Question about trash on top. Video included

[Chad G]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALz5Nu3_oT0

I don't want to lose my tin cause at $30 a pound I can't toss it out. What does antimony look like when its separated from lead?

My boolits look like they have specks of black soot on them, it wipes off but with several thousand of them we may have to tumble to polish them up. My Fater says its cause the mold is dirty, but I think its not the mold and more of a contaminated melt issue.

[Marlin Junky]

Looks like your melt isn't hot enough. What's the temp? Also, you need to leave some room in the pot for fluxing. Take a couple ingots worth of metal out of there, get the metal to 700F and flux... then we'll see what it looks like. Paying that much for tin is just plain foolish... don't do it again.

MJ

[clodhopper]

I have to agree with Marlin Junky. I looked at your video, the went and checked on my pot. It looked very similar. Not hot enough. Flux and stir. Those lee 20# pots have the same 700 watt rating as the 10# pot.
Kinda like pulling a trailer with a four banger.
Take's a while to get there.

[HABCAN]

Welcome to the forum!

+1, the pot's 'WAY too cold! When you first turn the pot on set it at max and dip your mold in to heat. THEN turn down the pot incrementally as the melt and the mold come to terms with each other and your boolits are coming out as you want them.

Black flecks on your boolits most likely is from over-smoking the mold cavities: it's soot. BTDT.

[MT Gianni]

I have to agree with Marlin Junky. I looked at your video, the went and checked on my pot. It looked very similar. Not hot enough. Flux and stir. Those lee 20# pots have the same 700 watt rating as the 10# pot.
Kinda like pulling a trailer with a four banger.
Take's a while to get there.

I thought the 10lb pot was 500 Watt.

[jameslovesjammie]

+1 on getting your melt hotter. Also alloy and flux in a seperate pot than you cast in, and make ingots from that batch. When you put it in your casting pot, flux again. Your melt looks quite dirty. Lots of black stuff in it. That is what is forming in your boolits.

Get the pot up to temp. When you flux, stir the carbon into the melt and scrape the sides of the pot with a spoon until you are sure you get all the crud out. It will float to the top, then spoon it out. Then repeat this process until you get no crud coming up.

Also clean your mould, either by boiling it in water with some dish soap or squirting it with some disc brake cleaner.

[clodhopper]

Gianni,
You could be right about the 10# pot I was just going from memory.
Great thing about altzhimers is you get to meet new people everyday!

[HeavyMetal]

So everyone has said it, turn up the heat.

Generally I set mine for almost max and wait a half hour minimum before I expect anything from the alloy.

Then I flux, check temp, adjust as needed. During this time I have the mold or molds I'm going to use setting on the pot getting hot as well.

Suggest you use a piece of 1/4 pine dowel to stir and try some wood chips as a flux. Minimumtemp should be 700 degrees.

[Chad G]

I put the dross back in the pot to get asmuch metal off it, then I fluxed it again. I did notice that one of my new lyman 2 cavity molds is messed up at the locking pins/balls the stupid mold will not close up at all, whats odd is last time we used it we had no problems. When I cooled it and removed it from the handles I could tell the balls had pulled out from the blocks:confused: the 4 cavity blocks we have are still functioning.

I hadn't realized my melt was too cold, I got my melt done today 40lbs worth at 670 degrees. I'll be sure that I get a more accurate or suitable thermometer than the Lyman I have which is pretty poor since I have to tap it to get a reading. 700degrees minimum operating temp huh, no wonder when I get burned it smarts like hell.

2 Weeks ago we alloyed 850lbs in a plumbers pot, thats all sitting on a pallet. We will be putting away the Lee pot very soon for a Magma machine.

I hadn't realized Tin came down to an affordable price last time I bought it was from midway a year ago then it was $25/# now I see its somewhere around $15/#, I dont need any Tin now but if I can't find a good large source to get lead from I'll be stuck with evilbay.

[jnovotny]

[smilie=1:Did you notice the rotometals banner at the top of the page?

[hydraulic]

Using the information learned on this forum, I don't skim my melted lead anymore. After melting the ingots, I flux by stiring with a stick (I use a piece of cedar house siding) and then dump a handful of kitty litter on top the melted lead. When the pot gets low I add another ingot right through the kitty litter and stir with the stick. When I'm done casting I turn off the pot and after it cools I dump the dirt and kitty litter in the trash. Some is still trapped in the top of the mix but it gets mixed up the next time and comes up to the top when I stir and flix again. Of course, I'm talking about using a bottom pour pot.