Poured some lead today.

[Sidney Smith]

Squirrel season opens Saturday here. I got down to 9 rounds of .311 balls after my trip to the range over the weekend. So today I dug out the Lee double cavity mold, Mr. SPARKY (MAPP TORCH), my old cast iron ladle, and went to work. I melted down an old 10 ounce fishing sinker, and within about 20 minutes, I had about 45 shiny new projectiles to toss at old Mr. BUSHYTAIL. I still have probably a third of the sinker left too to make more with when the time comes.

 

[Ricochet]

Awesome! Got to love them little calibers!! Hope you get a mess of them Saturday!!

 

[tom_in_vt]

Nice! Gotta love fresh round balls/conicals. Good luck with the squirrels!

 

[hanshi]

Too much ammo is always better than none at all.

 

[Woody Morgan]

Zen casting. Fun, huh?

wm

 

[.36Rooster]

Do you put any wax in when you melt?

 

[Gtrubicon]

I do, I smelt all my lead in a larger set up, I add saw dust for flux to help clean the impurity’s then pour ingots for later use. When I cast, I use a bottom pour pot, I add a kidney bean sized bit of wax to the pot and stir it in.

 

[painter]

As a casting know nothing, what does the wax do?

 

[Gtrubicon]

It helps draw out the impurity, it will bring it to the top of the melt and you remove it from the lead.

 

[painter]

Thank you. Beeswax?

 

[Gtrubicon]

ive never tried bees wax, either paraffin or gulf wax is how I was shown.

 

[painter]

Thanks again!

 

[Woody Morgan]

Beeswax works very well. Been using it for 40 years casting.
The bees get a little annoyed though.

wm

 

[Walkingeagle]

I use candle wax or all purpose grease.
Walk

 

[Mr. Flintlock]

As a casting know nothing, what does the wax do?

Fluxes the lead, impurities will float to the top of the pot. Just stir in a small amount. Bee's wax.

 

[Sidney Smith]

Do you put any wax in when you melt?

Nope, I never do. Simply stirring the molten lead will bring all the impurities to the surface. Ive come to the conclusion that fluxing lead is unnecessary. Next time you do it, watch the Flux. It immediately melts and catches fire. By the time you get to stirring the lead, the so called Flux has already burned off.

 

[Woody Morgan]

Nope, I never do. Simply stirring the molten lead will bring all the impurities to the surface. Ive come to the conclusion that fluxing lead is unnecessary. Next time you do it, watch the Flux. It immediately melts and catches fire. By the time you get to stirring the lead, the so called Flux has already burned off.

And leaves a black powdery residue that can be easily spooned off leaving clean lead.

wm

 

[David Veale]

From a chemistry perspective, I don't see how beeswax could possibly "draw impurities" out of the lead myself. Does it perhaps dissolve lead oxide in the way that borax dissolves iron oxide scale to prevent bonding issues when forge welding?
However, I do see how a layer of beeswax could protect the lead from oxidizing (and thus *forming* impurities). Just about everything is lighter than lead, so will float to the surface regardless of whether any molten wax is present or not. With that said, a bit of wax sounds like a great idea!

 

[toot]

I flux / wax the lead after it is all melted, not before it is melted. and skim the impurities off of the top.

 

[Whughett]

Lead fluxes run the gamit from wax to rosin to sawdust. They all smoke and will flash into flames. I’ve used commercial fluxing compounds like Frankfort Arsenal or Brownells for years no smoke and bright shiny lead.
Amazon sells the Frankfort stuff and it last for years. It will absorb moisture over time however.