Is this the place for casting questions?

[JerryToth]

Hi all;

I'm not sure, so I'll ask first before I ask...Is this the place for casting questions?

I just bought a melting pot and a couple of molds on ebay. I'm only interested in casting RB's and maybe a few REAL conicals. "Pure", soft lead stuff for my frontstuffers... not "hard-cast" alloy bullets.

I've read around as much as I can find on the internet and I'm confused about a few things...especially fluxing related. Most of what I have been able to find to read seems to be saying that fluxing removes the "dross?", and also stirs in, and keeps the tin and antimony? Does this refer to us guys who only care about our lead being soft? I'm confused.

Let me know if this is where to ask, or maybe refer me to a good place?

(Moderator: Feel free to just nix this post and send me a private email referring me elsewhere if this topic doesn't belong here.)

Thanks in advance.

Ironsights Jerry.

 

[musketman]

Shooting Accessories:
Shooting Bags, Powder Horns, Powder, Flint, Lead, Caps, Lube, etc.

Yep, right place for your question... :winking:

Most of what I have been able to find to read seems to be saying that fluxing removes the "dross?", and also stirs in, and keeps the tin and antimony?

Fluxing RAISES the dross to the top of the melt only, you have to skim it off with an old spoon, the metal will have a silvery shimmer when all of the dross is removed...

Don't worry about those tiny black specks, you'll never get all of them out...

Fluxing does mix the tin and antimony throughout the melt, but if you are using pure lead to begin with, this is of no concern...

If the lead is less that pure, skim it before fluxing, to remove any lighter metals as best as you can, then flux to remove the dross...

(dross being impurities like dirt, scum, ect.)

 

[Stumpkiller]

Dis be da place.

When I get my lead - which is scrap nasty stuff from a "recycling center" (aka Junk Yard) - I first melt it down as hot as I can on a Coleman stove. I stir it vigoursly with a stainless spoon and skim all the dross and grit ouff the top. Then I toss in a pea sized bit of beeswax (which can flare up - be careful). I repeat the stir and skim. Then, I cast this lead into 1 & 1/2 lb ingots. I use these pre-skimmed ingots in my electric furnace. Even then, I get a cruddy dross on the remelt, so I re-flux & stir/skim before casting. The wax helps to release the impurities from the lead. I don't know how hot you need to get a melt to allow seperating out the tin, antimony, arsenic, etc. from the lead, but I believe it is over 800

 

[JerryToth]

Thanks Stumpy and Musketman;

So, I stir it for maybe a minute... skim off the "stuff".

Then, put wax in the pot and stir for maybe another minute?

How does the wax, which is so very light, get down into the very heavy lead to do anything? It seems like it just sits on top and burns?

Is there some sort of trick to get the wax down "into" the lead?

Second question... The pot I got is a 10 pound, bottom pour. (Yes, I've read that lotsa guys don't like bottom pours, but hey, I'm only starting out.)

So after I've poured about half of the pot's lead out, a new dross or scum or whatever it is starts developing. It's actually sort of gold in color.

Is this something I should be worried about?

(The three times I've tried casting so far, I just added more lead to the pot and reskimmed since I didn't know whether the gold colored stuff was a bad thing or not!)

Thanks in advance,

Jerry.

 

[Stumpkiller]

How does the wax, which is so very light, get down into the very heavy lead to do anything? It seems like it just sits on top and burns?

It has something to do with the surface tension, or some such. Try dropping on a tiny piece and you can watch it melt and spread across the lead's surface. Stirring then brings up a fine grit stuff that looks like ground nutmeg (at least in the filthy lead I get). I can scrape the sides of the pot and stir & skim, but always get more after I flux. It's doing something. Catalytic reaction perhaps? (Except the wax appears to be consumed, so that's not the whole story).

Not sure what your "gold stuff" is. Some contaminate, no doubt (gold? :: ). Skim it off and keep going.

I leave a few pounds in the bottom of my pot to cool, so the grunge never makes it to the valve. Lee recommends this, and it seems to have worked for me.

 

[RussB]

"So after I've poured about half of the pot's lead out, a new dross or scum or whatever it is starts developing. It's actually sort of gold in color."

Welcome to the wonderful world of casting!
That "Gold" color has to do with temperature, and seems to happen at just over 800 degrees.
You will notice other colors too. Some folks use these "colors" in lieu of a Thermometer. I'm not that good! I have a Thermometer, but I find it a pain in the behooghee.
(Sometimes I do use it with alloys that I'm looking for 900 degrees or so with....I get the pot up to temp, then remove that thermometer)
I like a "steel blue" color for lead in the muzzleloaders. That color is found around 700/750 degrees and works well with pure lead using aluminum molds. You may want a bit higher for iron molds, but this seems to work pretty good.
That little adjustment on your pot is strictly for "reference" and doesn't have much to do with actual temperature.
As far as fluxing, Stumpy gave you some good advice on using B-Wax, or candle wax. It seems to be a bit more gentle on the pot, while doing the job.
I have found that Marvelux, a fluxing product distributed by Brownell's, will, in time, eat at the walls of the pot causing an effect that makes them hard to clean, and requires cleaning after every use....another pain in the behooghee. Also, it is possible to flux to much. Some of that "scum" is desireable for good bullet form. Just leave it on there, the pour is actually coming from under it on a bottom pour.
I have a couple of pots, a 10#, and a 20#, although both are bottom pour, which I use a lot, it seems some molds do better with ladle pour. Your bottom pour will work just fine for getting started...maybe forever.
Again, Welcome to Casting! it adds a whole new dimension to your sport.
Respectfully, Russ

 

[musketman]

Not sure what your "gold stuff" is. Some contaminate, no doubt (gold? :: ). Skim it off and keep going.

Present when the earth was formed, lead is a naturally occurring element. It is usually associated with other minerals, notably zinc, silver and copper. Trace amounts of other elements, including gold, are sometimes found with lead ore. The most common lead ore is galena, or lead sulfide. The ore is mined, concentrated and then smelted in a blast furnace with limestone and coke. It is refined to remove and recover other metals.

More than likely, its trace amounts of natural copper that has not melted, copper being lighter than lead will raise to the surface...

 

[nvbirdman]

This is the WRONG place for casting questions.
The correct place for casting questions is www.muzzleloadingforum.com
But be very careful if you go there as some of the members like to play silly tricks. :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: