bwhite829

Thank you for the input. I've read about the dangers of getting wet or dirty lead in a pot hence the full face mask, full clothing, welding gloves, etc. I am not willing to chance a trip to the ER for a hobby. I was watching fortunecookie45lc on youtube, he's got a channel devoted to pouring bullets and he says much of the same stuff that I've learned about here and he recommended a coleman camp stove. I saw some for about $20-$25 after shipping on ebay so I might spend the extra $10 or so and get one of those instead. Will be a little more expensive after the cost of fuel but won't need an extension cord to trip over so might be safer. I can see me tripping over an extension cord and a pot of lead spilling everywhere. As far as lead source, I am waiting to hear back about 2-3 rolls of 4'x25'x1/8" lead x ray lining that I might get for free. its like 99% lead so will be starting off w/ that probably. Also fortunecookie45lc mentioned the lead film for dental x rays so I'm going to call around on Monday to see if any local dentists are still using the non-digital x rays so I can get some of that, also like 99% lead. If not, I'll start off slow w/ the lead weights & wheel weights, starting w/ a couple at a time. I can mitigate a lot of the dangers I think by starting in small batches. I don't need a full pot of lead going at all times starting out I think. Thank you for the heads up again, it reassured me that I am going w/ the right choice of the face guard, welding gloves, etc.

I'll be doing it outside, on the carport, with a plug in single burner running from electric cord to outlet.

Thanks for the input. Everything will be outdoors in small quantities but its good to know an electronic burner is enough.

Hello! So apparently when I started talking to my grandfather about casting, he told me they used to cast all their weights and hand load and cast their shotgun loads. He has half a 5 gal bucket of wheel weights and about 30 lbs of old sinkers that people gave him for offshore, some as much as 10+ oz so I am off to a good start with lead sources. He has an old pot that has a hole and he said can be soldered shut with a patch but after reading posts about cracked pots splitting, I am thinking about getting a new pot. Found a cast iron pot about 4x8 for $15 and a single burning electric stove for $15 at the store today. I saw a video of stove top casting so am thinking the pot gets hot enough with a burner on high. Would this be a sufficient set up to start off with? $30 is a decent price to see if it is something I want to do

Hello! As I'm new to lead pouring, a huge concern of mine is safety. We have a 15 mo old and another on the way, so my duties go farther than just protecting myself. I have to keep my family in mind any time I come up w/ a new hobby that has any kind of safety concerns. I was watching a video on lead pouring and the guy wore the clear plastic full face mask as well as long jeans, thick flannel shirt, of course the welders gloves, etc. This is probably overkill but better safe than sorry for reasons stated above. I was reading on the safety thread about a bare arm burn and then another person remarked that he has a battle scar. I know typically lead is not absorbed through skin unless it is a certain kind of lead. If you get a burn, it of course burns through many layers of skin depending on the degree of burn you are talking about. Are burns w/ lead typically 1st degree or up to 3rd degree? If it is a 3rd degree or severe burn do you run the risk of absorbing lead through the skin since that barrier has been broken?

Hello! I'm thinking about getting 2 do it molds, 1 for a stand up spinner and one for a regular jig head. I've also sourced a hand me down egg mold and might have secured a 3ft by 25 ft roll of x ray lead. The guy giving it to me said that he has used the lead to cast lots of sinkers but it might be too soft for jig heads. I think for bullet casting the norm is tin and antimony to harden but I'm not sure. How hard does it have to be to use for jigs, and how would I go about hardening it?