My cast is not clean?

[Fly]

Guy's I shoot muzzleloaders.I have a Lee pour pot, & flux with wax & sawdust.My lead is pure but comes from scrap.
The only thing, I think is I don't make ingots.I just cut some lead & throw in pot.When I do make ingots I flux that
before throwing into mold.

Then when it does go into mold it is fluxed again.Do you guys think that may be my problem for durty lead?

Fly:veryconfu

[shadowcaster]

The only thing, I think is I don't make ingots.I just cut some lead & throw in pot.

It sounds like dirty lead. If the lead isn't clean to begin with, I would definitely melt it all down and make them into ingots using a separate smelting pot. Flux with sawdust until it's clean and then pour. Then when it's time to cast your round balls use your now clean ingots in your casting pot. Flux again and pour.

Shad

[detox]

Watch this Cast Master video. He premelts then flux scrap metel before pouring into ingots. When remelting ingots in bottom pour do not flux again.
http://www.magmaengineering.com/products/cast-master/

[44man]

Dirty lead will have a lot of junk that sinks to the bottom of the pot. Strange of course but true. How some dirt does not float is crazy.
Even clean ingots will leave dirt at the bottom. One reason I ladle cast only.
Keep the casting pot as clean as you can.
You can flux until you are blue in the face without bringing up the dirt. It is not part of the alloy.

[captaint]

44man - I have found EXACTLY the same thing. I both bottom pour and ladle pour from a different pot. This is why we have to just empty our pots now and then and get the junk
out of the bottom - which is always there.... Mike

[cbrick]

Dirty lead will have a lot of junk that sinks to the bottom of the pot. Strange of course but true. How some dirt does not float is crazy.

I suspect it has to do with the weight & density of lead & "stuff" can be trapped & not float to the surface. Proper fluxing will get most of it & probably not all. I flux every time I heat up the pot or add ingots.

For the OP fluxing is much more than putting sawdust on top and giving it a quick stir. It takes time and using a spoon to bring as much alloy up from the bottom and in contact with the charred sawdust as possible, keep doing this over and over to get as much alloy in contact with the flux as possible. Sawdust works extremely well at cleaning your alloy but the alloy must be in contact with the carbon, sitting on top and a quick stir does little.

Rick

[44man]

I suspect it has to do with the weight & density of lead & "stuff" can be trapped & not float to the surface. Proper fluxing will get most of it & probably not all. I flux every time I heat up the pot or add ingots.

For the OP fluxing is much more than putting sawdust on top and giving it a quick stir. It takes time and using a spoon to bring as much alloy up from the bottom and in contact with the charred sawdust as possible, keep doing this over and over to get as much alloy in contact with the flux as possible. Sawdust works extremely well at cleaning your alloy but the alloy must be in contact with the carbon, sitting on top and a quick stir does little.

Rick
It is hard to figure dirt can have a higher density then lead and sink.
I pour my pot out into ingot molds a lot to change the alloy and there is always a pile in the bottom. It can easy be a few tablespoon fulls.
Nothing goes in my pots but clean, smelted ingots.

[cbrick]

It is hard to figure dirt can have a higher density then lead and sink.

No, I don't think the dirt has a higher density than lead but rather the lead is so dense that it traps stuff below the surface. The lower in the pot (the bottom) the more weight of lead is pushing down on it, kinda like the deeper in the ocean you go the more weight of water you have pushing on you.

Rick

[44man]

No, I don't think the dirt has a higher density than lead but rather the lead is so dense that it traps stuff below the surface. The lower in the pot (the bottom) the more weight of lead is pushing down on it, kinda like the deeper in the ocean you go the more weight of water you have pushing on you.

Rick
Good explanation. You might have the answer.

[btroj]

Look at how much crud is stuck under the lead when you empty the pot entirely. That is held there by the weight of lead above it even thou it should float.

Stirring is more than moving the top layers of lead. It means bringing lead up from the bottom. The currents induced by a vigorous stir help bring stuff to the top. I also like to scrap the bottom well along with the sides.

Cleaning scrap lead and fluxing it requires time and some energy. The time is well spent as it removes the grunge that you don't want.

[Fly]

Well thanks for all your input.I have a Lee down pour pot.This time around I smelt the lead into ingets & fluxed good
before pouring into ingets.Then I heated the Lee bullet mold & ran the mold almost empty into inget molds will scraping
all the crud of the sides & bottom of the Lee pot as I poured, to clean it as well as I could.

Then I ran the smelted lead threw it back into inget molds.Yea you do need to smelt your lead before using
a down spout pot.It pours clean bullets now.Dumb me!

Fly