VERY LUCKY ESCAPE (Lead making)

[JOHN1]

I decided to make up a few leads earlier on this morning, I was given a couple of stone of old used leads to remelt as the loops had corroded off them,every thing was going fine i had about 50 odd pears and balls made, I had made 150 loops so planned on making that amount of weights, that was untill I put an old 1lb bopedo weight into the pot, a couple of seconds later there was a serious explosion in the shed that sent molten lead and a 1lb weight all over the place, the bang was heard in the house I was very lucky to get away with a slight leg burn from lead that stuck to my jeans and a small burn to my wrist and to be honest i was fairly shaken,i count myself lucky to have my two eyes left as i dont wear goggles, well thats was untill today the only explanation i have is that the lead i put in to the pot was somehow holding water inside of it it must of made it's way inside a hollow when the wire was corroding.This is just a warning as to what can happen, i have been making my own leads since i was a kid and this is the first time anything like this has ever happend to me, and hopefully the last to all who make or are thinking of making their own leads go get some overalls and goggles

more splatter.jpg

lead suspect.jpg

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Last edited by JOHN1 on Sun Jul 17, 2011 4:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Very very lucky, ye could have been destroyed...

j..us john you had a very lucky escape there ,if that splatter had of hit it would have
destroyed you .deffo am going to get a pair of goggles after seeing that . by the way
where did you pick up those molds .

glad to hear youre ok John Was going to try making some as I got some lead flashing,i'll have to investigate further and put safety 1st ,,,thanks for the warning

Glad to hear you were not badly hurt John, could have been very serious. The pictures of the lead splattered all over the shead are scary

j..us john you had a very lucky escape there ,if that splatter had of hit it would have
destroyed you .deffo am going to get a pair of goggles after seeing that . by the way
where did you pick up those molds .

thanks ger, i think somebody must have been watching over me,ii got away very lightly, the moulds i borrowed from a mate thats why i was going for 150 thet are DO-IT moulds google them

glad to hear youre ok John Was going to try making some as I got some lead flashing,i'll have to investigate further and put safety 1st ,,,thanks for the warning

thanks dave overalls welders gauntlets and goggles is what is on my shopping list lidl do them all now and again

Glad to hear you were not badly hurt John, could have been very serious. The pictures of the lead splattered all over the shead are scary

got very close to brown underpants shane

Very very lucky, ye could have been destroyed...

never a truer word said flyno, thanks

holy good crap john!! that was a very lucky escape indeed man . i do all my leads on the cooker in the kitchen. i'd be scared to think what an explosion of lead 4 feet off the ground could do to your upper torso head and face . after seeing those pics i might invest in a gas burner for the work bench out back. certinly serves as an eye opener to the dangers of making your own leads!!
just glad you were'nt seriously hurt man.

A very lucky cape escape indeed John and many thanks for the warning, fair play to you for posting your experience I can only conclude: always make sure all the lead you intend to melt is dry and never ever add anything new to the already molten lead in the pot. Goggles, heavy leather gloves with long sleeves and an blacksmith's apron are not overkill. I'd also recommend using a mask covering your nose and mouth, lead fumes are highly toxic, so do not make your leads indoors or without proper ventilation!

That was a lucky escape John, glad you were not badly injured. I'd never have thought about water inside old leads when remoulding them! Lesson learnt for everybody.

lucky man,,,thanks for sharing it with us,,,il be wearing goggles from now on

My god John, very scary stuff indeed. I am glad to hear you are o.k and escaped with just a couple of burns, it could have been alot worse. Thankyou and fair play to you for putting this post up, it's a good warning to all of us and to anyone who is thinking of making their own leads or who does already what can happen and the dangers there is and to be so careful.

holy good crap john!! that was a very lucky escape indeed man . i do all my leads on the cooker in the kitchen. i'd be scared to think what an explosion of lead 4 feet off the ground could do to your upper torso head and face . after seeing those pics i might invest in a gas burner for the work bench out back. certinly serves as an eye opener to the dangers of making your own leads!!
just glad you were'nt seriously hurt man.

Thanks al, lead making in the kitchen is not a good idea beleive it or not i make my leads while kneeling on the floor in the shed so i was only about 3ft at the most from the pot

A very lucky cape escape indeed John and many thanks for the warning, fair play to you for posting your experience I can only conclude: always make sure all the lead you intend to melt is dry and never ever add anything new to the already molten lead in the pot. Goggles, heavy leather gloves with long sleeves and an blacksmith's apron are not overkill. I'd also recommend using a mask covering your nose and mouth, lead fumes are highly toxic, so do not make your leads indoors or without proper ventilation!

.no bother martin i have no problem sharing experiances like this with anybody, just goes to show things can happen very quickly.
i also leave the shed door and a window wide open for air

That was a lucky escape John, glad you were not badly injured. I'd never have thought about water inside old leads when remoulding them! Lesson learnt for everybody.

Thanks conor, lucky is right. yep water can get trapped in leads through pin holes,cut some leads in half and you will see airlocks in them, we fish some very deep watersand the pressures can force water in

lucky man,,,thanks for sharing it with us,,,il be wearing goggles from now on

thanks brian,next time i will have goggles on aswell

My god John, very scary stuff indeed. I am glad to hear you are o.k and escaped with just a couple of burns, it could have been alot worse. Thankyou and fair play to you for putting this post up, it's a good warning to all of us and to anyone who is thinking of making their own leads or who does already what can happen and the dangers there is and to be so careful.

thanks paula, it could have been a lot worse to say the least, i hate to think what it might be like to lose both eyes glad to post this up as a warning to others, we can all learn from this

were they bomb moulds you were useing john on a serious note had a friend get badly burned a few years ago he spent 2 months in hospital after making lead weights in the kitchen he was useing a blow torch and the cooker to melt the lead. the canister exploded in his hand all his face is still disfiqured.i know its like second nature to most of us to knock out a few leads in our spare time but we can become complacent with safety.i use a small steel ladel on a blue camping burner out the back garden and no one is allowed out the back while im doing them.i dont use goggles but i use gloves and a large pliers to put the lead in the ladel and also to hold the moulds.there about 18 inches long.thank god iv never had any accidents but if im ever useing old weighs i will cut them up before putting them in to the pot after reading this thanks john

You had some one looking down on you there John, blessed !

Glad your alright, could have been nasty.

Now go out and buy a lotto ticket !

Scary.

Thank goodness it was not worse than what it was.

Thankyou for posting and making everyone aware of what CAN HAPPEN.

Tried to put it up on the WSF in the UK, haven't a clue how to.

Can anyone else do it??

Great post John (if you know what I mean!)
Had an explosion many years ago myself when I was a youngfella - still have the little scar on my hand to prove it.
I only recently went melting again to make jig heads - I treat lead with mucho respect nowadays. Even a pair of shades will offer some protection for your eyes - better than the "safety squint".

were they bomb moulds you were useing john on a serious note had a friend get badly burned a few years ago he spent 2 months in hospital after making lead weights in the kitchen he was useing a blow torch and the cooker to melt the lead. the canister exploded in his hand all his face is still disfiqured.i know its like second nature to most of us to knock out a few leads in our spare time but we can become complacent with safety.i use a small steel ladel on a blue camping burner out the back garden and no one is allowed out the back while im doing them.i dont use goggles but i use gloves and a large pliers to put the lead in the ladel and also to hold the moulds.there about 18 inches long.thank god iv never had any accidents but if im ever useing old weighs i will cut them up before putting them in to the pot after reading this thanks john

bomb leads never even crossed my mind Derek sounds like a nasty accident your mate had

You had some one looking down on you there John, blessed !

Glad your alright, could have been nasty.

Now go out and buy a lotto ticket !

your right there Danny, good idea i will do the euro millions draw tonight

Scary.

Thank goodness it was not worse than what it was.

Thankyou for posting and making everyone aware of what CAN HAPPEN.

Tried to put it up on the WSF in the UK, haven't a clue how to.

Can anyone else do it??

thanks lad, i post on wsf myself just havent got around to it yet

Great post John (if you know what I mean!)
Had an explosion many years ago myself when I was a youngfella - still have the little scar on my hand to prove it.
I only recently went melting again to make jig heads - I treat lead with mucho respect nowadays. Even a pair of shades will offer some protection for your eyes - better than the "safety squint".

i know exactly what you mean jim it scared the crap out of me,but it hasnt turned me off.
i have always been extremley cautious and treated the whole game of lead melting with a great deal of respect this experiance has just taught me a very good lesson of never think it CANT happen to you

That's a real eye opener John glad your ok, I think I'll be more careful next time I make some thanks for posting this it might save someone a bad injury

That's a real eye opener John glad your ok, I think I'll be more careful next time I make some thanks for posting this it might save someone a bad injury

Thanks paul, you can never be too carefull

Very nasty glad to hear you got away lightly... Don't know if this has been mentioned already but drilling some holes with a fine drill head in old leads a few days prior can minimise water retention but as you said there could still be pockets of water... Thanks for posting it might just save someone from serious injury.