why are my ww casts frosty

[gunslinger20]

why are my ww smelt ingets frosty looking. The melt temp was around 650 outside temp around 30. I could only put a few ww in at a time cuz the pot would freeze up, didnt want to get any forein metals in the mix.

[Bloodman14]

Dumping WWs in the pot will cause the melt to solidify slightly. Not a big deal, just wait for it to 'remelt'. Your ingots being frosty is also no cause for concern; it means that the metal was really hot. Mine do that all the time; if they didn't, I will turn up the heat slightly. Usually, they will frost after the ingot mold comes up to temp.

[gunslinger20]

I didnt think 650 was hot enough to make them frost. The other alloy that i was useing and told was12 bhn cold not be scratched with a fingernail but the ww alloy can so it is a softer alloy than i was useing wich tells me that if ww are 12-15 bhn that the other alloy wasnt 12bhn. maybe the softer ww alloy will solve my problem.

[Jailer]

All my WW ingots look like that. You call it a problem but it's really nothing to worry about. Now if your casting bullets and they are frosty then you have something to troubleshoot and figure.

Smelt away!

[Terryrm1-03]

I use a sponge soaking in a 1lb coffee lid with water just saturating the sponge 3/4. Cast about 7-10 Boolits and then close the mold and place on the sponge to cool down. Let it evaporate all water then resume casting. The frosting is happening from the mold getting overheated. Even though casting temps are within 650-700 degrees the mold overheats. don't know why, but works for me.
HTH's TerryR

[unique]

You know I too always wonder what made the bullets frosty looking...
I know a melt too hot is what causes it, but what really is going on metallurgically?

In other words when the leads too hot why does the bullet get frosty looking?

[azjohn]

What are you using for an ingot mould? I have 1 Lyman mould which is cast iron and the rest are muffin tins. The muffin tin ingots come out frosty looking and the ingots from the Lyman are nice and shiny. I think it has to do with temp of melt and heat transfer.The muffin tins are thin and take longer to cool. You can see this in posts with pictures by other members who are using muffin tins; the ingots look frosty.

[shotman]

it helps keep the lube on . I try to make all mine that way. most of the time the shinny ones get remelted
pure lead is only ones I dont remelt

[hydraulic]

I find that frosted bullets are filled out better. Bands are distinct and all edges are sharp. Seems they are more consistent when weighed. If you don't like the appearence just rub them with an old sock, the frosting will disappear.

[Nightfisher]

Even though your melt temperature is down the mold, itself is hater and causing the bullets to frost. I would prefer them frosted but if you do not you can slow down or use the sponge and water as mentioned earlier. A grayish tint or frosted is the best.

[gunslinger20]

I just didnt think the frosting was normal but if it is it doesnt bother me. Im not used to ww casting and was afraid i got some zinc or other contaminant metal from the ww. I am useing muffin tins.
Thanks to all

[*Paladin*]

All of my muffin tin ingots are frosty looking as well. And although I'm brand new at this stuff, I gotta agree the frost bullets are perfectly filled out and I weighed a handull tonight on my scale. ALL of them were 228.6 thru 229.2 gr. That's amazing to me. I never would have imagined in just a couple nights of casting I'd be making bullets with that kind of consistency. I owe it ALL to the advice I've been given and that I've gleaned from this forum so far!

[MtGun44]

Nothing wrong with frosty boolits, in fact I prefer them.

Bill

[geargnasher]

You know I too always wonder what made the bullets frosty looking...
I know a melt too hot is what causes it, but what really is going on metallurgically?

In other words when the leads too hot why does the bullet get frosty looking?

Wrong!!!

Frosted boolits have nothing to do with alloy temperature and everything to do with mould temperature, which controls the rate of cooling during alloy freeze. The formation of dentrites in antimonial alloys varies in structure based upon cooling rate of the metal, thus affecting the way the surface reflects light.

You can pour 850* WW metal into a 100* mould and get shiny, wrinkled, rounded boolits. You can pour 600* WW metal into a 450* mould and get boolits so frosty they have a rough surface. You can pour 700* WW metal into a 350-400* mould and get beautiful, slightly satin boolits with perfect fillout. Some folks can cast shiny, perfect boolits in that narrow window between wrinkles and frost, but without pressure casting I usually need to get the mould up to the first, light frosty stage for good fillout.

Gear

[lwknight]

I second the geargnasher!!

Anytime a binary or ternary alloy cools slowly , it will frost.
Ingots cool slowly because they are big and bullets cool slowly when the molds are excessively hot.

[1Shirt]

T'aint nothin wrong a'tall with frosty boolits! Read Paco Kelly!
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[gunslinger20]

Thanks guys I just didnt know, didnt want any more tin or zinc.

[x101airborne]

i prefer satin or frosted boolits. seem like the hogs are afraid of the shiney ones!!

[gunslinger20]

maybe you could blind um with the shiney ones.

[geargnasher]

i prefer satin or frosted boolits. seem like the hogs are afraid of the shiney ones!!

Just blacken the tips with a sharpie 8-)

I like the sort of light satin frost that will wipe right off with a rag, leaving a nice shiny surface behind. Any more than that and the surface starts to get pitted.

Gear

[1Shirt]

:Gunslinger, You know of course that "even blind hogs occaisionaly find an acorn".
1Shirt!:coffee:

[gunslinger20]

Good point Im no longer concerned about frosty boolits
Thanks to all

[snuffy]

why are my ww smelt ingots frosty looking?

The only time I have ever had shiny ingots was when smelting pure lead. Any other alloys always were a dull gray. If you want to call that frosty, well then they were frosty. Once, when using one Lyman ingot mold in rapid succession that got real hot, I had some ingots that looked like a poor job of zinc plating they were so frosty. It took 5 minutes for the last pour to solidify.

As for boolits, I too shoot for the dull gray surface on my alloy boolits. I certainly don't care if anybody calls them frosty. All I know is they shoot!

Quit worrying about frosty versus shiny, get on with casting good shooters.:cbpour:

[Bloodman14]

Yeah, a lot of new guys overthink the wrong stuff; BHN, alloys, pressure v. velocity, etc. Just keep it consistent, change ONE thing at a time, and have fun.