• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Using mask while melting lead.

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Mar 7, 2019
Messages
432
Reaction score
424
I've recently started making my own roundballs and Maxi-balls. I'm pouring outside with a breeze but still get a whiff of dross now and then. After pouring some ingots, I decided to get a mask. I bought a half face respirator with 2 P-100 filter cartridges.
I'm curious how many more experienced melters are wearing a mask. I know lead fumes at 900° but I don't have a fancy temp controller and don't want to poison myself.
 
Sir:

I respectfully offer the following: I cast 5,000 pure lead bullets per year for my Enfield rifle. .577 315 grain wc. I shot same annually. I was lead tested every six months for 12 years. Never a trace of lead in my blood. I cast indoors in various apartments or houses over the years, Lead at 750 degrees F. is not a danger. No eating or drinking or sucking your thumb, thank you.

Ten years after shooting small bore rifle indoors, I had an elevated lead level. Hot powder gasses against soft lead slugs indoors created concentrated lead exposure.

I am not suggesting there is no danger in exposure to lead. But normal bullet casting with some common sense did not produce any ill effects that could be found through normal testing.

ADK Bigfoot
 
I've recently started making my own roundballs and Maxi-balls. I'm pouring outside with a breeze but still get a whiff of dross now and then. After pouring some ingots, I decided to get a mask. I bought a half face respirator with 2 P-100 filter cartridges.
I'm curious how many more experienced melters are wearing a mask. I know lead fumes at 900° but I don't have a fancy temp controller and don't want to poison myself.

Wearing a mask is highly advisable, and a good choice. if you don't have positive pot ventilation. There are lots of nasty fumes and particles that can come off the pot when melting, especially if you are melting scrap lead. Some fumes can be very toxic.
A p-100 is a good choice, they are used for welding, just make sure you have a clean shaven face and your mask fits to make a good face seal.
 
or stand on the upwind side.

Been melting lead for over 50 years and my lead blood level is less than 3.

Eating, smoking or drinking while melting it is WAY more dangerous than what you are doing.

Wash your hands and face before eating or smoking or drinking.

The stuff you are smelling is the junk in the cast lead and not lead. Lead does not vapor until very hot 900 degrees F, I don't think so but at 900c be very careful.
 
Last edited:
Lead itself once melted produces virtually no vapors. Your risk of getting lead sickness from the actual vapors of lead is minute.

However, trace metals and contaminants can be another matter. Casting should always be done with plenty of ventilation. Take some simple lead contamination measures and don’t cook and soup in your lead pot and you will be okay. 😬
 
Sir:

I respectfully offer the following: I cast 5,000 pure lead bullets per year for my Enfield rifle. .577 315 grain wc. I shot same annually. I was lead tested every six months for 12 years. Never a trace of lead in my blood. I cast indoors in various apartments or houses over the years, Lead at 750 degrees F. is not a danger. No eating or drinking or sucking your thumb, thank you.

Ten years after shooting small bore rifle indoors, I had an elevated lead level. Hot powder gasses against soft lead slugs indoors created concentrated lead exposure.

I am not suggesting there is no danger in exposure to lead. But normal bullet casting with some common sense did not produce any ill effects that could be found through normal testing.

ADK Bigfoot
you will actually find that the lead contamination at indoor ranges does not come from the bullet, it comes from the primer dust.
Elevated lead issues are common among police officers that have to quality monthly - at indoor ranges.
I too, have cast hundreds, no thousands of pounds of lead over a lifetime. I have a lead test included at every yearly physical.
I have never shown any elevations. I have never used a mask or anything else.
Keep your hands out of your mouth, don't eat drink or smoke while casting.
It won't hurt you unless you ingest it, and it will not be in vapor form until it gets way over 3,000 degress.

"""
What is the evaporation point of lead?
The melting point of lead—at 327.5 °C (621.5 °F)—is very low compared to most metals. Its boiling point of 1749 °C (3180 °F) is the lowest among the carbon group elements.
 
I've cast tens of thousands of bullets, never worn a mask, never had an elevated lead level.

I avoid indoor ranges like the plague.

Lead poisoning is highly over hyped in this country, where the populace seemingly has become very easy to scare.

It has led to the point that lead is difficult to get in this country, highly controlled by the government and we do not even have any capacity to smelt the lead we dig out of the ground here to metal( a very necessary component in the 2A). All metal lead we "make" here is recycled, mostly from car batteries, which can be dangerous to melt at home due to the alloy composition (cadmium). Stay away from melting car batteries and keep your hands washed and you'll be fine.
 
I run a fan on low...but I only make 100 RB at a time
That’s exactly what I do, fan at my side blowing the fumes away. I have a 30x 40 pole barn that I cast in, so it’s not terribly confining and I’m pretty confident that fan blowing the fumes away is good enough. I cast about 200 at a time .. once a month or so.
 
I asked my DR to check my blood for lead or heavy metals. He about freaked out until I explained why.
My old family doctor some 50+ years ago - I asked about a lead test.
He asked me if I was 'stillin' - he knew my grandfather from way back and knew that he had a still - and used some plumbing that contained lead - not unheard of that many years ago. I too explained why and he ran the test every year until he retired and I had to find a new doctor.
 
I think use a mask if it pleases you to do so, it can do no harm. I have been casting minnies etc since 1973. I decided to have a blood test a few months ago to check my lead levels. To my surprise they were normal. I have always cast in a well ventilated area and never used respiratory protection. I am now near on 60.
 
Face it, for most of us our biggest threat from lead comes from being shot by the wife. I cast on my picnic table on nice days and in the garage by the 17 ft door with it open when raining. Used to cast in the basement but fluxing always stunk it up. I'm 69 and had my Spleen removed due to the big "C" so lead poisoning is low on my list of worries. Relax, life is a risk, I still ride my Harley and drive my Porsche too fast, probably should go back to flying just to tweak Death's nose at this point. Life's what you make it.
 
I cast outside the garage under a overhang. I wear safety glasses, leather gloves, leather shoes, and denim jeans and a long sleeve cotton shirt or denim jacket. I've thought about a face mask, but not done it. If it is warm and I have a glass of ice water or ice tea around, I make sure it isn't close to my casting setup and that I have to get up to go get a drink to avoid a spin in the hot lead pot. I don't wear a mask.
 
Back
Top