Casting indoors

OverUnder725

OverUnder725

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Next door to my neighbour
I have a reloading room in the basement of our house and was looking at the space trying to figure out if I had room to set up to do bullet casting when I got to thinking about lead and fumes etc. I know the smelting process needs to be done out doors or in a well ventilated shop but what about the actual casting process? Can one safely melt ingots in a production pot and cast bullets indoors?
 
Build yourself a fume hood or enclosure with a fan to place your pots in. The fan should have ducting to the outside to vent any fumes outside. A high volume bathroom fan will do well. Do not do with out an exhaust system especially if you have children in the house. A proper fitting dual cartridge mask with appropriate fume cartridges is an good choice if you cast with out a good functioning fume hood even outside.

The internet is your friend, read up on home made fume hoods and lead protection.
 
Yep, but good ventilation throughout the entire process is essential. Where you are may enter into any ventilating directly outside. Think environmental rules.
 
Fumes from the flux will coat and disable a bathroom fan. A small squirrel cage fan separates the fan and motor. My fan coats with wax every few years and needs to be disassembled and cleaned. A clothes drier vent in the window with 3-4" duct works. Use only clean shiny ingots indoors. Leave the dusty, dirty oxidized lead scrap alloy outside. Lead compound dust in the air, and breathed in causes the most harm, not melted lead.
 
glycerin said:
Fumes from the flux will coat and disable a bathroom fan. A small squirrel cage fan separates the fan and motor. My fan coats with wax every few years and needs to be disassembled and cleaned. A clothes drier vent in the window with 3-4" duct works. Use only clean shiny ingots indoors. Leave the dusty, dirty oxidized lead scrap alloy outside. Lead compound dust in the air, and breathed in causes the most harm, not melted lead.
Click to expand...

One of the few who understands.

Clean ingots when melted at the typical 700 F do not emit any lead in their fumes, and neither does handling them lead to absorption of lead through the skin. Only flux or other dirt, e.g. oils, produce any fumes. Keep your fingers out of your mouth, nose and eyes, and wash your hands afterwards, and you're good to go.
 
Lead oxides are the kicker. Bad.

Don't allow your lead to get hot enough to boil, keep it clean, normal ventilation will suffice.

Cheers
Trev
 
Andy said:
One of the few who understands.

Clean ingots when melted at the typical 700 F do not emit any lead in their fumes, and neither does handling them lead to absorption of lead through the skin. Only flux or other dirt, e.g. oils, produce any fumes. Keep your fingers out of your mouth, nose and eyes, and wash your hands afterwards, and you're good to go.
Click to expand...

This! ^^^^^^ People who are concerned about lead fumes either cast really bloody hot or are a little confused.
 
Tin, antimony, and lead will occasionally oxidize(combine with air). We don't want to lose any of the above, so fluxing returns the three metals back into the alloy.
 
i suggest you research chemistry and specifically "lead oxide redox".

edit:
there you go:
Metallic lead is obtained by reducing the PbO with carbon monoxide at around 1200 °C
PbO + CO → Pb + CO2
Click to expand...

i wish all the myth around lead casting would vanish, but you cant teach a old dog new tricks.
 
Last edited:
pomelum said:
i suggest you research chemistry and specifically "lead oxide redox".

edit:
there you go:
Metallic lead is obtained by reducing the PbO with carbon monoxide at around 1200 °C
PbO + CO → Pb + CO2

i wish all the myth around lead casting would vanish, but you cant teach a old dog new tricks.
Click to expand...

What is this all about? You researched chemistry, specifically lead oxide redox and came up with this, eh? Don't post irrelevant stuff like this as we want to build knowledge not nonsense on this site.
 
Definitely not to be done. In 1977 when my son was about three months old it was very cold out and I was bored looking out the window so I decided to fire up the pot for a casting session. I was in the basement and he was sleeping in his upstairs bedroom two story. About 45 minutes later the wife comes running down the stairs "the baby is all swollen up". Yes he was. His face and especially the eyes and lips . Face was not recognizable. Breathing was O.K so didn't take him to emergency. I didn't want him to see a doctor as I would probably been arrested for child endangerment. Needless to say I have NEVER MELTED ALLOY IN AN ENCLOSED SPACE from that day forward. I was amazed that fumes could travel through a dwelling the way it did. Don't do it!!
 
One thing that people don't think about with ventilation is the need for fresh air to come in to the area in order for stale air to go out. If you can bring some makeup air into the room across from where the air is being exhausted that way your exhaust fan will be running at max and not creating a vacuum in the room.
 
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