Accident while casting today. I'm very fortunate.

[waksupi]

thanks for posting what you did. we can tell you are a very mature person when you can tell us your mistakes. one thing about it, it most likely will be your last mistake. i poured hot lead into my shoe once years ago when i turned around to see what the noise was, that was a quick trip to the ER. never ever will do that again. when my friend built his blacksmith shop i must of told him at least 10 times, dont weld with your welder when you have a car battery in the shop. get that thing out of their. he didnt and of course it blew up like a bomb and he didnt get hurt, made him a believer. also never ever turn on oxygen gauges standing in front of them. they can also blow like a bomb. many many years ago a young lady did that on a job i was on and it killed her instantly. always stand to the side, never ever in front of the glass covered gauge.

I've seen a tank gauge blow. In that case, the person failed to release pressure on the gauges at shut down, and the sudden jump in pressure when the tank was turned back on caused the blow out.

For those who may not know.

When ever a torch is used, shut down the tanks, turn on the gas flow through the hoses to drop pressure to zero. Close valve flow, then turn the gauge settings back down to zero, so the handle will move freely with no resistance. This will prevent 99.9% of all gauge blow outs.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

There was a thread here a short time ago about guys not wearing gloves, or only one, when casting. I stayed out of it. But it made me wonder about their lack of respect for what lead can do.

There are two ways of seeing this one. I must admit I don't wear gloves, because if they are thick enough to be protective, they increase the risk of fumbling something. There isn't much point in reducing what lead can do, if you increase the chances of doing it somewhere else.

The only time I ever had a serious burn was with the hot pitch I was using to repair my porch roof. It took quite a bit of time to get up (and unfortunately down) down the ladder. So now I keep a big can of cold water at arm's length when I cast. Instant immersion would have made a great difference with the pitch, and with lead too I believe.

Incidentally the pitch hurt like fury while it formed a hard coating, constricting the blisters. I spent an unpleasant night running cold water for it (not lessening the damage by that time, but dulling my sensitivity), and picking off bits of pitch and skin. But once the blisters were freed up it never hurt again, not in the slightest. I was able to drive myself to the casualty department in the morning, and even the nurses in the casualty department weren't aware that it could be painless, and thought I was being tremendously brave. They taped me up in a plastic glove with Flamazine ointment, and it looked like a corpse similarly matured when that was removed in three weeks, but healed faster and better than I could ever have imagined possible. If the worst comes to the worst, they can do far better for you now than they could not many decades ago.

[Shingle]

I feel your pain brother, I have been casting for 20 years and this year I was recycling some 9mm and had a live round somehow got in the bullets. I seen it as it hit the lead,I got to turn partially when detonation occurred. WOW lead hit shed ceiling and casing went through it.I felt real smart about then.

[farmerjim]

that's why I make steel lids for my pots.
it leaves just enough room to slide small things in [sprues] and provides a place to pre-warm things like ingots and molds.
it also keeps the mess down if you forget.
you only have to burn the top of your head once...

I like this Idea. I preheat all my ingots in a pot on a hotplate before they go into the melt. I had one pop and throw some lead on my arm. I know that ingot was hot, but something on it called the tinsel fairy to visit.

[Arkansas Paul]

But this accident is a puzzling one. If it had been due to a trickle of moisture from the plastic container, it would have been on top of the lead, and while it might have hurled a little molten lead and some slightly heated bullets in the air, I don't think there would have been as much as the OP's brother saw. If the bullets had already been lubed, it might have been caused by lube on those forced well under by the weight of the others Boiling them in water first should have prevented that.

I assumed that moisture had gotten in but it could be the lube that caused it.
I didn't think it was a big deal and that it would just melt and I would skim it off the top.
They were lubed with liquid Lee Alox.

[Baja_Traveler]

Appropriate time of year for a visit from the tinsel fairie. Been there once, don't intend to repeat the experience...


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[Scorpius]

Appropriate time of year for a visit from the tinsel fairie. Been there once, don't intend to repeat the experience...


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First time casting was about September this year. Was wearing glasses, long welders gloves, long shirt and pants. Working from my bench I didn't figure I'd have concern with shoes. So had my flip flops on.
Went to throw in some wax and figured if a pea size is good why not a nice chuck about the size of 2-3 quarters. It started smoking in my shop pretty bad (windows open, fan going blowing across pot and towards window and outside doors ajar a bit. )
So I started to stir it with my spoon and going to see if any trash needed to be pulled out. At that moment it lit up and for whatever reason it started me. A nice spoonful of lead up in the air, across my shirt, pants and ouch. My foot. Boy I hopped around then.
Ruined shirt, pants and well....wish I'd had shoes on and I would have been ok.
Hurt like heck, but I cast about 400 bullets before heading in to bandage, the damage was done. Hindsight I shoulda ended my casting session right there, but I was determined. Nice bullets too.
Here's what both good and bad lead look like




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[Oyeboten]

I found out also, best to 'bake' whatever Lead 'Range' Dug Bullets or other odd scraps that will be going in to the Pot. I just have such items heating a while, right next to the Melting Heat to bake out any moisture before they go in. Old Tuna Can or Cat Food Can or something sitting there for them to be in while they bake a while.

[Beagle333]

I stand by my statement. You can make humor of it if you want, it does sound a bit funny, but wear glasses. Almost any amount of meat or skin can heal or be repaired or even be relocated... (yes, even your coveted parts) ... but not the eyes. To the OP, thanks for the reminder to be careful EVERY time.


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[Grmps]

Glad your alright.

I wear fairly large glasses just to see and found they are not 100% protective , some how I had a splatter of lead get around the side and burn the eyelid. Now I don't look away from the pot when I drop sprues.

"There are two ways of seeing this one. I must admit I don't wear gloves, because if they are thick enough to be protective, they increase the risk of fumbling something. There isn't much point in reducing what lead can do, if you increase the chances of doing it somewhere else. "

Premium Top Grain Kidskin Leather TIG Welding Gloves are soft, give you good sensitivity , have long cuffs and unless you stick your hand in the lead for some time offer good protection. When the mold get warm enough I open the sprue by hand these thin gloves work plenty well for that

[Tom W.]

Glad to hear that you're. O.k. I've put in some cold ingots into some molten lead and got some interesting boiling, but the tinsle fairy has stayed outside. My ingots are inside and dry, at least to my knowledge, but I'll still warm them up first before refilling the pot. As for casting in flip flops I've never been that brave.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Premium Top Grain Kidskin Leather TIG Welding Gloves are soft, give you good sensitivity , have long cuffs and unless you stick your hand in the lead for some time offer good protection. When the mold get warm enough I open the sprue by hand these thin gloves work plenty well for that

Those sound good, but industrial Kevlar gloves also offer a pretty good combination of heat protection, feel and secure grip.

[SciFiJim]

For those who may not know.

When ever a torch is used, shut down the tanks, turn on the gas flow through the hoses to drop pressure to zero. Close valve flow, then turn the gauge settings back down to zero, so the handle will move freely with no resistance. This will prevent 99.9% of all gauge blow outs.

Thanks for posting this. I didn't know. I worked around welders when I was a teenager, but didn't learn much more than how to clamp things together for welding.

[RogerDat]

The cooler temps mean items can form condensation from the temperature change of cold ingot or tools such as ladles or molds from the heat of the pot or poured lead.

Always good for everyone to get a reminder. Easy to make a mistake in a split second. I find face shield works for me, protects the eyes and my face is ugly enough without splatter scars. Same with gloves, may not prevent every hurt but can reduce the harm. I'll take it. Have had PPE that took the hit for me and it left an impression. My face shield has some little spots of lead on it so already done it's job a few times.

Had a forklift drop a manhole cover on my steel toe boot. Plant manager took a look at what happened to the boot and did not happen to my foot and on the spot started a policy of reimbursing employees for a pair of steel toe boots once a year. There where at least a couple of people after the policy who had boots that took some hits that would have cost them some toes.

[Bob in Revelstoke]

Years ago I used to use Marvelux for fluxing. I had just started a melt and used a spoon to mix it into the pot when I was called away for some reason or other. I shut the pot down and it waswn't until the next day that I could resume. When the pot had melted and was liquid enough I pcked up the spoom to give it a strir not noticing there was still some Marvelux sticking to it. Fortunately the bowl was pointing away from me and as soon as it was immersed it vomited out a stream of molten lead. (That is the only way I can describe it) Marvelux is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture from the air. It is also very corrosive and will ruin the inside of a pot. I no longer use it.
One other time it was a lead boolit with a gas check. Apparently moisture had got behind the gas check and when added to a nearly empty pot exploded.
Live and learn and always wear safety gear.

[Col4570]

A friend at the Rifle Club Was cutting Lead Water Pipe with an Axe.This flattened the Pipe as he progressed when he dropped a section into his Melter all hell broke loose and he was splattered around his Face and Chest.He was lucky in the fact that he wears Glasses normally.Apparently he keeps his store of Lead outside and it is obvious that water was resting in the Pipe and when he cut the pipe he squashed each end making an effective water container.A very experienced Bloke but that time he messed up.

[robg]

After ,funny it's always after, I had a visit in a small way from the fairy ,now wear a denim jkt ,gloves, leather apron,glasses and a face mask that filters through charcoal. Sure is exciting when a pot pops and hisses now and then.

[Arkansas Paul]

A friend at the Rifle Club Was cutting Lead Water Pipe with an Axe.This flattened the Pipe as he progressed when he dropped a section into his Melter all hell broke loose and he was splattered around his Face and Chest.He was lucky in the fact that he wears Glasses normally.Apparently he keeps his store of Lead outside and it is obvious that water was resting in the Pipe and when he cut the pipe he squashed each end making an effective water container.A very experienced Bloke but that time he messed up.

I have actually done that before with lead pipe.
I had stored them outdoors and had the presence of mind to put them in a cold pot and heat up from the beginning. When I melted a pot down, I would turn off the flame and wait a while, then fill it back up and turn the fire back on.

Took longer, but I knew those cavities may be holding moisture.

Good thing your buddy was wearing glasses. I bet he was doing some hurting though.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

A friend at the Rifle Club Was cutting Lead Water Pipe with an Axe.This flattened the Pipe as he progressed when he dropped a section into his Melter all hell broke loose and he was splattered around his Face and Chest.He was lucky in the fact that he wears Glasses normally.Apparently he keeps his store of Lead outside and it is obvious that water was resting in the Pipe and when he cut the pipe he squashed each end making an effective water container.A very experienced Bloke but that time he messed up.

That sounds like the most likely way it happened, but I wouldn't entirely dismiss the possibility that trapped air might do it, and as it wouldn't happen with moderate heat, slowly warming the lead mightn't eliminate the possibility. The only remedy is to avoid trapping anything.

Wartime bullet lead commonly came from deteriorated vehicle batteries, a practice definitely not for the amateur, as pockets of moisture which is also acidic can be trapped. I'd guess they had protected and remote operated furnaces in which they could just let it all happen. Anything lighter than lead could be washed away when it cooled. There would be no harm in staying a few yards off till your scrap is all melted.