Loading table cleanup

[mwhite49]

Be carefull with any spills of powder, and or primers. I was talking to a fellow reloader who always cleaned up spills wit his shop vac. No accidents until about a week ago. His shop vac had a new filter put in and he had nust about finished when the Vacum got launched. Scared th he **** out of him and his dog. Be said no more eaning that way. He thinks he had a good couple of ounces of powder and the a couple of primers set it off.

[Smk SHoe]

How does he spill that much powder and vacuum it up? I go on a reloading marathon weekend and don't have half a teaspoon of powder spilled. And NO live primers go unaccounted for. I can't understand how he is that careless with his components.

[Harter66]

Never vacuum ! Static in the hose can cause a woof . That can be made even more exciting by dust flash . Remember the exploding grain towers ? Same deal .
No HEPA doesn't work like that .

[lightman]

I brush mine off with a draftsmans brush. Usually there is more trash from depriming than from spilled powder.

[mwhite49]

Old eyes so he spills more. Does when he cooks too.

[shoot-n-lead]

Old eyes so he spills more. Does when he cooks too.

Besides that...I have spilled a sleeve of primers and could not find them all despite my best effort.

Stuff happens and that is not carelessness.

Gee whiz

[gwpercle]

Shop vacuum and gun powder is a NO-NO. Electric motors can spark , gun powder left in it gets pulverized into a fine dust, the dust gets ignited by a tiny spark from the motor and there you go.
Worst explosion I ever saw was at a flour mill.....fine flour dust and a spark and the whole place went up. No explosives...just flour dust.
Gary

[salpal48]

There seems to Be there is alway another Brainstorm in this reloading Game. it generally all Boils down to one word
"meathead"

[DonMountain]

I brush mine off with a draftsmans brush. Usually there is more trash from depriming than from spilled powder.

And where did you find an antique "draftsmans brush"? I worked for 30 years as an engineer and all of our draftsman used AutoCad on a computer and neither had brushes or rubber erasers. Although I remember my great uncle working for a company back when I was a kid that still used pencils to draft with.

[Kevin Rohrer]

I brush mine off with a draftsmans brush. Usually there is more trash from depriming than from spilled powder.

Me, too. It is very effective, and much safer.

[L Erie Caster]

Draftsman’s brushes are still made they are used by artist and jewelry manufactures among others. I use a small counter duster, its like a draftsman’s brush but with three rows of bristles. As a shift supervisor for a brush manufacturing company you learn a lot of useless information.

[daboone]

Besides that...I have spilled a sleeve of primers and could not find them all despite my best effort.

Stuff happens and that is not carelessness.

Gee whiz

Hard to stop a sneeze in mid refill.:roll:

[Duckiller]

Primers fall to the floor, powder stays on the bench. Live primers that drop to the floor are fun to find when mixed with a bunch of dead primers that get away from me when depriming. Rally don't like leaving any quantity of loose powder on the bench. Spill a case , clean it up before doing anything else. There are still loose grains on my bench and they get cleaned up when the bench top gets cleaned. Use either a brush or stiff paper to move powder.

[John Guedry]

The brushes Harbor Freight sells (about 8 in. long) more bristles than a draftsmans brush.Works well.

[17nut]

Reminds me of an "incident" when i was a kid in the early 1980's.
Local baker had umpteen hundred wasps in his window on hot summer days and in a fit he reconed he could "scoop" them up with the shop vaccuum.
Plan worked like a charm but as soon as he switched the vaccuum off the now pissed off and angry wasps started a crawl out to get revenge, no good.
So as long as he kept the sucker on problem stayed under control, but what then?
The sucker got dragged into the yard behind the bakery and the genious found a LPG bottle and thunk it good to gas the wasps.
Well at some point the mix got juuuust right and the top of the sucker went a good 100ft into the air and he got a notice in the local rag.
Boom could be heard all over town.

I think it was a brown trousers moment ;-)

[Drew P]

But did it kill the wasps?

[lightman]

And where did you find an antique "draftsmans brush"? I worked for 30 years as an engineer and all of our draftsman used AutoCad on a computer and neither had brushes or rubber erasers. Although I remember my great uncle working for a company back when I was a kid that still used pencils to draft with.

I guess I kind of dated myself, huh? I still have some of my drafting stuff that I used in college. But I have seen many brushes that are made the same way. I used a cheap 4 inch paint brush for years to sweep out the dirt in the floor of my company truck. I'm sure something suitable could be found at Walmart or Harbor Freight.

[17nut]

But did it kill the wasps?

Yeah, they had a blast :D

[jarhead0321usmc]

Guess I'm old school still using a pan and brush for my messes.......call me paranoid but I'm extra cautious with my components. I don't need any claims on my home owners insurance or having to explain any accidents to the wife.

[David2011]

Worst explosion I ever saw was at a flour mill.....fine flour dust and a spark and the whole place went up. No explosives...just flour dust.
Gary

The Improvised Munitions Handbook says to put an initiator/blasting cap in a tuna can with some aluminum powder. Put a 50 pound bag of flour on top of it. It says it will destroy everything in a hangar. It may not be classified by the BATFE as "an explosive" but it is definitely explosive.

[17nut]

https://youtu.be/DU3GSbIzwm8?t=165