Who are a little wise, the greatest fools be?

[Bert2368]

I happened across this video on YouTube-

https://youtu.be/fTRwfyvIbkc

A guy is showing people how he cleans and smelts Lead he mined from the berm at his range.

In his kitchen. Using what seems to be his cooking equipment. Then on his gas BBQ, which appears to be used for food as well. Without temperature control

Without protective equipment.

I did comment. Anything I missed, please feel free to mention?


I shoot. I cast some of my own bullets. I will salvage Lead and Lead alloys when and where it makes sense to. Also, I know a bit about inorganic and organic chemistry, biology and some of the ways you may end up ingesting Lead and/or have heavy metals contaminate your work area. No one here thinks Lead and its compounds are completely safe to intake, do they?

The video maker is doing a couple of things I wouldn't do.

First, he is handling the materials in his KITCHEN. Inside his HOME. Bad idea, there will always be some escape of dust and droplets of wash water. Particularly, the old Lead chunks scrounged from berms at a range have Lead oxide and carbonate (possibly other Lead compounds as well) on exterior. These dust off, his house WILL have had some contamination by Lead and Lead compounds. The more he does this processing in his house, the more contamination will build up. I really hope he doesn't have small children, a toddler crawling around on his floors would be exposed to the dust and residues. PLEASE don't do this work inside an inhabited building, at the very least, go OUTSIDE.

Second, handling Lead and wash water with his BARE HANDS. Bad idea! Wear gloves and a particle mask!! ALWAYS!!!

Third, he is using food prep equipment to smelt Lead. HAVE DEDICATED EQUIPMENT for processing, and keep it SEPARATE FROM YOUR KITCHEN EQUIPMENT.

Fourth, he has no control of smelting temperature. As others have noted, his heat source can reach the boiling point of Lead, this is a particularly BAD THING to do, which greatly increases the contamination of the surrounding area. Additionally, if you are salvaging wheel weights, some of these are now made of Zinc. Zinc will ruin your alloy for bullet casting, but it melts at higher temperatures- Zinc wheel weights can be easily skimmed off the top of a melt IF THE TEMPERATURE IS NOT SO HIGH AS TO MELT THEM.

Fifth, the heavy metal contaminated wash water is not what his local sewage plant was designed to work on. Please be responsible with your waste. A method I would use? First, mix some bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) into the water, this should convert any soluble Lead compounds into the insoluble carbonate. Dry that water up in a safe place. Mix the dried residue with some cement mix and water, cast it into a disposable can, old ice cream pail or such, THEN put it into the trash headed for the landfill- Be ethical and perform as much of a "rendering safe" and immobilizing of any waste Lead or Lead compounds as a private individual can easily do.

Sixth, he isn't recycling the Copper, gilding metal/brass materials from the jackets. This is worth several times the value of the Lead, weight per weight! Penny wise, pound foolish.

[Rcmaveric]

Thats the video i learned from a couple years ago. Thats were I got the idea from reclaiming jacketed bullets. Never noticed anything you mention. I have done worse in the kitched. It could all be dedicated utensil and if i am not mistaken he does it out in the garage with a fan. Thats a coleman gas stove he uses and is commonly used by many.

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[dimaprok]

Although I don't approve his safety methods I did learn from his videos a lot including how to reload. He has talent for explaining in detail and when its all brand new to you it helps a lot.

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[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I love reading the comments on youtube video's like this...always entertaining.

and FYI about 'JIUJITSU2000' (the youtube video author) and his NOT recycling the copper jackets...In the comments he replied to someone 2 years ago, saying, "I don't throw them away anymore. They go to the recyclers"

[rsrocket1]

...at least he washes all his reclaimed bullets in his kitchen sink before smelting them.

:o

gives a new meaning to "eat lead"

[RED BEAR]

i have done worse in kitchen around 1980 told wife i was just casting a few it would be ok a week later and new kitchen floor. my casting days were over for a while.

[Rcmaveric]

i have done worse in kitchen around 1980 told wife i was just casting a few it would be ok a week later and new kitchen floor. my casting days were over for a while.Was casting in the living room fire place and had an accident. Well new patch of carpet and 6 months latter i still can't live it down. Doesnt help the cat keeps pulling the carpet patch up. I swear that cat pulls it it up then start meowing just to reopen old woundz.

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[RogerDat]

Heck most of us have done some activity that in retrospect we wouldn't do it that way again. Solvents we used or processes we undertook when we were rookies or trying some project or repair for the first time. Ever had a car on cinder blocks and a board while working on it? We were "smart" we used a board so the weight was spread making it only unsafe rather than crazy. I wouldn't think there were many times I would have considered working with lead in the kitchen, certainly not molten lead. To easy to have an... oh wait I used to solder electronic projects at the kitchen table. Probably with 70% lead solder.

Good to step up our safety knowledge, good to share that knowledge too. Along with the why what you did before wasn't a good idea. Dropped my blood lead level from a modest 8.4 to a even better 5.3 by reducing my exposure to dust from brass sorting and cleaning. Dust mask sometimes when dealing with quantity, dust mitigation steps (wet SS pin or dash of solvent in dry media for dust control) gloves when sorting and cleaning brass. Primer compound reside is lead in easy to absorb dust form. Even from jword brass. Used to be common for me to use my hand to reach in and stir a bucket of brass soaking in soap, water, and citric acid. Now I keep a stir stick and wear gloves. Worth noting that the first brass I washed I did at the kitchen sink. It was only because I wanted to do bigger batches that I moved outside. Now I know better. The drop in lead levels I have has no basis in a change in how I handle actual lead.

I have sorted WW's with a drop tarp on the floor in the house while watching TV, yes my wife is long suffering and a good sport. Not having to explain molten lead damage to her kitchen is best accomplished by not having any in the kitchen. Good enough reason not to do it right there. Still waiting for the dining room remodel I started while she was visiting her parents for a weekend. Would have been great if I hadn't tried to surprise her, and was done when she got back and hadn't involved tearing out the old drywall but.... best laid plans about covers it.

[lightman]

I didn't watch the link but for the most part I have not been impressed with Youtube videos concerning casting, reloading or smelting. I'm not saying that you can't pick up on something in some of them, just overall not impressed.

I've been casting and smelting lead for over 40 years, closer to 50, and I don't want it in my kitchen or even the sink. I don't even want it in the house, except in the form of bullets.

[RED BEAR]

i got back into casting but i can guarantee you it has never been done it the house since. i am still married to the same woman and she has not forgot. anytime i start to do something questionable in the house she reminds me of it.

[ioon44]

Youtube videos always leave me wishing I had that 15 min or so back to do something productive with.

[Bert2368]

Youtube videos always leave me wishing I had that 15 min or so back to do something productive with.

Unless there is some technique which is best learned by SEEING it done, it's almost always slower for me to get the information by watching a video.

Especially amateur videos by folks who are not experienced at teaching clearly and efficiently.

And I wish to state most vehemently, ANYONE who has put music into their instructional video is probably wasting both their time and mine- Unless it's ABOUT how to make music.

There is some utterly awful suite of music kids like to use that sounds like the electric guitar during the dogfights in "Top Gun" would have if it were performed by a tone deaf alley cat on a malfunctioning chainsaw!

But let me tell you what I REALLY think about YouTube video music...

[gwpercle]

I may have done some dumb stuff in life but I am not so stupid as to film it and put it where everyone , their brother , future employers , the police and God can watch what an idiot I am ....

[RogerDat]

I may have done some dumb stuff in life but I am not so stupid as to film it and put it where everyone , their brother , future employers , the police and God can watch what an idiot I am ....Ahh yes the importance of plausible deniability.

I have learned some things from online video. San Fransisco Liberal with a gun did an informative series on the Lee Turret press that was useful. Start to finish loading 38 special complete with press adjustments. There was also a short one on drilling a small hole in a ladle to "bottom pour" from a ladle pot. Watching it done in a short video allowed me to understand how I might use that approach.

True a lot of folks don't do a script or advance outline so they are less concise in their remarks than might be ideal. Planning what one is going to cover and edit for concise yet complete information is what it takes to do a professional quality video. Not holding the camera in one hand while working but using a tripod or second person on the camera can "up your game" a good bit too. SF Liberal w/gun had his wife doing the camera work. She made a difference in the end quality for sure. On the other hand they are donating the effort, hard to complain about free content. I do find it frustrating to sort through the videos that are just telling about some tool or technique in order to find the one that actually walks through how to use the tool or technique.

I also know that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and folks can be very adamant about why their way is good, or their process is absolutely necessary. Meanwhile another equally successful person has a different approach, and different process that also works. While we can probably mostly agree sandals are bad choice of footwear for casting or smelting. The glove or no glove thing has successful casters on both sides. Both sides with reasons, both sides with successful results. Which is why I have no problem with checking out video or articles that use different approaches, up to me to decide how far I want to go with learning the different approaches and the reasons. The folks that read one article or watch one video and then proceed are free to do their thing, I'm free to look at a dozen sources and decide what approach to use.