Outside casting temp, What is too cold?

[Leadmelter]

Group
It is starting to look like the cool weather is upon us in the Great Mitten. I have casted some out in my garage but I am thinking when the weather turns bad (30-40F) that it might be too cold to cast because of condensation. Or am I crazy?
Thanks for your input

Gerry
MI

[XWrench3]

basicly, as cold as you can take it. i was out in the garage last winter at +5 degrees making bullets. in long underware and a snowmobile suit as well. mind you, i wanted to shoot pretty bad, and when i had what i needed, i shut things down and came back inside where it was warm!

[fecmech]

I usually cast in the garage (unheated) all winter long in the Buffalo NY area. Garage inside temp usually runs between 20F-30F and there are no problems. I have a propane radiant heater that I aim towards my body to take the chill off but that's about it.

[Jack Stanley]

Weather turns bad at thirty degrees ?!? I thought you said you were in Michigan .... Those guys cast outside in january and YOU say ya got a garage !!! You could wimp out like I did at my last house and close off a corner of the garage for a casting room ( complete with exhaust vent ) and add some heat . Or , you could just do what I did for this house close off a room in the basement , add exhaust vent and hood along with heat vent in plus electric backup .

It's hard on a fella to sit at the casting bench listening to the radio in a climate controlled environment dontcha know [smilie=s:


Hey Xwrench !! I LIKE your tag line !! :bigsmyl2:

Jack

[nascarkent]

Gerry Where you at in MI. I'm in Westland What cal. do you cast for?
I cast pistol only 380, 9mm, 38/357,45acp and 45 colt. Maybe we can trade some boolits. Kent

[XWrench3]

thanx Jack. a buddy of mine and i worked on that one morning about a month or so ago. most of it just poped out of my mouth pretty close to what it says. took us about a half hour back and fourth to finish it. he lives in idaho! personally, i am up for voting ALMOST every single polatician that is in office now, out. throw them out to the street like last weeks stinky trash. except, most peoples trash would have more real world value that most polaticians.

p.s. i can not tell from the picture. what rifle is that in the window under your name?

[gwilliams2]

Too cold??? I don't understand...

[MT Gianni]

-17 F is as cold as I have cast and the sprue cools fast. i did get good fill out.

[randyrat]

Your OK Gerry, just put the pack boots on, get closer to the hot lead and stand on 2 sheets of cardboard. Your good until about -10 F Then the knees feel it and your mustache will get full of frozen moisture, kinda like frozen boogers. At -20-30F give it up. Then it's too cold to keep the lead hot.
Mt Gianni...... Montana! = they should have called that the "show me state" colder then a witches breath in winter and hotter than hell in the summer.

[mooman76]

I would think the wind would be a bigger factor. There are of corse alot of other factors at play here like the amount of heat your pot puts out and such.

[RP]

i hate the cold i cast year round but before i dress up to case i just find something else to do like get to know my wife again, odds are i have not seen her much during the summer or deer season lol

[lwknight]

Moving air is trouble for bottom pour pots. It makes you keep the melt at a higher than optimal temperature to prevent spout freeze up.
Cold don't seen to bother the process as much as it does the caster.

I'm a wimp about cold anyway . I have a nice insulated room with a heater and air circulation to keep even the floor at a nice 76 degrees.

[casterofboolits]

My casting temperture range is between 40 and 80 degrees. I always keep enough boolits on hand to cover the extremes. Several thousand of 45 ACP, 40 S&W, 38 Super and 9mm sized, lubed and ready to load.

I prefer to load in lots of 1,000.:Fire::Fire:[smilie=s:

[Bret4207]

I've cast at well below zero, like -25, not for a long time though. I cast bare handed, can't manipulate stuff with gloves on, sorry. So when my hands and feet get cold I call it a day.

[BABore]

I cast year round in the "mitten". Garage door wide open. I sure appreciate the btu's of my turkey fryer burner when it's zero out. You just have to be careful of the moustach icicles falling in the pot.:groner:

[qajaq59]

Cold? Here in Florida it is just beginning to get cool enough so I can cast. And I'll cast enough over the winter to last thru next summer when it's in the mid 90s.

[Mavrick]

Here I was about to break my arm patting myself on the back, because when I was in Alaska, I cast as low as 0 degrees. The summer was too short, so I had to work with load as much as I could. That's also why the days are so long, to make up for the short test time. The rest of the time is spent hunting, lol.
I knew it was colder in the UP, Cut Bank, Montana, and Buffaloe, NY, but I hadn't thought of casting there.
I'm just a wuss.
Have fun,
Gene

[klutz347]

To cold? I never knew there was such a thing.

Last winter I was out casting in the garage after work, 10º or so was the normal temp.

[AZ-Stew]

You will NOT get condensation on your tools while casting! Have you ever seen condensation on the sides of a hot cup of coffee? Same principle applies. Hot objects drive away the moisture in the air. In addition, cold air will not hold as much humidity as warm air.

Now think about a glass of iced tea on a warm, humid summer day. Condensation collects on it immediately. When the vibrating (from heat) water molecules in the air contact the cold surface of the glass, they lose energy, giving it up as heat to warm the glass. At that point they stick to the glass. As more and more of the molecules collect you begin to see them, and they eventually form droplets.

Since the hot cup of coffee has more heat energy than the moisture in the cold air, it gives up its heat to that moisture by increasing the activity of the molecules, thereby causing them to vibrate more and driving them away. Hence, no condensation on the cup.

Same obviously goes for your casting equipment. Now, if you let your moulds sit in the cold garage until they're in the ice cube temperature range, then bring them into your warm, humid house, yes, you WILL get condensation on them. Keep them in a zip-lock bag until they reach room temp, or oil them up really well before bringing them inside.

Regards,

Stew

[Shiloh]

If it get below 25, the garage floor is cold to stand on. This is a personal thing that doesn't efffect the boolits. I cover th pot with a piece of 16 ga sheet metal to keep the heat in. The cover has a hole for the thermometer.

I have cast at 10 degrees with this method and get good boolits. I do have to keep the ice off the cooling pad and from the water bucket though.

Shiloh

[sqlbullet]

The colder it is, the faster I can cast.

[mpmarty]

I cast outside in a carport open on both ends. It never gets too cold here about -2 F is the coldest I've ever seen it. Usually in the twenties or thirties in winter. I sit in a chair with a big blanket over my lap and cast away like I had good sense.

[rintinglen]

Dang, fellas, You guys must be immune to cold or something. Barehand? 20 degrees? When I left Michigan I put my snow shovel on my shoulder and headed south until somebody said, "What's That?" The coldest I've ever cast in was maybe 45 degrees. I'm crazy, but in moderation.

[FAsmus]

Gentelmen;

I'm with the fellows who cast at below-zero temperatures. The coldest I've worked in was -20 degrees. There were no problems except my feet got pretty cold in my un-heated casting shed.

One thing you have to watch if casting with a turkey-cooker or some such open-flame heat source is that if you feed the pot with ingots they will inevitably pass through the hot vapor from the flames on the way to the pot. The cold metal will instantly collect water vapor from the fire upon their surface. ~ If you do not then pre-heat the ingot before dropping it into the hot alloy it will most definitely scare you to death as this thin layer of water explodes into steam! ~ If, indeed, it does not blow the whole pot all over you and your casting area!

Good evening,
Forrest

[AZ-Stew]

One thing you have to watch if casting with a turkey-cooker or some such open-flame heat source is that if you feed the pot with ingots they will inevitably pass through the hot vapor from the flames on the way to the pot. The cold metal will instantly collect water vapor from the fire upon their surface. ~ If you do not then pre-heat the ingot before dropping it into the hot alloy it will most definitely scare you to death as this thin layer of water explodes into steam! ~ If, indeed, it does not blow the whole pot all over you and your casting area!
Good evening,
Forrest

Agreed. This is the exception to what I said. I wasn't talking about open flame heating.

Regards,

Stew

[dragonrider]

Can't answer that question, I cast in my heated (coal stove) and a/c'd garage.

[Three44s]

When my teeth are chattering!


....... it's time to bag it!!!



Three 44s

[Freischütz]

I've done some casting in the -20° F to -40° F range. As noted in previous posts, keeping yourself warm is a bigger issue than equipment problems.

Your electric melting pot just works harder to keep the metal up to temperature. Your may have to cast a little faster, but with Bullplate you're already casting faster than you ever thought you could.

Keeping your body warm isn't too hard either. The only problems are the hands and feet. Hands are easy - just hold them over the melting pot when they get cold. Feet, on the other hand, eventually get cold. I've never tried the big white bunny boots, but the cold from a concrete garage floor does go through a pair of Sorels. For me that's the signal that it's time to quit.

[grubbylabs]

I was wondering the same thing as I am just getting into casting, but my garage is heated, well I have a wood stove in it any way and I can get it fairly warm considering all the ventilation it has. There are several places where a rat could come through on a dead run without ducking.

[Marlin Junky]

Mt Gianni...... Montana! = they should have called that the "show me state" colder then a witches breath in winter and hotter than hell in the summer.

Naaa, that's Texas.

MJ

[heebs]

I've got a Magma master caster. The colder the better. Best production is at -20 to -30 below. Like Frieschutz says, when you can't feel your feet, its time to quit. I try not to cast above 30 degrees cause it slows you down. And you can't rust your molds when there is no humidity! LOL I've been told by friends that I'm nuts, but when its cold, it's time to go to the garage and make bullets. If you dress right, you can cast for a couple hours no problem.

Heebs

[bigted]

thanks for this post fella's. i live up here in fairbanks and the only place i have to cast is a log generator house that is 8 x 16 feet no heat or windows so ill have the door open to vent. it gets kinda chilly here so this was also a question i had as well.

[wallenba]

I'm in Michigan. Don't like to cast in the cold but sometimes do. I'm in hurry up mode at the moment, stockpiling. If I run out I order a few from Missouri Bullets. Don't like their lube, so I put them on paper towel in the toaster oven and melt it off. Any leftovers come spring get recast.

[XWrench3]

i've never tried the big white bunny boots, but the cold from a concrete garage floor does go through a pair of sorels. For me that's the signal that it's time to quit.

try a peice of styrofoam insulation under your pac boots. It helps with keeping the cold from transferring up through the boots to the bottom of your feet. I think that the foil faced stuff works a little better, but anything you can do to keep your toes warm is a good thing!