Precautions when working with molten metal

its not usually an issue but

leather gloves and boots so any molten shit runs off, pants no shorts/etc.

If you use plastics they will melt and the plastic and metal will hurt you. So cotton/canvas and leather are your friends. tennis shoes have vents and shit that it could run down, plus are made of plastics

have a bucket of water nearby for any burns, the quikcer you cool off the better.

Learned most of that from plumbing/soldering before. When I was younger I soldered in running shoes and if it wasnt such a small amount could of been bad

>>1051288
Sure thing pal
>long sleeves, pants from leather or cotton or a specifically designed high temp workshirt
>tuck boots and shoes under pant legs, molten metal can fall down your pant leg, you want it to go onto the ground not to fill up your boots
>specialty high temp gloves or thick leather. gloves dont protect, they just buy you time
>eye protection is a must, preferably full face mask. Seen drops of aluminum go into people's faces, that shit is permanent and will fuck you up before you can get it off
>CLEAN. MOLDS. the last thing you want is to pour 3 cups of steel into a nice mold only to have it blow up in your face because there were a few little drops of water at the bottom that immediately turn into superheated steam and spray metal all over. Keep em in a hot oven until pouring time.
>some metal fumes from galvanized stuff is really harmful, i always recommend doing this knd of shit in a well ventilated spot
>if your keys fall in they're already gone, dont try to fish them out Dale you fucking idiot
>radiant heat is really harsh, get shaded mask
>fire extinguisher type B C and a bucket of lime for metal fires

>>1051301
Oh, also quenching should be done with a high volume, low surface area container. I use a big metal garbage can.

Cheers for the replies! I'll be sure to follow your advice and hopefully avoid any nasty injuries.

>>1051288
The worse hazards I've found are as follows:

>crucible failure - always check your crucible for damage before you use it. If the wall thickness has become too thin, don't bother using it. You can get away with Steel crucibles for a few Aluminium melts, but don't push it.

>Concrete floors: Don't pour metal over it, put sand down

>Keep everything dry - don't let your scrap metal get wet, you don't want random steam explosions. Cans aren't so bad (you'll never get all the moisture out of them) just stand back a bit when you put them in.

>>1051342
Worst hazard ive found is I had a plaster mold failure while casting lead, and my yard is like 100% sand, and like 60% crappy patchy grass. I poured over a big dead spot of grass and just lose sand. And the mold failed and I didn't see it come out the bottom. And I was just wearing crappy shoes. And the molten lead had sunk into the lose sand and basically I stepped on it. I ended up digging my yard the day after to find the lead that had fallen. And it was in a little flat wide paddy about 8mm thick and about 3 inchs wide around. And about 4 inches into the sand.

Lucky my shoe took most of the blunt and just got a stove blister.

forge accidents hurt. Casting accidents maim...

Aluminium, you can get away with leather apron, faceshield (remember, looking into a furnace will result in IR damage that can cause cataracts), work boots, and welder's gloves, its a relatively low temperature, and you are probably not going to be pouring more than a few hundred grams.

1. Even trace amounts of moisture and metal don't mix Steam explosions are the #1 cause of death in foundries.

2. NEVER put water on a metal fire. This can cause a large explosion

3. Have a DRY pile of sand and a shovel ready to put out fires or to control metal spills.

4. Have a sand bed under all areas. The sand bed should be at least 3 inches thick. This will help in containing metal spills and will help protect flooring.

5. Never pour over wet ground. Remember, even TRACE AMOUNTS of moisture can cause explosions.

6. Molten metal spilled on concrete will cause the concrete to explode. Use a thick sand bed over concrete.

7. Always use clean metal as feedstock. Combustion residues from some lubricants and paints can be very toxic.

8. Always operate in a well-ventilated area. Fumes and dusts from combustion and other foundry chemicals, processes and metals can be toxic.

9. Use a NIOSH rated dusk mask. Dusts from sand, parting dusts and chemicals can be hazardous or cancer causing. Protect your lungs

10. Always use safety glasses. Even minor mishaps can cause blindness.

11. Never use a crucible that has been damaged or dropped. It's just not worth the risk.

12. Always charge crucibles when cold. Adding metal to a hot crucible is really dangerous. If there is moisture on the metal, even just a haze, the metal can cause the entire contents of the crucible to explode.

13. Spilled molten metal can travel for a great distance. Operate in a clear work area.

14. Think about what you are doing at all times. Focus on the job at hand and the next step. Have all moves planned and rehearsed prior to any operation.

>>1051301
pouring steel? you dont cast steel....

>>1051288

I don't have much experience with the subject, but the few times that I have done any casting I just built a fire and put my cans over it to dry it out then melted them in a cast iron skillet I found lying around in my forge.

On the scale your planning nothing to bad should go wrong so long as you don't do something stupid. I have a latrge tank of water in the shop that I could fit in in the case of a serious burn so maybe get yourself a tub of you're worried about it.

>>1051499

Yes you do.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_casting

>>1051537
>https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_casting

cool thanks for the correction, I always thought due to oxidation steel wasn't cast

Ok op

THIS IS VERY FUCKING IMPORTANT DON'T SKIMP ON THIS PART

when pouring molten aluminum you MUST bake the mold in an oven at around 400 to drive all water out, even a metal mold

The pores get filled with water and when you put molten metal over it they all turn to steam and the molten metal explodes

>>1051499
Wtf? Of course you can cast steel

>>1051499
wew lad

>>1051539
steel oxidation has more to do with moisture, also steel is cheap as fuccxx so it's not a huge concern

>>1051288
1: Consider all safety tips listed above.
2: Consider exactly why you need ingots of aluminum. Because they will just take up space unless you actually do something with them.

>Any other advice regarding the operation of a homemade furnace etc

Do a few dry runs. Start from beginning and go all the way to the end of everything you need to do, before you actually fire up your furnace. Actually mime everything you'll be doing. This will help you figure out what you need to do, change your setup if needed, and be far safer than being in the middle of carrying hot aluminum when realizing your mold is still in the oven or your dog decides to check everything out and jump on you.

I do that for anything dangerous I'll be doing. From using power tools, to working on ladders, to sweating pipes, to metalcasting. I mime where applicable and visualize where I can't mime. It has been a huge help in everything.

>all this WATER WILL FUCKING KILL YOU talk
What would happen if you had a small thermite charge in a can of water?

>>1052414
It would probably go through the container because water can't put thermite out. Still, thermite and molten metals are totally different things.

>>1052414
Make alotta steam probably. More interesting would be a sealed container of water with an interior thermite charge. if the container is weak enough itll kaboom

>>1052414
you're completely misunderstanding what happens. Its nothing like thermite in a can of water. though that would be fucking stupid.

what happening is molten metal, lets say 2,000-degree bronze at casting temperature, gets poured into a mould that's got moisture in it. not a can of water, "just" moisture.

that moisture instantly vapourises, what's called flash steam - it doesnt boil off bubbling, it instantly goes from moisture, to superheated steam - and as it does so, increases in volume by at least 1,600 times - and created pressure, which displaces the metal. And I do mean that "instantly" bit. Boom. in a thousandth of a second you've gone from having a nice crucible of molten metal being poured into a mould, to a small grenade, covered in molten metal, which will proceed to spray outward at a couple of hundred miles per hour.

right into the person doing the casting.

That is what makes moisture, in concrete, or the likes, so dangerous around a casting. A thermite reaction isnt going to do anything like as dangerous, because there's a large volume of water, and thus a large thermal mass - the energy of boiling off is absorbed into the steam. In fact, you can pour molten bronze or copper into a tank of water, and it is pretty harmless, just bubbles away, because there's enough volume of water to prevent a steam explosion. Its small amounts of moisture, like you get in a concrete floor, which are deadly.

>>1051288
>wants to make ingots
>doesn't know how to

You could say OP is.... ingotrant

>>1052473
heres a dumbass question
i imagine it takes a shitload of cans to do any meaningful casting, so:

how badly does do things turn out if you pour multiple times into a mold? im guessing it that the different temperature aluminum wouldn't mix together well at all, yeah?

>>1052514
Probably a bad idea, I recommend hearing it up all together. I would also get a good thermometer to get things to mix well

>>1051499
You can melt down steel as long as you have access to jet fuel.

>>1053492
You can also melt down Jet Fuel as long as you have access to Steel. Scientists never proved whether the relationship had a positive or negative correlation.

>>1051499
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwsxZqfa2ew

Not trying to dismiss people's wisdom here (I know nothing about metal working) but aren't you all overestimating the impact of moisture? I remember watching this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEEOkMW1CYI

He doesn't even wear protection when he pours molten aluminum into a pool.

>>1053680
Some are.

But it does vary. I mean you have moisture in your Green Sand (it's Sand, Bentonite clay and water) - the water escapes through the sand so it's not a problem.

And that's the essence of it, i.e. whether steam can escape.

Under the right circumstances you can pour metal into water or successfully urinate into a crucible of molten Iron.

But if you pour metal onto concrete then trapped moisture can't escape, so expanding steam can blow chunks out of the concrete slinging molten metal along with it.

The same with adding damp metal to molten metal. It might be ok, or the steam might sling some metal from the crucible.

>tl:dr Don't pour above concrete. Don't store your scrap metal somewhere were it can get wet. Preheat permanent moulds.

>>1053680
>Not trying to dismiss people's wisdom here (I know nothing about metal working) but aren't you all overestimating the impact of moisture?

you tell me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uzpy7PYitI

or for iron-working.... this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RYCXDUt2m8

Still think its "overestimating"?

hot metal is hot, use gloves, don't get any on you, do it away from flammable stuff. thats all i can contribute

>>1052473
They aren't wrong op. I casted ingots into a cast iron pan that apparently had moisture in it.

I did get a small scar on my arm though. And i did want it just so when people ask me i can say

>i got that scar in an unfortunate smelting accident.

Lol, but yeah OP. Molten metal is not pleasant.

>>1052507
Thats where i was a year ago. Now i'm building my 4th foundry and selling ingots by the truckload soon.

God i can't wait until i figure out how to automate it.

>>1051288
I rigged up a small smelter in my back yard. My advice if you run charcoal make sure your fuel area holds lots (I ran out of fuel just at meltpoint for copper). Also get some welding gloves, they're long sleeve and insulated. Plus steel toe boots never hurt. And keep track of your blower/air supply. I accidentally left the blower on while reigniting the fire and damn near burnt my hair off.