you have to THINK ALL OF THE TIME!

I got the "primitive" mold for the 10ga round ball (RB) from Track of the Wolf today. It's definitely primitive.

I thought I would cast up a quick 10 RBs and 1) check the mold, 2) check for roundness (waste of time with this mold), and 3) check the weights.

I warmed everything up and got to casting. The mold works well cold because it cools the lead faster and it closes tighter. Once it warms up, it doesn't close as tightly, and you have to 'keep the lead coming' until the gap seals. After the 5th ball was in the water bath the mold was pretty warm and I didn't wait long enough for the lead to solidify so when I dropped it in the water bath, it looked a little like a poached egg. Oh well.

I cast a total of 10 "good" ones, and shut everything down. Turned off the pot, dropped the various random pieces of lead that were laying around back into the pot and turned my attention to the balls in the water bath. I took the "poached egg" out and set it on the bench to dry and took the other 10 balls out and dried each of them. Three had visible voids so I dropped them back in the pot. I put the 7 remaining ones in my left hand, and assuming the "poached egg" had 'drip-dried' off enough to be dropped back in the pot, I picked up the pieces with my right hand an dropped them in the pot. My assumption was faulty. The pot EXPLODED! And that is neither exaggeration or hyperbole. It EXPLODED!

My right hand took the brunt of it, but there is a lot of lead on the 13-foot-high ceiling of my shop. I took some in the face, and lots of it dropped - still molten - down on my shirt and pants.

Here are some pictures:





Some of the lead came off the lens' before the photos could be taken.

My hand is burnt (2nd degree - blisters) over a fairly large part of the palm and fingers, but it doesn't photograph that well so no photos of that.

Honestly, I don't feel too stupid about this. I did think about the "poached egg" being dry, what I DIDN'T think about was that its convoluted shape may actually cup some water. There was no small amount of water. I'll get pictures of the bench top and surrounding mess later.

You gotta THINK about EVERYTHING you do when you're playing with molten metal. And it is always, always, ALWAYS ALWAYS unwise to work when you are rushed.

Data, info and pictures of the RB in the Black Powder and Muzzleloading section.

Paul

Every time I'm rushing things and I mean every time, things go bad. It's the story of my life........but now I've mellowed and...........ya sure!:Banghead: It could have been much worse, Paul......count your blessings. Regards, Rick.

Aint ya glad you have to wear glasses to see, they are likely the reason you can still see.
 
Glad you came off this lite, it is so easy to get in trouble I know from bitter experience in my past.

QuoteAint ya glad you have to wear glasses to see, they are likely the reason you can still see.

Amen!!! thank God you only came out with some burns (not making light of the burns). I don't know anything about casting, but can certainly see where hot molten metal can be dangerous!! to me this is a great post to share, may keep someone else from blowing up their pot!!! God Bless.

Quotemay keep someone else from blowing up their pot!!!

Was the point, really. You just have to THINK about everything you do when you are working with dangerous materials, or dangerous machines. Henry Pope, the famous gunmaker of the late 19th century, lost one of his eyes during a barrel bluing session.

Be careful out there, and WEAR YOUR GLASSES!

Paul

I'm glad that you're OK and glad that you wear glasses. It's a good reminder for us all.

who asked a while ago about a near miss?this is one.glad you got out ok Paul!

People claim you can make a pot of lead explode by squirting water on it, not true, but putting something in a pot that contains water sure will.
Another no-no is sweeping up scrap and sprues and including a primer in the mess, really gets loud and scary.
Very glad you came out with minor injuries, I have worn glasses since I was 12 and cannot begin to count the number of things that would have hit my eyes without glasses.
Carry on, just not quite so spectacularly!

QuoteCarry on, just not quite so spectacularly!

Actually, I try very zealously NOT to be 'spectacular'. Like other areas of my life, sometimes I do better than others.

All the blisters have quit forming and filling with fluid, and my right hand is considerably larger than my left. The worst blisters are between my middle and ring finger, and on my thumb. It is interesting that there are two kinds of blisters. I think one is from the steam and one is from the lead. If I am correct about that, the ones from steam are larger but there is no burnt skin. The other ones have burnt skin on the blister. I think that is from the lead contact.

The pain is VERY reminiscent of what my hand used to feel like when a "Black Cat" would go off "too soon"...

Paul

I thought I felt something "go off" about then.
Glad you are OK.
 
Still wearing the old tri-focals I see. I have a pair of the new vari-lux. They are vari nice. I hi-graded a pair of bi-focal safety glasses from work to wear when I'm casting/reloading and have my contacts in. Your accident reminds us all to be careful.
 
RJ

Yeah, I just noticed the tri-focals, man, even I don't have to wear those.
I do not suppose there is a place up there as there is here, single vision, lens and frames, $25, bifocals, lens and frames, $50 and no line , lens and frames $100, hard coating , $10 extra.
Wal mart here wants $100 + frames, for single vision.

Ouch!

:eek:Paul glad your ok and not hurt really bad.........Ron

QuoteWas the point, really.

I know!

Close call Paul, lucky the eyes came through ok, we had a bloke here recently who blew up himself and entire shed while reloading, who knows what laps of concentration caused the accident.
unfortunately he was'nt so lucky.

Know the feeling! I guess I had a little more luck than you as I escaped without blisters/burns.
Water being trapped and then dropped into the melt will always explode.