Second Smelting Attempt

[Whitespider]

My second attempt at smelting today. I learned that if I smoked the bottom of the muffin cups real heavy with a candle and cast the first few times only half full they would “break in” and start to release the ingots.

I smelted 2½ buckets of WWs. I started out sorting the WWs, pulling out the junk and looking for zinc. By the time I finished I was just giving them a cursory look as I dumped them in. Ended up with about 275 pounds(?) of ingots, and a full bucket of clips and junk. Found less than a pound of stick-on weights.

You’ve all probably heard this before, but here is a list of other things I learned today;

WWs stink as they melt.
Rubber smells even worse.
The bottom of the bucket contains lots of dirt.
It seems that sorting through a bucket of WW is going to be an adventure (as you never know what you might find).
As long as that cloud of smoke is rolling out of the open garage doors your wife will not appear (and she’ll never know you opened a beer before noon).
Do not wear your “Sunday Go To Meeting” jeans when smelting.
Rusty steal hides moisture.
Sawdust smokes a lot but candle wax will burst into flames, and that scares the heck out of you the first time it happens.
Eleven-year-old daughters own water guns and are way too curious about smoke and molten metal.
When returning to the house you will be required to bath before you will be allowed to sit on any piece of furniture.
Two-pound ingots remain hot enough to severely burn your hand for a lot longer than you would first suspect.
Playing with hot molten metal is loads of fun!!!!

I’m gonna’ get a mould ordered ASAP.

[macvcallsign]

So true - So true!!! Welcome to our world! Life sure is interestin'

[Orygun]

It's a learning curve that we have all went through, and things do get easier as you do more. We do have to band together though, about keeping the secret of "opening a beer before noon" from your wife. ;)

[yodar]

I smelt a few hundred pounds of wheelweights year and I got it down to a science. DO NOT FLUX IN YOUR CASTING POT. us a dutch oven or a large frypan with sturdy insulated handle.

Secure a reliable source of tin, or lead-tin solder, or lead-free solder. Taracorp is a major manufacturer.You will need to add a couple ounces of 60% or higher tin into your wheelweights for surface finish and fillout. Antimonyman.com sells tin-antimony and tin alloys

Buy a box of 20 mule team borax, or boric acid, save scraps of your bullet lube, candles, or beeswax-alox. Do NOT use MARVELUX flux unless you are VERY disiciplined and apply it with a salt shaker and let it melt, and crystallize and DONT stir it when it turns black. A teaspoonfull if way too much. It will mess up your pot and make it rust. Marvelux use requires emptying pot and filling it with water to a boil to clean it out. if you dont, it will rust..

Perform your smelt using a perforated stainless steel chineese restaurant ladel to scoop out the dirt and clips.

When the surface APPEARS finally clean, apply your 20 muleteam with a shaker and dont stir. Wait a few minutes so particles can float to the top without stirring. Let the 20 muleteam turn to a fluffly glass that will trap invisible particles so the crust can be removed, taking the dirt. You may hafta do this twice

Then flux with wax , stir, scoop off debris

This may have to be repeated.

Pour into cast iron Cornbread stick moulds. Allow to cool If you see a grey stripe along the middle, that is dirt that will discolor your bullets , the fluxing has failed, you have to remelt, and reflux a few times.

REMEMBER, NO flux dissolves in lead. I find the waxes and boric acids can be stirred, but the octaborates (20 mule team) and Marvelux, work better not stirred because you want them to SET up as a crystalline plate on top of the melt. I use the powdered fluxes in my casting pot but we're talking pinches in salt shakers.

You WILL be regarded by the neighbors as a sorceror especially when the wax alights!;>), BUT It's not witchcraft, it is physical science, like dissolves like, insoluble stuff (like dirt)must be given time to FLOAT...too much stirring just prevents that.

Yodar

[imashooter2]

Never heard of using 20 Mule Team Borax before... does it make the pot rust like Marvelux? Is it hygroscopic?

[flyingstick]

Well, you've done it now! You'll be a lead addict for sure:)

[mto7464]

Oh yeah, make sure you don't have a hole in your leather gloves. I had to learn that lesson twice. (same spot on the thumb too)

[Whitespider]

Thanks yodar,

I did my smelting in a cast dutch oven on an old electric kitchen stove. I have a stainless slotted kitchen spoon for removing the clips.

The local HobbyLobby sells solid core 95/5 tin/antimony solder for about $13.00 (1 lb), but haven’t purchased any yet. They also have beeswax in one pound blocks, but I don’t even own a mould yet so I haven’t tried making lube.

I was wondering how much/often to flux, I’ll pick up some borax. Today I would watch the melt, and just as it went from slushy to liquid I threw some sawdust on the clips. Than I would push the clips and sawdust into the melt a few times before scooping out the clips. When I did this a bunch of crud would stick to the clips (and the spoon, and the sides/bottom of the pot) but no melt came out with the clips. Than I’d scrape the pot, sawdust, stir, candle wax, stir, scrape and skim. As I was ladling the melt into ingots a skin would form on the surface along with some silver/gray gritty lookin’ stuff. I never did let the pot sit so stuff could float to the top. Just kept pushing the skin and silver/gray gritty lookin’ stuff to the side of the pot. WHAT IS THAT STUFF? Does it ever stop forming?

I was planning on pouring boolits with a ladle, from a smaller cast pot, but if that skin/gritty stuff is always floating on top.....?

Whitespider

P.S. Hey Orygun, thanks fer keepin’ the “beer before noon” secret from my wife. I needed somethin’ ta wash down all that smoke.

[454PB]

At the risk of repeating myself, I've been using Marvelux for 20 years, in the same Lee pots, and none of them are rusty. Yes, Marvelux is hygroscopic, and it does require care in use. If you jam a cold dipper or stirring device in the molten pot after it's been used to flux with Marvelux, it will sizzle and even eject alloy around the pot. However, it doesn't take more than one experience like that to learn it's not wise......kind of like picking up a freshly dumped boolit and burning your fingers. Lay the dipper or stirring spoon on the edge of the pot long enough to evaporate any moisture, then stir in an amount about equal to any other fluxing agent. After a minute or so, the dross will form on the surface. Leave that alone, it serves as an oxygen barrier. I only flux again if refilling the pot. At the end of the casting session, skim the dross and dispose of same.

And again, I know a lot of casters say they hate Marvelux, and I've asked any that do to send it to me. I'll gladly pay the shipping costs.

[OLPDon]

Put muffin tins out in rain let them rust, igots will fall out of tins with ease. Its all in Gods Big plan rust can be a good thing.
Don