PPE recommendations

Personal Protection Equipment, How to Play Safe in an Unsafe World.
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kaffine
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 9:10 pm

PPE recommendations

Post by kaffine »

I am starting to get into casting aluminum. For my first few attempts I used a combination of my arc flash and welding PPE. However I figure if I am going to keep casting I better get the correct PPE before I need it.

My plans now are for aluminum but figure if there isn't much difference in cost I might as well get what is needed for iron instead of having to upgrade later on.


What all PPE is recommended for casting aluminum? Is there much difference between what is needed for casting aluminum vs cast iron?

Thank you.
mite5255
Posts: 1740
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 1:11 am
Location: Caboolture Qld Australia

Re: PPE recommendations

Post by mite5255 »

Hi kaffine and welcome. The only PPE I use is welding PPE, I also use a wire mess face shield, at the moment I only cast aluminum, brass and bronze.

Mike
When life gets tough, remember: You were the strongest sperm :)
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Jammer
Posts: 1487
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:04 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: PPE recommendations

Post by Jammer »

Welding jacket, face shield, safety Glasses, welding gloves, helmet (to hold the face shield and keep hot stuff off my head). I try to keep the tops of my boots covered and wear heavy jeans.
For Iron, I would use full leathers with chaps down to my boots. A reflective face shield helps but is expensive. Just need to button down tight. Depends on if you using crucible Iron or tapping a cupola. Cupola gets a whole lot crazier.
Welcome to the forum. Tell us a little about your background .. Arc Flash kind of caught my attention. What's you general location?
quando omni flunkus moritati 8-)
kaffine
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 9:10 pm

Re: PPE recommendations

Post by kaffine »

Thanks.

I am in Las Vegas. Currently I am an electronics tech. I used to be a auto and heavy truck mechanic. My hobbies are home improvements, wood working and now metal working. I have been trying to setup up metal shop so I can make my own replacement parts out of metal instead of getting plastic parts that keep breaking.

I have arc flash gear because where I work has taken safety to stupid levels. I am not allowed to open an electronics panel if there is a 120V outlet in the panel without wearing arc flash coveralls, face shield, rubber and leather gloves and have a safety person dressed the same a few feet away just in case the panel blows up when I open it. They have relaxed a little bit on the safety we used to have to have an electrician dress out in arc flash gear to change the batteries in a flashlight.

Sounds like I should be fairly well set then for PPE. Hopefully I can start working on a furnace this weekend. Still need to read more on them and decide what style I want. I used my charcoal grill hooked up to my air compressor to stoke the fire for my first attempts it worked but not well.
F.C.
Posts: 560
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:28 am

Re: PPE recommendations

Post by F.C. »

A clear Face shield is a necessity when pour'n any kind of metal. I wear leather chaps (what motorcycle riders wear) to keep the seering heat off my calves when tote'n a crucible from the furnace to the mold and pouring. When I'm tending the furnace I use a welder's apron. Also use standard forearm length welders gloves handling hot stuff. As for infra red protection I wear the same glasses glass blower artists wear. I can't recall the name they're called. They look like pink tinted glasses but you can stare into an intense white hot flame (including a cutting torch flame while cutting through steel) and all you see is the metal with some subtle glow and what looks like a tiny stream of air penetrating the steel with slag spitting out beneath the steel. They are incredible!! And they're the size of normal glasses so easy to wear and you don't need to take them off to do other stuff. They're spendy, though.

Also need a good pair of lace up boots that reach higher than your ankles, with steel toes and thick soles. Some folks suit up with a leather upper torso jacket for situations where blowbacks occur out of molds when poured. I've had a few of those occurances but the metal splatters when it hits skin just does a quick singe and deflects off. Amazing how instant it goes through a good work shirt, singes off your body and deflects back out the shirt before it solidifies. HAHAHA... I got a few track marks on my body from those situations... nothing gross, just love bites is all I call'em. LOL... Suffice to say I've had enough to where it don't bother me no more... plus, those were the times I was still developing my mastery of the art. Best safety gear you can have is proper preparation, thorough understanding of what it is you're about to do and how the metal's gonna react to it's new mold. NEVER get in a rush... EVER. Practice your steps firing, charging, and removing a weighted crucible in and out of the furnace and carrying it to where you intend to pour. Look for ANY potential for trips, falls, or mishaps the entire route to include your mold and furnace. Learn to recognize when metal is beginning to boil (it vibrates, not bubbles). It's at this temp when other alloys within the metal being melted will flare and get your heart rate thump'n fast. HAHAHA....

Other than the obvious for burn protection of hands, feet and calves, to include face shield, you can suit up like an astronaught and all it'll do is cause you discomfort while you're trying to navigate with a pot of melt. Aluminum is about the simplest metal to melt and cast. Bronze gets up there in temp to where there's more concern. Iron gets even hotter and requires more attention where you're intending to pour it into. DALLEN & Jammer can dial you into that medium. The rest here are well adapt at melt'n and pour'n non ferrous. I highly suggest, though, you don't use a BBQ for melting anymore metal, HAHAHA.... Anyone of us, here, can dial you in on how to make a furnace that'll kick ass and last a lifetime.

Welcome to the crew.... enjoy. Share your misshappenings and successes often. Be willing to listen and take advice, as well ask questions when necessary. We're here to share our knowledge and experience and it does our heart good to know we helped someone learn this craft and be successful.

F.c.
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Jammer
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Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:04 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: PPE recommendations

Post by Jammer »

Here's some pics from an Iron pour. Yes, that's me, I'm just checking out my optical pyrometer so I have light gear on. I would wear this for a Bronze or Aluminum pour with Welding gloves. The other guys have full front coverage, just don't turn your back if something happens.
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quando omni flunkus moritati 8-)
Rasper
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Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2011 4:05 pm
Location: Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico
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Re: PPE recommendations

Post by Rasper »

They have relaxed a little bit on the safety we used to have to have an electrician dress out in arc flash gear to change the batteries in a flashlight.
I remember when I was in high school back in the late fifties my best friend's father was a chemist at DuPont. He told me he couldn't change a light bulb in the lamp on his desk; he had to call in a union electrician.
No wonder the US is unable to compete with China. Here in Mexico we figure if you're dumb enough to do something stupid and hurt yourself then shame on you.

Richard
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