Bullet casting - dangerous inside?

[Third_Rail]

I'm looking into getting into bullet casting on a small-scale with an electronic melting pot and "pure" lead ingots for making roundballs. Now, aside from the mold, the melting pot, the lead, and a ladle, what else do I need/need to know?

I was thinking that perhaps doing this in my basement on the workbench could be dangerous due to fumes?

Thanks in advance.

 

[stans]

I think good ventilation would be very important to good health and a long life.

 

[c_yeager]

If your married or have a girlfriend in the house you wont be doing it in the basement for long. The smell is pretty intesnse.

 

[Third_Rail]

Smell doesn't bug me, death would. Is it safe or is it dangerous to do?

If it's safe but awful smelling, I can deal with it. If it's dangerous, I'm going to have to do it on the back deck, outside.

 

[Powderman]

I cast bullets inside.....

with the pot right next to two fans.

One fan is placed next to an open window, and the pot is about one foot from that. The next fan is behind the pot, blowing toward the first.

In other words, the fumes from the pot are blown toward the other fan, which are then sucked out of the open window.

Do not cast inside unless good ventilation is available. Also, do not let the melt go above 1100 degrees. Lead presents a vapor hazard then.

 

[Third_Rail]

Alright, looks like I'll be doing my casting outside.

So, to make roundballs, all I need is the lead, the melting pot, a ladle, and the mold, correct?

No lubes or anything needed to cast?

 

[Powderman]

You also might want to invest in some Marvelux, a casting flux used to clean out the melt. This stuff is readily available from Brownell's.

Also, I use a coffee can, with a cloth stretched over the top, secured with rubber bands with a slit cut in the middle. Fill the coffee can 2/3rds with water.

Drop the cast balls on the cloth, through the slit. The water will immediately quench them. When you are finished, pour out the can and let them dry, and you'll be ready.

 

[Ala Dan]

If casting inside is a must, then a respirator type
mask is a top priority!

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[Sisco]

If you're going to do it outside, pick a location where there's no chance of moisture getting into the molten lead.
Something like the lawn sprinklers coming on could prove disastrous.

 

[Edward429451]

I cast outside and still wear long sleeves and gloves to help stop molten fuming lead from being absorbed through the skin.

I tied onto the gas meter with some fittings, gascock and a tee and use a piece of that corrugated stainless steel flexible gasline to go the burner of an old furnace in the driveway. Every time they come read the meter, they call in supervisors and powwow in my driveway discussing my so called 'meter tampering' until one of them realizes that I have approved fittings and tied on to the pay side of the meter...Kinda funny.

 

[Grump]

For inside casting, I would use the same standard as for indoor shooting ranges: 30 cubic feet per minute of positive ventilation. I would have it come in behind me and at shoulder level, and exhaust behind the pot and up in the corner of the ceiling.

Physics and science can be our friends.

 

[Paul "Fitz" Jones]

Bulletcasting Simplified

I have taught bulletcasting was the Sales Rep and Distributor for the founding Saeco company in California and sold many thousands of molds and a thousand lead hardness testers besides lead pots and the whole Saeco line worldwide besides turning our 4,800 cast bullets per hour with a pair of Bulletmasters fed by a three ton lead smelter. Lead is not fuming at normal pure lead temperatures and pure lead for round balls does not have arsenic and cadmium as a contaminant like tire weights can have. The main fumes are from fluxing to get the contaminants OUT. You can cast indoors with GOOD ventilation as already mentioned but use a garage with all doors open or covered patio.

The ONLY flux ever needed and is the cheapest and highly effective is ordinary candlewax ignited immediately to stop the smoke. And in a pinch some bullet lube or beeswax can be used. The worst thing that can happen is to have a drop of sweat fall off your face into the pot and you have an instant explosion. Outside a seagull shat and a friends pot exploded. So be outside with a patio roof over you is best.. Cover all skin in case of an explosion and I have had my backside covered in drops of lead spatter from that drop of sweat into a 50 pound lead smelter.

Coat your hands with hand lotion when ever touching lead and drop your lead balls into water to solidify them instantly to keep them round and dispose of the contaminated water safely, not in your garden. Wear a full face mask like machinists and wood workers wear.

Small scale, I used two Saeco pots. a top dip pot to feed my bottom pour pot and a plastic headed hammer to open my beautiful 4 cavity Saeco molds. I also rotated two molds and adjusted pot temperatures accordingly. I heat treated my Calif-Saeco molds in a spray of WD-40, no mold release is ever needed and the only thing to use on them for storage is WD-40. My molds and hammer will never wear out.

I have some 4 cavity round ball molds left in my Saeco collection from .320 to .451 and .45 and .50 caliber maxiballs. Plus 9mm, 38, .41, .45 and .30 caliber molds.

For any other tips you are welcome to ask me.

 

[Murphster]

Remember eye protection. I wore a face shield when I used to cast BPCR bullets - which was eventually a face shield with a dot of lead right in front of my left eyeball. Gloves. Maybe a thermometer unless there's a thermostat on your pot. A stick ( I used a wood hammer handle) to knock open the mold. Yes, lead fumes are dangerous. I cast in an outdoor shed but still used a fan to blow fumes away from my face. I need all the brain cells I have. I dumped my bullets onto a towel. The water in a can sounds like it might be a neat idea. Enjoy.

 

[cheygriz]

I've been casting bullets since 1965.

I would never even consider casting inside. Never!

Even outside, I wear a face mask (the kind you get at the paint store) rubber gloves and OSHA approved safety glasses. I wear a heavy canvas apron as well.

 

[Paul "Fitz" Jones]

Casting inside

I have cast millions of bullets inside as have ALL commercial bulletmakers and reloaders using common sense and loaded most of them besides being an INDOOR rangemaster of police and civilian ranges.

No commercial casting and reloading business operates outside with the exception of lead alloying smelters. My mentor had a 25 ton capacity smelter.

For nyone wanting to get into casting bullets, buddy up with an old timer at your local outdoor shooting range who can show you the ropes.

Lee tools have started a lot of shooters into reloading and casting who could not afford the earlier more expensive cast iron tools.

Fitz

 

[kernal_panic]

Hey Paul i just got an old saeco model 24 with mold guide off ebay. i paid $72 for it shipped. I'm really happy with it as its improved my production rate quite a bit. question can you tell me when these were made and whats the wattage and if it breaks down where i can get it repaired at?
Any info would be appreciated greatly!

Steve

 

[HankB]

perhaps doing this in my basement on the workbench could be dangerous due to fumes

How high is your workbench? If disaster strikes and the molten lead spills, what part of YOU will it hit? Fumes might be the least of your problems.

When I was casting bullets - sometimes in the basement, but mostly in the garage - I used to set up a fan to draw fumes away from me. I put the casting pot on a low bench so it was just above knee level, and sat on a low stool while casting. Eye protection, gloves, and sturdy boots and jeans rounded out my ensemble.

I always presumed there was lead contaminating the casting area, so I didn't do it where food was prepared, nor did I eat or drink while casting.

 

[Paul "Fitz" Jones]

#24 Saeco Pot

Steve, I may have sold that Saeco #24 pot originally. It is a lifetime pot at 1,000 watts the hottest pot and the first and possibly the only 1,000 watt one. So far the only part that wore out was the thermostat if it was constantly adjusted. In commercial daily use the pots lasted 24 years. I have a source for the thermostat. I have not heard of an element wearing out among my 1970's customers yet. I still have an original pot. I have some emails on using it and casting methods that you are welcome to.

 

[kernal_panic]

WOW 1000 watts! well that explains why it melted a full pot to temp (indicated 700 degrees) in 15 minutes! yeah i'll take any electroic lititure on it you have thanks Paul!

Steve

 

[Lloyd Smale]

been casting for many years. Always inside. Im probably an idot cause i dont take many precausions. I usually have a cig. hanging out of my mouth when im casting. After probably a couple million bullets casted that way and having my lead level checked every year for the last 5 my lead level has allways been i the normal range. I do smelt ww outside though to much smoke in the barn. Ive had a couple buddys that had problems with there lead levels and it wasnt pretty. They narrowed it down to shooting alot in pourly ventilated indoor ranges.

 

[Fatelvis]

For any of you in the construction trades, if you are working around plumbers, you`re being exposed to indoor casting, often. How many times have you walked past that big `ol pot of molten lead, in the middle of the jobsite? Think of the amount of lead in the air, and nobody seems to mind. Are we being careless, or is the indoor casting a little safer than we`ve been told?

 

[Paul "Fitz" Jones]

Lead In Air

Lead does not vaporize into the air I have read until it reaches almost a thousand degrees which is far above normal lead melting temperatures for bulletcasting.

I got my lead poisoning from being an indoor police and civilian rangemaster not a hobby and commercial bullet maker.

 

[bdhawk]

castin' indoors

i have been castin' indoors for 33 years with no ill effects.

i have been castin' indoors for 33 years with no ill effects.

i have been cast......

what were we talking about?