TAM does bullet-casting...

[USA1]

Do those shorts make me look fat?

No. They're quite attractive....You know, in a manly sorta way.

Maybe I should get some Jorts?

Yikes! I'm confused.

[Rex B]

Maybe I should get some Jorts?

Oh My!

[kragluver]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you really need to practice safer bullet casting practices:

1. Wear eye protection - preferably a face shield.
2. Wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt.
3. Wear gloves (as you stated).
4. Never sit while casting. Standing, you have a much better chance jumping out of the way should a spill or spatter occur.
5. Don't cast on a porous table-top - the main issue here is make sure your lead pot is very stable and not liable to tip. If that table in the phot has glass on it, I'd be concerned about the glass shattering should molten lead spill on it.

Many people think the biggest risk from bullet casting is lead fumes - this is incorrect although you do need to practice safe lead handling (no smoking, eating or drinking while casting, wash hands, etc.). The biggest risk is severe burn.

[WildBill]

TAM - I always had better success using a ladle rather that the bottom spigot. If course it's hard to find a left-handed ladle. Another hint - Put the mold on the top of the pot while you are heating up the lead. It will pre-heat the mold so the cavities will fill completely.

[USA1]

hard to find a left-handed ladle.

[WildBill]

Many people think the biggest risk from bullet casting is lead fumes - this is incorrect although you do need to practice safe lead handling (no smoking, eating or drinking while casting, wash hands, etc.). The biggest risk is severe burn.

Another hint - make sure that all of your lead is completely dry. Adding any materials containing water to the molten lead will cause an explosion of molten lead. Don't ask me how I know this.

[The Annoyed Man]

The lead was dry, and I agree about the gloves. I didn't realize until I got about 1/2 a mile from Andy's house that I had forgotten my gloves at home. Next time I won't. Goggles... well, I was wearing glasses. Didn't think I needed goggles. As far as fumes, we had a fan going, blowing the fumes away from us, and we were working in a garage with the big garage door open, so ventilation was pretty good.
There was no glass on that table top, but the setup was pretty stable.

I suppose I could have burned my legs, but I didn't. Thank goodness.

[kragluver]

Lead fumes are really not the issue unless you run your pot over 1100 deg F or so (which you shouldn't be doing anyway). If you're using scrap wheel weights which I like to use, the stuff that's on the weights from the road (tire rubber, road kill, various chemicals and who knows what else) will create fumes as they burn off as the lead melts. Those are probably not all that healthy. Some folks cast indoors - I prefer to work in the garage myself. I stand back from the pot as the lead melts just in case their is something that might create a lead explosion. I've heard of a couple of cases of a live primer from the reloading bench falling down into the lead supply - then when you go to melt it - bang! Lead splatter everywhere. I've read of that happening more than once. I keep my lead supply in a 5-gal bucket in the garage well away from my reloading room.

When lead does spatter on you, it cools very quickly and fortunately doesn't "cling" to you too badly; you can brush it off (ask me how I know). I've never had a major spill - that could cause a nasty burn.

[jimlongley]

Many people think the biggest risk from bullet casting is lead fumes - this is incorrect although you do need to practice safe lead handling (no smoking, eating or drinking while casting, wash hands, etc.). The biggest risk is severe burn.

Another hint - make sure that all of your lead is completely dry. Adding any materials containing water to the molten lead will cause an explosion of molten lead. Don't ask me how I know this.

A very close friend of mine and I were casting up a batch a long time ago, and he added a couple of wheel weights. At least one was not completely dry, and the explosion shot a drop of lead right behind his watch band. The resulting burn was very ugly, right over his carpal tunnel area on his right wrist and the lead "welded" itself right to the tissue. It was the first time the doctor ever had to remove lead from someone that had been hit by a bullet not yet fired from a gun.