A myth about water and molten lead
On the 'why not quench' topic, someone said that having a quenching bucket near your casting pot is a bad idea as water splashes and if it gets in the pot, will lead to a visit from the tinsel fairy.
Now, before this board existed and I was young and impatient, and notably when I was still casting over a coleman stove, when done I would pour a few cups of water ON TOP OF THE MOLTEN LEAD to quickly cool it so I wouldn't have to worry about the cat (outdoor/indoor type) burning itself. I did this hundreds of times. And while the water flashed to steam and you had to watch you didn't get burned, if you poured it in gently,there was no issue.
You get a visit from the tinsel fairy if water gets UNDER the surface of the molten lead- which would happen for instance if you took a wet reject bullet out of your quench bucket and dropped it in the molten lead.
Now, having moved on to electric melters and not wanting to damage them, plus being a bit more cautious and leery in my (somewhat) older age, I no longer pour water on molten lead. Nor am I saying to go out and try it.
However, I don't worry in the least about splashes from the quench bucket. Just passing this along for those who didn't know it.
Murphy Could Come Calling One Day
Quote:
Originally Posted by
prs
sundog?
What happens? I do that all the time. That is how I top-up my pots. Even in the winter when the ingots are really cold. All mine do is just sort of sink in and melt. I do make sure they are dry, fer sher! I use some old lubed boolits for fluxing and they sometimes sizzle a bit with moisture, but no Tinsel Ferry has come to visit me yet.
prs
Cold metal objects are often moist due to condensation of moisture in the air. If they are introduced into the melt such that the moisture gets beneath the surface of the melt prior to evaporation, you've got trouble.
For years I worked in an aluminum reduction plant working with a lot of molten material. During the winter months we had to be very cautious and warm our iron tools on the surface before disturbing any molten material or very very bad things happened.
When the molten stuff hits the fan, you want to be wearing Denim or some other heavy cotton clothing. Synthetics will really make a bad scenario worse when hit by molten material.