Good thing I was wearing a full face visor

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Float Pilot

Float Pilot

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I was melting some more wire shielding last night but the smoke was worrying the wife, ( she is usually not around when I do this sort of thing.
So I moved outside on the dog porch...
When everything was nice and hot I had a lead explosion. Molten lead flying for 5 feet in all directions. I have NEVER had that happen before.
Either something like a live round got into the chunks of lead tubing. OR... a piece of ice was blown off the over-hanging tree and landed in the pot.

Either way, it is a very good thing I had a face visor, heavy gloves and my old Carhartt jacket.

I also just looked at the Carhartt jeans I was wearing last night.....

The pot was at foot level and I was just walking back outside on the porch when it went off. I was about 5 feet away.
 

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Yes quit soon thereafter and poured myself a glass of 15 year old Dimple Pinch Scotch. My wife yelled at me about how I just messed up a good pair of fairly new jeans...
 
Damn, glad to hear you are OK. And congrats for wearing the proper safety gear!

I see so many folks doing things without the minimum of eye protection!
 
Any solid metal in the pot usually at the bottom will release moisture when heated and can create steam pocket explosions, especially when it's colder. My two cents. Thank goodness you were safe about it. I am planning on casting some bullets this summer outdoors and didn't consider wearing a full face shield until now. Thanks for the post. And long sleeves and pants.
 
Safety First my man.

When casting I always wear Safety Glasses and a Full Face Shield.

Along with a COTTON rag on my head covering my ears and a hat.

This goes along with Cotton Pants, Welder's, Gloves, Cotton Shirt,

Welder's Apron, NO LACING boots, they can melt.

Inconvenient at times, but you just found out why.

Time in a hospital burn unit is much more inconvenient.
 
a piece of ice was blown off the over-hanging tree and landed in the pot.
Click to expand...

More than likely.

Glad you are safe.

I wear eyewear and a respirator- the rest of the little needleburns I take in stride, as well as the ones I get past my gloves.

Burns make you a man :D

Not really, they hurt like hell- but there is the proof that want doesn't challenge ( or hurt ) doesn't change you !
 
All it takes is a tiny amount of water getting under the surface of the lead to cause an impressive eruption.
 
Thank you for posting this. Been loading ammo for years, but I had no intentions of learning much about "lead casting dangers" prior to ordering those casting goodies.
"It's hot, what else is there to worry about?" It EXPLODES! ............good to know :uhoh:
 
Pre-heat scrap lead to just below melting before putting it in the pot.

That will boil off any trapped moisture safely before there can be a steam explosion in the pot.

No suggestions on icicles falling in though!
(Stay inside by the fire and heat up your pipe?)

Good you had on the proper safety gear anyway!!

rc
 
Wow. Glad you're ok.

Speaking of safety gear, I maybe should have been wearing gloves tonight. Soldering up a circuit board and the soldering gun slipped in my hand (a heavy Weller) when I switched it to the other hand. Left a nice mark between the thumb and forefinger. Oh well - it hurts, but its nothing like a lead pot explosion.
 
Kudos to you in being safe during your casting tasks, and am really glad to hear that you are OK. Thank you reminding us that we can never get lax or complacent regarding safe practices when performing these tasks.
 
Lucky Duck! I probably would have stained my pants worse with other debris after that.
 
You are a lucky man. Or, more accurately a smart man for wearing a visor and being dressed appropriately. Sure makes me re-think my practices. Thanks for posting this incident.
 
Wow. Good move on the full face visor. I said thank god for my full face helmet when I struck a dove while going 70mph on my bike as the dove flew up and hit my visor.
 
I've posted my experience before but it's worth repeating.

Had a large batch of ingots I'd melted & stored in an enclosed screen porch....decided to do some casting & set the pot up on a picnic table inside that room......fan to direct fumes outside. Started the melt and added as much in ingots as It'd hold. As it was a cold day, I re entered the house & grabbed a cup of coffee when I heard a loud report from the outside.

Found that the pot was nearly emptied of lead..........20 pound SAECO lead all over the picnic table...nylon screening etc.......had I been sitting in front of that load I'd have been blinded and severely burned.

The ingots used were (I thought) dry, & stored in a cabinet. Apparently at least one had a void that contained moisture due the temperature change and humidity levels here in Fla.

Never since that time........more than 35 years ago.......have I ever remained near a pot when melting ingots or scrap material.
 
I wish I had safety glasses on when I got hit in the eye with a fencing staple. 14 stitches in the eyeball. 1 week in the hosp.

I'm glad you had on your safety gear! Good thinking.
I make my boys wear glasses in our shop.
 
Do you think you may have heated it up to quickly? I am with a few others, on that one.

It applies to other things as well. I often heat my Hot rubber up for filling cracks in asphalt for my sealcoating business and many people have been burnt when heating them up fast. One guy that works for me from time to time has scars covering his hand and forearm from just such a thing. Bad thing is that stuff sticks too you and doesn't come off easy. Good luck and stay safe.
 
I cast for over 20 years, quit about that long ago*. During that time, I never had a serious incident, but no scrap metal EVER went into my Lyman electric pot. All the old bullets & scrap, buckets of wheelweights, and linotype would all go into a small cast iron pot over a wood fire out of doors. When a pot full got completely molten, I'd remove the alloy with a dipper and fill some ingot molds. Those ingots were kept indoors and dry, and were the only thing (other than flux) that ever went into the pot. The incident in the OP was a rather explicit example of the power of water flashed to steam.

* My science classes in college had given me a bit too much knowledge about the accumulation of heavy metals in living system. I'm not criticizing anyone's decision to cast, but it's my a$$, and I decided to quit.
 
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