Am I on the right track?

[AFK]

I have decided to start casting my own bullets and have been reading many posts and stickies, and doing searches to find answers to the multiple questions I am coming up with. I have also come up with a list of tools/equipment that I want to use although I have not purchased anything yet. I am on a rather tight budget as compared to some, but I am sure my needs and wants will change as I get furthur in to the hobby. Anyway, I have come up with a general process and list of things to do and watch for while casting, and I was hoping to get some feedback. I have read a lot about smelting and feel confident in my plans to do it, so this plan will be solely for casting. What do you think?

I plan to use a Lee 20lb. bottom pur pot and Lee double cavity molds for now.

1-Place material in pot and set to 7 until material is liquid and thermometer(RCBS) reads about 725 degrees. Turn knob down and try to keep temp constant at the 725.
2-During this time I plan to have my mold warming on a hot plate and hope to achieve a mold temp of approx 340 degrees
3-I want to flux the melt with pine sawdust. Once it burns and turns to char, mix and stir well in to the melt. I plan to use various stainless tools to make sure I get all around the sides and the bottom corners of the pot and try to pull the impurities to the surface at the same time.
4-After stiring and scraping, remove the crust and dross. Then add another layer of sawdust to keep things from oxidizing. Let it char but don't mix it again
5-Start casting bullets (I am reading about technique and so-on and will probably create another thread for that:)
6-As pot goes down a couple of inches, scrape off charred sawdust and add more alloy. Doing this will help keep the temp of the melt more consistent, rather then letting the level get too low.
7-Repeat #3
8-Once done casting, simply unplug the pot and let the lead solidify. Ne need to empty the pot. My main question here is, do I leave the burnt sawdust on the melt while the pot cools, and scrape it off the next time I heat it up? Or do I scrape it off then let it cool? I would think leaving it on there would be fine and it will protect it from oxidation, but I am not sure.

This is what I have come up with so far and it all seems resonable to me. I know many people have many different ways of doing things to achieve the same or similar result, so opinions may vary. I would love to hear what people think about my plan. Am I on the right track?

Thanks in advance

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Sounds like you have planned the process to death...did you read the stickies ? I know you said you did....have you checked the "LASC" site ? lots of good info there....they have a link here on this site... I have fluxed with lots of materials and for my money....I just use PARAFAN like the ladies use when canning or candle wax...lots less garbage to deal with...Good Luck:cbpour:

[boho]

AFK will the alloy you are adding to your pot be alloy that has already been fluxed with sawdust and in clean ingots? If so you can just stir with a stick like a paint stirer and it will leave ash on top of your melt protecting it from O2 and fluxing. Adding a little more sawdust on top will not hurt. Wax will help too. You need to be careful pushing things down in your melt with a bottom pour. It can clog your spout and put a damper on your casting session. I cast a lot with 2 cavity molds and 650° to 675° is where my molds like it. You definatly have a plan and seem to be well on your way! Enjoy!

[Rick O'Shay]

Yup. You're on the right track. Start casting. Be safe and have fun.
Rick.

[AFK]

Sounds like you have planned the process to death...did you read the stickies ?

Yep, I am certainly a planner. I like to get in to things and give myself the greatest chance for sucess. I have read a bunch of stickies and will continue to do so. I have learned that there are many correct ways to do this and get good results.


AFK will the alloy you are adding to your pot be alloy that has already been fluxed with sawdust and in clean ingots?

Yes the alloy will be smelted and fluxed seperately prior to casting. I hope to start with the cleanest alloy possible in my casting pot.


You need to be careful pushing things down in your melt with a bottom pour. It can clog your spout and put a damper on your casting session.

This is another area where I have been reading conflicting arguments. Some people seen too have problems in a bottom pour pot using the dust and others don't. It seems to boil down to technique. Some say it is not a problem if you scrape correctly and thoroughly and some say that they have nothing but problems doing it this way. I know it's going to come down to trial and error for me. It does make sense to me that I would want a layer of something on top so I don't lose my tin. Will wax do that?

[runfiverun]

your over thinking this.
use the thermometer, it will fluctuate as the pot turns off and on.
just get the mold hot, get the lead melted to about 700-725, and pay attention to the boolits coming out of the mold.

if they are shiny when cool the mold is too cold.
if they are grey they are fine.
if they are whitish it's too hot.

keeping the mold in that grey zone is the real trick to good boolits..

[leadman]

I have found that sometimes it is necessary to flux with more then one item to get the lead clean. I do not use sawdust much in my bottom pour RCBS pot as it is difficult to scrape around the rod for the nozzle. I use beeswax mostly and then a little candle or parrafin wax to clean off the residue from the beeswax. Once in a while I run into some stubborn alloy that does not want to clean up well and for this I use Marvelux.
If I was casting indoors I would use Marvelux all the time as the is almost no smoke or odor.

Post some pictures of your boolits if you have problems and you will receive responses to help you out.

[AFK]

Thanks for the replies. Still learning and reading. Sooner or later I will get some equipment and dive in. That is the way I will learn the most, I'm sure once I start, I will be posting more along with some pics for guidance.

[Bigslug]

I wouldn't do sawdust in the casting pot. Save that for cleaning the scrap metal up prior to casting.

I've quit bothering with trying to cover up the melt in the casting pot with flux, kitty litter, or anything else, nor do I attempt to clean metal in the casting pot other than an occasional surface skim. Put clean metal in and let the crud float. I just let the top layer of oxide/crud form what boundary it can, but as I am adding in sprues and rejects, as well as frequently stirring as I go, some exposure to air is gonna happen, no matter what. Out of a 20 pound pot, a few ounces gets reduced to "pond scum", and I'm OK with this.

I would regard the hotplate as unnecessary for the little Lee two-cavities. Those things get up to temperature in only a few pours.

I always empty the pot into ingot molds when done casting because there are different alloys to be used for different purposes. If you only have one purpose, nothing wrong with your plan.

You've probably read of PID temperature controllers by now. While they are not strictly necessary, they are a highly valuable asset in regards to KNOWING what is going on in the pot. I can watch the temperature rise and fall by single digits and use that to guide my rate of tossing in rejects, sprues, or more alloy. To that end, making smaller ingots during your smelts has some advantages in that your pot won't fluctuate as much when you dunk one in.

I don't know what the Lee pot has for spigot adjustment, but one thing I noted on the Lyman and RCBS pots is that as the pot drains, the rate of flow decreases, requiring either opening the spigot wider or topping off the pot to keep things consistent.

[slim1836]

Please do not forget to use eye protection.

Slim

[Echo]

Lots of good planning here, and good recommendations. My dos centavos is to warm the moulds on the rim of the furnace, and warm the ingots the same place. That way, when you add, they aren't that much cooler than the melt, and won't affect the melt temp as much. And add the ingots a pound at a time, reducing the shock to the melt. Let the level go down about 1/2 inch, and add another ingot, right through the charred sawdust, using channel-locks to handle the ingot, as it will be hot. Maybe sweep the ingot around a little to make a hole in the charred sawdust for the ingot to slide through, then put another ingot on the rim...

[TXGunNut]

Just do it! Safety is of the utmost importance but after that the only important thing is getting some molten lead into a mould. A 20lb Lee BP pot would be nice but if you're on a budget other heat sources will do fine. Always have, always will. I like the bottom pour pot but I keep a ladle pot around for moulds that prefer it.
Jump on in, this game takes practice to get it right and no amount of analysis will help you at this point. You have a good plan, time to move forward with equipment procurement and actually utilizing the silver stream. It's an awesome experience, quit putting it off!

[MtGun44]

Nearly to the overthinking stage. You are doing a very good job reading stickies, THANK YOU!

BUT, sounds like time to jump in and learn by doing. For what it's worth, I have been casting
for many decades and never use a thermometer, even though I have had one for at least 25 years.

Tried it a couple of times, found out it didn't really tell me much that was of value. The boolits
will tell you how you are doing. Once you get the pot set, just leave it alone.

I did recently buy a PID controller, but haven't used it yet. Maybe it will be a transformational
experience. . . .
but I doubt it will, just wanted another toy to try, seemed like a nice thing. Soon I will have
"perfect" temperature control. We'll see how big a difference it makes, but it is certain that
it can't hurt.

Bill

[AFK]

I agree it's time to jump in. I picked up some welding gloves and goggles yesterday. Santa will bring some things for me as well. I went pewter hunting over the weekend too. I am slowly gathering stuff and reading. I currently reload for 4 pistol calibers and have plenty of components to get me to, and past, the point of casting my first bullets. So many opinions on certain subjects and, ultimately, I will find out what works best for me.

[Petrol & Powder]

Oh, you're done for. It's only a matter of time before you start picking up wheel weights in parking lots and immediately discarding them when you determine they are steel.

[AFK]

One thing I still have to do is find a good source for lead. I am not opposed to buying it from some of the sellers here, but I would like to try to find something local. I couple of friends know some guys that work at auto shops, but they said they hardly see lead any more. That is in NJ. I am going to check some places near my house since I live in PA. Since I work at an appliance store, I have been stripping old appliances of their insulated wire and brass when available. I am hoping to save up enough where I can possibly make a trade with a local scrap yard for some lead, but I would want to know what's in it.