Steve Sells Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 when I was watching this I thought of a member from here Language alert Molten Aluminum + Lab Techs = Fail Language alert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TASMITH Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 This holds true for ANY molten metal when casting. Heat the mold first to ensure it is DRY! I have seen the roof blown off and a side wall blown out in a pig cast house at Algoma Steel when I worked there back in the eighties. Thankfully no one was killed or seriously injured. Apparently, who ever was supposed to check the pigs before pouring in the molten iron must have missed one, as it had some water in it! The resulting explosion was the equivalent to several pounds of TNT and the cast hose was down for repairs for three months afterward. Scary combination of water and molten metal. I would bet that the explosion seen in the video was just a bit of Dampness in the mold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnptc Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 looked way too hot as well........you can melt aluminum on a stove. the crucible was glowing :o:o: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelson Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 The advise you guys give here could not be more right on the spot. As a youngster tinkering with molten lead to make some small pieces, a learned how dangerous it can be to ignore some facts about physics. The moment I was pouring the liquid lead in the mold, it exploded and splattered metal all over, even on my shirt where patches stuck into the fabric. Thank God I did not get a single burn, as I had no eye protection or any appropriate clothing for the task. I do hope inexperienced people read these warnings and save themselves some serious injuries. Nelson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 I am dyslexic so I may be a bit off in the numbers, but IIRC the space needed for water as a liquid expands about 1600 times when converted into steam. That much heat does it very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 It is a shame they did not have dry powder fire extinguisher. The clean up of powder would have been added nicely to the learning experience. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I have seen stuff like this happen before when folk didn't preheat the ingot moulds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 It is a shame they did not have a dry powder fire extinguisher. The clean up of powder would have been added nicely to the learning experience. That's an EVIL thought !! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finnr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keykeeper Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 (edited) That looked like the mold "popped", as mentioned in the comments on the video page. Water would have been much more violent. Steam expansion is much more exciting. One of the funnest things I encountered in my time on the fire dept. was steam expansion when attacking a fire and the resulting burns if your PPE was not donned properly. I know several local folks that work or worked in the local aluminum plant, my father included (38 years). His biggest burn incident was when the control tower computer was sending too much water down the hole on his casting furnace. He warned them several times something wasn't right with it. Computer said it was. Result was the ingot blew out of the hole, along with somewhere around 5,000 pounds of molten metal (the ingots they poured there weighed anywhere from 30K-34K pounds). Dad jumped one way, got burnt on about 10% of his body. If he had jumped the other way out of the situation, we would have went to his funeral. One witness told Dad later the metal blew up in a wave where he had been standing and the way he could have went, but he shagged tail the other way. I guess years of experience paid off for him in that situation, along with OSHA required PPE. (Yes, the metal burned through the special clothes, and some even went down his boot and one glove. But the PPE kept the bulk of it off while he was moving away.) (As a side note, it took the company 3 days before a company rep would talk to him directly. I think they were embarrassed that a hourly employee was right, and the pour/explosion could have been avoided.) Even if you know what you are doing, things can and will go wrong! Edited June 26, 2009 by keykeeper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinjas Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 I am glad I saw this video, a lesson worth learning from second hand experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quenchcrack Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 These people walk among us. And they are allowed to reproduce! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Furrer Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 The burp of liquid metal was bad enough, but rather than pick up the crucible and move back to the furnace they let it sit there on the bench..that was the fire source as the metal cooled well enough. Had they run the lab may have burned. Keykepper..you think the mold shifted rapidly with the heat of the pour? Some form of heat expansion which was enough to kick out the liquid? Not a bad thought. I have seen a bit of oil do a similar spit as well....we'll never know for sure...and it appears they will not either. Ric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainely,Bob Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 There`s a reason there is a particular mode of dress for pouring molten metal and you saw why when they held up the cotton lab coat to the camera.Synthetics are like napalm when hit with hot stuff. Leather is a big help as it stops the metal rather than burning through.Spats will help keep your boot from filling with molten metal,that`s why most pro foundrymen who have burned their feet in the past wear them.Lace up shoes are not such a good idea in these situations either. I have always been amazed by folks who protect only their eyes with goggles rather than their whole face with a shield.Those plastic shields are not such a good idea unless they are rated for foundry work rather than impact resistance.The impact shields can melt to your face just like synthetic cloth can.The ones we wore were made of fine metal screen. I have to wonder what two novices were doing conducting experiments without direct supervision.I`m willing to bet the instructor will be watching the students more closely from now on. I worked a Ferguson Propeller in Hoboken NJ for a while during the late 1970`s where they poured some of the largest bronze ship`s props in the US.Later I worked at VAW aluminum where they cast their own billets that ran to 20+ foot long.Saw some really horrible accidents involving molten metal that could have easily been avoided. Some of my friends/co-workers in the oilfield who migrated from the steel mills in places like Youngstown and Pittsburgh told similar stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddog Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Scary! *****. The instructor is at fault for letting two inexperienced students do this without close supervision. I pour a little bit of lead evey now and then but otherwise I avoid working with molten metal for just this reason. One small oversight and it's third degree burns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainely,Bob Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Just little illustration of the physics of heat vs flesh. We`ve all heated a BBQ grill up and then thrown a steak or chop onto it right? Notice how initially it sticks?If you try to move it you tear some of the seared meat away in order to remove it from it`s chosen position. Molten metal hitting flesh is just like that steak hitting the grill except the metal is much hotter and wherever it contacts your flesh you become the meat that immediately starts cooking.The choices are; A-tear it and the seared flesh loose to remove it B-wait till it cooks enough to free itself. Most burn victims choose plan A. The best PPE for this type of work is something that acts as a barrier to both keep the hot metal from contacting your flesh and lets that hot metal slide off rather than trap it or allow it fuse to that barrier and burn the flesh behind it. One of the reasons I preferred a metal hard hat while working in the oilfield is I saw what happened to one of my co-workers when his plastic hardhat melted and fused to his head and face.Trying to wipe the now molten plastic away only burned his hands and spread the damage to his head over a wider area.He had to be pinned down and restrained and the plastic cooled by dumping the ice water from the cooler on him before he could be loaded up and brought to the hospital so they could cut the plastic away. That`s all it took to convince me that whatever it costs,the best PPE is worth many times it`s weight(and then some)in gold and medical bills.Then again the absolute finest and most expensive PPE is worthless to you if you leave it hanging in your locker when you should be using it. The smell of a burning human is rather unique and something you will never forget once you`ve experienced it.I try to avoid it at all costs having spent some time in a burn ward myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWHII Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Bob you are right about the burn aspect don't pull it off, dump water on it first. One of the worst burns I have ever seen was a welding partner of mine when we were TIG welding aluminum pipe on a cold box and he would never tie his boots up tight. He was sitting with his legs crossed welding over head on some 8" pipe and a big blob of filler metal came off and went down inside his boot. He could not get out of there fast enough. He then pulled his boot and sock off and yanked the blob off his angle bone and it pulled everything off right down to the bone. Nasty it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Had a similar experience in a shop many years ago. One guy wore engineer boots and those puffy at the thigh tight at the calf sorta like riding pants. He was burning out like 1" holes in 1" plate and the near white hot slug went right down his boot. Burned that soft spot on the inside of the ankle - nasty. Took way too long to get the boot off, after he did a little dance screaming at the top of his lungs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I am glad that my lead and brass pouring stories are not nearly as interesting, but merely time consuming to clean up. Molten brass will dissolve an iron vessel; I learned that the hard way. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddDuck Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 That was definately moisture in the mold. Doesn't take much, and even a dry looking surface can have water trapped under the surface rust. Unlike a lot of backyard casters, I just use greensand for my ingot molds, quick, easy, and I have as many as I want by just ramming up another one. That is also a case of either the instructor skipping a step or the students forgetting it. They won't forget again, if they figure out what caused it. Horrible basic safety lapses. Of course, this was two years ago, I wonder if they've figured it out yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
double_edge2 Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 yeah...bit hot for ally, and the moisture in the mould.... some people even get the green sand a bit wet and try brass, seen it go off like buck shot out the sprew...at the pourer....them aint freckles hes got now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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