Leaderboard

I guess you just have to be smarter than your average bear to work with lead. Probably the reason most of us on this forum who haveworked with lead for years are not dead yet. When you talk about grinding, sanding, and carving here's my take: I have never used any electric tools with my lead. I don't use an electric grinder of any kind I've never sanded on the lead and I dare say my arms aren't strong enough nor my knives sharp enough to carve the stuff! What needs cleaned up is done with knippers and a hand file only. The filing is usually done over an old cookie sheet and is then dumped in the pot for reuse. As far as fumes go that is mitigated in a few different ways. 1) opening a window and cracking a door to get the proper cross flow ventilation. Sometimes a box fan is used if needed. 2) I use a lead thermometer to keep my temperatures down below the point at which lead throws off toxic fumes. 3) all scrap lead is melted outside where all the dirt and gunk can cook off before the dross is skimmed and then triple fluxed before being made into clean ingots. Only clean ingots are allowed to be melted in my workshop (garage). Since I know that I'm smart enough to safely work with lead and I trust myself to follow the proper procedures in doing so as well as annual blood test to verify that I'm not poisoning myself for me the benefits definitely outweigh the risks. It's a very fun and rewarding hobby that makes custom tackle that works better than anything you can buy at the store. But if I was not smart enough to properly handle this or I did not trust myself to follow proper safety procedures then I would agree with you. I have to wonder why you don't trust yourself to follow basic lead safety precautions? Why Is it that you feel that you cannot safely accomplish this task? It seems to me that that's what you are saying is that you don't feel that you can safely work with lead. Which sounds to me like you don't trust yourself to follow basic safety precautions and/or that you don't have an appropriate place to safely do this. Thank God I know how to follow safety precautions or I'd have been dead a very long time ago. Of all the things I do on a regular basis there are a lot of things that I consider more dangerous than working with lead!

painted and finished.... just need to throw them.