Casting and Eating

[DonMountain]

Well, I got a new mold and had to try it out of course, and so far its doing real well. My question is, if you are only half way done casting the number of boolets you want, and you have to run in and eat lunch, what do you do with your hot, electric lead furnace while you are in eating for a half hour? Do you leave the mold on the heating tray on top and turn the temperature down a little and go eat? Warming it back up to casting temperature when you get back? Or turn it all the way off and then back on again when you get back? Mine takes about 20 minutes to get up to temperature when it is cold.

[shredder]

Shut 'er down. Start again.

[DerekP Houston]

I'm guilty of leaving mine running and just turning the hotplate down a bit.

[mozeppa]

i'd rather finish then eat.

[Yodogsandman]

I leave the pot on and go scrub my hands and wash my face before eating. The mold is put back on the hot plate at it's regular temp, ready to resume casting when I'm done eating. Same regimen any time I have to go do something for say an hour or so. Sometimes it takes most of the day to empty the pot with smaller boolits, taking breaks away from it.

[rancher1913]

I'm with yodogsandman, if its more than an hour I shut it down but if its just a quick break I turn the temp down a bit and wash up good before I do anything else.

[DerekP Houston]

Guess I should clarify, I do scrub my hands when i come back inside. Sometimes its just too hot out and I come inside for frequent breaks. I don't like waiting for the mold/lead to come back up to temp so i just leave them running.

[corbinace]

I guess I am just too prone to distractions. I'm thinking of the...

Lights left on in the shop since last week.

Welder humming away from a couple of days ago, waiting in vain, for me to strike the next arc.

Tractor that ran out of fuel waiting for me to get back from a bathroom break that turned into a trip to town for my wife.

Yea, I generally just try to secure everything before I walk away. I never know what lies around the proverbial corner, that will take my limited attention in another direction.

But, I am sure I am the only one with this problem.

[Old Scribe]

I guess I am just too prone to distractions. I'm thinking of the...

Lights left on in the shop since last week.

Welder humming away from a couple of days ago, waiting in vain, for me to strike the next arc.

Tractor that ran out of fuel waiting for me to get back from a bathroom break that turned into a trip to town for my wife.

Yea, I generally just try to secure everything before I walk away. I never know what lies around the proverbial corner, that will take my limited attention in another direction.

But, I am sure I am the only one with this problem.
Yup. Had to answer the phone call from my daughter, "Just a quick question, Dad". I know better, so the quick questions from the daughter or wife get answered AFTER I shut down the pot and hot plate.

[mdi]

I was taught shop practices very early; never leave the shop/area with a machine (or melting pot) running unattended. I don't even leave my wobbler or tumbler running if I leave the shop for more than 5 or 10 minutes...

[dragon813gt]

I leave the pot on. It's in a sheet metal pan that will contain the lead if there is a spill. Mold gets put back into the mold oven. I wash my hands w/ D-Lead soap, and then again w/ Zep TKO. This is overkill but I got in the habit of washing w/ D-Lead when I worked at a battery plant too often. The casting area is in my detached garage which is 50' from the house. Everything is ready to roll when I sit down for another session. It's not unusual for me to make a day of casting so I stop to eat often.

[ghh3rd]

I fry my grilled sandwich on my mold heater and carry on :kidding:

[nagantguy]

eating is done after casting, after a wash of the hands with cold water than hot, a shower and a change of clothing. Noone else is wrong or careless or dumb that's just how I do it, early on in my casting I went inside left the pot on ojtside, took a phone call, a bathroom break , ect it rained and my cast iron casting table got a visit from the molten hag, aka tinsel fairy.

[runfiverun]

I just top the pot off and go eat.
1/2 hr isn't worth unplugging everything.

[ReloaderFred]

I leave my Master Caster on when I take a break to eat, and of course wash up before touching anything that will go in my body.

My only warning is to not leave a 10 pound ingot warming on the edge of the pot to go answer the phone, and while away decide to take a bathroom break, and might as well have lunch while I'm at it. When I got back, the ingot got warmed alright, and there was lead everywhere...........

Hope this helps.

Fred

[45workhorse]

Just heat what you are going to eat on the pot, just don't let the cheese drip in the pot. Just kidding!
Have made the mistake of heating lead on the edge of the pot and some went in the pot and some went on the table top......

[GhostHawk]

I plan better, I seldom cast mornings, much more likely to go down and cast after lunch and after nap.

Never walk off and leave my pot on, that would bug me.

[jmorris]

I can't say I have been in that situation. May sit there and have a beer while its casting and watch it though.

[DonMountain]

I fry my grilled sandwich on my mold heater and carry on :kidding:

Well, with all of the responses that I have received to my question, I think this one is my best pick. I used to just use my mold heater to keep my cup of coffee warm. But I never thought about using it to make grilled cheese and ham sandwiches. Up until now I had to walk all the way back to the house to do it on the cookstove. But when I was a kid, my father melted lead in an Ideal iron pot in a circular disk in one of the openings on the wood cookstove in the kitchen.

[Bzcraig]

Shut 'er down. Start again.


^^^^this^^^^

[Three44s]

Them grilled cheese san's will put lead in ............ well, a .......... there ....... ​

OK ..... I keep the pot turned down but on for a short break ... I am a fast eater! If more comes my way as to distractions, I will shut everything down. My smelting is an outside affair but my casting to date has been in the garage with lots of open doors and windows so it's just a matter of stepping through a door to check on the progress ...... and like someone else indicated, I have been known to top off a bunch of bars and take a break to give them time to slump.

I figure if I have things even on the warm side it does not take a long time to come on up to temp.

Three 44s

[warf73]

Turn the knob down and go eat(after cleaning myself up)get back to it when done.

[garym1a2]

I would take a break when pot in near empty and put fresh ignots in it.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

My casting sessions are almost always less than 2 hours, it doesn't seem prudent to take a half hour break for lunch. I'll just finish casting, then have lunch. I'm not a fan of keeping the Pot and hotplate energized when not in use.
that's my 2¢

[mdi]

I remember the post of a feller that left his full pot to go do something else for a short while. He returned to find 20 lbs. of molten lead had leaked on his bench and floor. Seems like when he dropped some ingots in the pot to melt while he was away some dirt/grit held the valve open and the pot leaked all over. One in a million? Mebbe, but had he been there it would never have happened...

[mold maker]

Just like flushing the john and turning out the lights, it's a priority. An unattended pot is a safety issue.
We have all done things that in retrospect, weren' the smartest. The idea is to constantly improve.

[Dragonheart]

When I cast I have a plan and I cast until I am finished, then I clean up completely.

Most realize lead lead can be hazardous, but few realize it is the lead dust generated that poses a problem. Take a good look at the fine lead particles you can see when the sprue is cut, then think about the finer stuff you can't see. This dust is all over and around your casting area. Lead is on you, your clothes and your shoes. The dust is easily tracked into the house. The fumes off your pot can carry fine lead dust a micron in size than once inhaled can go quickly into your bloodstream. Once in the house the lead dust will remain there until it is removed or is picked up be a small child playing on the floor; and that is the real danger.

[Echo]

Guess I should clarify, I do scrub my hands when i come back inside. Sometimes its just too hot out and I come inside for frequent breaks. I don't like waiting for the mold/lead to come back up to temp so i just leave them running.
Hot? In Houston? I'm shocked...
(Born & raised there...)

[40sand9s]

I just plan eating around adding new lead. I run the pot pretty low, add some lead, then by the time I am done it is melted and I can start again. When I am really into it I just roast a hot dog on top and call it a day. I may also plan a smore as a dessert if I have really done work that day.

[tazman]

I usually cast for about an hour to 90 minutes at a time(Arthritis). I don't start near time to eat lunch or supper.
I will sometimes turn on a cold pot to heat up while eating a meal so I can start when done eating, but never leave a hot pot running when I leave for more than a trip to the bathroom.

[Dragonheart]

Hot? In Houston? I'm shocked...
(Born & raised there...)

At least you were smart enough to leave!

[Smk SHoe]

I try to do my casting on the kitchen stove. That way I can stir the chili. Lead dust adds a nice flavor

[Eddie Southgate]

I never eat anything I cast .

Eddie

[Lakehouse2012]

I would shut down my pot. I use gas (LP or MAPP) and wouldn't leave it unattended due to the open flame. But I also have heavy pots I'm heating the lead in, and I can come back 30 minutes later and still have the setup at 400 degrees, so startup isnt that long an ordeal.

The reason I DON'T like walking away from a casting session is cause it takes me a little while to get my mold "singing" again. If I'm in the zone when casting, I'll forego eating until I'm out of lead...

[lightman]

I use an electric casting pot so I would be comfortable turning the temp down a little, putting the mold on the edge of the pot and going to eat. In a perfect world I would plan my casting and meals so that this would not be an issue.

[kingstrider]

i'd rather finish then eat.

This. Food can wait.