Bullet casting lead safety?

[dirtydeedsdoneinthedesert]

I am on the brink of diving into bullet casting. I have a buddy that is willing to sell me a 1000lb lead weight at a great price. This is more lead than I'll ever need, so I called my friend who owns a commercial/sport fishing boat to see if I could cast some sinkers for her.
She is more than happy to buy the sinkers off of me, but also warned me to be safe and take all necessary safety precautions. She also said that allof her friends whom have have cast their owns sinkers for any long duration of time have ended up with tumors. She has been around fisherman her whole life, so I believe her.
Has anyone else heard of this before, and what safety precautions should be taken when handling molten lead?

[sequoia_nomad]

Just maintain good ventilation, cast outside rather than in the garage. This is a great site for all things cast bullet:

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/

Lots of good info on there.

[mif_slim]

Very dangerous! Sell me 100
Pounds. I'm fresh out of lead.

[dirtydeedsdoneinthedesert]

Just maintain good ventilation, cast outside rather than in the garage. This is a great site for all things cast bullet:

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/

Lots of good info on there.

Yes...I've been reading some of threads over there at www.castboolits.gunloads.com. Looks like a great site. I'll end up a member over there before too long. Haven't signed up yet cause I've been spending so much time on cal guns lately.

I assumed that good ventilation would be key. Do you think wearing a respirator would be a good idea...or overkill?

Would the neighbors get suspicious if I wear my Israeli gas mask while casting ingots?

[dirtydeedsdoneinthedesert]

Very dangerous! Sell me 100
Pounds. I'm fresh out of lead.

What part of the state are you in? I'm supposed to get the stuff next week. Maybe we can work out a deal.

[Cowboy T]

Proper safety precautions:

1.) Old leather jacket over a good sweater
2.) Welding gloves (yep, actual welding gloves, the really thick ones)
3.) Long, thick pants, preferably with a thermal underlayment
4.) Full face shield--safety glasses won't help much against the Tinsel Fairy
5.) Heavy hiking or work boots, preferably leather

This is what I consider the minimum for safely casting lead. The reason is what we call the "Tinsel Fairy". That name refers to what happens if you have a drop or two of water on your ladle and plunge it into your hot, molten lead. That drop will immediately turn to steam and EXPLODE, spraying you with 650-degree lead. That would not be good.

This happened to me once, when I was first starting out. I wasn't paying enough attention and didn't see the drop or two of snowmelt on my ladle. Plunged that thing into a 5qt Dutch Oven full of 600 degree wheel weight lead. POP! I got sprayed all over the front of me with that hot lead. Fortunately, I was wearing all the protective gear listed above, so I was unhurt, but it could've been very bad otherwise.

Here's a couple of video series on how I cast lead, and in the bullet-casting one, I show you what I consider to be proper safety equipment.

http://www.sanfranciscoliberalwithagun.com/lead.html

[Munk]

7 million grains of lead. that's over 29,000 boolitts for a 44mag. (240grn).

You're a lucky man to get so much.

For ventilation make sure you have at least a slow moving fan blowing the vapor filled air around the pot away from your work room. Having a vent inwards from the back side of your room would definitely help avoid letting it eddy around you.

[anyracoon]

Another plus is to wash your hands very well after handling lead. I have heard that if you take extra vitamin C that it helps to lower lead level in your body.

[tujungatoes]

cowboy T gives very good advice. watch his videos.

I wouldn't bother with the respirator as long as you have good ventilation. I've done a fair ammount of outdoor casting, and my last blood test shows nothing. Also it'll keep your neighbors from thinking you're running a meth lab.

[scarry scarney]

I have heard that if you take extra vitamin C that it helps to lower lead level in your body.

I heard it was Vitamin E.

Follow the advice over on Castbullets.
1) wear protective clothing
2) have plenty of ventalation
3) Do not run furnace hotter than needed. See cast temps for bullet alloys. Higher temps will create higher toxic fumes. DO NOT EXCEED 800 degrees
4) Always wash hands and face after casting
6) Do not smoke, drink or eat while casting
7) do not smelt wheel weights, spent bullets, etc in your casting furnace. (smelting = is dirty, it burns off trash, etc and you pour the "good" lead mixture into ingots that are used for casting)

I would suggest that if you have small children or a pregnant wife, do not wear the clothes that you cast in, into the house. There is some special soaps made that target heavy metals (lead). You might pick some of it up.

Are you anywhere near Yuba City?

[xrMike]

I am on the brink of diving into bullet casting. I have a buddy that is willing to sell me a 1000lb lead weight at a great price. This is more lead than I'll ever need

Maybe not... How young are you?

That's only 35K of 200 grain wadcutters.

[bohoki]

wear cotton clothes

welding gloves are overkill i just use some thin supple leather in case of a little dot of lead

i try not to cast more than about once a month but i'm not a super shooter so 500 or so a month is enough for me

1000 pounds sounds like a lot but its just a little over a cubic foot worth

straight lead is pretty soft

good luck take some pics for us

[z-bob]

Ventilation is not all *that* important, although you will want good ventilation anyway because it'll be smoky. The most important thing is wash your hands after handling lead, especially dirty soft lead, don't eat or drink or smoke while handling lead, and wear a good mask if the lead is dusty (like indoor shooting range sweepings.)

Don't melt scrap metal in your good casting pot. Melt the scrap, clean and flux it, and pour it into ingots. I use 2.5 or 3 ounce stainless steel condiment cups for ingot molds. You can even use aluminum beer cans (gotta be dry); they hold about 8.5 pounds of lead each, and you peel the aluminum off when they cool. Peeling them is a pain in the ***. Use the clean ingots to feed your casting pot.

The best flux that I've found is shortening or cooking grease. The second-best (and a lot more pleasant to work with) is sawdust.

Don't get any zinc in your lead. It just takes a little zinc to ruin a whole lot of lead.

[stiffy666]

7 million grains of lead. that's over 29,000 boolitts for a 44mag. (240grn).

You're a lucky man to get so much.

yes you are, i think there are alot of us that are jealous... i am

[z-bob]

I just noticed something. You said "a" 1000lb lead weight. It's in one piece? How are you going to break it up into manageable pieces? (I had a helluva time once dealing with a 50lb chunk)

It must be ballast out of a sailboat.