year, in winter and in summer. I chose Coastal Southern Oregon. Rarely gets up to 80, and on really rare occasions (during an inland high pressure situation) it'll get to low 90s. Most of the time it's about 60-70 degrees with night time lows in winter around freezing. It does rain a lot, but folks around here don't pay much heed to the rain (even the humming birds go out in the rain!). I researched and chose a place that's easy on the old guy, weather wise...

[sfcairborne]

Kinda had no choice. Ive got 10 five gallon buckets and have smelted all of them but two now. Sold a house moved them to storage, then decided I needed to smelt them as I didn't want to try and move all ten back to the new house, Freaking heavy they are. So I had time to kill at the lake house, decided I would rather smelt them and have the ingot's on hand for the move. Been a time consuming and hot ordeal, but fun. Now just got to hit my tire shop up for a restock. Damn this site, my addiction is over riding my ***. HAHA

[osteodoc08]

Smelting is a fall/winter event for me.....................

this here.

[Echo]

I smelt any time - but not a lot in summer. Still, if I get up early, I can do some work before the heat becomes unbearable. I typically smelt in small batches. Most of my WW's are ingotized, so I can do a dutch oven of 7/1+ WW/Mono/Sn in about an hour. Right, 40 lbs isn't much, and there are still range and WW cupcakes that need alloying, but I get around to it every now and then, even in our summer heat. Our monsoon has just finally started, so the temps will be more conducive to outdoor pleasantry...

[RoadBike]

Here in Ga., we've been having near 100 degree heat, and humidity is high to boot, so your sweat can't evaporate and cool you down. I have some smelting to do, but I'm simply not up to it in THIS kind of weather! When you're no longer 10 ft. tall, bulletproof and immortal, patience becomes a very good alternative. Works for me.

My situation in central Louisiana. Retired and enjoying life, but heat this summer has been significant. I'm a road cyclist in addition to shooter and handloader. Spring and early summer, I could ride 30 to 50 miles, no problem. Now, I have to get up at 0-dark-thirty just to get 30 in before the heat/humidity sets in. Intense heat saps my energy and limits mileage.

For smelting, I've learned to set everything up and get the fire started while I'm wearing shorts/sandals. While the pot is heating, I run in and change into jeans, long sleeves, boots, heavy gloves, face shield etc. and come out and tend to the smelt and pour ingots. Once the fire is out and ingots poured, I change back into shorts to clean up and put everything away.

[sfcairborne]

Got two 5 gallon buckets left, this weekends work and I'm done for awhile. I do all my alloy mixing in smaller batches as needed. Whew almost done.

[Blackwater]

RoadBike, that's WAY too organized, logical and efficient! You CAN'T be a REAL caster, can you???? [smilie=l:

Seriously, great to hear someone's doing it right. I usually cast bare-armed, but when I do, I am V-E-R-Y C-A-R-E-F-U-L!!! So far so good, but as I get less and less "graceful" with age, I'm rethinking my tactics. I need and intend to get some welding gloves. "Just in case," of course. It's humbling getting older and dealing with fallibility!

[lightman]

Its been hot and humid here in Arkansas too. Probably like it is in most of the South during Summer. I spent most of my adult life working in the weather but now in retirement I try to smelt in the cooler months. You're suppost to get wiser as you age, right? I usually get a shooting buddy or two together to smelt and we usually make an afternoon of it. My pot holds 400# and we usually do several batches. I wear jeans over boots and a long sleeve work shirt over a t-shirt along with gloves and safety glasses when handling the lead but after the pot is loaded and heating up, the shirt, gloves and glasses come off until the lead gets fluxed. The ole back is usually the first thing to get tired.

[runfiverun]

I cast in stocking feet, and cotton gloves summer or winter but it's almost always 65 in the shop.

my smelting operations are timed more to june or late September.
even then I keep it to 3-5 buckets and get done by 11:30 since that's when the sun comes over the house.
no way I'm standing out there in 75-80f heat pouring lead.

[RED BEAR]

just got a couple of new molds and just could not stand it. just had to try them out and 90+ degrees and 80% + humidity here in va is kinda hot too had to quit after about 4 hours looked like i jumped in the pond.