How often do you clean your pot??

[Lizard333]

The reason that I ask, is that I cleaned mine out for the first time the other day. I have put nearly 100 pounds of WW's through it and noticed some crud around the edge. After draining the pot, and letting it cool, I added some hot soapy water and it cleaned right up. My boolits are looking a lot nicer now as well. I was starting to notice impurities in my boolits. They look great now.

[onondaga]

That sounds like you got it gunked up fast compared to me. I manage to keep the crud low by using less and less wax for fluxing and am switching to sawdust only. That has made a big difference. Wax and oil based fluxes will build a caked and backed on crud. Protecting your pot from rust will also keep fried flux from sticking as badly.

I only leave 1 inch alloy in the pot , allow to cool and then spray the pot top rim and insides with Silicone spray or WD 40 every time I am done with it for the day. My pot is over 15 years old and has been thoroughly wire brushed and cleaned out 3 times but the nozzle has been cleaned many times.

Gary

[Char-Gar]

Every 5 to 10 years

[Doby45]

Never have cleaned mine.

[justingrosche]

The impurities are are called inclusions. It is small bits of dross. Try scraping the sides of your pot with a dry wooden stick while casting.The soot from the stick will cover the surface of the melt and help it from oxidizing and forming more dross.
I do this about every 20-25 throws. The inclusions will be most noticeable on your Boolit bases as little dirty pitting, and will be your best indicator that you need to do it again. You'll need to keep your melt temp to around 675 depending on the alloy to recover the trapped Boolit alloy and stir back in. The higher antimony content your alloy has, the less you'll have to do this.

[fredj338]

Never have cleaned mine.
This. Never, none of them. I never run the pot dry, never smelt in my casting pots. That way there should be nothing to clog the spout. Emptying the pot is how you get crud in the pour spout.

[Lizard333]

Rust isn't an issue here in Flagstaff, AZ. We are pretty dry. I have been using the Franklin Flux, I bought at a gun show. I used sawdust for a little while but noticed my boolits came out dirty looking, like something that was in the sawdust was sinking to the bottom of my pot and being cast into my boolits. Using that franklin stuff, it seems to work pretty well. I keep my casting temp of the lead to about 675 and am using straight WW's for most of loads. I tried adding tin as well but didn't notice much of a difference in the fill out, so quit adding the expense.

[94Doug]

Never have.

[justingrosche]

I have Never used Franklin Flux so I cant speak of its merits or shortfalls. I have used just about everything else under the sun at one time or another, from Mule team Borax to powdered dish soap, wax, and motor oil, You name it, and at one time or another I tried it in my pot. But I believe sawdust or wood shavings work better than most stuff I've tried, It creates a nice soot on top of the melt with out any lumps of any kind after it's stirred well at casting temp. If someone was to start a poll, I think that sawdust would be 90% of what the most competent casters use.
Just as a side note* tin wont help your fill out difficulties until you get your fluxing techniques handled.

[Von Gruff]

I cast from gas heated steel pots and have one for each of the three alloys I cast so my pots never get emptied or cleaned. Use clean ingots, smelted in another pot and I seen no need to clean out a pot.

Von Gruff.

[imashooter2]

Never have cleaned mine.

This is my schedule as well.

[justingrosche]

Lizard, don't be mislead by the guys that say they never clean ther pots. They do, but just as a part of the fluxing process. Not a total scrub down as you described. If they didn't there Boolits wouldn't look and perform as well as they do.

[AnthonyB]

Seems like I clean my bottom pour about once a year, more often if I am casting a lot of pistol bullets. I use wire brushes in the drill to remove all the scale, rust, ****, etc. that builds up on the sides of the pot. Have never cleaned the SS pot I use for ladled bullets.
Tony

[AnthonyB]

Hey, I just got censored by the forum! A first for me. My four letter word was cee are a pee, not the more common version.
Tony

[white eagle]

nevah

[Lizard333]

Anyone else have issues with the sawdust leaving crud fa into their boolits on a bottom pour?? Are those of you that are using sawdust ladle casting were it doesnt matter what sinks to the bottom??

[XWrench3]

i clean mine when i notice crud building up around the sides. mine is a bottom pour lee 20 pounder. i double flux every time i add new lead, but not when i am adding in scrap boolits that i just cast, or the sprue bits. if i had to guess, i would say probably every 5 or 6 pots full. to me, it is not that big of a deal to do, and i would rather have a clean pot. it is probably overkill, as often as i do it, but i hate messy equipment. dad taught me to take good care of my equipment, and i do.

[RobS]

I run mine out each time, hang it upside down and clean the spout with a large paper clip while it's still hot (from bottom up). A short while later but still warm I take a drill bit the same size as the spout and put bullplate sprue lube on it and run it through the spout. When the pot is cooled I spray all the metal down with Remington Gun oil and call it good.

Sometimes when I know I'm going to run the pot again in a few days I'll leave an inch or so in the bottom and let it cool. Once cooled, I'll spray oil on it again. It's humid in SE Kansas and a pot will start to rust even in 24 to 36 hours.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Some casters just feel So.......much better knowing their pots are really,really clean. Like some muzzleloader shooters feel about their bores being properly seasoned...............

BvT

[justingrosche]

Try raising your temp a bit and stir, scrape, stir. You should have fine ash on top w/o any alloy adhered to it. If you push the ash away you should see mirror bright alloy underneath.

[gray wolf]

Try raising your temp a bit and stir, scrape, stir. You should have fine ash on top w/o any alloy adhered to it. If you push the ash away you should see mirror bright alloy underneath.

Yup, yup and yup It's what I do and my pot stays clean.

[shagg]

um, right before you smoke it?


a joke of course

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

with a wooden stick (I use Oak)...

stir, scrape, stir. You should have fine ash on top w/o any alloy adhered to it. If you push the ash away you should see mirror bright alloy underneath.

[mold maker]

I have only removed the valve shaft once for a thorough brushing and cleaning. Next pour it looked same as before.
Free paint store paddles used to scrape the sides and bottom, and sawdust for flux keeps my pot clean.

[justingrosche]

Thanks for the addition Jon, yes w/ a DRY wooden stick

[imashooter2]

Anyone else have issues with the sawdust leaving crud fa into their boolits on a bottom pour?? Are those of you that are using sawdust ladle casting were it doesnt matter what sinks to the bottom??

How do you get wood ash to sink in lead?

[soldierbilly1]

Plus one on raisin' the temp. Seemingly, gets the pot cleaner or easier to raise and settle and clean the dross. works for me.
billy boy

[justingrosche]

How do you get wood ash to sink in lead?
Thats easy, don't stir your flux in, and you'll see it in your inclusions.

[HDS]

I read up a bit on the sawdust as flux issue and the message I took from that was, don't use anything but sawdust and don't use a wooden stick to scrape your pot, use metal. Because the stick itself can cause inclusions as it can burn and cause ash, especially if you scrape the bottom with one, which then plugs up your bottom pour pot. (Got a 4-20, never used yet)

With this regimen and pre-fluxing and alloying in a separate cast iron pot I gather cleaning should rarely be required. I've heard some use vinegar to clean their pots though?

[imashooter2]

Thats easy, don't stir your flux in, and you'll see it in your inclusions.

Not stirring makes wood ash heavier than lead?

[Doc Highwall]

First of all I do all of my smelting in a 11qt Dutch oven and flux to get as much crud out and pour it into 20lb ingots. Then I weigh it and alloy it in a 8qt Dutch oven and flux some more and pour it into 2-1/2lb ingots the fit into my LEE pot. This process give me two chances to flux the alloy giving very clean metal for the LEE pot. When I am casting with the LEE pot I am always fluxing and scraping the pot with a oak stick keeping crud from building up on the sides and bottom of the pot and I also flux with wood chips.

[Doby45]

When I am casting with the LEE pot I am always fluxing and scraping the pot with a oak stick keeping crud from building up on the sides and bottom of the pot and I also flux with wood chips.

Yhea, what he said..

[Bullshop]

I empty and clean my pots after about every 100 pounds of alloy run through.
I never empty all the alloy through the bottom pour nozzle. To empty I run the volume down to about 5 pounds then unplug the cord, coil it so it stays out of the way and dump the remaining alloy into ingot molds. Once the pot is empty without turning it back upright I let it set upside down until cool. This will free the valve for cleaning. This procedure developed over many years and many ton of alloy is what keeps my pots working best.
Right or wrong that is what I do.

[cbrick]

Haven't felt or seen a need to since I threw Marvacrap in the trash. How badly & how thick that stuff will cake rock hard on the sides of your pot has to be seen to be believed. Since using only sawdust as flux as the level in my pot goes down and I look at the sides of the pot I see only clean steel.

When smelting WW into ingots I flux at least twice for assurance the ingots are as clean as possible. When using (adding) these ingots to the casting pot it gets another good fluxing with sawdust.

My WW alloy is about as clean as practicle for bullet alloy from scrap. Not much to stick on the inside of the pot and need cleaning out. I also have no problems either bottom pouring or ladle casting. I guess if I started to get inclusions bottom pouring I would have to consider emptying it out and cleaning it but until that time . . . Sawdust only!

Rick

[HollowPoint]

I haven't smoked pot in years but, back when I did I'd just go through it and pick out the seeds.

That was the extent of my cleaning routine.

HollowPoint

[fredj338]

Seems like I clean my bottom pour about once a year, more often if I am casting a lot of pistol bullets. I use wire brushes in the drill to remove all the scale, rust, ****, etc. that builds up on the sides of the pot. Have never cleaned the SS pot I use for ladled bullets.
Tony

If you leave the pot full at the end of your casting, there is nothing to rust IMO. Plus it heats up faster.