Determining smelting fume direction

[901S]

I was smelting about 10 lbs of wheel weights outside today. There was a very slight breeze, but I could not determine its direction nor could I see any fumes/smoke coming off my molten metal other than a couple of minutes where I was fluxing it.

I quit smoking many years ago, so that is not an option. Next thing that came to my mind was perhaps getting some incense to burn and smoke next to the smelting pan/pot so I can see the smoke direction. A fan does not strike me as a good plan if I cannot determine the light and changing breeze direction.

Anyone have a better idea?

TIA

[wddodge]

Render your lead on a windy day??? Sorry, I couldn't help it. Just kidding you..

Denny

[901S]

I could wait for the next hurricane here in CT, but I'll be waiting for a long time and they say pouring rain isn't the best weather for dealing with molten lead.

[gwpercle]

Buy or make a small wind vane....set it near your smelting rig and it will point which way the wind is blowing.

[slim1836]

Light a match.

Slim

[jsizemore]

dangle some surveyors tape.

[Hickory]

Put some beeswax in the melt, it'll smoke.

[bangerjim]

Just stand up-wind of your smoking stinking re-melting pot. Easy to do. If the wind shifts, move your carcass. I do it all the time.

Most people have enough trouble keeping their re-melt temps up without adding a fan!!!!!!!!

I quit re-melting smelly stinky greasy old wheel weights years ago when they hit 60%Zn. But fluxing with pine sawdust in the re-melting pot (normally alloy and lead sheets) and reducing with beeswax in my casting pots (pure ingots ONLY) does create smoke. I love the smell of beeswax!

Have fun melting Pb.

Bangerjim

[dikman]

I've found that it doesn't matter where I stand, the smoke always comes towards me!!

[901S]

Buy or make a small wind vane....set it near your smelting rig and it will point which way the wind is blowing.

Interesting. Perhaps a short piece of very light yarn stuck on the end of a something like coat hanger wire a foot or two above the smelting pan. Thanks.

Spider web silk would be perfect if I could see it.

[Retumbo]

I throw stuff in and walk away until the smoke stops. Throw in some sawdust and bees wax. Light and stir for a bit. Walk away til.the smoke stops. Skim and cast.

[Springfield]

If there is no smoke to be seen than what are you trying to avoid? Sounds like you are making something out of nothing. IMHO. I have melted a few pots of WW in my time, and if there is something to avoid you will know it. It's not like there is poisonous invisible gas coming from the Wheelweights.

[reddog81]

What difference does it make? If the fumes and smoke are blowing in your face you can move.

[bangerjim]

Like we have covered ad-nauseum on many threads...............there are NO lead fumes! We melt/re-melt Pb/alloys at around 700F or so.....it BOILS at 3,180°F which creates fumes (lead steam).

All the smoke and stink are from your dirty wheel weights, range carp, and fluxes. Just move out of the way and don't breathe it.

Problem solved.

[Dragonheart]

601s, if you are going to smelt, get a mask, preferably full face with activated carbon filters and a fan to direct the vapors away from you. Lead does not have to boil to emit harmful vapors. The contaminants in the mix can vaporize well below the melting point of lead and carry lead dust with the vapor. This vapor can deposit lead dust on you and a large surrounding area. Additionally, you don't know what other harmful contaminants are in this vapor.

Make sure you have no children in the area when handling lead as they are a 10 times greater risk than you for lead poisoning. The area you choose for your hobby unless thoroughly cleaned and tested will most likely remain contaminated with lead dust. After handling lead do not make physical contact with children until you are clean as lead dust can be transmitted from you, your clothing or your shoes and tracked into an otherwise clean area.

I have performed lead wipe tests on shooting tables with 50 foot backstops and found them highly contaminated with lead dust, so the dust can be carried.

Casting is a good hobby, but when handling lead learn do it safely, because the damage from lead poisoning to a child can be permanent.

[Hardcast416taylor]

About the cheapest and yet one of the most reliable wind direction indicators is a strip (about 5 or 6" long) of ordinary toilet paper tied to a stick that is jammed in the ground by the pot. Been using this indicator for years.Robert

[gwpercle]

I've found that it doesn't matter where I stand, the smoke always comes towards me!!
Happens every time ! I think this has been proven scientifically around campfires every time cub scout's and dad's roast marshmallows and hot dogs .....
Gary

[901S]

About the cheapest and yet one of the most reliable wind direction indicators is a strip (about 5 or 6" long) of ordinary toilet paper tied to a stick that is jammed in the ground by the pot. Been using this indicator for years.Robert


Easy, cheap, effective. I like it.

[hc18flyer]

Cassette tape is what cataraman sailors use, slightest breeze will move it. I use a cartridge type resperator when smelting and fluxing.
hc18flyer

[glockfan]

i'm smelting outdoor at the edge of the bush in the summer and sometimes under the 2nd level balcony (to avoid snowflakes landing in my pot lol) in winter time when it's not too cold.

in the summer on a nice warm day the wind is practically non existent,so quite predictable and i can escape the fumes by just moving a little around the pot.winter gets me another game, wind is more prevalent and change direction all the time,then i'm wearing a 7503 mask with P100 filters to avoid the harmfull fumes.

[901S]

Cassette tape is what cataraman sailors use, slightest breeze will move it. I use a cartridge type resperator when smelting and fluxing.
hc18flyer


Cassette tape? Did they just defrost you? :lol:

I haven't seen cassette tape in 2 decades.

[country gent]

Surveyors tape works well. better is a skien of the "fuzzy" yarn. I use the yarn for tails on my wind flags, its very sensitive and reacts quickly. Its also cheap and a skien lasts a long time. I made my wind flags with magnetic bearings a daisy wheel and vane the yarn is attached to the lower edge of the vane. The magnetic bearing set up is almost friction free also. A wind flag or rod with a length of yarn should do well.

[dikman]

I just smelted about 300 kilos of range scrap and lots of fumes come off it until it's been cleaned (beats me what's in it 'cos I wash it down first). I set up a fan to blow across the poured ingots to cool them and also to cool the molds so that I can pour quicker. It is also angled slightly so that it blows behind me towards my melting setup and keeps "most" of the fumes away from me.

[lightman]

I do my smelting in my shop. I have enough ventilation to make the smoke go where I want it to. That is, the fan sucks air in from the overhead door and exhaust it through the walk in door. This makes it easy to stay up wind of any smoke, be it from fluxing or from other junk.

[Leadmad]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221496&d=1527992590

Made this poor boy smelting set up for under $30, smoke is up and away from me 98% of the time with no regard to wind direction or speed of it, well away from house or neighbours so works for me on any day

[DukeInFlorida]

My own experience is that the wind always seems to be shifting direction when I am rendering raw lead. I have to keep relocating my body to be upwind of the smoke, etc. Kind of like a campfire when camping. There's never a good seat around the campfire ring.

[901S]

My own experience is that the wind always seems to be shifting direction when I am rendering raw lead. I have to keep relocating my body to be upwind of the smoke, etc. Kind of like a campfire when camping. There's never a good seat around the campfire ring.


Yep. We have an oil heating system, but mostly use a wood stove for heat in the winter. When I dump the ashes into a 20 gallon steel trash can outside I gauge the wind. No matter how sure I am of the wind's direction it almost always changes in my direction before I can dump out the ash tray into the ash can. That direction is toward me!!!

[Grmps]

This -------------- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSgQ82Kqhzo

[Oldbrowngun]

I agree with whoever said it seems to follow where you are standing. The wind here always seems to shift it in my direction. I wear a half face respirator with these filters https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07571LKP4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1, but the smoke and smell of the dirty oily stuff coming off of nasty old wheel weights still seems to penetrate the mask enough to allow me to smell it and feel sick from it, and somtimes cought for half the day. It is not good at all, and i've been looking for a solution. Fans either suck in flames or cool off lead. My problems are in the smelting process, as far as casting itself, my pot doesnt really seem to put off much, and im not standing above it sucking anything in, so I just make sure I do it out in the open, usually dont use a mask.

[Dragonheart]

If your masks fits and you use a combination hepa/carbon filters you won't smell anything and will be protected. North makes the best respirators I am aware of and I have used them for myself and commercially for for my crews for many years. The proof is when you have several hundred workers take a monthly blood test and they all come back negative you know the masks work.

[Oldbrowngun]

If your masks fits and you use a combination hepa/carbon filters you won't smell anything and will be protected. North makes the best respirators I am aware of and I have used them for myself and commercially for for my crews for many years. The proof is when you have several hundred workers take a monthly blood test and they all come back negative you know they the masks work.

I cant seem to find any filter like you are talking about can you link me one?

[MyFlatline]

I run a large fan when smelting, seems the fumes go to the fan. Just saying

[Dragonheart]

I cant seem to find any filter like you are talking about can you link me one?

I did a search on item #75scp100l, which is a Honeywell North multi-purpose filter cartridge with 99.97% particulate efficiency, and found a pair for $16.90 on Amazon. Better pricing may be available and there are other North multi-filters, but these filters in a properly fitting full face mask and you don't need to worry about it. These filters last a very long time and basically you now have a gas mask.

Kudos to you for taking your safety seriously. I am a Native Texan, 70 years old, industrial engineering major and I have spent a lifetime in the construction industry, so I realize full well the mentality when it comes to safety, as many think its a joke. But I can tell you this, I haven't seen a one still laughing when they were carried out or when the doctor tells them they have a major health problem that could have been so easily prevented.

When you smelt, especially range scrap as I do, it is not just lead in that pot and I can assure you nothing in that vapor is good for you. Just because you breath out doesn't mean what you breathed in is gone.

[Leadmad]

I did a search on item #75scp100l, which is a Honeywell North multi-purpose filter cartridge with 99.97% particulate efficiency, and found a pair for $16.90 on Amazon. Better pricing may be available and there are other North multi-filters, but these filters in a properly fitting full face mask and you don't need to worry about it. These filters last a very long time and basically you now have a gas mask.

Kudos to you for taking your safety seriously. I am a Native Texan, 70 years old, industrial engineering major and I have spent a lifetime in the construction industry, so I realize full well the mentality when it comes to safety, as many think its a joke. But I can tell you this, I haven't seen a one still laughing when they were carried out or when the doctor tells them they have a major health problem that could have been so easily prevented.

When you smelt, especially range scrap as I do, it is not just lead in that pot and I can assure you nothing in that vapor is good for you. Just because you breath out doesn't mean what you breathed in is gone.

Well said