What is going on with my lead?

[chutestrate]

I fluxed this lead like crazy a couple of nights ago. I then forgot to turn off my pot and last night when I had the oh **** moment, I saw this. My pot was clean. Obviously my lead is really dirty,

[runfiverun]

that's probably the heaviest dirt your gonna run into.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

is that a bunch of antimony that separated??

[chutestrate]

I have no idea. Looks like a bunch of dirt and i don't know what else

[quail4jake]

Oh boy, I know how you feel. I left a head of cabbage boiling and went out the other day...lost all my tin in the alloy, oh the dross!:kidding:

[Grmps]

I hate to admit it but I've left my pot on overnight more than once [smilie=b: but I've never had that happen.
How hot was your pot set at? I kind of looks like you boiled the lead [I've never seen boiled lead]

[chutestrate]

I should have double checked the temp. I didn't move the dial so I will plug back in. I cast with where it is set now, so in the 675-750 f range.

[rsrocket1]

What a work of art. I think you may have invented a new element. Casting's version of Corium (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corium_(nuclear_reactor))!

[swheeler]

Looks like you added 23 pennies and then fluxed with copper sulfate!:kidding:

[308Jeff]

First of all, keep him out of the light, he hates bright light, especially sunlight, it'll kill him. Second, don't give him any water, not even to drink. But the most important rule, the rule you can never forget, no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never leave your casting pot on overnight.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

well alrighty then!

[dbosman]

Did you by any chance use borax for a flux?

[John Boy]

Obviously my lead is really dirty,
Looks to me that the ingots were not fluxed and it was done in the casting pot with garbage in addition to lead.
Fluxed melt in the casting pot at 675-750 left over night would never 'create' dross looking like that mess
What was the lead source in the pot - WW's - range scraps or ?

[Grmps]

What lead/alloy were you using and what did you flux it with, how much flux did you use? did you cast after you fluxed it> if you did you could send one of those bullets to BNE and he could tell you what was in it.

[Traffer]

It looks like clinkers from high-sulfur content coal. I have no idea what it is though. Please let us know if you ever figure it out. I am curious as the cat that was killed.

[Lloyd Smale]

wow that's an ugly mess. Ive left pure, ww, linotype and just about every alloy inbetween on over night because I forgot to turn off a pot and they didn't look a bit different then when I left them.

[kens]

where's that link to the drip-o-matic art???

[Ateam]

Wow, that looks more like a reaction than just "dirt" that floated to the top. I hardly get that much dirt out of 50lbs of raw wheelweights. Really curious what is going on here.

[Walter Laich]

one way I overcame leaving the pot on is putting it on a rolling table and always casting outside. when done the table goes back in and first thing is to unplug the pot and roll up extension cord cause the table won't roll over it easily.

back to OP, sure looks like there is dirt in there. any chance you could have had something above it drip into the pot? Something that might have gotten warm from the pot's temp and melted into it?

^total guess by the way

[OS OK]

where's that link to the drip-o-matic art???

I thought this post might catch on but it seems that someone is against 'drip art'...it keeps getting melted down and made into boolits!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?328170-Pictures-of-Pot-Drip-Art

This post here is a different art form all together...it looks more like a 'petrie dish' out of control growing microbes from Mars!

[chutestrate]

What lead/alloy were you using and what did you flux it with, how much flux did you use? did you cast after you fluxed it> if you did you could send one of those bullets to BNE and he could tell you what was in it.

Plumbing pipe lead I think. I flux with a powder from Franklin Arsenal I picked up from Midway. Directions call for 1 tsp per pot. I do it 3-4x per pot full prior to casting. I do all my initial lead cleaning in a separate pot.

[swheeler]

Plumbing pipe lead I think. I flux with a powder from Franklin Arsenal I picked up from Midway. Directions call for 1 tsp per pot. I do it 3-4x per pot full prior to casting. I do all my initial lead cleaning in a separate pot.

That is probably the problem, didn't get all the other things out at time you smelted?

[vzerone]

You know what I believe is better to flux with? A mixture of wax and sawdust. One fluxes and the other helps the alloys that escaped to top of the mix to get back into the mixture rather then losing them when you skim off the dirt.

Long ago I tried some of the commercial fluxes, I believe Marvelux?, and it caused a lot of rusting on any steel object in and near the vicinty of my casting area, including the iron molds!

[varmintpopper]

Go check Your Wife,,,, See if She has a smile on Her face.

Good Shooting

Lindy

[Pb Burner]

Wow....that's ugly. If you ever figure out what caused that please let us know. How full was the pot when you walked away? How hard/dense is that "stuff" on top of the lead?
I also would recommend fluxing with sawdust and wax, probably cheaper than the commercial flux too.

[swheeler]

Almost looks like your cat found a new heated litter box!:kidding:

[buckshotshoey]

Almost looks like your cat found a new heated litter box!:kidding:

Maybe that's what is left of the cat!

[Grmps]

I think we've found the culprit. +1 on fluxing with sawdust (pine preferably) and wax
I like to cover the top of the melted lead with a layer of sawdust, wait until it chars then light it on fire. when it all burns to charcoal,
I mix it thoroughly into the lead. I skim and repeat until the dross looks like this
https://i.imgur.com/YwMiUS7.jpg
I do the same thing in my casting pot (I start with a potato masher, then a wire wisp, works great for me).
I leave it as a barrier to prevent oxidation and the lead from splashing when I drop my sprues back in

I like to use a stainless steel mesh strainer attached to a pole in my smelting pot to do the mixing and removal of most ot the dross
https://i.imgur.com/KIPibZK.jpg?1

[myg30]

I think we've found the culprit. +1 on fluxing with sawdust (pine preferably) and wax
I like to cover the top of the melted lead with a layer of sawdust, wait until it chars then light it on fire. when it all burns to charcoal,
I mix it thoroughly into the lead. I skim and repeat until the dross looks like this
https://i.imgur.com/YwMiUS7.jpg
I do the same thing in my casting pot (I start with a potato masher, then a wire wisp, works great for me).
I leave it as a barrier to prevent oxidation and the lead from splashing when I drop my sprues back in

I like to use a stainless steel mesh strainer attached to a pole in my smelting pot to do the mixing and removal of most ot the dross
https://i.imgur.com/KIPibZK.jpg?1

+1 on this method. Large spoon with drain holes to stir and scrape the bottom of the pot with.
My only question is how did the pot stay full of lead ? I thought all those Lee pots dripped ?

Glad no real harm done and no Fire.

Mike

[Grmps]

+1 on this method. Large spoon with drain holes to stir and scrape the bottom of the pot with.
My only question is how did the pot stay full of lead ? I thought all those Lee pots dripped ?Mike

Mine don't drip if I use only clean alloy and keep it clean.

[chutestrate]

Thank you all. I suspected it was my fluxing or rather my lack of fluxing. I was in doubt though because of the amount of **** on the top. The consistency was mixed. Some of it was powdery, sort of like a rust dust. Some of it was clumped. It was very light when I removed it. I'm sure I pulled out some of the more desirable elements, but it showed me i need to change up my fluxing materials.

[jeff100]

I dunno if this is just a joke thread or what. My understanding is melted lead alloy, kept on heat long enough will form oxides on the surface of the lead melt. So, with this pot of molten lead left on heat overnight, wouldn't that mess just be a massive amount of lead oxides formed and built up from the lead alloy being heated for a long period of time? - JJ

[6bg6ga]

I think its fake news

[D Crockett]

what I do to keep oxidation down is put a layer of unused cat liter on top. and when I add a ingot I just move it aside and put in the ingot. I used marvelux still have most of the container of it won't use that stuff again. what I use now is a blend of bees wax candle wax and pine pitch works great. D Crockett

[jeff100]

I think its fake news

Are the Russians involved?

[woodbutcher]

:shock: Good grief Charlie Brown.What PLANET did that lead come from[smilie=1:?
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[Victor N TN]

I fluxed this lead like crazy a couple of nights ago. I then forgot to turn off my pot and last night when I had the oh **** moment, I saw this. My pot was clean. Obviously my lead is really dirty,

OOOhh gag... Somebody made a mess...!!! I'm glad for once, it wasn't me.

[edctexas]

Looks like what I got when I added stuff to remove zinc. I think is was sulfur based. It didn't bubble up so much but looked like it. I was outside and good thing because the sulfur really stunk!

Ed C

[rsrocket1]

Looks like that pot is indoors. If not, it's one of the best laid out patio workshop I've ever seen.

You'll want to use that sawdust (and wax) outdooors. The sawdust smokes a lot and gets into all your casting clothing and the wax will smoke 10 times more unless you light it, then you simply get flames coming out followed by a nice smoke from paraffin infused sawdust. But it does keep the alloy nice and shiny.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

crockett- I love that you feel the need to specify that UNUSED cat litter is to be used!!! lol-Travis