# 15 Hot Work Safety Rules  (Foundry)



## bezalel2000 (Jul 26, 2011)

*15 Foundry Hot Work Safety Rules * th_rulze

*
 1.  Personal Protective Equipment - Get it & Use it
 2.	 Tidy foundry area
 3.	 Clamp or Weight Flasks
 4.	 Use Dry Clean Metal
 5.	 Preheat all metal and furnace tools 
 6.	 Move the melt slowly a short distance furnace to flask
 7.	 Know what you're melting
 8.	 Inspections before use
 9.	 Watch for a bubling sprue
10.	Plan emergency exit route
11.	Be Alert
12.	Zn & Mg Fluxing
13.	No Water
14.	Watch for leaks
15.	First Aid*


The Details ---

*1. Personal Protective Equipment* - Clothing covering all skin, purpose built or made of natural materials like leather, heavy wool or heavy cotton. No Polyester or nylons. Boots to be Class 1 safety. Full face shield and leather gauntlets. 

*2. Tidy foundry area* - Pouring area to be free from all items not involved in pouring process. Floor to be clear of trip hazards and concrete slabs and pavers covered with minimum 1" layer of sand

*3. Clamp or Weight Flasks * - Hydrostatic pressure of liquid metal can lift a lot of weight - once the cope and drag have separated due to this pressure the uncontrolled flow of metal is extremely hazardous.

*4. Use Dry Clean Metal* - Impurities on the surface of the melt metal may become an airborne breathing hazard e.g.. lead paint etc. in the melt these impurities often increase the dross to be removed from the melt.

*5. Preheat all metal and furnace tools* - This reduces the risk of condensation an tools and furnace recharge metal from steam explosions occurring in the melt.

*6. Move the melt slowly & a short distance furnace to flask* - It is said that liquid metal is runnier than water and splashes further - minimise the possibility of spills and splashes.

*7. Know what you're melting* - The characteristics like melting temperature of the metal is good to know before you start and more importantly know the adverse health affects of hazardous alloy elements like Lead, Zinc, mercury or Berilium. 

*8. Inspections before use* - knowing the condition of the crucible the furnace walls the fuel lines burners and pouring tools is critical. Failure of any of these items during a melt or pour can be extremely undesirable.

*9. Watch for a bubbling sprue* - low permeability sand or excess moisture in the mould can result in a steam build up or blow back out the sprue - if your lucky you'll see the bubbling before it builds up pressure. Quickly execute safety rule 10.

*10. Plan emergency exit route* - Identify before you start to pour what your escape routes are if the unexpected eventuates. like a flask failure leading to metal leak, Bubbling sprue, cracked crucible, faulty pouring hardware etc.

*11. Be Alert* - Working in the foundry tired, sick, drugged, stoned or drunk is just plain dumb!

*12. Zn & Mg Fluxing* - These metals and others (like phosphorous) evaporate and ignite easily at relatively low temperatures Fluxing the melt properly with alloys that contain these metals will avoid the undesirable loss of these metals from the alloy.

*13. No Water* - Water or moisture that manages to get below the surface of liquid metal in the furnace or mould will become a bomb within milliseconds

*14. Watch for leaks* - That strange aroma is the melt that has leaked out of the back of the flask trickled around under the drag along the floor and is now consuming the soles of your boots.  Gas leaks are bad too - refer to rule no.8

*15. First Aid * - despite the best planning, maintenance, preparation and care, sometimes 5h1t just happens. Be prepared for the worst, A roll of cling rap plastic for large burns. a working phone for emergency services, and a car for the quick trip to the surgery. And most importantly someone available to patch you up, call an ambulance or drive you to the Doctor.
                  :hDe:

These rules relate to the hot work in the foundry only. There are a plethora of other safety issues in a foundry to consider also, like manual handling of flasks, respiratory hazards like silicates in the sand and bentonite.
As well as a long list of chemicals that may be used for pattern making, core making, ladle wash, mould coatings and so on and so on.  There is no substitute for taking the time to identify all the hazards at your casting facility and find ways to mitigate the risk.

I hope this list of safety rules will raise awareness and provide a foundation fore further investigation for those considering venturing into the art of casting. 

Bez


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## ShedBoy (Aug 2, 2011)

Thanx Bez. This will come in handy some are common sense but common sense is not that common if you get my meaning 

Brock


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## woodnut (Oct 17, 2011)

One thing I see over and over on the web is people pouring molten metal into a mold over bare concrete. 
Concrete will explode when molten metal is poured onto it. This not only sends concrete pieces flying everywhere, but molten metal as well. 
I have built a sand box with 2" of sand in it just in case there is a mishap and have more sand around just in case.
If you don't have room to put a sand box in, pour outside over your grass or dirt. I rather have a dead patch of grass then be burned by molten metal.

Concrete is like a sponge, it like to absorb water. Water turns into steam at 212 F. Molten Aluminum is 1300+ F, Brass melts closer to 2000 F. When molten metal pours onto concrete it vaporizes the water inside it so fast that the concrete will explode. Water will turn into steam at ratio of 1603:1. Foundry's do all there pouring over sand for this reason. 

Be Safe & Happy casting.
If any of the info above is wrong please correct me.


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## bezalel2000 (Oct 18, 2011)

woodnut  said:
			
		

> Concrete will explode when molten metal is poured onto it. This not only sends concrete pieces flying everywhere, but molten metal as well.



I'm with you John !  :hDe:

It's not worth the risk - Dirt Floor for me Please ( I don't have enough concrete to cover any up anyway) :'(

By the way wEc1 to the forum 

From your post it seams you do some casting - We Would love to see some of your work 

 th_wwp


Bez


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## woodnut (Oct 18, 2011)

Thanks you for the warm welcome Bez.

Yes I did some casting about 10 years ago. I started the Gingery Lathe in 2002. But have moved 3 times since then and the foundry has been in storage until about a week ago. The place I was storing it closed and I had to move everything out. Forgot how damn heavy it is. I also found the Lathe and most of the pieces I had made. I have ripped apart the lathe and I am in the process of cleaning and hopefully finishing it. I will take some pics of pieces I have and post them in the Home Casting Project Section. 

I am slowly getting everything set back up again and I'm excited about starting this up again.

John


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## woodnut (Oct 25, 2011)

Here is something that I remember.

I use a metal crucible in my furnace, its nothing more than a 6" pipe with a square plate welded on the bottom. I have read somewhere that you should lightly "tap" your crucible every time before you load it up. It should "ring" like a bell. If it goes "clunk" then it has a defect somewhere and shouldn't be used. Nothing worst than a crucible popping a leak half way though the melt. 

Be Safe and Happy Casting

John


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## flatbelter (Nov 20, 2011)

I've seen concrete explode twice due to molten metal, it was a small pop, but it can be triggered by somthing as minor as a large blob of hot slag from a cutting torch. It can scatter burning metal a surprising distance. 


I would hate to think about what a molten metal spill on concrete would do. 

FB


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## gus (Aug 24, 2012)

Foundry Accident.
As a young kid,we lived in a small industrial district where practically all tradesmen gather.
We have foundries,machineshops,boiler shops,"Omega shape "steam pipe bender shops,blacksmiths etc.
One night 60 years ago a  Cast Iron foundry down the street had a Cupola Furnace blew up and twenty foundry workers died. The story was they charged in an odd shape scrap which contained water.In those days there were no safety practice. No enforcement .And the Labour Inspectors could be bribed.This was in Squeaky Clean Singapore 60 years ago.

Today you cannot go into any shipyards or refineries or construction site w/o first having your safety certification dogtags checked for validity.

Please take no risk when casting metals in your backyard. If you do have some experience and your mate is green,you have a potential accident coming.Also no bystanders within 100 yards. I once nearly poured hot aluminium on my green workmate.Thereafter I designed a gravity casting machine with air power top mold lifting and casting ejection.And I had this casting machine moved next to the aliminium furnace with no workmate squarting on the floor lifting top molds to remove casting.


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## gus (Oct 17, 2012)

woodnut said:


> Here is something that I remember.
> 
> I use a metal crucible in my furnace, its nothing more than a 6" pipe with a square plate welded on the bottom. I have read somewhere that you should lightly "tap" your crucible every time before you load it up. It should "ring" like a bell. If it goes "clunk" then it has a defect somewhere and shouldn't be used. Nothing worst than a crucible popping a leak half way though the melt.
> 
> ...



Hi John,

I had a leak and lost about 20 lbs of molten aluminium into the furnace.
After this I used a custom bottom support C.I. Pot. This was 20 years ago.
Molten aluminium eats iron pipes. Gets welded to M.S. Molds after a few pours. Went over to C.I. Molds. Was no fun casting 200 bodies for Champion condensate traps.
Looking forward to build a mini aluminium furnace to cast slide valve steam engines and misc.


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## smittman (Sep 3, 2018)

bezalel2000 said:


> *15 Foundry Hot Work Safety Rules * th_rulze
> 
> *
> 1.  Personal Protective Equipment - Get it & Use it
> ...


Hi in rule 15 you say to keep a roll of cling wrap handy for burns, in my 60 yrs of abusing my body with cuts, burns, lacerations breaks etc I have never heard of wrapping a burn with cling wrap. After reading I read up on the net. It seems this is a great idea, you can also use it for a temporary sling. It also would be good for having on camping trips for the multitude of accidents that could happen on them. ( I just proved my wife wrong I don't know it all lol). Thanks for the tip as I'm getting ready to make and use a Foundry to cast parts for a small traction engine.


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