How to clean and old plumbers pot

[SteelyNirvana]

Hi to everyone, new member from NC. I'm new at casting and melting lead. I have a few of my granddads old lead pots (He was a plumber). I am wanting to get these as clean as I can get them because they have been sitting in an old warehouse for over 20 years and have they have alot of crud in them that I can't get out. I've gotten all the lead out of them but there is a solid thick ring of something around the inside of one that I cant get out. I spent about an hour tonight with a torch trying to get whatever this stuff is to loosen up but it wouldn't budge. I can get the stuff cherry red but when I try to scrap it with a screwdriver it wont come off. Anyone have any idea what this stuff could be and/or how to get rid of it? I'll try to post pics tomorrow. Should I be concerned about getting rid of it? I'm probably just going to use these pots for melting my scrap/salvaged lead in outside. So I don't guess they need to be super clean but I want them to be, I like my stuff to be clean if I can get it that way.

One other thing, does anyone on here salvage lead from old cast iron pipe joints? I found a scrap piece today that had about 8 hubs on it and I busted them up to get to the lead. Not much lead but I got a few pounds it feels like. Is it worth the effort or would I be better off seeking another source of lead?

Thanks in advance.

[Pepe Ray]

C.I.Pipe joint lead is great stuff,IF it's the real McCoy.
There have been substitutes used (in my experiance it was water main.) in circa 1970 +/- which would NOT be good boolet material. It was called LEADITE. AIR it was rather brittle and black. FMI speak w/someone from a pipe supply co.
Pepe Ray

[Gerry N.]

Have you considered that the white, crusty, impermeable stuff might be a ceramic lining?

If you want those pots squeaky clean, have 'em shotblasted.

Gerry N.

[supv26]

One of my pots had that same crud on it too. I put a wire cup brush in my drill and got it off with that. It took a long time and it was dusty but I finally got it all off.

[Hipshot]

First you shave it, them you pick out the lint with a meat hook! After that you power wash it with sulfuric acid and bleach !

Hip

[mooman76]

I would just use the pot for smelting and not wory about it. If it's that hard to get off it isn't going to hurt anything and if some smal amounts do come off while smelting, it will just float and you can skim it off with the other gunk.

[missionary5155]

Greetings Briancraig81 and WELCOME !
Well it looks like the pot is well addressed...
Matal... start hunting wheel wieghts and pure lead. I f you come across lintype grab that also.
Pressure is the determinig factor what MIX you will use. Low pressure loads are great with pure lead. My 44-40´s with up to 10 grains Unique need only near pure lead. Magnum handgun loads and you are gonna need a 50/50 mix of WW+lead or at upper pressure straight WW. Rifle is the same... low pressure and soft works good. Raise the pressure and harder boolits are needed.
Lube also works the same. High pressure Needs a good lube. In my 44-40 I use home made 50/50 mix of beeswax and bearing grease. This also works OK in handgun. But for lets say 30-06 loads it would begin to fail as pressure and velocity moved past what WW boolits could handle.
There are numerous threads with mix suggestions and ideas. You are gonna enjoy this place.
Mike God Bless you.

[KYCaster]

The crud in your pot may be Sal Ammoniac, a flux used by the old timers. If so, it's water soluable and can be removed by boiling water in the pot.

Might be worth a try.

Jerry

[SteelyNirvana]

Here are a few pics of the pot and the crud. I tried your suggestion KYCaster , about boiling water in it, but it didn't help. A wire brush created a bunch of dust, made me cough like crazy and didn't do much to help get it off. Its almost like the stuff is baked on. I can chip bits and pieces away with a screwdriver but its a PITA. It looks like lead but I swear I held a propane torch 1/4" away from it for at least 2 minutes and it didn't do anything except glow Cherry red even when I tried to pick at it with a screwdriver. I might try sandblasting it some later in the week to see if that will help get it off.

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s118/briancraig81/IM003999.jpg


http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s118/briancraig81/IM004000.jpg

[Echo]

Man, if it won't come off with that treatment, I suggest Forget It, and render away.

[Joe Bob]

Brian, my Dad was a plumber, also. He fluxed with Borax (20 Mule Team, I guess). Just FYI. I'm like the other guys...to heck with it. Smelt and skim, you're gonna' have to anyway. Some day, when you're around a sandblaster, give it a shot. Meantime, don't sweat the small chit. JB