What safety percosions should I take when I melt lead down???

It's like cooking Bacon, your going to get burnt!

And then the lungs thing...

Use common sense.

Keep the area well ventilated. Don't touch the hot stuff with your bare hands.

I've heard of one that said it blew up and burned them. Lol Yea bacon grease. Moisture would be a no no. Thinking the cold lead must of had condensation on it and they dropped it in some already molten stuff.

I've melted some several times with no problems. I used a small fan. I'm dumb enough with out adding lead.

I pour outside, best ventilation I've found Be ready to answer some questions if you have any neighbors nearby 

Biggie is the moisture thing....no moisture in or on It'll blow. Wear glasses and I wear surgical gloves...the cheap ones. They help

Becare full when when adding the lead to pot...thats usually when @!$% happens. I also pour outside

I pour at a garage in a friends house.  We keep it well ventilated and we still wear masks and gloves and a long sleeve shirt.

You want to wear safety glasses as a minimum, a full face shield is preferred, long sleeves and no open toe shoes, the same long pants also. Make sure your area is dry and moisture free, if you are sweating, walk away from the work area and wipe your brow and put on a sweat band. Make sure your shirt and pants are 100% cotton, the reason being is that manmade fibers can and will melt which will stick to your skin and cause burns. Use cotton hot mill gloves and make sure your work area is well ventilated and do not smoke or eat while working with lead, it isn't the breathing of the fumes but ingestion that is the big concern, lead doesn't vaporize until well after 900+ degrees and it melts at a little over 600 degrees so keeping an eye on temp will limit exposure as well. Once you are done, wash hands thoroughly before putting anything in your mouth.

You want to wear safety glasses as a minimum, a full face shield is preferred, long sleeves and no open toe shoes, the same long pants also. Make sure your area is dry and moisture free, if you are sweating, walk away from the work area and wipe your brow and put on a sweat band. Make sure your shirt and pants are 100% cotton, the reason being is that manmade fibers can and will melt which will stick to your skin and cause burns. Use cotton hot mill gloves and make sure your work area is well ventilated and do not smoke or eat while working with lead, it isn't the breathing of the fumes but ingestion that is the big concern, lead doesn't vaporize until well after 900+ degrees and it melts at a little over 600 degrees so keeping an eye on temp will limit exposure as well. Once you are done, wash hands thoroughly before putting anything in your mouth.

x2

 

Pouring lead is serious business. This is the best advice I would give as well. Also make sure you don't have any distractions like, pets or little children running around. Stayed focused on what you are doing, and set aside time to do it. Do not rush to get things done. This is where accidents happen. The rest is all experience. Mainly stay safe and think of everything you do before you do it.

Using a melting pot and not open fire is the key. Lead is actually quite safe to work with even with just the most minimal procautions. By using a melting pot you will likely never to get lead hot enough to contaminate air. I am by no means saying do not use precautions. Please use them. Someone said something about water ....Think of one drop of water expanding to 300x its size in a blink of an eye the displacement of liquid lead will equate to about the size of a golfball being blown out of your pot...No good can come of that. Most people have enough common sense to not hurt themselves...Burns yes, no matter what precautions you take it will happen. BE SAFE...Some actual facts below..

 

Keep the temperature on the lead pot as low as possible.  Lead melts at 621°F.  Lead boils at 3180°F, but significant amounts begin to evaporate above 900°F.  Any lead vapor quickly forms a very fine lead oxide powder and can be inhaled.

I've handled countless tons of lead, a lot of it by hand.  Lead was a big item in the printing business many years ago, as they were switching over to lithoplate (aluminum sheets) I cleaned out quite a bit of lino and monotype.  Lead and it's alloys in the scrap is a mainstay item, I have always handled it in quite a few forms.  I've been in lead smelting operations many times, I would take precautions if I were working with it.  Gloves, respirator, non flamable apron, hat and hard shoes would be an absolute priority, even handling small amounts on an occasional basis in a melting capacity.  As far as handling the lead itself by hand without gloves, I don't see that as a problem, a good washing with brush isn't a bad idea afterwards.