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Casting for 1st time. Do I have it all?

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Why anyone would ever buy lead (much less from Midway [$$$]) is beyond me.

Make friends with your local roofers and X-ray techs, renovators, etc. and you’ll be supplied with all the free pure lead you could ever shoot.
 
It may surprise some beginning casters how little ones needs to to do a good job. When I started out all I had was a little lead, small iron pot and a cheap (very) "mold" from DGW. That kept me shooting for a long time until I became, ahem! sophisticated.
 
I decided to process some roof boots that I have been piling up for a while and do some casting before it got too hot. I pulled out the Turkey fryer burner, my old lead pot, and a bunch of molds and got busy a few weeks back, casting one or sometimes two afternoons a week. I cast a serious bunch of round balls, Minnie’s, and REAL bullets of various sizes. I had recently purchased a six-cavity .440 mold and realized you can cast a lot more balls than you think when you have been used to just one or two at a time previously. Anyway, I was thinking I was done casting for this year and then remembered the Eras Gone molds I ordered some time back, that were silently and patiently resting in the top of the guest bedroom closet (yep, actually knew where they were). So out come the Eras Gone and several pounds of lead later I am done again, or so I think. It was about then I saw an ad for two molds on the board here. Uhh, guess I will cast some more when they arrive. It never ends does it?
 
I learned the hard way that some brake cleaners leave a residue in the mold . I was getting wrinkled boolits at every temp I tried so I cleaned the mold again with denatured alcohol and things got better. Just weird. :dunno:
 
I'm going to start casting my own Maxi balls next week. I think I have all the basics but sometimes there are additional items that make things easier/better. Though I'd ask.
What I have:

20# - 99+% lead from Midway
Lee production pot (flows from spout on bottom)
Ladle
T/C molds w/ handles
Rubber mallet
Leather gloves
Eye protection.
Candle
Old soft towel to catch bullets
Digital scale to weigh bullets

Generally how often do i have to "smoke" the mold? Just once or periodically?

I'll leave lubes etc. for another post if needed. Thanks.
Apron for da yarbles🤐
 
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