[hawnjigs]

Yup, long sleeves might have prevented arm burns, and my safety glasses have quite a few burn marks from flying lead over the years. I'm being more careful to ease the cold ingots into the melt gradually now.

[BLT]

Old lead water pipes always worry me. They sat for over a year in the garage, and I still used a big hunk of plywood as a shield lol.

[WidowMaker]

I once had some wheel weights sitting in a completely dry place indoors for well over two years and had a blow up. About ten pounds of lead blew into the air. Be carefull when melting wheel weights. The steel clips can work loose allowing moisture to seep in between the clip and lead. Just one wheel weight with a tiny amount of moisture in it can go off like a shotgun and empty the entire pot into the air.

All lead needs to be pre-melted outside in open air and then immediately stored in a safe/dry place and left there until it is ready to be used.

Important - Always pre-melt lead under some type of shed.

I was once melting lead outside and carrying it in a cast iron kettle over to a sheet of steel to pour it into strips. There wasnt a cloud in the sky but all of a sudden it started sprinkling rain for about four seconds. It scared the crap out of me and instead of throwing the pot i froze up and stood there with the pot in my hand. I was darn lucky none of the rain went into the pot or i would have definitely got blasted.

[hawnjigs]

Yeah, if you're in an area where salt is on the road from sea spray or freeze control that can get into the wheel weights and absorb water in humid conditions. Some years back I bought some antimony melt flux from a guy on eBay which was some kind of pink salt that sucked enough water from the air to become droplets in minutes. So atmospheric humidity could be a risk factor to consider.

[bassman843]

I feel like I need to add to this post since I recently just got burned on my arm from putting lead into my pot should've worn my welding gloves with the long sleves on them to prevent it won't take a chance next time.definitly isn't a burn that I will ever want to have happen again .

[ensenada don]

I agree with all of the above,but would put safety glasses at the TOP of the list. Seems like pouring into a Do-it type mold they want to "spit" just a drop when you fill the cavity. You've only got two eyes.....

[Spike-A-Pike]

Safety glasses are good, but if they are put on under a clear shield, I think the protection would be more complete. Maybe I was in military industrial work places to long. On the flight line, we'd wear ear plugs under ear muffs, same thing when servicing liquid oxygen, gloves, apron, and helmet mounted face shield.
Is over kill, I don’t think so, AFOSH safety standards were a result of implementing safety preventions after somebody was either injured or killed.

[cadman]

Originally Posted by Spike-A-Pike

Safety glasses are good, but if they are put on under a clear shield, I think the protection would be more complete. Maybe I was in military industrial work places to long. On the flight line, we'd wear ear plugs under ear muffs, same thing when servicing liquid oxygen, gloves, apron, and helmet mounted face shield.
Is over kill, I don’t think so, AFOSH safety standards were a result of implementing safety preventions after somebody was either injured or killed.

Funny you should mention this, not really funny but very interesting. To this day, I wear safety glasses, and a full clear face shield. Like ensanada don said you only have two eyes, and I cherish them. I would rather get burned on my arms( Not really), than lose my vision. You lose more than just tackle making when you lose your vision. Your whole life changes. Always wear protection, even if you think you're over doing it. Better to be safe than sorry.

[UPMuskyr]

There is a mention of a "good quality" respirator, what type of resprirator are we talking about?? Just a dust type mask or some sort of cartridge type???

[Spike-A-Pike]

UPMuskyr.
Try this link for a few ezamples. The only way to answer a broad question like your's is to tell to figure out what type of hazard you plan to encounter. OSHA has more on the subject.

resperator?