Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

I had several folks tell me early on that I could not make my own iron castings, and if I did, they would be poor quality, have hard spots and inclusions, and also I would be incinerated by the heat from an iron furnace.

All of that doomsday prophecy turned out to be false (thank goodness), and my iron castings are defect-free, easy to machine, with no defects, and while I did get some nasty burns on one hand when an ingot mold popped on me and splattered molten iron on my welding jacket, which then ran down into my gloves, I have not been incinerated thanks to a few strategically placed heat shields and lots of leather coverings.

Here are a few hand burns.
The molten iron tends to vaporize skin, but luckily it destroys the nerve endings too, so there is no pain.
My wife said "You probably need to go see a doctor and get a skin graft".
I responded "Nonsense, its a minor scratch".
Curad Silver solution healed it in no time.

I know others who do iron who have had much more serious burns, and so I feel fortunate.
I use extreme caution when I pour iron these days.
Better safe than sorry.

No pain, no gain as they say.
You do need welding goggles to protect against the IR, which is very intense when the furnace is opened.