RobertJ.
Member
I hope you're feeling better.
And thank you for not calling them "boolits"!
And thank you for not calling them "boolits"!
melting lead for bullets
- Thread starter kd5exp
- Start date
You got a bug for sure. I was in printed circuit board fabrication for 23 years and dealt with tin/lead plating, reflowing, hot air solder leveling, reclamation, etc. It never bothered me a bit. Hope you feel better soon.
goldenlight
Member
You REALLY should only melt lead out of doors. If you get lead hot enough, it will actually boil off into vapor, which you can breathe in. If you don't wear some sort of gloves ALL THE TIME. tiny bits of lead stick tenaciously to your skin. Washing with regular soap will not always remove it. Then when you eat something, you ingest some lead.
The same thing happens when you reload with lead bullets, and when you process fired cases. Your brass will have a thin coating of lead from both the burned base of the fired bullet, and the primer. Most primers, unless they are labeled 'lead free' contain lead styphenate as the primer compound. So the cases are fairly badly contaminated with lead, and some is in the easier to absorb lead salt form. Much worse then elemental lead.
When you fire lead bullets, you breathe in some lead from the primers, and burned and vaporized lead from the bullet bases. People who work as range officers in indoor ranges generally have to have serum lead levels run, as they breathe in lead all day long.
If you polish your cases, do it outside. I used to do it in my basement, and I had the case vibrator on a sheet of newspaper. A fine black powder would accumulate on the newspaper. I don't have a cover for my brass tumbler. I took some of the black powder to work and got a friend to test it, and it had a LOT of lead in it.
You can get lead on your hands from cleaning your guns, too. I have some special soap I bought at a gun show that is made to remove lead from your hands. I just looked for it, and I can't find it. I haven't cast bullets in some years now.
I had a blood test run back when I was shooting 700 rounds a week, every week, of cast bullets, and my lead level was 48mcg., almost at the 50mcg. level that OSHA considers harmful to adults. Of course children are WAY more susceptible to lead poisoning.
I started scrubbing my hands with Dawn dish washing liquid, and stiff bristle brush, moved the case cleaner out to the garage, and cleaned up as much as I could where I thought there was lead contamination. I was especially careful to really scrub my hands before I handled any food.
Slowly over time, my blood serum lead levels went down, and after 6 or 8 months it was half of what it had been. My doctor stopped testing me, as the level was relatively 'safe', and slowly and steadily decreasing.
I would say, as has been said, that you aren't suffering from acute lead poisoning. But, if you have health insurance, and can get it covered, it would be worth getting a lead level done. I would be surprised if you didn't have some lead in your bloodstream. Hopefully it's low and not a problem. Good luck.
The same thing happens when you reload with lead bullets, and when you process fired cases. Your brass will have a thin coating of lead from both the burned base of the fired bullet, and the primer. Most primers, unless they are labeled 'lead free' contain lead styphenate as the primer compound. So the cases are fairly badly contaminated with lead, and some is in the easier to absorb lead salt form. Much worse then elemental lead.
When you fire lead bullets, you breathe in some lead from the primers, and burned and vaporized lead from the bullet bases. People who work as range officers in indoor ranges generally have to have serum lead levels run, as they breathe in lead all day long.
If you polish your cases, do it outside. I used to do it in my basement, and I had the case vibrator on a sheet of newspaper. A fine black powder would accumulate on the newspaper. I don't have a cover for my brass tumbler. I took some of the black powder to work and got a friend to test it, and it had a LOT of lead in it.
You can get lead on your hands from cleaning your guns, too. I have some special soap I bought at a gun show that is made to remove lead from your hands. I just looked for it, and I can't find it. I haven't cast bullets in some years now.
I had a blood test run back when I was shooting 700 rounds a week, every week, of cast bullets, and my lead level was 48mcg., almost at the 50mcg. level that OSHA considers harmful to adults. Of course children are WAY more susceptible to lead poisoning.
I started scrubbing my hands with Dawn dish washing liquid, and stiff bristle brush, moved the case cleaner out to the garage, and cleaned up as much as I could where I thought there was lead contamination. I was especially careful to really scrub my hands before I handled any food.
Slowly over time, my blood serum lead levels went down, and after 6 or 8 months it was half of what it had been. My doctor stopped testing me, as the level was relatively 'safe', and slowly and steadily decreasing.
I would say, as has been said, that you aren't suffering from acute lead poisoning. But, if you have health insurance, and can get it covered, it would be worth getting a lead level done. I would be surprised if you didn't have some lead in your bloodstream. Hopefully it's low and not a problem. Good luck.
I got over the bug I guess. I fell much better last several days. I went to Doc for reg check up and he ran a blood test and said he would have it checked for lead. Still haven't heard from him. Any body got a test to see how hard this lead is. I don't think the finger nail test is as accurate as I would like. Too much interpatation in it for me. I will search around. Thanks Guys
ChuckS1
US Veteran
Lead boils at 3,180 degrees. What you described is physically impossible with a home casting pot. You can get vapors from the impurities in the alloy and whatever you're fluxing with, but you're wrong about lead vapor.
A little common sense is all the protection you need when casting. Frankly, any exposure from fired primer or residue on brass is negligible and not worth worrying about. Washing your hands, though, isn't a bad idea.
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I used to load an awful lot of ammo. Cast bullets and shotshells Sold up to 8 tons of shot a week. Lot of lead moving. Worked in a Fire Dept. We had our blood levels checked for almost everything. including lead..Never had an even slightly high level of lead. No one in the dept did..we had a couple get caught with drugs in the blood stream though.. Good grief..respirators and only casting outside?? If you want to do it that way fine but a fan blowing from behind toward an open window is all that is necessary for your peace of mind Heck I even got shot in barrels new and reclaimed..all hand work weighing etc. and then..I started making shot..only nasty part about all of it was graphite dust..gets everywhere. As ChuckS1 said..just a little common sense...Same thing with mercury. no mercury fumes is a good thing..Mad Hatter and all that stuff..old time gold miners too.
Physics may disagree with you.
Vapor is produced anytime the lead is molten, with progressively more vapor being produced until the boiling point - at which the vapor pressure is one atmosphere.
The rate at which vapor is produced is directly related to the temp and vapor pressure of the fluid in question.
The volume of vapor produced at casting temps is small, but there.
Other hazards include the oxides and exposure to other heavy metals, such as arsenic.
Regarding casting outdoors. Make sure you have a roof or cover of some type over you.
First time I cast lead outside, an unexpected rainstorm came up!
Hot lead and water do not mix and tend vto pop and splatter!
First time I cast lead outside, an unexpected rainstorm came up!
Hot lead and water do not mix and tend vto pop and splatter!
1morethan8
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
If I had to guess... I would say the lead that you're using has zinc in the alloy. And the condition you have is "galvanized poisoning". I've only had it three times in 45 years of metal working. It will give you a fever about three hours after exposure to the fumes.. just like the flu.. and will last 8 to 10 hours.
1morethen8
That sounds a lot like it. This is all old lead. Been in his garage over 20 years. A piece of galvanized may have gotten in there somehow. I have had this kind of galvanize poisoning before a long time ago welding on some pipe. Been so long ago don't remember much about it. One welder I know told me to drink sweet milk. I didn't think I had breathed enough of it to do that but will be more careful about it. Thanks for the info.
That sounds a lot like it. This is all old lead. Been in his garage over 20 years. A piece of galvanized may have gotten in there somehow. I have had this kind of galvanize poisoning before a long time ago welding on some pipe. Been so long ago don't remember much about it. One welder I know told me to drink sweet milk. I didn't think I had breathed enough of it to do that but will be more careful about it. Thanks for the info.
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