brain f*rt

[XWrench3]

well, i had just finished makeing a couple of hundred 30-30 bullets, and saw a bar of parifin just sitting there, and before i could reason with myself, i was melting it into the still hot mold. :groner: obviously, it made a mess. so there i was, with a hot mold full of liquid parafin, waiting for it to cool down enough to drop out bullets. [smilie=b: obviously, i didnt think about how long that was going to be. i ended up just saying to heck with it, and dumped it out. so now i have a mold that is covered in parafin, and i am not really sure what the best way to clean it up is. is there something that will disolve parafin? or do i burn off the majority, and go from there?

[mastercast.com]

Not that big a deal...really.

Just cast hot and fast until the paraffin is gone. You will have some really "nasty" bullets until that paraffin is melted/burned off

[thx997303]

Were you trying to make wax boolits?

[Frozone]

If you can remove the handles (or not for that matter) put it in a 350* (275 /w handles) oven for a while, the wax will evaporate given a little time. Clean with mineral spirits ( After it's cooled).

[RugerFan]

Were you trying to make wax boolits?

Ditto. What were you trying to accomplish?

[OutHuntn84]

why not just dunk into your pot, just like when your pre heating your mold. Pre heat and flux all in one step, great idea! ;)

[The Dove]

If you place it in the oven with the wooden handles you may wanna wrap the handle in tin foil.

The Dove

[kywoodwrkr]

Google paraffin melting and see which others will work to dissolve the wax.
Look up cleaning candle making utensils as well.
Xylene is a paint thinner isn't it? Lowes? Home depot?
That's where I'd start.

[mooman76]

I'd turn the pot on and set it on it just like pre heating your mould. Most will melt off or you can wipe it out with a rag then clean it with whatever you clean a mould with like brake cleaner or whatever. That will clean wax.

[docone31]

Just float it on the pot. It will evacuate the parrafin. Doesn't take that much heat.

[Calamity Jake]

Good info but if you burn that parrafin(petro based) it will leave a crust in/on the mold making the cavities cast small.
The oven trick should be good but 250° not 350° then to insure all parrafin is gone clean in
Xylene.

[buck1]

90% alcohol will disolve it in a day or two. or melt out with pre heating and cast away. I way over lubed a LEE a wile back, 30-40 boolits to clean it out. A side bennifit is it cleans under the sprue plate very very well.....Buck

[Lee]

"90% alcohol will disolve it in a day or two."
Seems like a waste of good alcohol ta' me...........
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"If you place it in the oven with the wooden handles you may wanna wrap the handle in tin foil."
Yup. You want to keep that wood flavor in.....especially if you go 350 degrees. I'd take the handles off if at all possible. Any length of time in an oven, Al foil heats up just as good as what it's covering. Does help to protect against IR radiant heat, somewhat.
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How about boiling hot water? Let cool, the wax will float to the top and solidify. (And probably rust the heck out of the steel parts, too. Hey, just another idea.
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And from the Wikipedia weezels; "It is insoluble in water, but soluble in ether, benzene, and certain esters."
Ether and benzene, oh yeah. Keep the windows open on this one!
Just some cents worth........Lee

[KYCaster]

Lee beat me to it.....boiling water.

Jerry

[303Guy]

All good suggestions. I would heat the mold and wipe out with a dry cloth and cotton wool buds. (I've found that kitchen cloths get me into big trouble!:mrgreen:)

[XWrench3]

the thought was yes. to make some wax bullets. i know if i were setting out to do so, i would melt the wax, and use a cold mold. like i said, i just wans't thinking. not so sure the wife wants me to put anything that has anything to do with lead in our oven that we use for food, so that is out. i could do the boiling water thing, that sounds the best. i think i will probably put a few drops of dawn dish soap in it as well, then rinse the heck out of it with a big pan full of boiling water. blow it dry with the hair dryer, and then lube it up right away so nothing gets a chance to corrode. lot of messing around because my brain went into neutral for a few seconds! the ether thing might sound interesting, but my brain doesn't need any more reasons to slip into neutral! LOL!

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

I'd do the opposite! (Oh why do I always have to be different!)

Put it in the freezer! Then just peel it out!

[machinisttx]

"90% alcohol will disolve it in a day or two."
Seems like a waste of good alcohol ta' me...........
.
.
.
"If you place it in the oven with the wooden handles you may wanna wrap the handle in tin foil."
Yup. You want to keep that wood flavor in.....especially if you go 350 degrees. I'd take the handles off if at all possible. Any length of time in an oven, Al foil heats up just as good as what it's covering. Does help to protect against IR radiant heat, somewhat.
.
.
How about boiling hot water? Let cool, the wax will float to the top and solidify. (And probably rust the heck out of the steel parts, too. Hey, just another idea.
.
.
And from the Wikipedia weezels; "It is insoluble in water, but soluble in ether, benzene, and certain esters."
Ether and benzene, oh yeah. Keep the windows open on this one!
Just some cents worth........Lee

Thanks, I just *almost* shot cereal and milk out of my nose. I'm going to guess the only reason I didn't is that allergies have my sinuses all plugged up.

[Longrange]

I'll save you the cleanup trouble, send it to me. Get a new mold.

:bigsmyl2:

[leftiye]

What color is your hair?:kidding: Take a moment....

[Recluse]

I'd use nothing more than a dental pick and two or three dry q-tips.

That way, you'd have plenty of time to remind yourself why that was not a good idea and to never be so hasty/impulsive again. :)

But if you're convinced you've already learned your lesson, set it in your molten alloy next casting session and use it as flux.

:coffee:

[barrabruce]

Ed's red ought to do it.
It cleans my bore of alox and other stuff Iv'e used as lube good.

1/3 kero
1/3 brake fluid
1/3 Turps.

[Bret4207]

I used to paraffin my molds to prevent rust. Works okay. The stuff burns/melts off pretty quick. Not a huge issue. Just takes longer before you get good boolits.

[XWrench3]

what color is your hair?

g r e y!

[AZ-Stew]

Next time you want to make wax bulltes...

Find a tray to hold 50 empty cartridges and allow a little more than 1/2 inch of the cartridges to protrude above the tray. There are some made of stiff plastic used as shipping dunnage in 50 round factory ammo boxes that will work well. Dedicate 50 empty cases to wax bullets AND NOTHING ELSE!. Drill out the flash holes in these cases to just under the size of the primer pocket (use some common sense on this one, the primer anvil legs still need a shelf to sit on). This allows the primer blast to move the bullet, rather than being used to back out the primer and tie up the gun (ask me). NEVER AGAIN USE THESE FOR LOADS USING POWDER AND BULLETS! You'll need a cake of paraffin about the size of the cartridge holder tray and about 1/2 inch thick, and two blocks of wood about 1/2 inch thick a little larger than the paraffin block and cartridge tray. Prime the cases and load them in the tray. Set the tray on one wood block, set the paraffin block on top of the cartridges and set the other wood block on top of the paraffin. You can now pick up this sandwich and put it into a vice, with the wood blocks against the vice jaws. Crank the vice closed until the cartridges cut through the paraffin and touch the wood block on the other side.

Presto! You've made and loaded 50 wax bullets in a single step, cookie cutter-style.

Remove the sandwich from the vice. You'll figure out the rest on your own.

WARNING! At a distance of 35 feet, these WILL put dents in 2x4 pine! They are NOT toys! Handle as you would any other loaded gun! They also shoot very low out of a handgun because they have virtually zero recoil. The also generate a LOT of smoke, so have plenty of ventilation or use outdoors.

Regards,

Stew