2 questions...

[quiknot]

is there a good tool to use to skim off the residue from the smelting process besides a ladle?..like a slotted kitchen spoon

is it ok to use the smelting pot to cast boolits after the smelting portion is completed? ( instead of using a separate bottom feeding pot)?

thanks

[NVcurmudgeon]

quiknot, I use my smelting pot for casting. I can do this because my smelting pot is a 12 lb. ladle pot, so for my use it does double duty. If you cast with a bottom-pour pot it is a bad idea to smelt in the same pot because inevitably crud will clog the pour spout. Some ladle casters use a separate pot for smelting because they have a lot of wheelweights and want to smelt them quickly. ALL bottom-pour casters should use a separate pot for smeltng.

When smelting, after the WW are melted my first move is to remove the clips with a slotted, stanless steel, large cooking spoon. (One of your own, please. not one belonging to She Who Must Be Obeyed.) The lead will not stick to the spoon, so only the clips are removed. After the clips are out, the pot is fluxed with a piece of candle and stirred. Then the black and brown dust-like impurities are skimmed off with a bent teaspoon. My little 12 lb. pot has two handles, so it is easy to pour alloy into ingot moulds.

Welcome, and keep the questions coming. It gives us old guys something to do.

[Nueces]

Hi, quiknot

I responded to your other post before seeing this one. You can get LOTS of really good poop here by reading old posts. All your questions have been addressed in the not-too-distant past, and the reading is fun. Going back just one month covers a lot of bases, and I'm looking forward to combing through it all. If it ever rains here again and gives me the time, that is.

The slotted spoon you mention is the 'standard' implement for drossing. As for using the smelt pot and tools for casting, the nearly unanimous answer is, you'd better not. Smelting is very dirty and you want to keep all that crud from your mould cavities. Even a melt of clean alloy produces some dross. Use the search function here or just page through the lists of threads for a bunch of other recent answers on this topic. Your first step was a bullseye, by asking these fellows.

Mark

[MGySgt]

is there a good tool to use to skim off the residue from the smelting process besides a ladle?..like a slotted kitchen spoon

is it ok to use the smelting pot to cast boolits after the smelting portion is completed? ( instead of using a separate bottom feeding pot)?

thanks

is there a good tool to use to skim off the ..............

Depends on the size of your smelting pot and how big the opening is. I use a little tool from Wally World that is a hand seive for cooking (like dounots in a deep frier). Works great to get the clips out - But my smelting pot will hold over 120 pounds at a time. I don't empty it when I am smelting, I take out about 50# at a time.


is it ok to use the smelting pot to cast boolits.....

As others have stated - if it is a bottom pour - I wouldn't do it - for the price of a stainless steel pot at a yard sale and a heat source (camp stove?) it just isn't worth getting all that gunk into your casting pot.

Drew

[44man]

Take a length of wood and rivit it to the handle of the spoon to make it longer and keep the heat away from your hands. Even a glove will keep heat away for a while but the leather can get hot and all of a sudden the heat is at your skin.
If you flux with wax, the long handle keeps you away from flare ups too.