Wintertime Bullet Casting Question.

[cshold]

The only casting I've done to date was over warm weather.
I did my casting in the garage with the side door open and the roll up door up all the way and a fan running to circulate air.
I'd like to cast no more than 100 bullet's here in the January cold today.
I'm just wondering how y'all that cast year round handle the ventilation issue in the wintertime.

[wolfdog]

I open up the roll up doors and turn on the exhaust fan. But then again I live in Florida so it isn't really a hardship.

[vancelw]

I open up the roll up doors and turn on the exhaust fan. But then again I live in Florida so it isn't really a hardship.

Always a smart aleck in the group!

I seldom cast in very cold weather for that reason. It seems like the slightest breeze cools the mould off too quickly. I cast in my shop with 17 foot ceiling. It's well insulated and there's no breeze if I shut all the doors. Next time I try casting in cold weather I'm going to put up sidewalls so the pot and mould won't get direct air movement from the exhaust fan. It's hot work, casting in warm weather, but it seems to be easier to make consistent bullets when it's warm. Just gotta be careful about letting sweat drop in the pot!

[3leggedturtle]

I always casted in the basement with a window cracked and a fan pointed towards it.

[w30wcf]

If you are only casting 100 bullets or about 1 hrs worth, I would not worry about ventilation as long as the pot temp is below 900 degrees. I have cast bullets for years in the basement with little to no ventilation (no fluxing except outdoors!). I typically cast for no longer than 2 hrs at a time and my yearly physical indicates my lead levels are within the normal range.

w30wcf

[Shasta]

I have an 8'x12' insulated wood frame shed out back dedicated to my constant reloading activities. It seldom gets below freezing temperature around here. The shed has an evaporative cooling fan for summer use and a propane heater for winter use. My reloading bench extends the entire length of the 12' wall, and one end of the bench is reserved for bullet casting. Over the lead pot I have a built-in hood with exhaust fan, the kind you see over kitchen stoves. It works OK except when I add flux to the lead pot, creating great clouds of smoky air. For this I open the door and turn on the evaporative cooler's high volume fan to quickly blow the smoke out of the small room. I do most of my casting in the wintertime as summertime is extremely hot around here, and sometimes I will cast bullets all day long. I've been doing this for many years.
I had my doctor check my blood a couple years ago for lead levels and they were in the normal range.


SHASTA

[SteveR]

I do most of my casting in my basement, 9 foot ceilings, and the casement window is directly above my casting pot. I crack the window a little when heating lead and actual casting, but when fluxing I just open it up, amazing how good a draft I get through that window. When it is cold like this the wood stove and pellet stove help.

I also keep a couple layered sheet of tinfoil on top of the pot to help keep the heat in.

I do first melt outside, I have a really good place to get pure lead, but even that has that white nasty lead oxide on it, that is the dangerous stuff, it can enter the blood stream via breathing or unprotected skin. If you have any pure lead with that white powdery oxide on it, spray with shaving cream, then wipe of with rags and dispose of those rags.

Also wheel weights are nasty too, I try to clean them in a bucket of degreaser, then drain and dry, them melt into ingots outside.

Steve

[mikld]

I would just crack a window a bit and leave the door open a couple inches. Use the fan off to one side to direct the smoke towards the door, just move the air across the pot away from your face, and you'll be fine (when you flux mebbe open the door some more and leave until the smoke clears). While the temps usually don't get below 35-40 degrees here, it does rain a lot and I cast year round with this set-up...

BYW; lead ain't an evil demon just waiting to attack your brains and destroy your children's lives. It's just a common metal that some politicians have vilified in order to get votes, being "green" is way PC today. Use common sense and you won't ever have a problem; don't stand over the pot and do deep breathing exercises, just keep the air circulating. Don't chew on a bullet while you are casting. Wash your hands after a casting session. Don't stick your fingers in your mouth when you burn them.

And keep safe; always wear eye protection (I have tiny little melted spots on the lenses of my glasses where an itty-bitty blob of hot lead landed. Mebbe from dropping a cull back into the pot). Some keep a large tray under the pot to catch any spills. Always wear shoes and long pants while casting (Being of Okie lineage and growing up in coastal Southern CA I very often go barefoot or wear Birkenstocks, so I have burned the top of my feet from globs of lead a couple times; "oops, forgot my shoes!"). At some time or another you will get burned, expect it. Some wear gloves but I don't like the lack of feel or control when wearing gloves. Don't get excited when you drop a "perfect" bullet from your mold and pick it up to look closer BTDT! Just use common horse sense and you'll be OK and have fun...

[ollogger]

I try to do mine in the summer the wind here makes it impossible to cast out side in the winter



Brad

[Sixgun]

The nasty job of melting wheelweights down to ingots is done outside. The other 99.9% of my casting is done in the basement. I'm not freezing my butt off, nor am I gonna sweat in the summer. Life is full of enough challenges.

When my inlaws were replacing the big blower/heater in their butcher shop, I took out the fan from the old one. I have it so I can put it in front of the basement window.......so.....I take out the window, install the fan and open another window on the other side of the basement....it all takes about 45 seconds...........that baby will suck out the smokey air and about anything else if it gets too close to it.-----6

[yooper2]

I cast all winter in the garage with the man door propped open and a window over the casting bench open. A fan by the door blowing in and a small one in the window blowing out takes care of my ventilation. To account for the temperature change I find that I cast a bit faster in the winter but do not change the pot temperature (it's PID controlled), its not conscious but I do empty the pot more quickly when it's 0 than when it's 85. I wear my insulated carhartt coveralls, warm boots, heavy asbestos foundry gloves and get to work.



Eric

[2571]

I was casting outside on both 12/25 & NY day. 21° on Christmas & 18° on New Year's. What's the big deal? Wear a coat.

[Sixgun]

I was casting outside on both 12/25 & NY day. 21° on Christmas & 18° on New Year's. What's the big deal? Wear a coat.

2571,
My guess is you are a youngster.... ..well, compared to most guys here. Been there and done that......that's why you see old guys driving Cadillacs.......well, I ain't there yet....but not far from it either. The Jeep with leaf springs still gets driven......you never want your life to get too easy.

Besides, when it is especially cold, it's hard to keep the pot at 750 or 800.......takes considerably longer, after emptying the hot lead, to replenish the pot with ingots to be melted for the next batch.

I guess it really depends on how long of a casting session your doing. When I cast, im at it at least 5-7 hours, winding up with several thousand bullets.-----6

[Ben_Rumson]

I place a little fan like the kind found in the power supply of older computers next to the pot to pull away the fumes.. The fan is rigged with ducting hose ( that silver stuff ) like the kind found cars that I run out the window...
Good luck

[fordwannabe]

I cast in my shed out back. I has a set of double doors to get the lawn tractor in and a man door on the side. I open the man door and tie the double doors open with about a foot opening between them. I place a fan behind me and blow toward the double doors never smokey or stinky, and the pot and a old carhart keep me semi comfortable. Tom
I live in Berks county so the weather is pretty much the same as yours.

[cshold]

If you are only casting 100 bullets or about 1 hrs worth, I would not worry about ventilation as long as the pot temp is below 900 degrees. I have cast bullets for years in the basement with little to no ventilation (no fluxing except outdoors!). I typically cast for no longer than 2 hrs at a time and my yearly physical indicates my lead levels are within the normal range.

w30wcf

I followed your method John.
I cast about 70 total, 50 keepers.
I keep my pot at the 7.5 on the dial. Not sure what that equates to in temp.
The reason I needed 50 round's is I made another homemade old school box.
Here they are lubed and ready to cut. I'll do that and load them tomorrow.

38 wcf

[2571]

Why, thank you Sixgun. At 65 I consider myself and old fanny burp.

I cast 2-3 hours at a sitting but then get bored.

I use cinder blocks to divert wind wind around my electric pot. After about 10°, it becomes hard to cast with my gear because I can't keep the melt evenly heated.

I try not to cast in the heat of summer but there's really only 2 seasons here - winter & the month of July.

[Griff]

I cast in an uninsulated barn... or workshop attached to it. It has a few drafts, but, when casting in the winter, I fire up the propane space heater to regulate my temp... crack open the man-door, put the box fan in front of it on low and let it do it's thing. I can't run 3 molds like in the summer, but can still run two. My casting sessions ARE shorter... And I tend to pick the more unseasonable days!!!

[6pt-sika]

In the winter or summer I cast at the shop now indoors !

I crack two doors and create a draft , but I usually never cast more then 2 hours or so .

I cast about 100 of the NOE/RD 432-265GC HP bullet last week as a matter of fact .

[Sixgun]

I hear ya 2571! For some strange reason , I always pictured you as a young guy with a suit and tie.....ready to take on the world......you talk "young"------6

[BrentD]

I cast 200+ .38-40-180 bullets yesterday and 160 .45-70-514 today. Tomorrow I'll repeat the .45 cal work. I am too chicken to cast inside, no matter what, but my garage with the big door open and often other doors, is where I do my work. And the casting station is right there, next to the door too. The cold weather is fine, even prefered. I can cast faster than ever. I keep my lead at 800F typically.

[cshold]

I cast 200+ .38-40-180 bullets yesterday and 160 .45-70-514 today. Tomorrow I'll repeat the .45 cal work. I am too chicken to cast inside, no matter what, but my garage with the big door open and often other doors, is where I do my work. And the casting station is right there, next to the door too. The cold weather is fine, even prefered. I can cast faster than ever. I keep my lead at 800F typically.

Wow! I spent close to 2 hours start to finish on my little casting session yesterday.
I take my time and savor the moment.
I do baby that old Winchester mold and Winchester loading tool.
For me, it's definitely not about mass production

[BrentD]

I've got a lot of shooting to do, and I need a lot of bullets. The season is not really that far off - the first match is in March and then May, June, July will come like lightning. I hope to have all my brass reloaded for at least the first pass by the end of February and I would love to have all of my summer's bullets cast by then.

I only spend about 2 hrs casting at a time. A little less on Saturday when I was using a double cavity mould, and the bullets are small at 180 grs. Today, it goes about 80/hr. I don't savor it, but I work hard to make sure I have the best possible bullets for the .45s. That paces me at about 80/hr.

[30hrrtt]

I cast in a shed or my garage when it gets cold and don't worry much about ventilation with my rcbs pot. It doesn't get hot enough to vaporize the lead. Seems normal drafts are enough. I always melt down wheel weights outside or any time I'm using gas that can get the lead hotter. I handle lead several times a week. With common sense and good hygiene, my blood level has been <5 for years.

[M. M. Wright]

Don't you guys know that you're supposed to light the smoke over the pot when fluxing?

[Old Ironsights]

When I had the space available, I cast in an enclosed basement - but with a Venting Range Hood over my pots that exhausted out a bit of PVC through a hole in the mudsill.

The Vent Hood cost about $20 at a yard sale, the PVC even less. The CFM of a Range Hood is plenty for casting.