Where do you vent fumes?

[Jtarm]

For those of you with vent hoods over your bench, where does it vent to?

I currently use a box fan as an exhaust next to the furnace to vent vapors from fluxing out my garage door. I only run the fan while fluxing then move it out of the way.

I don’t know how well this setup works since I cast towards the back of the garage.

I’m going to switch to a portable bench so I can cast next to the door and re-purpose my old dust collector into a vent hood by replacing the filter bags with ducts, or just situate it outside without the bags and a long intake duct.

Is this safe, or am I going to accumulate lead particles in my driveway?

[Mal Paso]

Lead boils at over 3,000 degrees. The temperature at which we cast it too low for it to fume so the exhaust will contain flux and contaminates like plastic, lead, not so much.

[Froogal]

I use a bathroom exhaust fan with clothes dryer vent hose. I removed the glass pane from a basement window, replaced it with plywood, and installed the dryer vent hood. All of the smoke and fumes go outdoors.

[Jtarm]

Lead boils at over 3,000 degrees. The temperature at which we cast it too low for it to fume so the exhaust will contain flux and contaminates like plastic, lead, not so much.


Lead boils at over 3,000 degrees. The temperature at which we cast it too low for it to fume so the exhaust will contain flux and contaminates like plastic, lead, not so much.

OK, not lead vapor, but whatever is put off from fluxing with sawdust.

[atr]

I cast outside under a simple shed roof. I have a small fan with blows the smoke from the flux and casting operation away from me. There is no way that I would cast indoors.

[Winger Ed.]

I cast in the garage.
There is a open walk in door behind me, and a 4' portable fan in front of me at the open 10' roll up door.
It makes for a nice draft pulling all the air past me, past the pot, and out.

I don't worry about various fumes or particles from the pot.
However--- The Lead dust coming from removing spent primers is something to think about.

[Froogal]

I cast outside under a simple shed roof. I have a small fan with blows the smoke from the flux and casting operation away from me. There is no way that I would cast indoors.

I do my casting INdoors because that is something I can do to occupy my time when it is too cold to be outdoors.

[dearslayer]

I cast in the garage.
There is a open walk in door behind me, and a 4' portable fan in front of me at the open 10' roll up door.
It makes for a nice draft pulling all the air past me, past the pot, and out.

I don't worry about various fumes or particles from the pot.
However--- The Lead dust coming from removing spent primers is something to think about.

Well that's is something I never did think about. I do all my depriming on a single stage Lee press right at my reloading bench in the basement.

[BJung]

I cast my range scrap in my mother's backyard while I'm doing work around her house, take a break to scoop out the slag, and pour the lead into ingots. At my home, I cast in my garage. I place my fan into the homemade flu now to draw the exhaust away. If I don't, I have a metal taste in my mouth.. Here's an older photo of my setup when I use to blow the fumes into the flu. As you can see, I sit on the ground. That makes it hard for me to get up but that's the breaks. I don't want me Liberal neighbors to see what I'm doing even though they ask anyway, "what are you doing in there?". I use to wash my range scrap on my driveway and a neighbor once asked, "why are you collecting gray rocks?"304765

[Winger Ed.]

Well that's is something I never did think about.

It's mentioned on other threads.

The dust from spent primers has Lead in it, and the dust coming off a dry tumbler with de-primed cases
is something to be concerned about.

It's nothing to panic over, just be careful since it can accumulate in our system.
I never learned much about it, and figure it's cheap insurance to just to not be breathing it.

[Mal Paso]

Metallic Lead is not readily absorbed by the body. If you ate a piece of shot, most all of it would go right through. Lead oxides and esters are a lot more dangerous. Google Lead Poisoning and almost all the hits will be about Paint where lead oxides were used.

[David2011]

When I built my shop I put a vent cap in the roof, like you would use for a gas water heater. An aluminum dryer vent hose connects a bathroom ventilation fan to the exterior roof vent cap. Mine is only 50 CFM. I would go 150 CFM minimum if I have to replace it.

[Jack Stanley]

I vent it to the outside ,

Jack

[fredj338]

I smelt outside, cast in my garage. The only flux I sue while casting is to stir the pot with a wooden stick. If I am concerned, I wear a dust mask but its just not an issue.

[Green Frog]

I cast on my workbench in the basement. There is a window directly behind the casting area so when we started casting over 45 years ago Dad devised a system whereby we could remove the lower window sash and replace it with a large window fan. He put sheet steel “wings” on the sides of the fan box that engage screws on the sides of the window frame. It took longer to type this than it does to set up the fan and be ready to start casting. :bigsmyl2:

Froggie

[Duckiller]

Melting and casting done in front of a large roll-up door. Door open with a barrel fan blowing every thing out of the shop. Not sure what I am going to do in the winter. Probably wait for a sunny warm day , wear a jacket and open the door. Secret to safe smelting and casting is to do it during good weather with plenty of ventilation. Size and lube during bad weather with doors closed.

[WRideout]

Like Froogal, I use a bathroom fan. We just happened to have one that was excess to our needs when I was building my shed. Like others have said, it is really the smoke that is a problem, and I didn't want to have it coating all my tools and materials. I used clothes dryer hose to run the exhaust through the wall, into a homemade filter holder. Filters are for a vacuum cleaner, but rated HEPA (for what it's worth.) Here are photos.

304817304818

[remshooter]

i live in subdivision ,so neighbers they dont smell it or know what i do. i do it in my garage with door raised 6-8 inches for air flow ,have a range hood over pot ,with the blower hooked to aluminum dryer vent hose, i ran it thru cealing and added a y- pipe to bathroom exhaust fan vent hose ,and hooked it to it ,you already have a vent outside that way...BUT make SURE you have a bathroom fan running at same time though or your fumes will come out the bathroom vent into bathroom ,learned that first time i used it . have it on no problem

[35 Rem]

I Cast in a garage with high ceilings - 12 feet - and I open the attic drop down steps to let fumes escape. I think this is adequate when casting with clean ingots where the only real smoke is from fluxing. Over the years I've also smelted all kinds of nasty stuff making ingots using the same setup and location, including some kind of cable sheathing that was coated with a tar like substance inside and I did it all in my garage. I'm in the process of changing how I do the "Smelting" by making a wood powered smelter using a 55 gallon drum with one half of an old well tank welded into the top of it. A door cut into the side of the drum will allow wood to be loaded as required. With this I can melt outside and for free because I have lots of wood that has to be cut up from fallen trees on my property anyhow. I live far enough from my neighbors that I can smelt nasty stuff in the back yard with this set up and get away with it. I still don't see any point in adding ventilation for casting using clean ingots with my garage casting setup when the attic door is opened.

For 5 years in college myself and my roommate cast bullets in the dorm room about every week and put wheel weights or range scrap - whatever we could get cheap - directly in the pot. We'd open the window and the door going out into the hallway and let the smoke go whichever way the wind blew it. And smoke would roll out of that pot like burning old tires at times. :D Nobody ever said anything negative about it and guys would always be coming by the room watching us cast with the same satisfied look on their faces you get when sitting in front of a camp fire watching the flames dance about. The only safety precaution we took was to always wear goggles. The fact that the smoke boiled around in the room where we lived and slept for 5 years never even crossed our minds as a bad thing. There is no way a student could get away with that now anywhere in this country.

[WRideout]

There is no way a student could get away with that now anywhere in this country.

And that's what's wrong with this country.
Wayne

[outdoorfan]

Lead boils at over 3,000 degrees. The temperature at which we cast it too low for it to fume so the exhaust will contain flux and contaminates like plastic, lead, not so much.


I thought so too, but my experience has been different.

I normally do my casting (clean lead, no smelting) inside a small enclosed building, with windows open and a fan directly blowing the fumes away from me. I never had a problem until one time I didn't use the fan. That night I had the worse migraine headache that lasted for many many hours.

So, my experience tells me that there are some fumes being released at normal casting temperatures.

[Hanzy4200]

I have a 2 car garage I work in. No real ventilation. The only thing that is a issue is fluxing, which is why I prefer sawdust. The lead itself does not create fumes, though many people refuse to believe that.

You can always spot a rookie caster wearing a respirator.

[Mal Paso]

I have a 2 car garage I work in. No real ventilation. The only thing that is a issue is fluxing, which is why I prefer sawdust. The lead itself does not create fumes, though many people refuse to believe that.

You can always spot a rookie caster wearing a respirator.

YEP!

I like using beeswax for reduction so I have a big box fan pointed out the window behind the pot, fresh air comes over my shoulder but if it's cold the fan only runs for fluxing. I also wash my hands regularly especially if handling oxidized lead. Eye protection always, no casting in shorts but no gloves, too clumsy.