Lessons learned today

[280Ackley]

It was a nice evening here in eastern Nebraska and I decided to go out on the back porch and do some casting. I decided to try out the new 545 grn 45 cal group buy mold. Since I intend to hunt with this load, I thought that maybe 50/50 wheel weight and soft lead would be a good choice. I added a lb of 40/60 resin core solder to increase the tin and give me better fill out. I figured the resin core would also act as flux and I would have a well fluxed nice clean batch of lead. WRONG:groner: The solder melted rapidly and then the core formed a brown scum on top of the melt. It smoked and decreased in size but something in it did not want to combust at the melt temp which was about 650 F. Finally I added some ash, stirred and skimmed off the remaining mess, but it did leave an mess on the sides on my pot. I did end up with about 60 nice long heavy 45 cal boolits. The mold casts beautiflully and since the checks I ordered from Blammer got here the other day, I going to check them, size them slip them into some Star brass and see how they shoot tomorrow if it doesn't rain. Anyway, lesson learned resin core solder makes a mess. Anybody who has experienced this problem I would like to hear what the easiest way is to clean my pot.[smilie=b:

[crabo]

I keep a layer of used walnut shells from the tumbler on top of my melt. I just push the solder in the center and stir with a home depot 5 gallon paint stirrer stick. It causes no problems when using rosin core or acid core solder. It smells a little, but no big deal.

[runfiverun]

man that acid core crap will choke you to death.
i had a bunch of it and wanted the tin,after the first use inside i took a 10 lb lyman pot out to the pasture and ran a 200' of extension cord down there and plugged it in and waited for the smoke to clear then unplugged it and waited 5 more minutes before i went and got it.

[mold maker]

Both resin and acid core are bad news.. The smoke from that stuff is hard on both you and your equipment. One forms a coat of glass like crap in your pot and the other causes it to rust. Not to mention the health hazards to you.

[Firebird]

Go to the nearest Radio Shack and buy some "Flux Remover". It's some kind of solvent, designed to remove that crud left by the rosin cored solder. Normal use is with an acid brush on a circuit board after soldering something, but it should work to clean your pot.

[Bert2368]

Back when I was in high school shop, I was taught that acid flux (killed acid) was Zinc chloride. Would you want to add Zinc in any form to your casting metal?

[1Shirt]

280A, Agree with everyone who says stay away from any of the core solders. You are just asking for multi problems which include respiratory. Good luck on the pot.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[Tom Herman]

Back when I was in high school shop, I was taught that acid flux (killed acid) was Zinc chloride. Would you want to add Zinc in any form to your casting metal?

The Zink stays as Zink Chloride (if indeed the flux in the solder is Zink Chloride, I was told it was some form of Sulfuric Acid).
Zink is much more chemically active than Lead, so it won't be reduced to metallic Zink, and thus cannot go into the melt as metal.
And the quantities of Zink Chloride are relatively small compared to the melt, so even if the Zink were reduced to metallic form, not much would go into solution.
In any event, core solders are a mess... But they do contain Tin!

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[winelover]

Funny, you should mention that! I did the same thing yesterday!! I crushed some charcoal briquets and added it to the pot after most of the SMOKE cleared and scraped the sides. Upon emptying the pot, I wire brushed the sides while still sort of hot. Came out pretty clean for a SMELTING pot!!!

[cajun shooter]

I bought some rosin core solder that is a 60/40 mix and have no problems with it. As soon as you add it to the mix, light it and it burns off. works fine

[GP100man]

weelll i done the same thing kinda & i took a wheez wheel & scotch pads & shined the pot up good , i wore a paint respirator doing this.
i could`nt find any chemical i wanted to put in the pot , with out fear of damage to other parts .

GP100man:cbpour: