Lead Pouring - A concern for safety!

Not to sure about breaking in molds,never had that problem ,definatly starting off with a warm to hot mold makes a big difference on appearence,you will through time find that the molds will break down and warp with excesive use ,as far as impurities ie tin ,zinc,babit,they will be next to impossible to remove with a simple melt and re-melt again process,when i run into this type of lead i use it for other things , Yeah Mike if you have to use tire weights i would use it as terminal tackle ie hali weights,they just don't seem to fish well as bigger weights for salmon ,but that won't be a problem for you ,still haven't seen you use those riggers yet,as for wire thats where i get supersitous,i use copper brass ,gives out positive currents ,if you ever look at commercial troller lead almost 90% use and have used the copper brass eyes,as you know some of the best fisherman make a point of looking after there balls!!
 
After your done melting wash your hands, dont smoke or eat with out a washing your hands! Also have a shower, its the dust that will get you in the end not the melting process.

Heat on your pot, dont get it as hot as you can.... if you use to much heat you can boil lead... to much heat will cause the lead to smoke, not good

Anyone using dirty lead, flux to pot. Drop in a small amount of bees wax, stir the pot and then remove the crap off the top. Be careful fluxing, dont stand with your head over the pot as it may burst into flames... dont know why you would have your head over the pot to start out with anyways!
 
gilwell said:
After your done melting wash your hands, dont smoke or eat with out a washing your hands! Also have a shower, its the dust that will get you in the end not the melting process.
Click to expand...

Never even considered this fact...

so if tire lead is not a favorite, where do you hobbyists go for lead? scrap yard? Old parts of your house deconstruction?
If you do get it from the scrapper, what is a typical rate per pound?

Working with metal and getting burnt go hand in hand. But as explained here it is all avoidable. Its generally carelessness or being too comfortable with the equipment when accidents happen. A dedicated work station (not cluttered by other tools and crap in the garage) is a must. I have made a few pours just to test new molds and whatnot, and I am happy that no accidents happened, because I will be honest, It was somewhat careless and on the spot. Something I now regret and happy nothing happened.

kick myself for it, but lessons learned (the best teachers are our own mistakes!). Top notch info all around!
 
Gilwell not trying to to slag you but there 's no dust when melting lead iv'e been doing this on a commercial scale for a long time,its 100% the fumes ,vapours as well as handling especially new lead ,I ntotally agree washing up is very important and showering and washing your hair, residu is trapped in your hair folicales ,i have blood work done every 6 months as well as hair folical sample to make sure.I have talkled with many people in the industry on what stage of the process is lead at its deadliest other then eating it or drinking ,and its again 100% the cooling stage of lead when you have the finished product and thats where people tend to take off there mask if there even wearing one ,bad mistake.There is no need to flux your pot when melting lead just another dangerous step that can be avoided,
 
Opti, You say the most hazardous part is when the lead is cooling? Is this the time in between pouring and when the lead achieves room temperature again?? If that is the case I would consider putting the finished cast parts in a completely separate area. My volume of production is not that high so to walk away for a few seconds each pour is worth it in my opinion.

Obviously trying to limit my exposure as much as possible..though I'm not ready to shave my head just yet.. lol
 
Now completely convinced that making my own cannon balls aint worth the time. effort, or risk!!!!
 
.Thats why i mentioned this, lots of people think the dangerous part is when working over the pot and indeed it is but the process continues to be dangerous until its at room temp and then handling becomes the next factor.Obvious this is more at risk to people who are doing more then one pour a year,but just wanted people to aware of the risks
 
and the risks they should be aware!

Really great insight on this topic Optimist. To have the chance to go over this with a professional is a blessing.
Thanks very much!

Happy, and SAFE casting!
 
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