Making your own sinkers

B

Blue Marlon

New member
Hi Guys

Just want to put out a word of warning to guys making or wanting to make their own sinkers to be very careful.

On Monday I was melting down some lead into ingots and experienced something that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. The molten lead exploded into my face and left me with some nasty burns. I have been making my own sinkers for a while now and have never seen this happen before. After doing some reading up about it, I found that it is called a lead explosion and can happen quite easily due to various reasons. All things considered, I came off quite lightly because it could have been much worse.

I have learned two things from my experience. Wear protective gear when working with molten lead and keep anything wet well away from the broth

Ps......didn't want to gross anyone out with pics.

Be carefull....
BM
 
M

MAN VAN SEE

New member
Thanks for that ..i actually purchased a sinker cast/mould thing  a month ago and just haven't got into it yet ..but now i know !
 
K

...kRiLLin...

Senior Member
Yeah I have seen it happen, mainly either when the mould is too cold, or there are droplets of water in the mould still. So when you pour the lead into the mould, and it hits the droplets of water they tend to explode back at you.
 
S

shuraj

Sealiner
Glad to hear that are well and still able top tell us of your experience.

 

I got burned on my hand with lead and it is not a lekker feeling.

 

Safety 1st , when making sinkers m Gloves , goggles and an aprin
 
B

Blue Marlon

New member
Hi Ben

Water drops on the surface of the molten lead is the least of your worries. This will just cause some minor splatters and vaporize. The problem comes when water or air gets trapped beneath the surface of the lead. It will then get heated to a point where it will have to find a way out.....boom. There is a video on youtube where a guy places a piece of lead pipe into a pot which has molten lead in it. He places the pipe lengthwise into the pot and air gets trapped inside the pipe. What follows is shocking. Calling it an explosion is not an exaggeration.

Sounds like a cricket bat hitting a bathroom door.

BM
 
B

BigBen

Sealiner
@ Marlon
Glad u Ok bud..Thank God i've been lucky doing my own lead/sinkers thing for almost 20yrs without mishaps.

Thx for the wake up call coz one becomes quite complacent when you been doing it so long and neglect the safety aspect of what you actually doing.
 
S

shuraj

Sealiner
BigBen wrote:
Other than water drops by accident into hot lead, what else causes the explosions.

Do share..

((goodp_((goodp_
Click to expand...

Ben

When melting down lead it tends to form air pockets and due to the heat and density of the weight of the lead  , the air cannot escape until it has buildup enough pressure with the hea to cause an explosion/eruption

The only method to get rid of air pockets is by melting down small quantities at a  time  and stirring the lead to alow some of the  trapped air to escape.

Small quanities will not great big explosion unless you are negligent.

 
 
B

Blue Marlon

New member
Pieter Immelman wrote:
Blue Marlin:
What molds did u use?
Click to expand...

Hi Pieter

I wasn't using any moulds. The explosion came straight out of the pot. I wasn't actually making sinkers but simply melting down big pieces of lead into more manageable portions for when I do make sinkers.
 

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A

Arnie909

New member
My dad and uncle used to heat up the moulds in the oven for about 15min and only then poor in the lead. Never made my own sinkers without them but if I remeber correctly the only melted small amounts of lead. I still have plenty of sinkers but will take extra care next time.......

 

Good luck on the recovery!
 
F

flippy

Sealiner
Blue Marlon wrote:
Hi Guys

Just want to put out a word of warning to guys making or wanting to make their own sinkers to be very careful.

On Monday I was melting down some lead into ingots and experienced something that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. The molten lead exploded into my face and left me with some nasty burns. I have been making my own sinkers for a while now and have never seen this happen before. After doing some reading up about it, I found that it is called a lead explosion and can happen quite easily due to various reasons. All things considered, I came off quite lightly because it could have been much worse.

I have learned two things from my experience. Wear protective gear when working with molten lead and keep anything wet well away from the broth

Ps......didn't want to gross anyone out with pics.

Be carefull....
BM
Click to expand...

thank you ((goodp_
 
B

Blue Marlon

New member
Thanks for the well wishes guys. It's much better than the "are you feakin stupid" I've been getting from friends and family......LOL
 
H

hjfr

Senior Member
Speedy recovery, mate. I've been doing my own sinkers for 30plus years now, without any mishap. Just shows that one has to be careful all the time. I melt small amounts of lead at a time- for +- 6 sinkers at a time and put my mould in the pot with lead, while lead is melting, and in that way no nasty splatters and it pours easier. BUT will be wary next time round. Lead doesn't seem to as pure as it used to be in the past.
 
R

rofflign

Sealiner
And do your smelting outdoors,those fumes not to good,before I wised up I used to get headaches after snorkeling them up.
 
F

flippy

Sealiner
p49 wrote:
totally off the subject Flippy where did you find that avatar????????????????????
Click to expand...

hi.. made it myself.. you interested in something similar?

will make you one up no probs. ;)

or pm you how to.
 
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