Stupid Microwave Tricks

[bootsnthejeep]

Ok, so, have had a bunch of Keith 250 44s cast up for a while now. A friend has some that he's "supposed" to be running thru his lubrisizer. That was six months ago. So I recently got my hands on some beeswax and decided to mix up some lube and give pan lubing a shot.

Anyway, there's been some experimentation. Finally got the lube mixture to where I figured it aught to be and was giving good results. Now its time to pan lube.

(I don't plan things like this out well, I just kind of hit a mood and run with it, so I'm often ill prepared and have to improvise. Keep this in mind...)

So I don't have any metal pans I want to sacrifice for this purpose. Mental note to hit the thrift shop. So I grab some throw away tupperware and have at it. Set up the bullets, poured lube, lackluster results at best.

DUH. Bullets are cold. Lube is hot. Punched all the bullets out, remelted. Considering how to heat the bullets up. No conventional oven. Big toaster oven, but no metal pans.

Should heat the bullets and the lube at the same time, I reason. I was melting the lube in the microwave before I got the double boiler. What the hell, I wonder what would happen. Lead being a metal, I was a little leary of trying it, but figured it was worth a shot. Poured the lube, chucked the whole rig in the microwave for a minute. Pulled it out at 45 seconds. Have found that 30 seconds is plenty. Bullets get so hot you can't touch them, will actually start to boil the lube around them.

But then it kind of occured to me. Holy HELL, how good can MICROWAVING LEAD be?

I mean, really, there's no arcing between the bullets. No sparks or smoke or anything else. And I have to admit, this method works REALLY WELL, I'm just wondering how horrifically bad this idea might be. They use lead in radiation shielding, so I suppose it can't really be effected. Seemed like a passable idea at the time, but now I'm second guessing myself.

Any input? Thoughts?

[Old Ironsights]

Unlike Steel/Aluminium, IIRC lead is not reflective to microwaves - thus, no arcing.

Don't see why it should be a problem. Just don't cook in the same microwave afterward. There will always be a small amount of vaporized lead/lube residue...

[AZ-Stew]

Boots,

I'm sure you've heard the term "nuke" when referring to heating food in the microwave. I don't know where this term had its origin, but I assure you that there is no nuclear radiation involved in any microwave oven.

Microwave ovens use extremely high frequency radio waves (electromagnetic energy, not nuclear radiation) to heat whatever electrically conductive material is put inside. The "electrically conductive" part is important. If it won't conduct electricity, it won't get hot in the microwave oven. This is why a plastic or ceramic dish stays cool to the touch in the microwave. They will get hot if there is a conductive material in contact with them, because they absorb heat from it. But if you put an empty tupper bowl in the microwave, you can run the oven all day without melting the tupper, and you can always open the oven, reach in and pull out the tupper with your bare fingers because it stays cool. It's an electrical insulator. Same goes for a glass drinking vessel. On the other hand, anything that contains water will get hot because there is almost always something dissolved in the water that will cause the water to conduct electricity. Meat, veggies, eggs, milk, coffee, etc., will all get hot because they all conduct.

So don't be concerned about lead and microwave radiation. Once you turn off the microwave, the radio frequency energy stops and there is no more energy being radiated. The lead does not absorb it and re-radiate it, except in the form of heat.

Regards,

Stew

[jdgabbard]

If the boolits were getting hot I would still worry about it. Unless I had some reference to some scientific study that stated otherwise, the chance of lead vapors or debris from compounds made by the lead staying around in the microwave I pop my popcorn in is enough to make me just go buy some non stick pans from wally world. No offense, Stew. But I think if it were me I would stick to something that might keep my exposure levels to a minimum. But that is just my safety conscience. I personally don't want my lead/blood levels getting any higher then they just have to. Maybe that is why I was my hands every time I touch a piece of loaded ammo. Whether jacketed or not. There is still some particle somewhere on that jacket, and I don't want them rubbing off on my cigarettes when I go out to smoke.

Edit: The though of one of you using my blood as casting alloy, due to me eating lead flavored popcorn, is not what I have in mind for when the WWs do ultimately dry up.

[waksupi]

Welcome aboard, Boots. A related tale of my own misfortunes with microwaves.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=2706

[JIMinPHX]

Boots,

Microwave ovens use extremely high frequency radio waves (electromagnetic energy, not nuclear radiation) to heat whatever electrically conductive material is put inside. The "electrically conductive" part is important. If it won't conduct electricity, it won't get hot in the microwave oven. This is why a plastic or ceramic dish stays cool to the touch in the microwave. ...
... On the other hand, anything that contains water will get hot because there is almost always something dissolved in the water that will cause the water to conduct electricity. Meat, veggies, eggs, milk, coffee, etc., will all get hot because they all conduct.

I always thought that the magnetron in a microwave was tuned to the harmonic rotational frequency of water molecules & for that reason anything with water in it would get heated (steamed from within). I didn't think it had anything to do with the items in the microwave being conductive. I believe that you can take deionized water (non-conductive) & heat that in a microwave. I haven't personally tested this to confirm it. I have worked with a magnetron in a similar application before though.

[S.R.Custom]

...I'm sure you've heard the term "nuke" when referring to heating food in the microwave. I don't know where this term had its origin, but I assure you that there is no nuclear radiation involved in any microwave oven... Microwave ovens use extremely high frequency radio waves (electromagnetic energy, not nuclear radiation) to heat whatever electrically conductive material is put inside...

Indeed... With each new girlfriend I have, I have to explain --most times futilely-- that there is no dangerous radiation whatsoever involved in heating food in the microwave. As the following chart shows, microwave radiation falls below that of visible light...

http://cnx.org/content/m15131/latest/graphics1.jpg

In other words, "nuking" your food (or bullets) is no more dangerous than yelling at your food in a really high voice, because... well... that's exactly what a microwave oven does. ;)

[Tom W.]

Things don't get cooked from within. Have you not put a frozen whatever in a microwave and checked it later, to fine the outside was warm (or hot) and the inside was still frozen? If something cooked from within there would be one hell of an explosion...

[bootsnthejeep]

Well, as Gabbard said, I'm no so much worried about the effect on the bullets as the effect on ME. Again, I was looking for a quick solution at the time, and only later occurred to me, "Hey, I eat out of that thing...."

I know mountain men used to melt lead in their cast iron skillets one minute and cook in them the next, but nobody ever said it was a good idea, either.

The end result will be, I'm getting metal pans anyway and going to take the somewhat slower route of heating them in the oven, was just wondering if I was the only guy to try this.

(Actually, like I said, this method works so well, I'm thinking about picking up another cheap microwave to put on top of my food microwave just for this purpose. I'm as much of an instant gratification ***** as the next guy....)

Thanks guys.

Boots

[leadeye]

Indeed... With each new girlfriend I have, I have to explain --most times futilely-- that there is no dangerous radiation whatsoever involved in heating food in the microwave. As the following chart shows, microwave radiation falls below that of visible light...

http://cnx.org/content/m15131/latest/graphics1.jpg

In other words, "nuking" your food (or bullets) is no more dangerous than yelling at your food in a really high voice, because... well... that's exactly what a microwave oven does. ;)


Hope they are at least pretty.:-D:lol:

[NHlever]

If the boolits were getting hot I would still worry about it. Unless I had some reference to some scientific study that stated otherwise, the chance of lead vapors or debris from compounds made by the lead staying around in the microwave I pop my popcorn in is enough to make me just go buy some non stick pans from wally world. No offense, Stew. But I think if it were me I would stick to something that might keep my exposure levels to a minimum. But that is just my safety conscience. I personally don't want my lead/blood levels getting any higher then they just have to. Maybe that is why I was my hands every time I touch a piece of loaded ammo. Whether jacketed or not. There is still some particle somewhere on that jacket, and I don't want them rubbing off on my cigarettes when I go out to smoke.

Edit: The though of one of you using my blood as casting alloy, due to me eating lead flavored popcorn, is not what I have in mind for when the WWs do ultimately dry up.

As someone with advanced lung cancer, I have to say that smoking is probably worse for you than handling jacketed bullets......... if you are really safety concious. :-) Chemo is no where near as fun as reloading.......

[S.R.Custom]

Hope they are at least pretty.:-D:lol:

Well, actually... but when you're getting preached at for standing too close to the Microwave "because it'll cause cancer," pretty begins to lose its luster... :-?

[leadeye]

Well, actually... but when you're getting preached at for standing too close to the Microwave "because it'll cause cancer," pretty begins to lose its luster... :-?

......in the eye of the beholder. Even the pearl of great price can lose its luster at times.:lol:

[bootsnthejeep]

[Ron White] You can't fix STUPID! [/Ron White]

And they never appreciate it when you let them in on some bit of information they've been willfully ignorant for all this time. You'd think they'd be happy to be informed. They've only ever gotten pissed at me. <shrug> I dunno.

[dakotashooter2]

You apparently:

1..... are single

or

2.....have a microwave in your garage


:-D

[Freightman]

I have a OLD microwave, that was the top of the line at Montgomery Wards when I bought it, we are taking bets on just how long it is going to last it is now 24 years old and works fine.
Having said that I leave the holes that the boolits make when pushing them out and just put others in, then set them in my propane grill set the temp for 250 or 300 when the lube is melted turn off and leave them until hard and remove.

[Calamity Jake]

The end result will be, I'm getting metal pans anyway and going to take the somewhat slower route of heating them in the oven.

Thanks guys.

Boots[/QUOTE]

Get you a round metal cake pan, using a cheep hot plate melt enough lube in the cake pan to cover the grooves, stand the boolets in the pan and turn the HP off there will be enough heat to warm the boolets so the lube will fill the grooves. After the lube has started to cool enough to pick up the pan, place it in the fridg for about 15 min. Cookie cutter the boolets out then if you have more to PL put them in the exsisting holes place on HP and remelt the lube heating the boolets at the same time, add more lube as needed.

[AZ-Stew]

Boots and jdgabbard,

I assumed you were talking about the lead re-radiating after being heated in the microwave.

You should NEVER use any ovens or utensiles for food processing after you've used them to process lead. If you want to microwave your popcorn, get another microwave for that purpose.

Jim,

I don't think pure water will heat in a microwave because it, too, is an insulator. If it's not conductive, it will not resonate at the frequency of the radio waves. No oscillation, no friction, no heat. I may be wrong about this, but I don't think so. It would be a good experiment to run dome DI water through a microwave to see what would happen. The problem is getting the water from the source to the microwave without contaminating it. Once it's deionized, I believe it becomes a very active solvent and is difficult to keep in a pure, deionized state.

I just read a piece (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Microwave_oven/Archive_2) that in the "Heating Mechanisms" section discusses deionized versus hard water and how fast either will heat. This guy seems to know more about it than I do. I was close, but there's more to it.

See also: http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/howcook.html to learn the basics of how a microwave oven heats food.

Regards,

Stew

[mauser1959]

It is of interest also that pure water will not conduct electricity. Give it some free ions though and even though there is not much being dissolved, such as a carbonate ion, and then water becomes very active.

[Boerrancher]

I saw something on Myth Busters once where they took D.I. water and cooked it for like 10 min in a microwave. It didn't boil, but when they tossed a bit of either salt or sugar in it, it became extremely volatile. IIRCC the water got hot, but did not boil until an impurity was introduced. Once the impurity was introduced there was enough heat in the water to cause a violent eruption of steam, almost like an explosion.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch

Joe

[JIMinPHX]

I saw something on Myth Busters once where they took D.I. water and cooked it for like 10 min in a microwave. It didn't boil, but when they tossed a bit of either salt or sugar in it, it became extremely volatile. IIRCC the water got hot, but did not boil until an impurity was introduced. Once the impurity was introduced there was enough heat in the water to cause a violent eruption of steam, almost like an explosion.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch

Joe

That's probably the same as the reason that we used to use "boiling chips" (small chunks of broken glass) in the soxlett extraction stills & clevenger traps at the lab that I used to supervise. Liquids boil more readily when there is something mixed in with them that has a sharp point to initiate the vaporization. Salt crystals fit that bill. The sharp edges of finely broken glass "chips" that we used also work well & are not otherwise reactive with most common substances. We always put the chips in the flask before we heated the solvent though. We always tried to avoid making a mess.

There is also a phenomenon known as super cooled water. That is water that is below the freezing point, but is still liquid. If you move an object through it gently, it stays liquid. If you drop something into it or otherwise jar it suddenly, it instantly solidifies & forms ice around the object that moved suddenly through it. Some scientists have speculated that this is related to the way that some small furry creatures drop their body temperatures below freezing during winter hibernation without actually freezing to death. I think that either squirrels or p-dogs may have been on that list. It's been years since I've read abou it now, so I'm getting a little foggy about the details.

[Railbuggy]

I lubed some WW cast boolits today and remembring this post.Yes,I put them on a paper towel and in my microwave to see if I could speed drying.(Lee Alox) Sparks flew and the paper cought fire.Glad I was close to shut it down.

[Forester]

Yall are all crazy. I will not be married until June of next year but I know better than this already.

I don't care what the effect on the boolit is, I would sooner EAT a radioactive 429421 than own up to, or get caught heating boolits, boolit lube or anything of the sort in our microwave.

I stole a spoon to flux with once...Never again[smilie=1:

[The Nyack Kid]

Indeed... With each new girlfriend I have, I have to explain --most times futilely-- that there is no dangerous radiation whatsoever involved in heating food in the microwave. As the following chart shows, microwave radiation falls below that of visible light...

http://cnx.org/content/m15131/latest/graphics1.jpg

In other words, "nuking" your food (or bullets) is no more dangerous than yelling at your food in a really high voice, because... well... that's exactly what a microwave oven does. ;)

Hey, are one of those guys who dates fair-haired members of the gentler sex , who used to think that they can give "FiFi" a good quick hair drying, by putting "FiFi" in the microwave for five minutes ?

[cajun shooter]

Well Forester, I had to laugh reading your post. My wife was out by my lube making table as she uses the beeswax to make candles. She picked up a tablespoon out of my pyrex measureing jar and said "Whats This". I said "just a old spoon that I found" She then shook her head and said yes you found it in the silverware drawer. I've got to learn that women don't see the same as we do and that I was trying to be funny. You would think that at 61, I would know that women are indeed different from us.

[monadnock#5]

In HS chem lab many, many moons ago, we boiled water to make super saturated solutions for making crystals. One of the girls had to use a brand new, never been used before beaker. Ten minutes later the rest of us were mixing our solutions, while she stood and waited for her water to boil. After fifteen minutes, in frustration, she smacked one of the beaker support legs with her spoon. Now picture this. The water in the beaker leaps completely out of the beaker in a slug (about a foot high), with no water inside, the beaker shatters into a gazillion pieces, and the slug of boiling hot (and then some) water falls onto the burner and counter. It's a wonder no one got hurt.

The teach said that the bubbles in boiling water form on scratches and other imperfections in the container. I'm sure broken pieces of glass would have done the job nicely.

I read somewhere that sub launched ICBMs are propeled from their silos by water so hot that calling it steam really doesn't do it justice. I believe it.

[Dan Cash]

Well, as Gabbard said, I'm no so much worried about the effect on the bullets as the effect on ME.

(Actually, like I said, this method works so well, I'm thinking about picking up another cheap microwave to put on top of my food microwave just for this purpose. I'm as much of an instant gratification ***** as the next guy....)

Thanks guys.

Boots

Just use the tupper ware and put a lid on it. End of lead diffusion though I doubt it will hurt you as the quantity is so minute.
Dan