tinsel fairy

[rancher1913]

well it finally happened, got my first visit from the tinsel fairy. been smelting all my scrap for several days now to get my smelting area cleaned up and was working on my pewter stash today, new "p" mold must have had something in it because after pouring about half the cavities it blew up and tin went everywhere.

you know what happened to me-----not a thing because I was wearing full length welders gloves and face shield and all the other proper safety gear. had to clean up some mess on the ground and it sure surprised me how fast it can happen. so the moral of this story is to use your PPE, I can guaranty it saved my eyes today.

[copdills]

Glad you were not hurt, can happen to anyone

[Virginia John]

Glad to hear you dodged the fairy dust.

[skeettx]

Well done, well done
Thank you for sharing
Mike

[leeggen]

Will happen to more people yet. Glad you were coverd up. Alittle on the ground or shop is better than all over the person.
CD

[shoot-n-lead]

Glad you were not hurt.

I have had a near miss, also.

[woodbutcher]

When you melt that pile,the neighbors are going to think Pepe Le Pews big brother just wandered by.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[lightman]

Glad you were not burned. Thanks for posting, we all need a reminder.

[Suo Gan]

Anything that sees hot lead needs to be preheated. Indoors you can use a hot plate, or just put the mold on top of the pot before it sees lead. Any lead that goes in the pot needs to be preheated. I use a small torch indoors. Outdoors I use a propane weed burner to blast away the condensation from scrap lead. I use it to pre heat the ingot molds.

It's easy to do. You can see the line of condensation vaporize as a chunk of lead or scrap pieces heat up. Weed burners are 15 bucks at harbor freight.

If you do this, it will never happen.

If you are cooking down range scrap. Make sure to cut any fmj bullets or they will pop like a 22 going off in the pot.

[farmerjim]

Must have been the day, I had one on Thursday too. Mine was small putting a heated lead ingot into the furnace. I preheat all my ingots in a 10 lb pot on an hotplate. I must have not let heat long enough. I was wearing safety glasses and only a few small drops on my shirt. Most of my lead got wet in the flood with an inch of water in my barn.

[Victor N TN]

Congratulations !!! The fairy has visited me in the past. Being lucky or God looking out for me are the only reasons I can figure I wasn't hurt. I've seen others get hurt with lead before. I hope no one else gets injured with it.

[mold maker]

Another case of it had never happened before but. Thanks for posting it as a warning. PPE is more important than pride or being bullet proof. If it hasn't happened to you YET, just be patient and prepared. Your number is getting closer each time you fire up the pot. Or the witch may come back for a second go at it.

[Blackwater]

Glad you weren't hurt here, too. As long as we live, even the best among us is and always will be, still fallible, and that's why we use the safety gear. I guess this is where I have to admit I never tend to use it, but when I am "naked" like that, I am as safety conscious and wary as a man can possibly be. I'm always sure (yeah, right!) that my WW's are dry before putting them in a hot pot, and almost always put the WW's in and THEN heat up the pot, so as to drive off any water that might be present, and this works extremely well.

FWIW, your post reminded me that it's way past time for me to go pick up those safety items you mention. Mostly, I just never think of it when I'm in town, so I owe you a "Thank you" for prompting me specifically on this. So, thanks!

[EDG]

Glad to hear you were not maimed.

[bedbugbilly]

Glad you didn't get hurt. It can happen . . . and reminders like this are a good "jar" to everyone to not get lax, wear protective gear and be awake and alert when you're fooling with molten metal that could cause serious burns and injury. Be safe!

[jimb16]

No matter how many years you've been doing this, it can still happen to you. I had a very minor pop last thursday too! All I got was a tiny splash on the tip of one finger, not even enough to raise a blister, but it stung just the same. And the bad part is that I can't figure out what caused it. It can happen to anyone. I've been doing this stuff for over 45 years.

[country gent]

Had a gentleman come out to cast with us. Hes a retired gent and also a newbie to casting bullets and molten metal. My other casting partner gave him the run down on what was needed ( he was going to use some 45 cal moulds of ours to cast test bullet for a 45-90 he just purchased). He showed up wearing Shorts sandals and a light tee shirt. I wouldnt let him near the pot dressed like that for several reasons. Wearing / using the correct PPE fopr the job at hand can save you many times over and not just casting but at alot of things. Im really glad you werent hurt and things turned out as good as they did. Preheating moulds ladles and ingots goes a long ways and dosnt take that long to accomplish. Whats really amazing is how long a bucket or pile of range lead or recovered lead can hold moiture in the bottom of the container.

[mozeppa]

my visit consisted of lead on all 4 walls of my 10 x 16 reload room...a 6 FOOT diameter splash on the ceiling
a 10 foot diameter splash on the floor.

oh ....and i got this...i was a split second faster than losing my eye.

[varmintpopper]

Guess I'd better quit casting while barefoot, Not getting hurt is a Happy Happy.
I'm Happy You didn't get Burned !

Good Shooting

Lindy

[mold maker]

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but.
Those fortunate enough not to have personal experience with such happenings may tend to think the extreme PPE is unnecessary and foolish looking.
Granted when fully suited and clad in goofy gear in the summer, we do look rather ridiculous. It's not a fashion statement, it's a necessity.
Don't do it for others benefit or because we/they say so.
You only have one set of eyes, and burns are the worst and most dangerous injury you will ever sustain.
It's just an extremely dangerous chance you don't need to take.