Beginner corner

[Boogedy_Man]

Hi folks. I've been casting about a year, but mostly just solid lead muzzleloader bullets. Just when I feel like I am getting somewhere with that, I started casting with wheel weights, and now wheel weights plus 2% tin.

Anyway, I was casting some bullets for my 444 and 30-30 the other day using WW + 2% tin. The first few hundred went well...then I had to tend to something with my wife. I dialed my pot (Lee Magnum) down to 5 and added some fresh sawdust to slow the oxidation a bit. I came back to jelled lead. So I cranked the pot back up, and when it was liquid enough fluxed with sawdust and stirred it up.

Odd thing, I had some clumps on top that wouldn't dissolve. They looked about like a "corn flake", except probably 1/8 thick and black. They were heavy...felt like metal. Unable to get them to melt back into the mix, I ended up having to skim them off. After this, I couldn't keep my oxidation under control. I still had probably 1/2 a pot of lead...but I was getting yellow (and sometimes very orange) powder accumulating on top very quickly.

So here's my questions:

1. Did monkeying with the pot temperature cause the antimony to separate and not flux back in?
2. Does the quick oxidation I experienced towards the end indicate my pot was too hot..maybe it crept up as the lead volume went down?
3. Is sawdust a suitable flux for dipper casting? I use a bottom pour ladle, and unless a clump of ash falls off the side at the start of the pour, I seem otherwise happy. I don't want to fix something that isn't broken.

And yes, I know I need a thermometer. I started the session with one (RCBS), but it had gotten condensation inside of it and it let loose to the atmosphere shortly after I immersed it.

Thanks for any advice!

[Walter Laich]

guessing here:

was this sawdust from a new source or one you have been using?

could the SD be contaminated?

type of wood SD came from?

[country gent]

Once the pot is back up to temp it shoul flux back up to a nice shinny mirror surface. I use sawdust and paraffin of beeswax both to flux on my pot. A small amount of sawdust sprinkled on the surface and when it starts to char add a little paraffin or beeswax ( ball a little bigger than a pea) and stir scraping sides and bottom of pot pulling lead up thru the flux and pushing flux down thru the lead. I think how you stir agitate the pot is as important as the flux you use. Just swirling the lead around dosnt mix it as well as the true agitation up and down does.

If you got to just the right temp cooled the antimony may have started to solidify while the lead didn't. Time at temperature can cause it to separate out also. Antimony can be hard to get blended back in to the mix at times. The mixed flux mentioned above helps some. Another plus is a bigger pot to alloy in allowing you to really stir the mix well and get it "blended". A bigger ladle pot makes stirring and agitating easier.

[Boogedy_Man]

Thanks for the replies. The sawdust is fresh southern yellow pine. Same thing I always use as I run a sawmill. Not at all likely to be contaminated...it came straight from a log.

It looks like I need to work on my fluxing technique, and consider using some wax also. I usually can keep some charred sawdust on top to keep the melt from oxidizing, but can't yet see how anything mixes back in.

I've read everything I can on this topic, but something isn't clicking...haha.

[Grmps]

Boogedy_Man, welcome to CB, I see your not "brand new" here and have been getting a feel for this site before posting :)

I also use pine sawdust for fluxing. I like to get it completely dry before I use it, I cover the lead with sawdust, give it a few seconds to start charing then light it on fire to complete the charing and keep the smoke down.
What works best for me in fluxing is after the sawdust is burned off I flux it in with a potato masher (I feel this gets the chared sawdust incorporated best throughout the lead. Then I flux with a wire wisk which finishes the fluxing and leave nice grey granules on top of the pot. If I don't get the nice granules, I flux with bees wax which does the job. These (the granules coering the top) serve 2 purposes, 1 they reduce oxidation and 2 they limit lead splash when returning cut sprues to the pot.

Many of us have found the use of a PID to control the temperature of our casting pots to be a big help, you set the temperature you want on the PID and it does the rest. no guessing or constantly adjusting the pot temperature setting to maintain temperature

You can either make your own PID (not that difficult IF you have some mechanical ability) or buy one from a vendor on this site.

Search PID in this forum and/or search DIY PID on youtube

A cast boolit of proper size and alloy can be more accurate than J-words (jacketed bullets)

This can be obtained by slugging the barrel or pound casting the throat and chamber.

[Boogedy_Man]

Yeah, haha. I registered a while back but have actually been reading for years. I'm the kind of guy that does a lot more reading than talking...but in this instance, I surely needed some help!

That PID controller is right up my alley. I'm definitely going to get some parts on order!

[Oily]

How much sawdust are you using? Country gent is right about "sprinkling" sawdust on top and working it in. When I first started I was using too much pine chips and got a gooey mess on top I couldn't get rid of no matter how much I stirred or fluxed with parrifin. before I learned about beeswax. Don't understand the yellow and orange powder on top after skimming though. Has to be a contaminate of some kind, but your alloy was fine before cool down. Were you leaving sawdust residue on top to stop oxidation as a regular process in your casting?

[MyFlatline]

Might try upping the heat a bit just in case there was some separation in the anatomy..Not knowing how long you were on honey do's could have made a separation of elements. When I get interrupted, I sprinkle a light dusting of sawdust across the top and do not mess with the dial. So far so good,,,for me...best of luck.

[GhostHawk]

Unplug the pot next time. Its easier.