Casting and Eating

[DonMountain]

Well, I got a new mold and had to try it out of course, and so far its doing real well. My question is, if you are only half way done casting the number of boolets you want, and you have to run in and eat lunch, what do you do with your hot, electric lead furnace while you are in eating for a half hour? Do you leave the mold on the heating tray on top and turn the temperature down a little and go eat? Warming it back up to casting temperature when you get back? Or turn it all the way off and then back on again when you get back? Mine takes about 20 minutes to get up to temperature when it is cold.

[shredder]

Shut 'er down. Start again.

[DerekP Houston]

I'm guilty of leaving mine running and just turning the hotplate down a bit.

[mozeppa]

i'd rather finish then eat.

[Yodogsandman]

I leave the pot on and go scrub my hands and wash my face before eating. The mold is put back on the hot plate at it's regular temp, ready to resume casting when I'm done eating. Same regimen any time I have to go do something for say an hour or so. Sometimes it takes most of the day to empty the pot with smaller boolits, taking breaks away from it.

[rancher1913]

I'm with yodogsandman, if its more than an hour I shut it down but if its just a quick break I turn the temp down a bit and wash up good before I do anything else.

[DerekP Houston]

Guess I should clarify, I do scrub my hands when i come back inside. Sometimes its just too hot out and I come inside for frequent breaks. I don't like waiting for the mold/lead to come back up to temp so i just leave them running.

[corbinace]

I guess I am just too prone to distractions. I'm thinking of the...

Lights left on in the shop since last week.

Welder humming away from a couple of days ago, waiting in vain, for me to strike the next arc.

Tractor that ran out of fuel waiting for me to get back from a bathroom break that turned into a trip to town for my wife.

Yea, I generally just try to secure everything before I walk away. I never know what lies around the proverbial corner, that will take my limited attention in another direction.

But, I am sure I am the only one with this problem.

[Old Scribe]

I guess I am just too prone to distractions. I'm thinking of the...

Lights left on in the shop since last week.

Welder humming away from a couple of days ago, waiting in vain, for me to strike the next arc.

Tractor that ran out of fuel waiting for me to get back from a bathroom break that turned into a trip to town for my wife.

Yea, I generally just try to secure everything before I walk away. I never know what lies around the proverbial corner, that will take my limited attention in another direction.

But, I am sure I am the only one with this problem.

Yup. Had to answer the phone call from my daughter, "Just a quick question, Dad". I know better, so the quick questions from the daughter or wife get answered AFTER I shut down the pot and hot plate.

[mdi]

I was taught shop practices very early; never leave the shop/area with a machine (or melting pot) running unattended. I don't even leave my wobbler or tumbler running if I leave the shop for more than 5 or 10 minutes...

[dragon813gt]

I leave the pot on. It's in a sheet metal pan that will contain the lead if there is a spill. Mold gets put back into the mold oven. I wash my hands w/ D-Lead soap, and then again w/ Zep TKO. This is overkill but I got in the habit of washing w/ D-Lead when I worked at a battery plant too often. The casting area is in my detached garage which is 50' from the house. Everything is ready to roll when I sit down for another session. It's not unusual for me to make a day of casting so I stop to eat often.

[ghh3rd]

I fry my grilled sandwich on my mold heater and carry on

[nagantguy]

eating is done after casting, after a wash of the hands with cold water than hot, a shower and a change of clothing. Noone else is wrong or careless or dumb that's just how I do it, early on in my casting I went inside left the pot on ojtside, took a phone call, a bathroom break , ect it rained and my cast iron casting table got a visit from the molten hag, aka tinsel fairy.

[runfiverun]

I just top the pot off and go eat.
1/2 hr isn't worth unplugging everything.

[ReloaderFred]

I leave my Master Caster on when I take a break to eat, and of course wash up before touching anything that will go in my body.

My only warning is to not leave a 10 pound ingot warming on the edge of the pot to go answer the phone, and while away decide to take a bathroom break, and might as well have lunch while I'm at it. When I got back, the ingot got warmed alright, and there was lead everywhere...........

Hope this helps.

Fred

[45workhorse]

Just heat what you are going to eat on the pot, just don't let the cheese drip in the pot. Just kidding!
Have made the mistake of heating lead on the edge of the pot and some went in the pot and some went on the table top......

[GhostHawk]

I plan better, I seldom cast mornings, much more likely to go down and cast after lunch and after nap.

Never walk off and leave my pot on, that would bug me.

[jmorris]

I can't say I have been in that situation. May sit there and have a beer while its casting and watch it though.

[DonMountain]

I fry my grilled sandwich on my mold heater and carry on

Well, with all of the responses that I have received to my question, I think this one is my best pick. I used to just use my mold heater to keep my cup of coffee warm. But I never thought about using it to make grilled cheese and ham sandwiches. Up until now I had to walk all the way back to the house to do it on the cookstove. But when I was a kid, my father melted lead in an Ideal iron pot in a circular disk in one of the openings on the wood cookstove in the kitchen.

[Bzcraig]

Shut 'er down. Start again.

^^^^this^^^^