lead casting

[mudd turtle]

What do most people use to melt their lead. Today I got my old lee pot out and cleaned it and heated up some lead to cast some ball. I cast about 25 rb most seemed to be good ball. After the first lead was gone I melted more and I could not get the pot to cast anything right. This Lee pot has a bottom pore spot and it seemed to be stoped up .Lead would drip out the spout but it would not put out a stream of lead. Is this pot to old -do I need to get a new one. I am stumped. thinking of going back to the old pot and ledle method. Could some body help me ???? mudd turtle.

 

[FPDoc]

Sometimes if the lead isn't up to temp (like after a refill), it can chill in the spout and do that. You can wait for it to come up to temp or I sometimes (not advised) bend a paper clip and using pliers to hold it, stick the wire up the spout to get some hot metal flowing to heat the spout. Sometimes stirring the melt helps, (or just passes the time). I think the coldest metal (sludge/half melted) is at the bottom. It could also have needed fluxed really well to get junk out of the mix. I doubt there is anything really wrong with the pot.

 

[Bubba45]

From time to time I emty mine out and take the lever and stopper off, use a wire wheel with extention and drill to clean the grunge out of the the pot.I wire brush the stopper, plug the put in to heat if the spout is plugged and clean it out with cutting torch tip cleaner or drill bit that enters easily.
I clean all my lead in a big pot and turkey fryer burner to cut down on grunge in the bottem pour pot.

 

[MSW]

i do something similat to Bubba: when i first get lead (usually from the scrapyard) it's often dirty, so i melt it in a cast iron pot and pour it into ingots and toss out the sludge. this way, i minimize the crud that builds up in the pot.

i've also had the same problem with my Lee melter, but if you clean it as described, i'm pretty sure your problems will resolve.

 

[rabbit03]

Hola Amigo, I too have a bottom pour Lee lead pot and went back to the laddle and pot method for the same reasons as you. Below are a few pics of what I use. The larger pot I use is for keeping the lead consistant not only in content but also in temperature while moulding balls.

I use the fish fryer because it heats up quick and you can regulate the flame and run at a constant temperature. I can also melt larger pieces and also pieces that perhaps are not quite clean in this large pot. All I have to do is skim off the impurities and get with it.

rabbit03

 

[Bob Gular]

I'm guessing that the ungloved hand is for demonstration purposes only??

 

[jtmattison]

Your lead pot needs to be cleaned. Empty it, remove the stopper, and give it a good wire brushing. I drilled the spout on mine just a tad larger so it wouldn't get clogged up so often.

HD

 

[bart_anastasi]

I probably have the same pot as you and I noticed some of the same problems.

Soltions

1. sometimes when you put a cold mold against the spout on the bottom of the pot you are chilling the lead in the spout and it wont pour properly.

2. if you just added new lead the pot may not be up to full temp to start casting. now while you wait your mold cools and you are back at 1. above

3 dirty lead blocks the down spout. If you have a source for (mangled lead) that stuff is so clean you wont beleive it. I can feed strips of mangeled lead) into my pot stick at a time and not lose temp or get a dirt build up.

4. What is mangled lead? This is the stuff Chanelling that is used to make stained glass and Tiffiany lamps. IT s extreamly clean and pure since it must be smooth no imperfections. When a worker is making some of these things broken or crushed pieces of this product are not reusable and bothering with them would stop a workers production. Thus this stuff is a waste product.

for the people who use it they think of it as scrap needing disposale paying to have it carted off. For you it is a valuable resource .

 

[rabbit03]

Wrong guess!

rabbit03

 

[NoJacketRequired]

Thanks for all the useful info provided in this post. I haven't yet started to cast so have been reading this post as an education before having to learn the hard way... :grin:

With regard to the mould being cold, wouldn't it suffice to just set it atop the melting pot and thus keep it warm? I know, likely a dumb question, but that's my style. :haha:

Also, what are folks using for flux to clean cause the crud to coagulate on top of the pot? I've been saving beeswax from the butt ends of candles my wife has burned as I once read beeswax was the right stuff for this job.

I'll hopefully do some casting this winter. Have a Lee bottom pour pot, 50lbs of pure lead, a Lee .490RB/REAL bullet mold, long motorcycle leather gloves, safety glasses, but am still looking for a leather apron to protect my "six pack" abs. OK, it took more than one six pack to build them up.

 

[Bubba45]

The bee wax will work for flux and I use a long sleeve shirt while casting and no apron.I think a denim apron would suffice such as Harbor Freight sells.

 

[mudd turtle]

Thank you to each and everyone of you who responded to my post and question. I tried several of the things you suggested and got the lee pot to working this afternoon. I cast about 100 balls for my rugger 44 . I will have to find some time to go shoot it now. Thanks again.mudd turtle.

 

[rebel727]

Y'all can call me what ya will, give me a Darwin award or whatever but I don't wear an apron, long sleeves, boots or gloves while casting. Gloves make me klutzy. If I wore them I'd NEED an apron, long sleeves and boots. BTW I've been casting since I was 12(50 now), only been burned once and that was a sprue that hit wrong and bounced into my sneaker. I now dump my sprues directly back into the pot instead of picking them up later. Flame on. :blah:

 

[FPDoc]

I don't either and have been casting for many years and many, many thousands of bullets cast.. I rely on "paying attention". Can't claim it's right or that anyone else should do it that way but it's worked for me so far.

 

[bwhoffman]

Yep. right or wrong, I follow the same method. have cast upwards of 10000 bullets/rb and a few stupid mistakes in the form of burns from sprues or grabbing a hot mold.
I do cast outdoors pretty much if you consider and open air pole barn outdoors!

 

[Bubba45]

I started wearing the long sleeve shirt and glasses after adding an ingot that had a bit of condensation and I got spattered pretty good.I still cant wear gloves while casting although I've tried :grin:

 

[brubincam]

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: did it hurt your sneaker? :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: SILLY

 

[rebel727]

No but it burned my sock and put a quarter sized blister on my foot. I don't think I've ever took a shoe off quite that fast. :rotf:

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Dross residue will often collect in the pour spout. As you are likely aware, when mine gets a bit sluggish on the pour, I just take a pair of pliers, push down on the male spigot rod and rotate it back and forth a few times, works for me.

But, I have found on my Lee bottom pour pot, it is hard to get consistent good results for round balls, whether contact with mould, or a gap betwixt. Never figured out why, but I now just use a cheap Wally World electric adjustable heat hotplate, cast-iron pot and ladle to cast my RB with.



Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
H.L. Mencken