Venting lead fumes

[Harv33]

I do my casting in the basement workshop and built a handy vent rig with a small squirrel cage motor and shop vac hose to go out the window and it works great. I'm wondering tho if there isn't a better way to vent - trap the lead fumes. Run the fumes through a vented bucket with furnace filters in it, etc ???. Any of you Master Caster Boolit Brain fellas tried anything like this ?...

[docone31]

Your squirrel cage vent rig is probably one of the best methods for evacuating the fumes. You will need fresh air to really make it efficient.
I built my house to be completly evacuating. I do silver and gold casting in the back workshops. It evacuates with sun movement, and the A/C. I was in a position to do that. In that regard, I was lucky. As a byproduct, it also reduces my heating and cooling needs.
What we do can sure stink.
I am lucky, I do not get many complaints.
A squirrel cage is the way to go though.

[dardascastbullets]

I do my casting in the basement workshop and built a handy vent rig with a small squirrel cage motor and shop vac hose to go out the window and it works great. I'm wondering tho if there isn't a better way to vent - trap the lead fumes. Run the fumes through a vented bucket with furnace filters in it, etc ???. Any of you Master Caster Boolit Brain fellas tried anything like this ?...

Lead begins to fume at 900 degrees F, so unless your alloy is at or above this temperature you are not 'venting lead fumes'. Your vent system is merely drawing the smoke from your fluxing operation.

[Harv33]

Seeing as how you are in the business your in, I'll sure take your word for it..
I tend to stay in the 750 to 800 deg. range. That does make me feel a bit better.
I hate to crap up this old earth any more than it is now. Thank you !!!

[jonk]

I have an exhaust fan to take out the smoke but nothing really tight. I just don't get the lead hot enough to vaporize it.

[7.62Man]

I have a old range hood set about 12" above my lyman mini-mag furnace. I don't have a themometer to measure the temp. I also only flux with brownells flux.

[MtGun44]

The vapor pressure of lead is very very low at normal casting temps, no
need to vent lead fumes. However, many fluxing operations cause lots of
nasty, smelly smoke that you would like to get out of the house if in the
basement or the like.

If you are in an outbuilding where smells aren't a problem, there is no
health need to vent away the nonexistent lead fumes, as long as the
temps of the metal are kept reasonable.

IIRC, the vapor pressure of lead is around 1 mm of mercury, while normal
atmospheric pressure is 760 mm of Hg. So, not literally zero lead fumes,
but very, very little lead will vaporize at normal casting temps. You are much
more at risk eating, drinking or smoking with lead dust contaminated hands,
which puts it into your mouth. This is the actual risky behavior in lead handling,
altho primer smoke, lead from boolit bases when fired and vaporized lead from bullet impact on steel plates on indoor ranges is an issue, too.

Bill

[Patrick L]

I'm with Dardas and MtGun44 on this, although I'll admit a vent fan is a good idea just to be 110% safe, and to deal with the flux smoke, etc. I ran an extensive thread last winter on a casting cabinet I built in my basement that uses a range hood to vent out the window. Here's two pictures of the unit

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Casting%20cabinet/GunStuff038.jpg

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Casting%20cabinet/GunStuff005.jpg

I still feel the greatest health risk casting exposes you to is physical ingestion. DON"T eat, drink, or smoke while casting, DON'T rub your eyes or nose etc., launder your clothes and shower when you're done with a casting session, and keep your casting area clean. Sweep up and wipe down all surfaces from time to time and you should be fine. I have my lead levels checked every few years and I'm always below normal, so I think my routines work, at least for me.

[docone31]

Hey now, I like that cabinet, and two bottom pour pots. I would have never thought of that.
Good venting for the rubber smell, almost self filtering for smelting wheel weights.
I like that. If anything gets to the first spout, it will clog, get cleaned, and keep filtering.
Great idea!!!
I like.

[Patrick L]

Thanks for the compliment. I suppose you could process raw wheelweights in this setup, but that's not what I do. This entire setup is strictly for casting, and all it ever sees is clean, previously alloyed ingots (ie ready bullet metal.) That's what is in the .50 caliber ammo can to the immediate left of the cabinet. The top pot is just for premelting sprues, reject bullets, and ingots to be added in order to keep from cooling down the main casting pot..

I do my smelting outdoors with a plumbers furnace, and do very large batches every 5 years or so.

[docone31]

Yeah, the wife is not so loud when the cooking is done outside.

[chewie]

just getting started and i plan on doing it in the garage. i was just going to use large fans to blow it out?

maybe i should rethink this. but as stated i will be doing lead balls to start and i will watch the temp.

[montana_charlie]

I started out using an older squirrel cage fan.

But the squirrels soon died of old age, and I could not find replacements.
I did try running it with a pair of gophers (Columbian Ground Squirrels) but they just don't seem to have the speed of the original team. They like to do this little 'jump' while they run (which screws up the efficiency of covering distance in a short time), and that caused the fan to 'stutter' as it turned.

For now, I keep one of SWMBO's guinea hens on a roost above the pot...and I poke her occasionally with a cattle prod. The wing flapping moves the smoke out enough to pour lead...and she fluxes the pot every fifteen minutes, or so.
CM

[DLCTEX]

CM, is the air a little rarified at your elevation?

[montana_charlie]

I hadn't really noticed...but perhaps that's due to feeling a little light-headed, lately.

What HAS apparently become 'rarefied' are my chances of getting another hot meal.
It seems the dear little woman read my last post while I was filling my coffee cup, and finally learned the whereabouts of her missing guinea.

(Missing? Who knew she was keeping count?)
CM

[TAWILDCATT]

there must be 10,000 posts on lead contamination.lead is only a problem if your a
careless person.the NRA has had this examined at lenght.my club had a biochemist from the state check our reloading room out.mainly house keeping was a problem.several of us had blood tests,I still get the VA to check me out yrly.
also take zinc suppliments and iron.
zinc amalgams with lead and washes out
Iron displaces lead and pushes it out.
I think my last reading was 9 whatevers
just dont smoke or eat or drink while working with lead.:coffee::violin: