casting bullets

[navaman]

10-4. i got you. i got a window on each end of my shop and they stay open to create that constant air flow.

 

[Zonie]

Speaking of hazards with melted lead I'll just add that any small drop of liquid, be it a rain drop or a drop of sweat that falls into the molten lead will cause an explosion that will blow molten lead all over the place.
With eye protection, it probably won't blind a person but it will sure ruin his day.

zonie

 

[Keppy]

Thanks Zonie
I had thought of that after I loged out. I was melting some wheel weights down when I was casting for centerfire. I had a big pot with a propane torch rigged up outside. It was a nice day with a few clouds and then a cloud with a few sprinkles of rain fell. The fireworks began. I stayed clear,I know what hot wax feels like. No harm done, just acouple drops hit the lead.

 

[Pahaska]

I just poured about a 100 rb's (50 cal.) last week. A buddy told me to make the balls clean add a little borebutter to the lead. He didn't tell me about the fire that comes with it. It flamed up, but cleaned the lead real nice. I noticed the balls came out better at lower heat,(Lee melter), and the first 50 were the best. When the mold warmed up, they weren't as good. Next time I'll add the borebutter before the lead is hot. Pahaska

 

[d.thomson]

About putting parafin wax in you only do this if the impurities float to the top it mixes the tin, zinc or other aloyes back into the mix, It's called fluxing. If you have pure lead as you should be using with muzzle loaders the float is usualy oxidized lead or some impurities that need to be taken out of the mix anyway. :thumbsup:Just my 2 cents

 

[Bill Hall]

Here's another safety tip that may not have been mentioned before. Leaving your lead pot out in the elements for very long could cause it to contain trapped moisture.
A while back I found one of my rusty old plumber's pots that I remember setting out a couple of years ago, half full of lead. I knew it could contain trapped water, so just before it started to melt, I got back about ten feet. A smell jet of lead shot up about three inches and then stopped. Looked pretty cool. I figured all the moisture had escaped but thankfully I waited just a few more seconds. Suddenly "KERSPLOOSH"! I know that lead went up at least eight feet high cuz I ended up peeling it off the side of my house near the roof. No harm, no foul, but a lesson learned in the power of exploding lead. Bill

 

[Stumpkiller]

I use beeswax as a flux too. I really enjoy casting my bullets and balls and I want to get into casting other stuff, like statuettes or something. I wonder if there is anything else that is actually useful that a can cast from scrap lead. What about lead spoons and cups :rotf: ?

Makes GREAT weights to hold down balsa while the glue sets in making R/C airplanes.

As far as lead spoons and cups - not for food. :nono: Remember what happened to the Franklin Expedition from eating preserved food in lead sealed containers. "Burn the boat, pick up that desk and follow me onto the ice-pack, boys."

 

[Bill Hall]

Looks like an S.E.5

 

[paulvallandigham]

I agree. you don't want to be injesting lead. It will ruin your liver, and kidneys and will be fatal in the long run if you keep doing it. You used to be able to buy molds to make toy soldiers, which were then painted and set out on home made landscapes of battle fields to show how battle were fought.

There are now pewter substitutes that can be cast, at extremely low temperature to make endcaps for hawken style rifles. or for the back end of a forestock on an under hammer gun. If you can use that stuff to cast these things, you can use it to cast other things. All you need is an imagination, and practice making molds. If someone can remember the name of the stuff that melts at 160 degrees F., please help me out here. I am having a senior moment. Thanks.

 

[michaelt]

I think that Field's metal might be what you are thinking of. I believe it's melt point is closer to 144F but it is non-toxic.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Looks like an S.E.5

Similar, but 10 years later and US made.

It's actually a Balsa USA Phaeton 90 I am bashing into a Curtiss F6C-3. A plane no kit exists for and is relatively unknown. First Navy fighter based on a carrier, first plane to do the outside loop in 1925, first airborne .50 cal machine gun.

26cc gas engine swinging a 16" prop. Tee hee!

 

[Zonie]

The low melting temperature alloys come in different grades which melt at different temperatures.
The names of a few are Cerrobend and Cerrosafe.
The Cerrosafe is sold by Brownell's for determining chamber sizes and shapes.

Do not use this stuff for casting bullets.
It could be used for casting roundballs but they would cost a fortune compared with plain old lead.

zonie

 

[paulvallandigham]

Cerrobend was what I was trying to remember, so thank you, Zonie. It can be used to cast endcaps, and other stock accessories for guns. I saw a beautifully cast piece on the back end of the forearm on an Underhammer gun being sold on TOTW, where the cerrosafe casting formed a curved shief for percussion cap debris that might break loose, and be heading for the shooter's forearm. Very nicecasting and shape. Because it melts at such a low temperature- below the boiling point of water- it casts well, and cools fast enough that it won't burn the wood it being cast around. And it does seem fairly strong as cast metals go, for those uses. I would not use the stuff for a guard on a knife where I would expect it to prevent a blow to the hand, but it would make a nice end cap for knife handles, inlays for hawks, etc.

 

[michaelt]

Cerrobend - Tin 13.3%, Bismuth 50%, Lead 26.7% Cadmium 10%

Cerrosafe - Tin 11.3%, Bismuth 42.5% Lead 37.7% Cadmium 8.5%

All of these eutectic alloys contain both lead and cadmium... not exactly non-toxic!