PPE for casting sessions?

I'll probably get flamed for this... but here goes.

Leather slippers
Jeans
Cotton shirt
Deer Skin gloves

I wear glasses, so don't really see the need for anything extra. I have a full face shield but its a PITA to use, so I don't.

That's about it.

On my to get list are full cuff welding gloves and a leather welding apron.
I should probably dawn my leather hunting boots, but don't.... Maybe get some oxfords from the good will store?

Ventilation is important. I rigged this up, which exhausts to the outside. Don't use any respiratory stuff.

CastinPot.jpg

The hobby isn't particularly hazardous unless you do something really stupid.

M
 

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Gloves & GLASSES ARE A MUST!!!! Several years ago, (after casting for over 30 years), a drop of liquid caused a smallish explosion in my pot. Nothing really great but enough liquid lead to get your attention, with a thin coating of lead in various places. If 1 little bit gets in your eyes it wouldn't make for a pleasant experience. As the saying goes, "God gave you 1 pair of eyes and no matter how much He loves you, He will NOT give you another." Hate to bore you with this but I repair industrial machinery for a living. I've had about 3-4 occurrences where there was NO POSSIBLE WAY I NEEDED GLASSES, (but wore them anyway). I'm certain I would have been short at least 1 eye from these accidents that never should have occurred BUT DID. WEAR GLASSES!!!!! I'd rather cast naked ( not a pretty sight) than without glasses.
 
Leather welding glove on the left, cheap split patch leather work glove on the right, safety glasses with side shields. If I'm not wearing long sleeves already I'll put on my lightweight cotton welding jacket.
 
leather welding gloves and that all, i break the sprue by hand. that being said once i get my new bench built in the next couple months i will have an exhaust system setup.
 
Eye protection - I've had drops splash in my face, never hit my glasses yet but could have.

Leather gloves. Don't use these gloves for anything except casting.

Leather boots or shoes. Pull the pant leg over the boot top. a spill into the open top of a slip-on boot could really mess up your foot.

Ventilation

And probably most important of all - clean up our casting area after every session, and wash your hands thoroughly before you do anything else when you take a break or finish casting.
 
Good call jethunter, since my basement is wide open and unfinished I may install a sink just for my reloading/casting bench. I'll put in a grease separater to catch the lead particles and in 50 years I'll have maybe a couple pounds of lead to re melt lol.
 
Gloves & GLASSES ARE A MUST!!!! Several years ago, (after casting for over 30 years), a drop of liquid caused a smallish explosion in my pot. Nothing really great but enough liquid lead to get your attention, with a thin coating of lead in various places. If 1 little bit gets in your eyes it wouldn't make for a pleasant experience. As the saying goes, "God gave you 1 pair of eyes and no matter how much He loves you, He will NOT give you another." Hate to bore you with this but I repair industrial machinery for a living. I've had about 3-4 occurrences where there was NO POSSIBLE WAY I NEEDED GLASSES, (but wore them anyway). I'm certain I would have been short at least 1 eye from these accidents that never should have occurred BUT DID. WEAR GLASSES!!!!! I'd rather cast naked ( not a pretty sight) than without glasses.

Listen to this Man
 
I have a friend who casts. He had an incident - he got tangled up in the power cord for the lead pot and pulled it off the bench. Twenty pounds of molten lead went airborne but it didn't get him. He's lucky.
 
I would not melt lead without safety glasses , complete with side shields as a minimum for eye protection. I do all my rough melting and alloying out doors with a propane turkey cooker in front of my shop. And my casting just in side the shop with the big doors open and a fan at my back. I wear long a sleeve denim shirt and pants , boots and leather work gloves. If I can get a nice pair of tig gloves I would use them , but find regular welding gloves a bit cumbersome .
Here is a little story of what a little laps of mind can do. I was doing some alloying and casting one day , with the before mentioned set up. I had a helper that day who was feeding the little Lee pot , so I could keep the 6 cavity mould rolling. My helper was new to casting , and I was giving him all my great wisdom on casting LOL. I think 3 times that morning , I has told him about water and molten lead being dangerous. Well wouldn't you know a little rain shower came by for a few seconds , after we had finished up the alloying and what had not gone in to the casting pot had gone into ingots. I wanted to flux the pot one more time and my long handled fluxing spoon was lying out side on the turkey cooker . I must have been a little damp , because when I put it in the casting pot , all hell broke loose . My first thought was I had to be badly burned. But realized I had no pain , and on inspection I had lead splatters on my safety glasses , all over the fount of my shirt and melted in to my beard. I did not even have any superficial burns. Of course I quickly told my helper this was just a demonstration for his benefit.
I still have a set of elastic suspenders in my drawer , with lead melted into them to remind me. That's for my benefit.
 
Besides the other safety gear, I like to wear some light weight wool socks!
Polyester will melt....JMHO.

Good point. I knew a guy who spent months in hospital because his shirt was some man-made fiber that melted into his skin, where a cotton shirt would have left him with a comparably minor injury.
 
A fellow who lived in my town had an old style printing press. He got a splash of hot Linotype inside his boot on top of his foot. He suffered with that. He was a religious man, but he probably said darn and gosh a few times.
 
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