Badly Burned!!!

[Whitespider]

A while back I replied on a thread about safety gear when casting. Being the big “he-man” that I am I posted that I usually did my casting bare handed, and I’m here to tell you that today is the last time I’ll be casting bare handed.

After doing the Easter Bunny thing with the kids, and a few Honey-Dos, I wandered out to the shed and threw some alloy in the pot. I’m short on boolits for the .38 WCF and started pouring some from a Lyman #401043 mold. Wow, every thing was just right today, boolits just fell from the mold, perfectly filled out, mirror bright and shiny. I had a rhythm going, fan blowing just the right amount of air over the mold to keep it at the perfect temperature, when....

....the ladle spout hooked on the edge of the mold, giving it a rapid “flip”. A full ladle of hot molten boolit alloy was dumped onto my BARE HAND!! Onto the hand holding the mold, which in my panic, caused the mold to go bouncing across the concrete floor of the shed. You can not even begin to imagine the pain.

Believe it or not, I’m actually thankful; things could have been so much worse...
The mold didn’t get damaged as far as usability, still closes fine and the cavity is undamaged. But, moments before my wife, daughter and 14-month old son had been out to ask me how much longer I’d be. My son had run underneath my arms, babbling something in that foreign language that 1-year-olds use, grabbing my leg.

From now on I’ll be wearing GLOVES!!!

[Heavy lead]

thank the Lord

[waksupi]

Glad you didn't get hurt badly. However! NEVER let children around a pot of hot lead. That is a serious to deadly accident waiting to happen.

[44man]

If anyone gets burned by lead, get the burn under cold water FAST and keep pouring cold water on it for at least 1/2 hour. You might not even get a blister, only a scar.

[Whitespider]

Glad you didn't get hurt badly.

I guess "badly" is a relative term. I'm typing with one hand, the other hand has over a third of it covered in blisters, a couple as large as a half-dollar.

[ChuckS1]

Well, not 3d degree burns, thank God. I've had a couple of splashes myself that were very minor compared to yours. By God, it does hurt.

[GLL]

NOT GOOD !

Sounds like you were a very lucky man today !

Listen to waksupi ! I never let anyone in the same room or area when I have molten alloy going ! EVER !

Jerry

[Springfield]

Sometimes my kids come out to where I cast to ask me something. I always just stop, get up and go to where they are. I won't let them into my casting room. And if you don't like to cast with leather goloves, like I don't , just go to Walgreen's or Orchard Supply or even online and buy some Ove' Gloves. Cotton on the inside and Nomex and Kevlar on the outside. Very comfortable and WAY more heat resistant than leather.

[waco]

thank God your not hurt too badly
and your kids are safe
i as well like no others around while casting
we should ALL learn a leson from this
SAFETY FIRST!
gloves are a must......long sleeves at least....and please!!!!!
NO OPEN TOED SHOES!!!!!
glad to hear your ok
waco:Fire:

[35remington]

No small kids with their extra tender skin should be allowed within any appreciable distance of a pot full of lead, especially with a cord to trip over or similar.

A burn that is painful but survivable to an adult can kill a child.

Especially a 1 year old or other toddler.

[archmaker]

Glad to hear that you are not hurt to bad, but it is going to be a pain to sleep tonight!

I never let anyone near my area when I am casting. Not even the dog.

I still remember being a kid (maybe 6) and I was playing in the kitchen when my grandmother tripped over me and spilled a pot of hot coffee over my back. That was almost 40 years ago and I still can picture where in the house we were, and where I was.

Take care of the hand, watch it for infection, and take pain killers and try to get some sleep.

[high standard 40]

As the saying goes, "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger" Glad you were not hurt any worse and the family is safe. I know you'll come out the other side smarter and safer. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[par0thead151]

A while back I replied on a thread about safety gear when casting. Being the big “he-man” that I am I posted that I usually did my casting bare handed, and I’m here to tell you that today is the last time I’ll be casting bare handed.

After doing the Easter Bunny thing with the kids, and a few Honey-Dos, I wandered out to the shed and threw some alloy in the pot. I’m short on boolits for the .38 WCF and started pouring some from a Lyman #401043 mold. Wow, every thing was just right today, boolits just fell from the mold, perfectly filled out, mirror bright and shiny. I had a rhythm going, fan blowing just the right amount of air over the mold to keep it at the perfect temperature, when....

....the ladle spout hooked on the edge of the mold, giving it a rapid “flip”. A full ladle of hot molten boolit alloy was dumped onto my BARE HAND!! Onto the hand holding the mold, which in my panic, caused the mold to go bouncing across the concrete floor of the shed. You can not even begin to imagine the pain.

Believe it or not, I’m actually thankful; things could have been so much worse...
The mold didn’t get damaged as far as usability, still closes fine and the cavity is undamaged. But, moments before my wife, daughter and 14-month old son had been out to ask me how much longer I’d be. My son had run underneath my arms, babbling something in that foreign language that 1-year-olds use, grabbing my leg.

From now on I’ll be wearing GLOVES!!!

i would keep your kids away from your casting area. lead levels in adults might not do much,b ut it does have a impact on children.
not to mention a 1 year probably should not be in the same room as molten lead.
good to hear that nothing too sever happened, always wear protective clothing. I personally use leather gloves, goggles/glasses, and long sleeves

[HeavyMetal]

First get this treated! Burns can get infected incredibly fast! Go to the emergency room if you have not already done so! Do not self medicate, in a week they could be calling you Lefty!

The next thing your going to have to "survive" is SWMBO'S Lecture! Trust me if you haven't heard it yet it's because she's proof reading it!

Then count your blessing that it wasn't worse and set down concrete rules about entering the casting area and the reloading process in general.

I hope isn't as bad as it sounds and really glad it wasn't one of the kids.

When you deal with hot stuff the eventual burn is going to happen, I'm always scared I'll have an earthquake while casting, so take a good hard look at your casting area with the thought: what can go wrong here? Then take steps to remady them before they happen.

Good luck with the burn.

[Down South]

Things happen. It's great that you weren’t hurt bad. I've had a few lead burns too. I like to keep everyone away from my casting area unless they are involved in the casting operation. I have a couple grandsons that I’m teaching casting too (13 and above) so keeping kids away are sort of out of the question. We do wear leather gloves while casting.

[EMC45]

So flip-flops are out?

[Recluse]

First, glad you're okay and even more relieved your kids weren't hurt. Dittos to what Bret and everyone else said about keeping the kids and animals away from molten alloy.

Second, I'll second the advice to get the burn looked at. I wouldn't consider molten alloy/lead to be the cleanest stuff in the world. Wouldn't be a bad idea to at least let a doctor give your hand a lookover and get a shot of antibiotics. That pain you'll feel in your butt will take your mind off your hand for a few moments and let you reflect on how damned lucky you are.

Third, it only took me ONE minor burn and now I won't go near my casting table without gloves and glasses--either my prescrip reading glasses or my safety glasses. I figure I used up my one chance the Lord grants us for being an idiot--next one I'M ACCOUNTABLE for.

Often times, the hardest lessons are the most painful ones--but they're the ones learned best.

Again, glad you're okay.

:coffee:

[TDC]

A leather apron and welders gloves are less than $10 each at Harbor Freight. Pretty cheap insurance for the always present danger of serious burns.

I don't believe in ANY distractions when working with molten metal. No radio, no family members .... nothing. It's so easy to space out when doing repetitive stuff. Our hides are a terrible thing to waste.

[ghh3rd]

I know the pain that I felt when my coleman stove pump spewed gasoline over my hand and burst into flame. It was out within seconds, but I got blisters all over my hand the size of dimes and quarters. It was extremely painful, and yours is much worse. I feel for you.

Cold water first, and then although I hand't used a pain killer in years, I ran through the house searching until I actually found some Oxycotin. I also logged onto this forum the same day and told my account of what had happened.

I didn't go the the doctor, but did follow advice and left the blisters alone and let them break by themselves when they were ready. I kept liberal amounts of triple antibiotic over everything before and after they broke, until they were well on their way to being healed. Thankfully I didn't get an infection.

Hang in there - the pain will diminish after a few days. Depending on what 'handed' you are, you may have to switch where you keep things in your pocket for a while.

Thanks for sharing your experience so others can learn from somone else's mistake.

Randy

[imashooter2]

First get this treated! Burns can get infected incredibly fast! Go to the emergency room if you have not already done so! Do not self medicate, in a week they could be calling you Lefty!


Just in case you missed this excellent advice the first time. Large burns like this are serious business. :(

[piwo]

Glad to hear you're not permanently injured. I burned my left palm a few years back when a hot metal rod was slipping out of my gloved hand holding it. Natural reaction of course, CATCH IT! It was the worse burn I’d ever had, burned down to the meat, but I never, ever felt a thing. My Dr. said I burned all the nerves up. I'd done a similar thing 25 years or so ago moving a cookie sheet of rolls out of the oven, and the burn was minor in comparison, but hurt soooo bad.

I hope your pain passes quickly. And thanks for sharing your story. We all need to be reminded from time to time, that we really aren't indestructible and to follow "best Practices" at all times.........

[xr650]

White,
That is some bad news.
Glad you will be OK.
Just remember that it will feel alot better after it quits hurting.
Listen to the boys in the band and have your hand looked at.

[piwo]

Silver Nitrate is the treatment I got from the ER when I burned my hand, and I got a big tube of it to use when changing dressing daily. It's has some antibiotic qualities, but also allows a scab to form even when the area is packed with the cream (unlike other antibiotic creams) It is the burn medicine of choice I believe.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Praise God you are able to sit and type.
I was about 4 when I recived a burn on my arm from a HOT pot of lead. I never told my dad .. he had gone to get something. But it took years before it really healed and I still remember HOT Lead Really hurts. Happened in the fall so I had near 6 months of long sleeve shirt time in Michigen to keep it hid.
I always where glasses, leather gloves, thick long sleeve shirts, long pants and leather shoes with thick socks. I sweat, but it sure beats the burns. I am now 58 and am inclined to finish life without any more scars.
Mike in Peru

[Bret4207]

Best of luck on a speedy recovery. I never allow any of the kids to be around me when I'm doing anything with hot stuff be it lead, metal welding, or boiling water in the kitchen. Some things are too awful to imagine.

FWIW- Masons gloves are canvas gloves with a knit cuff. While not fire proof they will handle the spatters up to the size of a half dollar or so and aren't clumsy and bulky or expensive.

[alamogunr]

Hope your recovery is quick and glad no one else was hurt. A little tip I picked up from a young welder at work. He was actually a contract maintenance person and an expert welder. He did a little off the clock work for me such as fabricating a smelting pot. I mentioned that I wore a heavy flannel shirt when smelting WW's. He said that is wrong. Wear a denim shirt. Not one of those that have been washed before you buy them but a stiff dark blue denim. He said that weld splatter just bounced off and lead splatters would probably do the same. He practiced what he preached and wore such a shirt every day at work. I haven't tested the theory yet and hope I never do, but I'm prepared. As others have mentioned, welding suppliers have lots of stuff that is applicable to our hobby.
John
W.TN

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Thankfully you were not burned worse, it is scary to have children around any kind of melting operation, please take care. Consider this a near miss, it could have had really dire consequences.

Good luck and I hope you heal fast, get some welding gloves, if you sit while casting, a leather apron is a good idea.

[SharpsShooter]

Glasses, gloves, apron and no kids. You are very lucky. Thanks for sharing your experience so that the "new crew" can learn without the pain.

See a doc. His bill is cheap compared to a prosthetic hand.


SS

[Old Ironsights]

This is probably one of the biggest reasons I never got into Ladle Pouring.

Hard to slosh a Lee Drip-o-Matic. ;)

Ow.. Oww. Oww... Get it treated and get better, or you may run out of boolits. ;)

[Just Duke]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=36200&highlight=Duke%27s+Foundry+Action%21

[grumman581]

On my first smelting batch, I had an incident that caused melted lead to splash over the t-shirt that I was wearing. I was using used motor oil for flux and using a ladle to pour it in the pot. When I poured it in, it flashed on fire and I jumped back. The ladle had some lead it it and I ended up splashing the partial ladle of lead along with the oil on the front of my t-shirt. The lead solidified fairly quickly upon hitting the t-shirt and a quick swat with my (non-gloved) hand put the fire out. Other than an oil stain on the t-shirt, no damage. I decided to adjust my technique a bit after that...

[sargenv]

I'm fairly new at this whole lead melting/smelting thing.. but I have many years of handling other hot liquids.. They were about 200-300 degrees cooler than molten lead, but fry oil is just as dangerous (to the skin) as molten lead is.. I don't go carrying around a stock pot full of molten lead to dump it out like we used to do when I was cooking. Yep, empty the fat fryers and have to go dump the still scaling hot oil into the oil/fat container out back. One time for whatever reason we had a spill.. and this was no ordinary spill.. it somehow dumped on my chef's pants.. quicker than you could say "Ow Ow Ow!!" I had those pants down to my ankles.. when you have a gallon or more of 300 degree oil (ok, it wasn't fresh out of the fryers) modesty goes by the wayside if you want to keep your skin. Lucky for me I was fast enough and there wasn't anything burned except maybe a lil pride.. Knock on wood.. I never have to deal with molten lead on me.. I use cotton coveralls, leather gloves for pouring, and safety glasses.. I need to get a face sheild..

[cohutt]

sarcasm <<on>>
The great thing about molten lead is that it burns so deeply so quickly that it kills nerves and doesn't really hurt as much as it seems like it would...
sarcasm <<off>>

seriously top photo is within the hour of my lone stupid as hell lapse of smelting judgment
next photo is a couple days later
it took months to heal and for some time I was told grafts were likely to be the only way to fix it. Luckily it grew back over on its own but i changed out the silver sufadiazine 2x per day for all of last fall.

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m284/cohutt/burns/footburn008.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m284/cohutt/burns/footburn921b.jpg

[grumman581]

sarcasm <<on>>
seriously top photo is within the hour of my lone stupid as hell lapse of smelting judgment
next photo is a couple days later
it took months to heal and for some time I was told grafts were likely to be the only way to fix it. Luckily it grew back over on its own but i changed out the silver sufadiazine 2x per day for all of last fall.

Were you wearing socks or did it hit bare skin?

Ouch... I think I might switch to wearing high top boots...

[grumman581]

I guess the good thing about lead is that it won't catch your clothes on fire as readily as molten steel can... I've seen a couple of welders during shop class in high school that ended up with smoldering pants legs...

[Just Duke]

Again [smilie=1:
I got a couple doctor buddies including my sister in law plus my party buddy that heads up the corners office, sustains life quite comfortabaly seeing to folks that don't take heed to friendly safety warnings. :roll:


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=36200&highlight=Duke%27s+Foundry+Action%21

[Just Duke]

So sorry about your accident Cohutt. <Very sad>

[Lucky Joe]

We all need this wake up call from time to time. I just started wearing gloves never had such an accident up to now, just thought it's time. Glad it wasn't more serious and glad your 1 yr. old wasn't in the way.

[grumman581]

seriously top photo is within the hour of my lone stupid as hell lapse of smelting judgment
next photo is a couple days later

Originally from the photos, I thought it looked like it hit both of your feet. I thought the 2nd photo had the toes to the left instead of up. You really did a number on your foot there? Were you wearing flops at the time?

[cohutt]

Flip flops were put on after I did the deed.

i had finished a mini smelt of some berm nuggets, turned the pot off and taken off my canvas bib/chaps. I had the shoes on below (only time i have ever cast or smelted without boots and only time i ever will....) with cotton/synthetic blend socks.
Picked up ladles tools etc and put in pot which had 1/2" of lead that had skimmed over. There was something moint on one of the items i put in and that's all it took. I jumped back when the exsplatterosion erupted but 2 blobs caught my left angle. One was between the tongue and the top of my ankle and the other went down towards the instep and settled in the crease between my foot and the shoe.
both of the blobs melted the synthetic in the socks/shoes and stuck exactly where it landed. I'd have been better off if i had the flip flops on as the lead would have hit and bounced off, probably lightly burning vs the almost full thickness burns that i ended up with.

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m284/cohutt/burns/footburn004.jpg

here is the top burn- nasty but much less so than the lower one.

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m284/cohutt/burns/footburn923b.jpg

[Rockydog]

Boots are fine but they should be lace up. I was using a cutting torch under a piece of farm machinery and had on engineers boots. When I crawled out from underneath I didn't realize that my pant leg had pulled up and slid inside my boot instead of over it. I went back to cutting from a standing position and dropped about a .25 caliber goober in my boot. By the time I shut down the torch and pried my boot off it had burned about halfway into the top of my foot. Didn't hurt all that bad, looked like a brand after I pulled the goober out with a needle nose plier. Healed rather quickly but I still have the scar today. RD

[grumman581]

One was between the tongue and the top of my ankle and the other went down towards the instep and settled in the crease between my foot and the shoe.
both of the blobs melted the synthetic in the socks/shoes and stuck exactly where it landed.

Synthetic fabrics suck with regards to fire and such... Wool is good... Cotton is good... Things that melt and stick to your skin really suck...

I welded up my channel iron ingot molds tonight... Had to test one of them out, so I took the leftover stick-on wheel weights and melted them down... It was raining pretty bad, so I had the burner inside the garage and I was standing outside of it... The lead ingot came out, but I had to knock it on the concrete a few times... Not bad considering I haven't used a die grinder to smooth out the welds on the inside... While I was cutting the metal with an abrasive blade in my circular saw, a hot piece of metal came up and went in my ear... It didn't go all the way to the ear drum, but it was definitely on the inner part of the ear... Very weird feeling... Not pleasant at all...

Turns out there were quite a few of the stick on weights that didn't melt... They were kind of shiny, so apparently they are zinc...

[Just Duke]

For the new guys. Be careful out there.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?36200-Duke-s-Foundry-in-Action!-Pics

[Just Duke]

This should be a sticky.

[Just Duke]

For the new guys. ;)

[JesterGrin_1]

If you do this kind of thing you WILL get a burn now and then. This is what I do. But some might call this a bit of a cheat lol. I have planted Aloe Vera at my house as this is good not only for burns but also small cuts and so on. But when I do get a burn I run it over cold water for a bit then cut off a piece of Aloe Vera and peel the outside off and put that on the burn several times as it does dry.

If you do not have Aloe Vera that you can grow where you live you can purchase it in a container from your local grocery store or Drug Store.

A few weeks ago I bumped my full ingot mold I just filled with my left inside wrist and melted about 1 in by 2 inches of skin and made a nice square burn of about 3 inches by 3 inches lol.Was not fun. But with what I did above it did heal pretty fast for a burn. But all burns take longer to heal than other things that may happen.

Did I mention I am accident prone lol. :)

And since I did mention accident prone lol. The following week. I had some people to work on my house for a repaint. And well a worker broke the upper window in my kitchen. No Biggie to me as I can replace a darn window lol. But the kicker was I opened my outside kitchen door to look at how bad things were and just when I did open the door a 2 foot by 1 foot piece of jagged glass fell and hit me in the shin. And I thought nothing of it really as where it hit there are not many nerve endings lol. But when I went back outside to talk to the worker I felt a squish lol. My right tennis shoe was full of blood and had a nice 1 foot puddle of it around my foot. It hit an artery lol. A shop rag and duct tape worked well here lol. Made it to the local Med Clinic just in time to have them sew me up with 4 inside and 6 outside. Did get a little light headed from loss of blood. But it was still a Great day. :) I lived to get stitched together another day lol. :)

[SciFiJim]

I don't know if I would want to hang out with you!:shock:
Could be kind of dangerous.

[JesterGrin_1]

Awwwww whats a few stitches or 3rd degree burns between friends lol. :)

But I do have to say I was on a good streak. No Stitches since 2003 and that is a loooooooooooooooong time for me :)

[RoyRogers]

Looking at those burnt foot photos (ouch!!) has prompted me to second the advice regarding the importance of lace up boots with the pant's leg over the top. When I graduated HS I went to work as a plumber's helper for a season. That was in the days of leaded joint cast iron drainage systems. Anyway, a plumber where I was hired had the habit of wearing his 8" boots laced to standard shoe height with the shaft of the boot unlaced. Those boots so laced would gape open when he was in the squatting position. One day he was squatting on a ceiling joist in the attic of a home under construction and a helper was walking across the joists bringing him ~ 3lbs of lead in a 5lb ladle. As the helper approached from behind he tripped and as he was going down managed to pour the ladle of molten lead into the open top of the plumber's boot. Needless to say it was ugly - burned completely through his Achilles’ tendon and the plumber was not walking for ~ a year. Praise God I was not the helper that tripped (or the poor plumber for that matter)! Moral of the story - protect yourself!

[TAWILDCATT]

also why I use bottom pour pot.and bolt it to a sturdy table.to easy to move about and bump the pot.I have used a bottom pour gilbert from 1937 with toy soldiers,then to a lyman and now lee/saeco

[canyon-ghost]

What was mentioned about welding shirts is true. We use denim shirts starched to keep spatter off. It does work better than most. Flannel and thermal undershirts will set you on fire quickly. So, blue denim starched is cheap, the pro Carhardtt tan shirts are sometimes better.:redneck:

[NSP64]

I have found that the biggest hazzard in our hobby is DISTRACTIONS. I cast in the nude, therefore I am vulnable, So I take it very slow and careful!




Cooking in the nude makes you very conscious of the hazzards in the kitchen also.

[Linstrum]

I'm coming into this thread a bit late, but maybe somebody will read it and get some good from it.

When casting I have never sat or stood in front of a bench. I have ALWAYS done my alloy preparation and boolit casting down on the floor since there is virtually no chance of molten metal pouring down in my lap, pants pockets, and shoes since my feet are at about the same elevation as the electric melting pot plus are a fair distance across the floor from it. If metal gets spilled while pouring into a mold, nearly all of my body is higher above it and to get to my feet the molten metal has to run sideways across the floor for a few feet and molten lead chills before it has a chance to flow very far on a concrete floor. Molten lead dropped from a height of six inches doesn't splash much, either.

I know that not everybody can squat down on the floor, but if you can, try doing as much of your casting down on the floor as possible. My dad started me squatting down on the floor when I was a little kid to keep my pant knees from getting holes in them plus to help keep my clothes clean. It has paid off in more ways than keeping the knees in my pants and preventing burn injuries, it has kept my legs limber so I can still squat down on my haunches in the "duck walk" position all day without my legs and joints aching. When my dad was 90 he could still squat down on the floor like he taught me, so it helped him, too (he just couldn't always get back up! :oops:).


rl610

[Linstrum]

OOOPS!

I forgot to mention in my post above that I still use protective gear along with working on the floor, working down low is NOT a substitute for safety equipment! Especially since working down low is NOT any protection at all against a steam explosion, although I do not process raw wheel weights indoors and up close like when I'm casting boolits. But a steam explosion could still happen.

One item of safety gear I use without fail is safety glasses - I only have one good eye and if that goes, that's it for me.


rl610a

[windrider919]

I've been working with molten metal since 10 years old (helping my Dad cast bullets) and never been burned by more than splatter droplets from a Lee-ky bottom pour pot but last week I got burned fairly badly. And not even casting bullets either. I was helping a friend who restores old steam machinery by casting a new bearing for him. This bearing has no steel shell and fits a 6' shaft, it is 3/4 inch thick by 4" wide. Takes a 20lb pot to pour one. A young man I'd hired as a helper had listened to my safety instructions and done fairly well but just before I was getting ready to pull the crucible from the furnace he dropped a chunk of dross lead off the ground from a previous pour into the melt. I had the furnace in the doorway of my shop so he had just leaned around the doorway to drop it in and had moved out of the line of sight when the water in the spongy dross exploded. I was wearing my leather apron, canvas leggings, Nomex gloves and had on a full face-shield so the best thing I could have done was just 'take it' from the front.

Instead, I 'ducked and covered' in an instant reflex as the geyser of molten lead erupted out. It rained most of the 20 pounds of lead all around me. My shirt protected my back and the face-shield hat and hair protected my head. But I am badly burned on the back of my neck where the molten lead landed on un-protected skin. I have a mixed 1st/2nd/3rd degree burn that is about 3" top to bottom and 5" side to side. Cooled it as fast as I could with the shop water hose then I used the AloeVera juice from the plant I have growing in a big 10 gal pot beside the shop. It sure helped. Could have been a lot worse, the helper had taken off his goggles without me realizing it and if he had been standing in front of the furnace with me he would have been blinded. As it was the only thing he got was startled! I still have to pour the bearing but he does not want to work with molten metal again. Ha,I should invite him over when I'm pouring steel!!!! He'd sure see some fire and sparks then.

In years past, when I was much younger I did not always wear all the safety gear but I sure do nowdays. I don't wear leather gloves while casting bullets because it makes me too clumsy but since we have Nomex single layer cloth gloves today I do wear them. Or one could get the unpadded cotton 'inspection' gloves and heavily starch them and still have manipulation ability yet splatter protection. And for sure keep the untrained kids away. Like drown proofing or gun safety, its the ignorant that either get hurt or cause an injury. For if you never let them learn from you then they will probably not be casters, eh?

[shotman]

well as the saying goes it only takes once. The guys that do the water drop boolit will get their day. I have had 2 blow up from range scrap. one was a 45cap and it stuck in the 1/2 panel of the shop door 20ft away

[RP]

My two cents worth on this tread, I smelt alot of lead I like to do a few hundred lbs at a time, I have my pot low to the ground or should say cement which if you get to hot it will explode sending concrete and lead flying. This will happen due to water in the pores turning to steam. So i keep my concrete cover with some old plywood and its all low to the ground which I think is always a good ideal.

[Cadillo]

If anyone gets burned by lead, get the burn under cold water FAST and keep pouring cold water on it for at least 1/2 hour. You might not even get a blister, only a scar.


I hope that everyone reads the above statement. For years I worked in an aluminum reduction plant. Everything there was extremely hot. You learned right away that if burned you run to the watercooler and flush the area with cold water. If you are able to do this soon enough, the burn is greatly minimized and the pain is greatly relieved.

I was once told by one of the company's medical staff that when burned, the elevated temperature of the burned skin actually continues to burn the skin layers underneath for some time afterward and that if you can hit the burn with cold water right away, it stops this process thus minimizing the injury.

[alamogunr]

I've never gotten a lead burn despite some close calls, but about 2 weeks ago I was changing the oil on our car after driving it for about a half hour to get the oil good and hot. Everything went well until I started to remove the filter. It was next to the exhaust pipe as it exits the manifold. I let the back of my hand touch the pipe and before I could jerk it away I had a pretty good (?) burn. It didn't hurt much after the initial pain so I ignored it for about 10 min. Then I went inside and put ice on it but apparently the damage was done. The site has healed to the point it is only about 1/3 the size it was initially. New skin must generate from the circumference of the injury toward the center. The worst part is it still hurts almost as much as it did right after it happened. Cold water or ice as quickly as possible would have kept this from being the pain and inconvenience that this has been for almost 2 weeks. Hopefully it will heal completely in another 2 weeks.

About all I can say is I'm glad it wasn't a lead burn. My last WW clean up was done without a supply of water nearby. I would think that a list of smelting equipment should include a water hose a short distance away.

John
W.TN

[waksupi]

John, get some aloe vera, or emu oil, and the healing wil lbe at least twice as fast.

[JesterGrin_1]

Right that is why I have a few Aloe Vera Plants around the house. Also good for minor cuts. :)

[mroliver77]

Aloe Vera is great stuff! Doc told me to never use ice on a burn as it can freeze the tender unburnt skin and worsen the wound. Cold water only! Makes perfect sense to me and I follow his advice when burned. I used to cut scrap iron in another life. Dirty wet scrap throws sparks and molten steel quite a lot. Burns were an every day occurrence. Most were minor but every so often a painfull larger one would happen.
cold water or whatever was handy followed by antibiotic cream and a dressing. I was filthy every day and never had a problem with infections. Once in a while someone would yell that your pants are on fire or such. Usually was followed by "I know, I will get it as soon as I am finished with this here cut."
Jay

[alamogunr]

Aloe Vera is great stuff! Doc told me to never use ice on a burn as it can freeze the tender unburnt skin and worsen the wound. Cold water only!
Jay

That may be what happened to me. I used ice. Live and learn!

John
W.TN

[MT Gianni]

The quickest source of cold water is the toilet tank, not the bowl. Raise the handle and refill if it gets a little warm. Those of you who don't have inside facilities will have to improvise.

[Russel Nash]

Silvadene cream is your friend.

I got burned, badly on my forearm about 2 months ago.

It blistered and peeled right away. And with most burns, I think it got infected.

I started seeing these slightly red splotches on the other parts of my forearm that weren't actually burnt.

Then I started getting this tingley feeling in my arm.

I was getting really worried. I was wondering if the red splotches were the start of the "streaks" I had heard about before. The "streaks" occur when the infection starts to travel, usually up towards the body.

I was worried I was going to lose my arm. So off to the ER I went. The doc called it "cellulitis". She prescribed some oral antibiotic pill and this silvadine cream.

Both of those together worked wonders.

I think the doc gave me an extra prescription of silvadine cream. So once I can find that, I will have it re-filled, just so I can have an extra tube of the stuff around the house.

Anywhooo... yeah, I wear gloves when I cast.

My burn from two months ago wasn't from casting though.

[Linstrum]

I have done a lot of arc welding and oxy-acetylene cutting over the last 40 years and only got burned twice from that particular work. I had a minor burn on my index finger when I passed my finger under the cutting torch tip when I slipped, I had taken my glove off to adjust the darned flame and that is when it got me. It never hurt and didn't really burn me at all for some reason, but my skin was singed anyway!

The other time got me real bad, I was arc welding upside down doing an overhead out-of-position weld using E6011, which spatters and throws all sorts of big molten iron balls and globs on AC. I had a big 1/4" ball of molten weldment drip down inside my glove onto my wrist and it stuck under my watch band. When working I normally remove my wrist watch and I don't wear rings to begin with, but this one time I didn't take it off and it got me! It burned deep before I could take care of it and it did get infected even though I kept antibiotic cream on it. Now I have a big scar on my wrist to remind me.


rl676

[MT Gianni]

Good points Linstrum. Whenever welding or cutting over head don't forget earplugs. When i was starting out I asked a man I was working with why he wore earplugs. He replied, kid those hot ones hurt when they roll into your ear. I found out he was right.

[Linstrum]

YEEEEOOOW!!! A big glob of molten slag/iron down the ear canal can do some serious damage, for sure! I certainly WILL wear ear plugs!

Thank you for mentioning it, that is not something welders normally do!

That was a trick used during the Spanish Inquisition, pouring molten lead in the ears of convicted blasphemers!

rl6778

[Russel Nash]

A doo rag helps with that... or those small-ish welder caps with the really short bill, just swing the cap so that the bill is over whatever ear is most likely to get the splatter.

[evan price]

Back when I was doing a lot of welding and cutting I stopped tucking my shirt into my pants, too often some hot slag owuld get under my shirt, then when you try to get it out of a tucked in shirt it will keep going down into your pants and that's no fun.

[jonk]

Dad had me casting sinkers and muzzleloader bullets when I was 4. Well, helping... he let me cut the sprue.

I wasn't allowed to do it unsupervised until 13.

I would certainly say 1 is too young but as he gets older if he wants to help, I'm sure you can come up with something for him to make him feel proud.

As for the lead- I've never poured a whole ladle out on myself but have poured maybe a half ounce out on my leg... yes it hurt. I still wear shorts in the summer but now with a shop apron. Still no gloves. Any gloves strong enough to help are such a hindrance in movement I can't stand them. I suppose it will take a similar mishap to get me to change my tune. :(

[340six]

I used to get burned when making seams in carpets where it was a job of cheap carpet. you had to bite the hot melt glue off or it would stick and burn till it cooled off lol. was burned quite a few times in 32 years of laying floors
That made me be carefull with lead
Thank god no one in your case got really hurt

[Shooter6br]

My mom had brought home a jar called "Foil" it was for burns never new much about it Anyone run into it?

[Digger]

Plus 1 on the material you wear ...very important !
As was stated by members here earlier ...100% cotton , starched even better.

In my line of work , gas company field work , we are required to wear 100% cotton long sleeve shirts and also the the "bug suits" we wear in emergencies are all cotton as was stated by the person earlier that the material "melted" into the skin instead.
Cotton gives you those extra few seconds of time you need to get away as it's burning slowly ....

I always wondered " what the heck am I doing here !! " as the gas is blowing and the fire dept. is about 30 feet away pointing their hose's at my back ....:shock:

digger

[handyman25]

I have had 2nd and 3rd on most of my right leg. Lots of pain for sure. I have found that ice in cold water, soak for at least 30 minutes helps a lot. I had a friend that I told and he had hot french fry grease spild on his arm, did what I told him, arm in the sink with a stopper and cold water running and had is wife put in as much ice as she could. No scaring or blishters and said pain was not that bad.

[Dale53]

Whitespider;
First of all, I am pleased to see you were not injured TOO badly (2nd degree is better than 3rd degree burns). Burns HURT!

I would also like to commend you for "manning up" and telling of your experience in view of your past attitude. That takes guts to do so, but you may have helped others to realize that protective clothing is a MUST.

I wear cloth - but make certain it is natural fibers and at least two layers. Lead splashed on one layer will burn nearly as badly as bare skin. However, two layers provide insulation.

My dedicated casting outfit is boots, bib overalls, a long sleeved shirt, leather welding gloves (sometimes sold as "fireplace gloves" that have rather long gauntlets to fully cover my wrists. I also wear a cap (molten lead gets stuck in hair - I don't have much hair but I do have ACRES of skin on my head:mrgreen:). Then, I wear a long shop apron. I have splashed lead on more than one occasion without a glimmer of a problem. I am CAREFUL regardless of my clothing - the idea is tor PREVENT burns, not test the limit of my protection.

Above all - wear glasses or even better, a face shield.

Dale53

[ghh3rd]

An old thread revisited, but certainly relevant and important to all of us.

Randy

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Quite a few years ago, I was cooking Sunday breakfast and turned over the hash brown patties and splashed a real big glob of hot grease on my forearm. I ended up going to the Dr. office and he put some kind of white salve on it and srapped it and sent me home. At home, that sucker hurt bad and my wife told me to put some McNess Krestol salve on it and put a light cover of gauze on it. The pain went away and healed great. I have used McNess for any and all cuts and burns since. Even pulls out slivers if it is covered. The can used to say " For man or beast". They took that off quite a few years ago. I don't sell the stuff or own stock, I just know it works great for me.

[2wheelDuke]

Other sites I'm on have old threads brought up all the time, but they usually aren't threads with good information like this one.

I've used silvadene cream on minor burns growing up. My parents had it around from other stuff I guess. It worked wonders. I've heard that the pharmacist can sell it to you if you need it without a script, but I haven't checked that.

I also figured you can get about anything online these days, so I did a quick search. It looks like the vet grade silvadene is cheaply and easily available online. It says it's 1%, can anyone look at a jar of the RX kind and compare them?

http://www.amazon.com/BASF-Corporation-NDC4988460040-Silver-Sulfadiazine/dp/B000EGO7O0

[Longwood]

I am a welder with about 50 years worth of burn and cut scars.
Your protective clothing should be 100% cotton. Even a thin all cotton Tee shirt is better than a thicker shirt made from a synthetic which will melt and stick to your skin very nicely.
Vitamin E oil, from the capsules, really helps burns, and cuts, heal much faster.

[ilcop22]

I've dropped a bit of molten lead on my sandle-wearing-toes before. Not a pleasant sensation. More recently, I was casting and had taken my safety glasses off for one reason or another. Stupidly, I left them on top of my head because I wasn't paying attention. While stirring the pot, a bit of lead splashed out, and a tiny droplet landed on my left eyelashes. No injury was sustained, but had I not blinked at that second, I would have had a very injured eyeball! The moral of the story is wear your safety gear, because lead has a mind of its own.

[grumman581]

I have a heavyweight cotton t-shirt that I used to use without a leather apron when I was welding up small projects around the house. It has quite a few burn holes in it and under each of those burn holes is a burn scar on my torso. Just minor scars though since the cotton protected me quite a bit. If you increase the thickness of the cotton to the point of heavyweight denim, you can really reduce the burns though since I've never had a burn go through my jeans and make it to my skin. Well, I did one time have a small blob of molten steel make it through the jeans and then drop down into the top of some open top boots that I was wearing... Now, *that* was an 'interesting' experience. I did quite a bit of hopping around before that one cooled off. I also quit wearing the pull-on type open top boots and switched to only wearing lace-up type boots.

[Dale53]

I do a lot of warm weather casting (as well as cold weather casting). First of all, I DEFINITELY use nothing but cotton clothing. I wear a set of bib overalls. My shirt is a lightweight but long sleeved cotton shirt. I also wear a cotton shop apron over all. I also wear a cotton fatigue cap to cover my head (getting molten lead splatter on my bald pate would NOT a fun process. I wear welding gloves summer or winter and twist off the sprue plate rather than beat it.

I find that two layers of light cloth are far better than one layer of light or even heavier cloth and it is more comfortable.

My bib overalls have full legs so easily drape over the tops of my shoes or boots. That IS important.

I wear the same set of clothing all of the time, only changing the shirt weight in winter. I wear long johns and a flannel shirt with my bibs and shop apron.

I am DEFINITELY not a fashion plate when smelting or casting but I AM well covered and THAT is what is important!

Dale53

[ReloaderEd]

I worked as a Field Egnineer associated with Welding. Several years ago, I grabed a piece of hot metal and severely burned the center of the palm on my left hand. One of the welders had a cold pac that helped the pain. I went into a Drug Store and asked the Pharmasist what would work. He recommended Neosporen which I used with a loose gauze bandage. It healed the burned area and a week later the dead skin came off leaving the new skin that had formed underneath. If I would have had my gloves on at the time it would not have happened. dumb that. Oh yes and when casting bullets always use safety glasses no mater what. Be Safe /

[omgb]

I got startled by a flash flame while fluxing the pot. I jerked back and flipped 800 degree lead on my hand and arm. Of course, no gloves...I've been casting for 30+ years...I don't need gloves right? What an a$$. So I paid for my arrogance.

[omgb]

Oops....I forgot to upload the photo.

[Wilsknife]

Long ago, I had a hot piece of slag drop in my shoe while I was welding. It burned me worse than lead ever has. I cast in shorts, flipflops and a tshirt with safety glasses.
So far only minor burns which I would have gotten even with long pants, long sleeved shirt and shoes.

Got a splash on my knee one day. With lond pants on it would have set my leg on fire... No thanks. Better safe and comfortable while casting. The stress of wearing safety equipment makes it more dangerous for me.

[Shooter6br]

Had scrap pipe ( water) I had to smelt. I always start with a cold pot with the pipe in it. Well I wasin a hurry so I added what i thought was a dry piece. I was outside( thank God) I heard it sizzle and a backed out fast. Lead shot up about 8 ft in the air Hit my house sliding ( aluminum) went all over the cement patio( Wife wasnt home (again praise the Lord) Some melted on my nylon shorts i got hit with a splat below 1 eye( Did have regular precription glasses on. Well now i wear safety glasses over my small glasses and dont add unknow lead to a pot with melted lead in it i wear welder's gloves also:(

[mold maker]

Ya may get by for your whole life, taking FOOLISH chances. And then again, next time could be yours.
Burns from melted lead are some of the must painful, and take forever to heal. If it gets infected (likely) it can disfigure you, or even bring on the undertaker.
Being macho is dumb.

[garym1a2]

Having the lead fairly visit me once, lead sprayed all over my googles, cotton shirt, gloves and shoes. I sure was glad to be wearing cotton. I don't care that Florida is 95 degrees when I smelt. I still wear protection.

[Dale53]

I wear cotton clothing (check an inconspicuous place with a match - things are not always labeled correctly) for comfort when casting. In fact, I have a dedicated "casting uniform":
Low boots with pants legs over the tops.
Bib overalls (who cares if my neighbors poke fun).
Long sleeved shirt.
Long shop apron.
Cap (don't need burns on my bald pate - hair is worse (it captures and holds
the molten lead for even worse burns).
Welding gloves that come up over my sleeve ends.
Glasses - a face shield would be even better.

With this outfit, I can cast in relative safety. Accidents not only CAN happen, they WILL! Protect yourself...

I cast year 'round, almost regardless of the weather.

Dale53

[metweezer]

To the OP, I am glad that you survived to live another day and share your experiences with the rest of us.

Just today I purchased welders gloves and a whole face shield from Harbor Freight.

[starnbar]

FWIW if you do happen to get visited by the tinsel fairey an excellent remedy to use is egg whites applied directly to the burn area just separate the yolk from the white and use only the egg whites keep applying as it dries and in a few days you will be amazed at how the skin heals from this remedy.

[D Crockett]

belive it or not when I get burnt I grab a piece of aloe and keep it on the burn area I usualy do not even get a blister I belive all casters should use natures wonder drug aloe it works D Crockett

[.22-10-45]

Hello, everyone. To those of you who think that regular safety glasses are enough while casting: Years ago, while dipper casting, very tiny speck of molten alloy found it's way up under glasses, and hit me in corner of eye!..by the time I rushed inside to bathroom mirror, it was lying on eyelid. surprisingly, pain wasn't that bad, & didn't last long. Checked with my eye doctor next day..no damage..BUT..it could just have easily hit the cornea. Now I always wear at least close fitting goggles over glasses..and more often than not..especially when emptying a pot into ingots..full face shield.

[Lead Fred]

Ive added boots to my casting gear pile.

A few years ago I was casting, and didnt realize I had sandals on, when a piece of sprew hit my sock.

Never made that mistake again.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
+1 on the Aloe plant. Years back in Chattanooga our youngest son of about 2 years walked up to the electric stove and plopped his hand on the just shut off burner on a Saturday morning. My wife wife grabbed him and got his hand in a bowl of water. I zipped out the back door and cut a large stem off the "burn plant". Back in the kitchen I split it open length ways and with my wife holding his hand palm up placed that plant on his circular blistered hand. We did that 30 minutes. Then a new application of juice every 30 minutes. All he eneded up with was an interesting parralel circular brown marks that eventually wore off.
We keep one growing here in Peru and pass new "babies" on to anyone who does not have one. Works for many skin calamaties.
Mike in Peru

[Katya Mullethov]

There are hundreds of subspecies, of which I have a couple dozen different kinds .

Aloe Vera has always been my go to for wasp, fire ant stings and burns and have planted patches of it scattered all throughout my pastures . We recently added Aloe Ferox to the club and it seems that the analgesic properties are a bit more pronounced .



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v24/weezR/caudiciforms/IMG_6006.jpg
Aloe Barberae , not my yard

[hamour]

Well if every one is telling the "I can't believeeeee I just did that!" stories, here is mine.

I have been casting since 1970 or so, and thought I had the bases covered. Wore my gloves, long sleve shirts and full pants. Boots up under the pants (only took one buckshot to convince me!) I am near sighted so I always have my glasses on.

Well this Feb. I was casting some NOE 360-180 WFN HPTs, I set the lead hotter than normal to get the hpts to fill out properly. Saw my #2 alloy needed fluxing so I put some old RCBS NRA formula lube in as flux and start stiring. With out thinking I leaned in close to see if any crud was behind the stem and of course that is when the smoke lit off and a big fire ball hits me in my snout and lips!!! Well let me tell you that fire ball was hot! I grabed my water soaked towel that I keep close when I cast and slapped it to my now tingling nose and lips and to the kitchen I went. I start hollering for help from the Wife and tell her I am burnt. Well she just tells me to get the burn cream from the fridgerator (Silvedene). Finally my continued bellering and putting water on my face at the sink convinces her I need more help than advice!
She comes and slathers silvedene all over my snout and lips, then starts laughing because I was quite a sight. The Silvedene kept me from blistering I just looked kinda like Rudolph for a few days.

Moral is I had all the proper PPE for pre burn and the after burn care stuff was in place as well, just had my head up my behind and a moments in attention got me burned.

But I did not have to trim any nose hairs for awhile!

I am glad the original poster is ok!

[Linstrum]

Oh, Man, OUCH! You were actually pretty lucky! Yup, right on about not needing to trim the nose hairs for awhile!

rl 1098

[mold maker]

And don't those singed hairs smell delicious???
I guess we've all made those mistakes that seem stupid in hindsight. I've made enough myself, but thank goodness, in almost every case, safety gear has saved my bacon. I do however have a short thumb, as a reminder of how close, is too close, to a saw blade.
Handling 700 degree lead without proper gear, is as dumb as, throwing your life preserver on the dock, before whitewater rafting. Sooner or later it will catch up with even you.

[omgb]

I hate the smell of burning flesh. I once had to clean up a tractor trailer full of cattle that crashed and was engulfed in gasoline from the farm truck it hit (had a huge storage tank on the back) Cattle were balling, burnt flesh was coming off in strips, the Highway Patrol was shooting burnt cattle left and right and the burnt blood, wound seepage and crud on the ground was awful. There was a greasy smoke that was sweet and stuck to clothes, glasses, everyting. I couldn't eat meet for several weeks. I hope I never experience anything like that again.

[dragonrider]

I have had my share of small insignificant burns caused by lead splatter nothing like what has been described in this thread, BUT I did once , no twice, get burned by boiling water. Worked in a yarn dyeing shop for a few years back 40 some odd years ago. It was a very wet place hence the boot of choice was rubber and open topped slip on. When one is dyeing yarn many times one needs boiling water and we boiled water in steel buckets by useing a steam hose, simply insert the hose into the water and open the valve to allow steam into the water, in a minute or two you have boilng water. One day while not paying attention I was getting some water up to boil and too much steam caused the boiling water to erupt out of the bucket and into my right boot, filled it right up. I jumped around, kicked off the boot and yanked off my sock and with it most of the skin on my foot. And while I was at the hospital getting fixed up my wife started labor for child number two that I did not find out about until I returned to the shop to get my car and go home. Pre cell phone days of course. The date was Friday, December 13, 1968. Almost a year later I did the same thing to my left foot.

[tacofrank]

I got careless and instead of easing an ingot in the pot with tongs I used my un-gloved fingers. I bumped the pot with my hand and the burn caused me the drop the ingot. Molten lead splashed on the back of my hand. Luckily I was water dropping my bullets and had a big bucket of cold water. Seems like I learn a lot of things the hard way.

[Longwood]

I don't recall the exact scenario but I will tell what I do remember.
I was re smelting some ingots that I had gotten from a friend, and from the first four new ingots, I took one with my tongs and sat it on the table in front of my smelting pot.
As I was working and doing things, I inadvertently picked up the hot ingot with a bare hand.
It did not take me long to inspect it and put it back down.
I was smelting so I did not have any water close so I lost a big callous and a couple of layers of new skin from my thumb and a couple of finger tips.

I am an old retired welder that knows better,,,, but,,,

[crabo]

I am an old retired welder that knows better,,,, but,,,

That's how I usually get burned welding. I pick something up where it is still hot.

[melter68]

Well across the pond here in england, we get burned too, i never learn.
will wear gloves from now on.

Funny thing is when the lead hits you, you always find a few choice words

[cal50]

After getting toasted in a motorcycle accident (exhaust pipe and bike laying on arm like branding iron) and going through skin grafts and the joy with it avoiding burns is something you can never emphasize enough. The broken bones did not even come close pain wise to being burned bad.

Always wear gloves and glasses and avoid distraction like other people, pets or kids.

[doctorggg]

I have only been casting since January 2012. Reading this whole thread has made me realize how careless and lucky I have been. Thanks to all who shared. It may save me a major burn someday.
Today I picked up a still somewhat hot lead thermometer by the stem after removing my gloves. I put it down rather quickly. Seeing the magnitude of lead burns has scared me. I will wear more protective gear from now on. Thanks again for all who shared and helped this newbie. Greg

[Lance Boyle]

If anyone gets burned by lead, get the burn under cold water FAST and keep pouring cold water on it for at least 1/2 hour. You might not even get a blister, only a scar.


I did this last night. I was in the house cooking though, I put a SS frying pan in a 500 degree oven to melt/brown the cheese on my chicken parm. I got the pan out with a pot holder and plated the cutlet. A couple inch chunk of my cutlet broke off in the pan when I plated. Not thinking I grabbed the spatula and grabbed the pan to get that last little bit of deliciousness but this time I neglected to get the pot holder when I grabbed the SS handle. My left hand has a red line across the palm and some very mild blisters on my ring and middle finger. I am suprised at how little damage I got the next morning.

I attribute this to plunging my hand in the sink within 2/3 seconds in a tupperware container that was filled with cold water. I ran about 15-20 minutes of cold water over the burns. I think that helped significantly. I had no raised blister last night, only got that after I took a shower this morning.

[sparky45]

I go straight for the ice, and keep the burn packed until the "burn" sensation goes down. Really helps.

[Dale53]

Lance is absolutely right. The cooking continues after the heat is removed. Running cold water on it, will definitely reduce the secondary cooking effect...

Dale53

[zidave]

I have not had molten lead touch my skin yet but I did burn myself pretty good.
It was my very first time attempting to melt range scrap for ingots and I had just stirred the pot some with my spoon and I heard someone yell so I took my attention off the spoon and the pot and somehow the spoon touched to my forearm. At the time it touched I thought just the tip of the spoon touched me and it wouldn't be that bad but I looked at it again a few hours later and it turns out the bottom of the spoon touched me. Burnt pretty good for a few hours then I had to get ready for work and got a hot shower. I let warm water run over it and it hurt like crazy but I gradually turned the temperature up until there was no more pain.
From then on it did not burn anymore.

Not sure why the warm and hot water made it not burn anymore but I'm not complaining.

70463
This was probably 8 hours after it happened.

PS Don't mind the junk in my car

[mold maker]

It's proof that even a second of inattention can really hurt you. Glad it wasn't any worse. It has happened to all of us, or will in the future. That's where long selves and gloves come into play. And don't forget long jeans and closed top shoes. It doesn't matter where, it hurts.

[Smoke4320]

burn .. thats not a burn .. its a lesion learned :) :)
and a somewhat permenent reminder too

[sparkz]

Sean and I keep a Drinking bottle squirt type like 20oz near our boolit operation and if we did have issues squirt the spot to cool off fast ,, I am an industrial Electrician and I use to specialize in Heat treating furnace controls so learned if it dont need to be touched dont touch it,, But the water bottle does work and is easy to keep,, might add that tool to your operation



Patrick & Sean

[woodchuckc]

I have been making fishing sinkers for quite a few years and have just started my foray into casting boolits, so this topic has been very beneficial to remind me of the proper safety precautions. I have not had any incidents with molten lead in the past but this has been a good reminder of what to do and not do.

I have had my share of burns in the past - sometime I may relay the time I ended up in the burn unit at the hospital for a few days with facial and shoulder burns from a dumb incident with a can of black powder or when my bare calf got wedged between the front tire and exhaust pipe of one of the old 3-wheelers after a particularly spectacular stupid "watch this!" stunt in my youth.

[Psypher]

I'm glad someone shared such a story. I managed to grab a cooling puck of lead from the wrong end of the cooling line, with a bare hand. My wife has asked why I shut down my machine to add the loose lead from the top of my mold or bad fills. The OP's example is exactly why I take that step. I'd rather spend the money on another furnace than medical bills any day.

Thankfully, she's authorized me to install an overhead vent for my furnace to go out into the shed.

[Moonman]

Keep flushing a burn with COLD WATER for at least 1/2 hour.
The burn WILL CONTINUE TO BURN DEEPER FOR 48 HOURS.
This is what you're trying to slow down and stop.

Safety Glasses are a MUST, I wear a FULL FACE SHIELD also.

Cotton Clothing and NO SHORT SLEEVES, Dew Rag over ears too, Hat, Welder's Gloves,

and Welder's Leather Apron.

For those with LACE UP BOOTS, cover with your pants leg, AND NO SYNTHETIC LACES,

in an emergency the laces could MELT and leave you in a terrible fix.

If you think the above is too much trouble or sissified PLEASE JUST PURCHASE

your projectiles from a reputable caster, or GO VISIT A BURN CENTER ONCE and have a look around.

You may just hear the screams from someone in the water tank having dead skin brushed off and removed.

Better safe than sorry.

MOONMAN

[SSGOldfart]

Just in case you missed this excellent advice the first time. Large burns like this are serious business. :(
I'll just say the same as everyone has pointed out above what you need to do I live with just one hand trust me have it looked at,you don't want to lose a hand due to this burn. Take care

[D Crockett]

gentlemen I can give you some medical advise. keep a aloe plant around where you are casting. it is mother natures cure for burns. I once had a radiator blow up in my face at a gas station. and the attendant had aloe plants in a planter in front of the station. he grab some and put it on my face and in just a few minutes it was not burning. I did not blister or have any other effects from the hot water. I keep it all around my house all the time and put it on me when I get a splatter of lead on me. be careful and be safe casting D Crockett

[Smoke4320]

gentlemen I can give you some medical advise. keep a aloe plant around where you are casting. it is mother natures cure for burns. I once had a radiator blow up in my face at a gas station. and the attendant had aloe plants in a planter in front of the station. he grab some and put it on my face and in just a few minutes it was not burning. I did not blister or have any other effects from the hot water. I keep it all around my house all the time and put it on me when I get a splatter of lead on me. be careful and be safe casting D Crockett

excellent advise right there an actual aloe plant is very good at relieving burn pains especially when applied right after

[dragon813gt]

I didn't burn myself badly last week. But I still burnt myself. I was attempting salt bath annealing for the first time. Was using potassium nitrate at slightly over 1000F. First few cases went just fine. But one of them introduced me to the potassium nitrate fairy. There must have been moisture in the case. It was a cold morning and warm afternoon so I'm assuming the case condensed earlier in the day. The potassium nitrate fairy is not a woman you want to meet. I had my gloves off, which was stupid of me, and ended up w/ a few small burns on my right hand. There is BurnGel in my first aid kit and it helped but not like it normally does. So for anyone that's thinking about salt bath annealing, I can't recommend it for many reasons, make sure the cases are completely dry and that you have proper PPE on.

[HiVelocity]

Folks, this is no joke. I've had similar incidents and dodged hot lead in the process. We love this hobby so much, we get complacent, and end up paying for it somewhere down the line. One additional item I've added to my safety items is a heavy piece of quilted canvas I found somewhere that sits nicely across my lap. This has saved "the boys" a few times from a rogue hot cast bullet that missed its mark. Just food for thought. Im glad you're not burned more than you were. Be safe.

HV

[w5pv]

Always safety first

[Mooseman]

The best burn medicine i have used is Raw Honey...an old time remedy and if you google it you will see why.
I backed into a hot weld while repairing a gold dredge and it set my shirts on fire...before i knew it flames were removing my hair and my left side of my back was charring, even worse when I stopped dropped and rolled. I ended up with 1,2 and 3rd degree burns after I ripped my shirts off it was pretty bad. Called the GF and told her, since we live 150 miles from a hospital that could help, and she said put honey on it and wrap up in saran wrap. ASAP. My neighbor came over and helped apply the honey and wrap me up and tape it in place.
It was amazing that in a couple hours there was no pain and I slept on my back that nite as I rolled on it in my sleep. By changing the honey and dressing every 2 days I never got any infection and the burn healed so good the only sign of it is a scar about the size of a dime where the flesh was burned the deepest. Apparently honey on a burn turns to hydrogen peroxide and keeps out infection, while removing pain too. Im sold on Honey !

[stephen m weiss]

I really appreciate all the stories, especially the hard learned gear sets! I have made several safety improvements to my casting set up so far, and this thread was awesome for giving me things to think and act on. So easy to screw down the pot on my bench and add a gutter rail to stop lead from draining on my feet or the electrical cord. I am adding long sleeves and boots instead of shoes. Adding a full brim boonie hat to keep lead off my ears and out of the back of my shirt. Moving up the schedule priority of a casting oven.

[Forgetful]

I have a couple burns from zinc I'll never forget. The odd splash of lead doesn't really seem to burn much at all. I cast in slippers and they're about 10% coated in lead now, lol. Aside from the zinc burn, the only other bad burn I got was when I quenched a heat treatment, moving from the oven to the sink. I was using a folded towel to carry the basket by the handle I gave it.. Everything was going good until I realized I didn't take into account the huge ball of superheated steam rising towards my hand as I gently try to ease it into the water without disturbing the boolits. Dropped them and retracted my arm as quick as I could. Just the backside of my thumb got burned, from the knuckle to the nail. If I waited until I started to feel the heat, it would have been far far worse. It's a little scary the first time, the way the water violently evaporates. I now lower them in from the end of a pole.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Assuming that a honey-doo is something non-alcoholic, possibly the biggest factor in the OP's accident were the distractions and the haste. I've never worn gloves, and never had even a spatter burn from lead. I think a really secure grip on things is worth more. If I felt vulnerable I would wear Kevlar welder's sleeves, adjusted to cover part of the hand but leave the fingers free. I do believe in keeping things, not on the floor but fairly low, with a wide, flat pot on a really secure burner, and pour with nothing larger than the RCBS spouted ladle. If I was melting range or other scrap I would stand well back after starting the heat, and never add solid to liquid. You never know what is trapped in it.

But once I was repairing a roof with molten pitch, much hotter than boiling water so that it would give me time to work. I spilled it over the back of my hand, and part-way round the front. I got to cold running water quickly, but it hurt like fury, not immediately, but as it started to blister, and the pitch coating prevented the blisters from expanding.

I was up all night running cold water over it to dull the pain, and it stopped hurting as the blisters were freed up. In hindsight I wonder if I would have done better to hold my hand in as warm a place as possible, to let the pitch expand. By morning I was able to drive myself ten miles to the hospital emergency room, where the staff thought I was tremendously brave to make light of the pain, but by that time there was none at all.

They covered it with Flamazine ointment (possibly a different name in the US), and taped the hand up in a blue plastic glove, without dressings. It produced fluid liberally for the first week or more, and that is the trouble with burns really. There is no danger of infection directly from something as hot as that, but they are far more likely than a cut to take up infection from anything they touch, and it would have been impossible to keep dressings on that hand unless they were changed hourly or so. My hand, on final removal of the last glove, looked like something from a ship sunk by fire a month ago, with plenty of pitch fragments left. But it recovered to normal miraculously fast, with no loss of feeling at all. I still wonder if I would have achieved complete freedom of movement, and such slight scarring, with the treatments of even a few years earlier.

[NavyVet1959]

I'm pretty diligent about wearing some sort of protective gear -- cotton shirt, jeans, shoes that are not covered by the pants legs, leather apron, leather arc welding gauntlet style gloves, glasses (prescription). I still get the occasional burn though, but they are fairly minor. Usually it's because of having gotten a tear in my welding gloves and not noticing it until I pick up something and find out that I have no leather between my hand and the hot object. There's also the case of picking up something after I've been welding on it and before it has cooled sufficiently. The good thing about the heavy gauntlet type gloves is that you can just shake your hands and toss them off since in these types of cases, they have gotten so hot that *they* are also causing the burn. Then run into the kitchen and get some ice and rub it on the burn places.

[John Allen]

I started wearing a leather apron and a full face shield. I have always worn the nomex gloves but as I get older I have realized mistakes happen and figured a little extra protection was not a bad idea.

[62chevy]

If you ride a motorcycle you will dump it on the road it's just a mater of when. Ask me how road rash feels and bruised bones. I road for a lot of years but only dumped it once.

[grumman581]

If you ride a motorcycle you will dump it on the road it's just a mater of when. Ask me how road rash feels and bruised bones. I road for a lot of years but only dumped it once.

Ask me how a compound fracture and a severed limb feels... Yeah, I've had some memorable motorcycle wrecks...

[smokeywolf]

Most folks become more cautious with age. This is one of the reasons it is said that, "Wisdom comes with age". I will not use or waste money on safety equipment that is unreasonably priced or will make the job I'm doing too difficult to still be enjoyable.
Basic safety gear like glasses, face shields, gloves, aprons, boots, fire extinguishers and first aid supplies are all reasonable and practical expenditures and not at all difficult to use. Many people don't foresee needing gloves, face shields or boots. The whole purpose of safety gear is to protect you from the unforeseeable.

smokeywolf

[mold maker]

Bike only road me once in over 20 years. Road rash hurts lots worse than injured pride. But both heal in about the same time.
Tensile fairy left a splotch melted into the center of my safety glasses once, along with a stylish silver splattered shirt. Both incidents could have been avoided in hindsight, but neither left serious consequences.

[gwpercle]

Use Aloe, not the stuff in a bottle but the juice/jell squeezed from the plant leaves ,
It won't even blister. Honey is a great antibiotic, naturally occurring ( that's why honey never spoils), but if you can apply aloe when the burn happens , and keep some on that spot , it will heal with no blister or scar.

[buckwheatpaul]

Whitespider, I am glad that all worked out because it could have been much worse.....your life lesson is well received as a training aid for our old casters as well as the young whipper snapper rookie casters.....Thanks for the post! Paul

[40-82 hiker]

Just saw the post, and haven't read them all... So sorry if I am repeating others.
I won't repeat what many have said about safety.

After cooling the burned flesh with water to stop the burning process:

Onion juice has sulfur and quercetin in it which will help stop the pain and prevent blistering to a certain extent depending on how badly the skin is burned. Get an onion sliced quickly and rub it over the burn or squeeze the cut onion section over the burn and gently rub it around. I was a welder and I used this a number of times over the years with kitchen burns or burns in my home shop if they were bothersome. Never kept an onion at work, though...

Tea (unsweetened) has tannic acid in it that is good for taking the hurt out of burns and promote healing.

Honey is good for soothing burns, water it down somewhat... It also has antibiotic properties.

Potato juice is good for relieving the hurt. Just rub a fresh slice over the burn, or squeeze as with onion.

All of these are home remedies that supposedly work, but your mileage may vary. I have used onion and it works, but again each to his own.

[NavyVet1959]

I usually just take an ice cube, run it under some water for a couple of seconds to give it a wet surface, and then put it on the burnt spot, moving it around a bit so it doesn't freeze the skin. Might not be the best solution, but it's something that I can quickly grab.

[4719dave]

You are a very lucky man .SAFETY FIRST ....

[brasshog]

I can relate to this story. I cast bare hands always myself and am guilty of it. I'm big on ventilation, a clean work area, absolutely no liquids stored on or around the table, wearing pants and boots, etc. I've got a cat that has learned to watch and wait to get into daddy's lap. She's smart and didn't learn the hard way fortunately. She will come up to me, look up and meow, and wait for me to back away from the table to pick her up. If I don't after a minute she leaves. However, people are dumber than animals and I'm hear to tell you. I have had to put up a colored safety rope between the doors so that people simply can't walk into my shop without asking. My buddy (who reloads also) walked in with his 13yr old daughter knowing well what I was doing and gave her a playful shove. She tipped and grabbed my 4x6 workbench for support. In front of me was a fresh batch of lead in a very full pot. I caught a crotch full of lead and ruined a good chair that day. Anger and a lot of words we quickly exchanged. Now there is the rope and a sign. I will get a welding apron soon also. I have had to also remove all of the extra chairs in the shop due to another buddy that sat down and plopped his feet up on my desk while I was casting. There is now a separate desk twelve to fifteen feet away from my work table for someone to sit and drink a soda and they must enter through a side door (herd the cattle). I'm glad that you weren't hurt badly in your incident. Be safe everyone.

[mozeppa]

i'm the luckiest man alive...tinsel fairy.

below eye and on eye lid ....not in eye.


WEAR EYE PROTECTION!.......IT"LL STOP YOU FROM WEARING AN EYE PATCH......ARRRRRR!

[NavyVet1959]

My buddy (who reloads also) walked in with his 13yr old daughter knowing well what I was doing and gave her a playful shove. She tipped and grabbed my 4x6 workbench for support. In front of me was a fresh batch of lead in a very full pot. I caught a crotch full of lead and ruined a good chair that day. Anger and a lot of words we quickly exchanged. Now there is the rope and a sign. I will get a welding apron soon also. I have had to also remove all of the extra chairs in the shop due to another buddy that sat down and plopped his feet up on my desk while I was casting. There is now a separate desk twelve to fifteen feet away from my work table for someone to sit and drink a soda and they must enter through a side door (herd the cattle).

Interesting incidents. I would be inclined to consider a redesign of the tables so that they would be less likely to shake and cause a spill of the molten lead. If I'm casting in my garage, that could definitely happen to me. If I'm casting inside the house, it would be a bit less likely since I am casting on a counter where the base cabinets are attached to the wall.

[54bore]

I did a really stupid one when i first started, i bought a Lee 4-20 bottom pour, when it arrived it was nasty weather outside and i couldnt resist trying it out so i set it up in my kitchen on the kitchen table, i opened the windows and used a small fan on low, i only poured a few bullets just to try the new pot out, looking back this is the ONLY time that pot didnt leak, and i was totally unprepared for a leak. I think back at how lucky i was that everything went perfect that evening. I cast outside on nice days, i have had a couple close calls but never been burned (knock on wood!) i wear a pair of elbow length welding gloves to protect my hands. I had just plugged my pot in another time and just as the alloy started to liquefy a small stream shot up out of the pot turning into a long tensel string, there again im SURE glad that didnt happen in my house! Another time i was melting down range scrap, i came up with the brilliant idea to Squeeze the few solid bullets in the bunch with a pair of pliers to hopefully break the shell and release the lead, it worked! But shot the lead directly at my chest and burnt little holes all over my fleece jacket. I look back at how DUMB it was of me to do the few i did. Live and learn, and hopefully not get burned or hurt badly in the process!!

[Multigunner]

I don't think I've never gotten a blister from casting boolits, but I've burned the heck out of my hands getting a pizza out of the oven, go figure.

[dtknowles]

I got my first lead casting burn at about age 12. I was using my chemistry set alchol lamp, lead sinkers and a kitchen spoon. Dumped the spoon full of molten lead on my thumb. Ouch. I still don'the wear gloves, just am careful.

Tim

[Multigunner]

"I got my first lead casting burn at about age 12. I was using my chemistry set alchol lamp, lead sinkers and a kitchen spoon. Dumped the spoon full of molten lead on my thumb. Ouch. I still don'the wear gloves, just am careful.

Tim "
I also got scorched a few times casting tin soldiers as a kid. Never a blister or worse, only very red skin . Plenty of cold butter from the ice box probably prevented blisters from forming. Contrary to popular belief chilling the burned area immediately with ice or very cold anything is good for burns.
I now keep a squeeze bottle of an Aloe based salve in the door of the fridge. Perfect for pizza burns.

[dtknowles]

"I got my first lead casting burn at about age 12. I was using my chemistry set alchol lamp, lead sinkers and a kitchen spoon. Dumped the spoon full of molten lead on my thumb. Ouch. I still don'the wear gloves, just am careful.

Tim "
I also got scorched a few times casting tin soldiers as a kid. Never a blister or worse, only very red skin . Plenty of cold butter from the ice box probably prevented blisters from forming. Contrary to popular belief chilling the burned area immediately with ice or very cold anything is good for burns.
I now keep a squeeze bottle of an Aloe based salve in the door of the fridge. Perfect for pizza burns.

Yeah, ice then aloe. Works for me. I got a small but blistered burn from my large soldering iron a couple weeks ago. Only hurt until I could get the ice on it, then the aloe, it has healed fine.

The burn I got at 12 hurt for almost a day, I had to keep it iced the whole time. I still have the scar. Mom did not know about aloe then.

Tim

[shoot-n-lead]

That ice and aloe is a great immediate treatment for minor burns...prevents them being worse than they would be without it.

[tankgunner59]

I pour in the back yard on a big homemade table. I had a serious thought the last time out about just this kind of thing. So I went to HF and bought a full length leather apron and I use it to cover my legs at the table as well as the gloves. But I'm gonna check out the Ove' gloves.

[mold maker]

the Ove glove is great for hot objects but the open weave would be worse than nothing in cases of liquid lead.

[54bore]

I have 2 Ove gloves i bought for Casting, but i dont like them, they make my hands sweat. I wear a pair of leather welding gloves, they work way better for me, i dont use a sprue bat, i open the sprue with my gloved hand.

[Springfield]

Most of the molten lead pours off the "ove glove, the weave is very tight and thick. Been using them for years. My hands don't sweat with them, but when I dye leather I wear nitrile gloves, now those make my hands sweat like crazy.

[jmort]

To each his own, but why use anything other than the Ove Gloves???

[dragon813gt]

To each his own, but why use anything other than the Ove Gloves???

Because you can't throw them off quickly like you can welding gauntlets. Everyone is going to have their own personal preferences. I prefer the ability to shed the gloves quickly.

[NavyVet1959]

When the professional welders of large steel objects start using Ove Gloves, *then* I'll think about them.

[lightman]

I can't tell if I ever replied to this thread or not.
My attire when I'm smelting is blue jeans worn outside of work boots, a long sleeve heavy shirt (FR because I had some from work), long cuff leather gloves and safety glasses. I have a strict rule to never add lead to a pot with molten lead already in it. I smelt in my shop using a homemade propane burner that is more than strong enough to support the weight. I keep the doors open and run an exhaust fan that can change the air in the shop several times a minute.

When I cast I usually wear about the same clothing except sometimes without the gloves. I use a 4 or 6 oz plastic mallet for a sprue knocker. The table is more than capable of supporting the pot and any lead that is "on deck" and all cords are routed to the back of the table away from any traffic.

I usually keep an ice chest close by with some slushy ice and a clean towel, just because.

[NavyVet1959]

I usually keep an ice chest close by with some slushy ice and a clean towel, just because.

Because it's a good idea to keep ice cold beer on hand anyway. :)

[adam_mac84]

Been reading all the stickies I can find... Will put away my cotton work gloves and search the garage for the welding gloves!!

[Grmps]

Regular glasses aren't 100% safe. I dropped sprues in the pot as I turned to dump the mold and got lead splatter around the side of the glasses -- eyelid and around the eye = pain and fear. Need full top and side coverage to protect the eyes.
I now make sure I have 1/4 inch of kitty littler on top of the lead to prevent oxidation and lead splatter

[ulav8r]

My worst burn was sunburn on the insides of my ankles after a 3 day canoeing trip. Could not work for a week because I could not wear my boots.

Next worst was from slaking lime getting inside my 6 inch rubber boots. The lime fell out of a kiln as hard balls just a little larger than marbles. As it slakes, it turns to a soft powder that is Very hot. WhenI stepped on it, my foot sank below my boot top and filled it. Luckily, there was a water hose about 20 feet away. It was running a stream out of the 3/4 inch nozzle. I stuffed it in the top of my boot for several minutes. After about 3 days it was no longer too bad.

Had one close call with lead. I was molding wheel weights, had 4 pots with about 600 pounds each. The lead was injected under pressure and one of the molds had something in it so did not close completely. Got lead in my hair and on my shirt and jeans, luckily not a large amount. The jeans still had lead sticking to them 10 years later.

[54bore]

When the professional welders of large steel objects start using Ove Gloves, *then* I'll think about them.

I bought in to the Ove Glove deal, there is NO WAY i would wear them to cast in, i used them while re seasoning several old Cast iron skillets to try them out, my hands immediately started to sweat in them and they were uncomfortable to me, A good friend of mine works at an Aluminum mold outfit of some sort? He has worked there for many years, they make HUGE transformer type stuff from molten aluminum, The gloves they wear are REALLY nice, i have 2 pairs. They can actually reach right in flowing molten aluminum and grab foreign objects etc. if they end up having to do this, when they are done they walk over to a metal garbage can and shake the gloves off in the Garbage, go get a new pair of Gloves. He said you dont feel anything, BUT get them hot and catch a snowball, he said that will burn the Pi$$ out of ya from the steam!
Other than that, its hard to beat good ole welder gloves, i stil use them as well

[Lead pot]

I'm a retired plumber of 35 years. When I was working most of the joints and underground lead pipe water lines where connected with a poured puddle of lead with a asbestos rag in my bare hands and wiped the spigot and pipe a lot of times over a muddy water puddle I was standing in. Lead pots glowing in rains and leaky over head floors. The only time when a 30 pound lead pot got emptied was during a hail storm and I wore a lead overcoat trying to cover the pot with plywood when a hail stone fell in the pot. Rain or dripping water never a problem because the water drops never penetrated the hot lead. It turned to steam above the layer. I wore many lead overcoats during the 35 years mostly during the cold days when I got in a hurry adding cold ingots in the pot. When you feel the rumble you learn quick to spin around and turn your back before you rear the pop. I have no scars from hot lead. You have to use a little common sense working with lead. And by the way, My blood count for the lead tests is not elevated even working in dark confined crawl spaces with the lead pot and lead glowing in the dim light.

[54bore]

Lead pot, I wish i could have seen the way you plumbers did the joints with lead! The house i bought has a Basement, the Sewer pipe has these lead poured joints. Just before i bought this house a plumber came and re plumbed the entire house, got rid of all the old metal water pipe and put in brand new water lines, and the black asb? Drain pipes. He mentioned the old lead poured joints, he explained it as a lost art, he told me he had never done it before, but kinda knew how to by some of the old timers that had explained it to him. He left some of the big Cast iron looking pipe alone, he told me it was just as good today as it was when it was put together? I trust his word. He said the only time he had seen this particular pipe fail was outside buried in the ground. He told me there is stil miles and miles of it in use today?

[mold maker]

I inherited a set of the tools plumbers used to pour joints in cast iron pipe. I've seen it done, but have no personal experience.
It truly is a lost art.
Part of my (parents) home is over 77 years old and the old sewer lines all have lead joints.

[MK111]

Melting lead is dangerous. About 1987 I"m melting scrap lead in a propane 60 lb pot. Added more scrapes and the pot blow up and it was a total empty blow up. Luckly I had my wood turning full face shield on and only had melted lead on my clothes.
Only thing I can think of there was a live primer or loaded round in the scrap. After that I only added small checked hand fulls and never dumped in large amounts.

[mold maker]

A 9mm from the LEO range did the same thing for me. This was after I had run the dirty scrap in a cement mixer and inspected them on the driveway. I couldn't retreat fast enough and the molten lead stuck to my safety glasses and left distortions. Only 2 tiny burns to my arms, but the damage to my glasses would have been perminate on my eyes.
In a lifetime of casting that's the only time i've had a visit from the fairy, but once is too many.

[NavyVet1959]

The cast iron pot that I used to smelt in came with a lid. To minimize the chance of tinsel fairie attacks, I would hold the lid right in front of the pot with one hand and use the other hand to add the wheelweights around the side of the lid. If I had a steam explosion, that would probably result in the lead being directed mostly away from me. I'm more concerned if I'm putting wheelweights into a molten pool of lead though. If the pot already has a lot of clips in it, the new wheelweights will just sit on top of them and any water in them will turn to steam, but without lead above them, there will be no explosion. These days, I use a freon tank for smelting, but I built a lid / shield for it also.

[Josh Smith]

I'm not brave enough to have more than a pound or so melted at any one time. I have no need for it, and fear it.

I've had a couple smaller explosions -- just "pops" -- from sweat getting into the lead on a hot day. I almost had another the other day to one of those "total metal jacket"-type bullets getting in. It swelled up like a water balloon but I got it out before it could burst.

I wear safety glasses, a respirator, old winter coat, and leather gloves when I cast these days. I used to only do the safety glasses, but I have a family now and I'm interested in leaving all the lead in the shop. I don't have faith that my three-year-old girl's system will deal with lead oxide or salts nearly as well as mine. She's a daddy's girl, too, so I have layers of protection. When I come home she will always want me to hold her before I can shower. I do briefly, then go shower.

This is one reason I'm almost bald, too. I shave my head regularly because I don't want lead and other nasties accumulating as I generally have a very thick, dense head of hair when I grow it out. As well as I wash my hands, I can't get everything off, and I'd imagine hair is worse. Therefore, I'm taking the prophylactic approach.

All that safety equipment should keep me pretty safe from any lead explosions, though, from only a single pound.

Regards,

Josh

[Lead pot]

:coffeecom Reading these 9 pages it is obvious some of the people that posted have never cast a bullet and are better off just to keep buying factory loaded ammo.

[elkhuntfever]

Definitely can imagine the pain!!! As a young lad in high school shop class we had to make a punch and chisel on the forge. Pulled the stock out of the forge and laid it on the bench. The orange glow had disappeared (barely) and without thinking I reached bare handed and grabbed it. Another kid grabbed his red hot!!!! Yes, I know the pain.

[54bore]

Definitely can imagine the pain!!! As a young lad in high school shop class we had to make a punch and chisel on the forge. Pulled the stock out of the forge and laid it on the bench. The orange glow had disappeared (barely) and without thinking I reached bare handed and grabbed it. Another kid grabbed his red hot!!!! Yes, I know the pain.

My dad was telling me a story awhile back that i got a kick out of. A guy we knew was in a machine shop, heavy logging equipment stuff, somebody was welding, cutting torch, or something of that nature? Anyway the guy reached and grabbed a piece of SUPER HOT steel by accident, he IMMEDIATELY let go, somebody asked him 'What the heck were you thinking? He smiled and said 'I just wanted to take a quick look at it'

[mold maker]

Boss watched a coworker cut a 5/8" bolt with a grinder. When the piece hit the floor he immediately picked up the piece. I heard it sizzle as he dropped it. His explanation was he didn't want anyone to step on it.
He wasn't the boss for long.

[JWT]

First day of high school chemistry (1984?) the teacher passed around a Bunsen burner to make a point. There was a perfect hand print burned all the way around the barrel.

[OS1880]

Had the same thing happen to me as MK111. Luckily had safety glasses on. I had lead all over the place. Still some splatters on the ceiling. The worst part was the wife saw this happen. I haven't heard the end of it this happened a year ago.

[NavyVet1959]

I don't think I've never gotten a blister from casting boolits, but I've burned the heck out of my hands getting a pizza out of the oven, go figure.

I've had my share of blisters from arc welding after a glob burned through the shirt I was wearing and then burned a nice blister on my stomach. Always a case of "just need to do a quick weld, no need to put on the leather apron" sort of thing. :(

Ended up with probably the largest area burn that I've ever had tonight. It covered the top of my hand from just above my watch to the end of my fingers. I had cooked up a pot of BBQ sauce and it was literally *boiling* hot. It's pretty sweet, so the boiling point is probably a bit more than 212F. I was BBQing some chicken quarters this evening and was taking the brush and a small bowl of the BBQ sauce outside to coat them and cook the BBQ sauce on them for the last couple of minutes. I'm not sure what happened... I think I was trying to pick up a large stainless steel bowl to put the chicken in when I took it off the grill. All of a sudden, the BBQ sauce splashed over the side onto the entire top of my hand. I tossed the small bowl into a large bowl, yelled a few choice words, and ran towards the kitchen sink while yelling at my wife who was there, "ICE !!! NOW !!!". So, what does she do? Does she immediately grab a handful of ice from the freezer and give it to me? Oh nooooo... She instead gets a bowl and slowly proceeds to fill the bowl with ice to give to me! Aaauuugggghhhh!!! Time is of the essence in these matters, taking the time to fill up a bowl is STUPID! Even just a couple of cubes immediately and then while I'm using them getting some more would make a LOT more sense. So far, a cherry red hand... :(

[rmark]

yum, BBQ.

[Grmps]

I'm just over the silver silvadene stage. I wear lightweight welding gloves with gauntlets when casting.
I had finished casting, turned the pot off and removed my gloves. I saw a couple pieces of lead under the pot so I reached under it to remove them. A drip of lead landed on the back of my hand and I jerkered back wedging the 750-775° spout between two knuckles instantly removing meat on the two adjacent fingers/knuckles. I cooled it in tap water then started the silver silvadene treatment twice a day :). I wedged and taped a piece of cotton between the base of my fingers to keep them from rubbing. You don't know how often you get both hands wet until you can't.

[D Crockett]

I get drops of lead splashed no me from time to time I go get some allow plant and put on it as fast as I can I do not get a blister or any thing from it D Crockett

[Uncle Grinch]

Yep, lead burns are bad stuff. I managed to splash a ladle full on the inside of my left ankle. It’s been a few years, but I have a nasty red purple scar to remind me.

[Earlwb]

Many years ago I was casting lead to use in a model RC sailboat for its keel weight. It was in the summer when it was quite hot too. I had just poured the lead into the mold and a drop of sweat fell off of me into the lead pot. There was a mini-explosion of lead out of the pot and a small glob landed on the inside of my forearm near the elbow. That little glob took the skin right off down to the thin fat layer underneath instantly. Anyway it did hurt like all heck. It left a scar there for many years. But it has pretty much disappeared now. I was not super concerned with bullet casting before that incident but afterwards I was always more paranoid about being safe around the hot lead pot, etc.

[arlon]

If anyone gets burned by lead, get the burn under cold water FAST and keep pouring cold water on it for at least 1/2 hour. You might not even get a blister, only a scar.

Good advice for any burns. I actually keep a glass of ice water handy when I have the pot on.

[Ural Driver]

Gotta say, as a new caster I really appreciate this kinda info. Using welders and torches has shown me the perils of working with hot metals. I began my lead smelting with leather welders gloves but learned (quickly) that those get way too hot and hold that heat for way too long to be useful (to me) and are just plain cumbersome when handling small items. I had a pair of the "ove-glove" style which worked much better......right up until I wore holes in the fingertips sorting thru buckets of scrap lead......yeah-yeah-yeah, lesson learned......change gloves to suit the task at hand.....dummy.
I just received three more pair of the ove-glove style along with a pair of kiln rated gauntlets.....just in case.

Here is a link to the ove-glove style I mention:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZJBFMTG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


And I will thank all of you that continue to teach me how to do this sport in a safe manner.

[super6]

Boots, lee blue jeans, And some Chinese leather gloves. YMMV. You have to be able to shake those gloves off. LOL.I kept 2 pairs handy.

[DukeConnors]

I use TIG gloves. Not too thick but plenty of protection.

[Conditor22]

I use these with the long cuffs

https://www.amazon.com/IRONCAT-Premium-Kidskin-Leather-Welding/dp/B015W88U4C

[Trailboss]

How many layers of skin does molten lead burn off ? Answer, All of them. I don’t know this because it’s happened to me. But knowing what’s likely to happen is enough to scare me into being very carefull

[a.squibload]

Re: Ove Gloves, what's wrong with this pic? :roll:

285408

[Mr_Sheesh]

Nothing at all, provided your right hand and your kidlets' are artificial.