Where do you cast your bullets?

[David LaPell]

I am hoping to get my electric furnace for casting bullets in the near future, and I am trying to decide where I am going to be casting bullets. I am thinking about a decent table in the driveway, but I am not sure. If I can put it near one of the windows in the corner of the basement I will since there is nothing else there (good ventilation there). These is no carpet or insulation so there is nothing to worry about getting any lead on. Where do you cast your bullets?

 

[Catshooter]

David,

I cast in my shop. I only need or use ventilation when I'm turning wheel weights into ingots. The WW are extremly dirty and covered with rubber dust and who knows what else. Smoke like crazy.

Once smelted into ingots, the lead doesn't smoke. Since lead won't vaporize at less than 1000 degrees, no worries there.

When I flux (small wooden dowel) there is a little smoke but I don't care.

If I am remelting lubed bullets then I turn on the ventilator.


Cat

 

[Beans]

I cast in my detached garage. I open the small overhead door and the entry door, the cross breeze eliminates all fumes
You could easily put a hood and exhaust fan in that window and eliminate
all your worries

 

[OKFC05]

I do it outside.
If you do in it the attached garage, paint the wallboard in the garage to prevent toxins from going throught it into the house. That's a good idea anyway in an attached garage because carbon monoxide from the car goes right through bare wallboard.
By the way, if you spill hot lead on bare concrete, it can turn the moisture inside the concrete to steam and blow out a chunk. A sheet of plywood prevents hot lead landing on concrete.
There is no such thing as too much ventilation when melting down old lead, and you still need ventilation even when there is no smoke; lead oxides and tin still come off the pot.

 

[BobR1]

I have been casting in the back yard on my concrete shooting bench. I am using a Fish Cooker, and Lodge Dutch Oven Pot.
(I bought the Lodge Dutch Oven and ladel together already used for lead melting, so I won't go to Hadies for doing that to a Lodge Pot)

I have the cooker set on the concrete pad. I dump the bullets and sprews on the bench top on an old towel.

 

[Engineer1911]

OUTDOORS ! ! !

Don't cause any problems for your self with fumes, smoke, flames or hot metal. House fire is not a pretty thing to fight with 20# of molten lead right next to you.

 

[Harrison]

Under the house. There is almost always a good breeze. I just make sure the breeze is blowing away from me.

 

[JSR III]

I usually do it on the kitchen stove in the spaghetti pot, just make sure you rinse it out good before the wife gets home.

Only kidding, I do it out in the two car detached garage that is now my workshop, no room for cars anymore. I open one of the overhead doors and have a box fan over the wood stove that I use to move the heat around. Works great to exhaust the lead fumes out the door if necessary.

 

[jbcap]

We always do it outside by the barn. When melting wheel weights we use either with a propane fired burner or a oxy/act torch to make ingots for use later.

 

[CookE]

I cast for 22 years in my garage turned workshop. I cast in the fatherest corner in the shop. I never used any kind of ventilation by that I mean in the summer I opened the overhead door and in the winter I kept it shut. I used a 20lb. pot with 2, 4 cavity molds. I WENT AND GOT A LEAD POISON TEST 3 TIMES OVER THE YEARS, THAT'S A SPECIAL BLOOD TEST AND EVERYTHING WAS "FINE". The only problem I ever had was on 2 different occasions I dropped in a 1lb. ingot of lead into about 18lbs. of lead in my pot and blew it up. I came out pretty good considering everything. MAKE SURE YOUR LEAD YOU ARE ADDING TO YOUR POT IS ABSOLUTELY DRY.....................CookE

 

[Paul5388]

I'm pretty sure Lynn (Creeker/LAH) won't mind my sharing his report, since it seems so appropriate in these circumstances.

I'm on a low dose pill which requires blood work every 3 months. I told the doctor, "Have the lab check my lead levels while they were at it." The results were eye opening.

First I've cast bullets since 1973. I've cast tons of them & I do mean tons. I began in the kitchen on the stove top. From there to an out building. From the out building to the basement. From the basement to a shop. I've cast with fans & without. I've used a machine, master caster, & plenty of hand moulds under a master pot.

While I've not fired many rounds indoor, there's been many outdoors with the wind in my face more than a little. I've handled & polished a couple tons of brass in my time also.

Said all that to say I've been around some lead in many different conditions. I chewed Mail Pouch for years, smoked, & drank plenty of water while casting. All these are no nos. So you could say I wasn't very careful.

However, I was always careful not to stir up any dust while cleaning my work area. I always kept my hands away from my mouth while casting or handling lead. Held my cup at the bottom while drinking, etc. Another habit was to wash my hands "good" after casting, handling lead or brass.

So the labs. Doctor said normal lead levels are 0 to 9 on the scale. {Have no idea which scale}. My levels came back 3. I'm on the low end of normal. I'm a very thankful man this morning for sure.

So do like Creeker, keep the melt temp down, keep the dust down, & wash them there hands.

PS: I no longer smoke or chew. All my bad numbers are down. All the good numbers are up. Pulse=65. Blood Pressure=100/60. Creeker=60 years.
God is Good. Psalm 150:6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

I should have added that Lynn cast commercially as Dry Creek Bullets and I have some of his fine products.

 

[ia1727]

I find casting in the bullet mold makes the best bullets.

Steve

 

[sbcman]

I cast in the garage doorway, with all windows and one other door opened, detached from house, on a mixture of grass and rocks.

It usually goes well...until I flux. No matter how the wind is blowing before I flux, it always blows back on me when I flux. My personal technique is to "flux and flee."

 

[Skip Sackett]

Smoke follows handsome, from what I am told!


I cast in the garage, it is attached. With the house door shut and the overhead door open.

At one point my lead level was up to 32 whatevers, ppm, I don't know. It wasn't form casting though. I was shooting in a league every Thursday, inside with cast bullets, then practicing and recreational shooting too. That is what will really bring the lead level up, not casting.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I'm another garage caster. I keep the house door closed but I have two windows and open the main door. I use a cheap box fan to force air in from the one window and that blows all the smoke out the other window and the main door. Between the one steel mold and all my Lee aluminum molds, I far and beyond prefer the aluminum molds next to no warm up time to the steel that took forever and needed to keep being heated back up. I couldn't cast fast enough to keep it hot. And that was using the Lee pot on 9. With the aluminum molds I can keep it at about 6 or 7 and it casts just fine. I water drop them all into a bucket behind me.

 

[acl864]

I cast in a detached garage that has now been converted to my shop. I don't make any special arrangements for ventilation but I think I'm going to add a vent fan. I flux with sawdust and it gets a little smoky in there after fluxing.
I melt wheel weights to pour my ingots outdoors. It creates way too much smoke to even think about doing that in the shop.

 

[primersp]

i cast outdoor ,just limited by the weather

 

[Paul5388]

This I do outdoors.

Other than that, I cast indoors with either the A/C or heater on, depending on the weather.

 

[johnjohn]

In my backyard.

 

[bobkk]

Have a yard barn in my back yard. That's my casting and reloading place. Use a fan to pull smoke and fumes out. Had it for years. Wired. insulated and old window AC in it. My favorite place for loafing.