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View Full Version : Well, its almost sawdust...



101VooDoo
07-22-2010, 09:53 PM
The only sawdust I've got handy is several year old, dusty, god-knows-what c*** from under the table saw, so I thought I'd I plane down a bit of scrap walnut.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/101voodoo/Shavings.jpg

My question is, how much do I add to the pot? Its a 20lb pot and will be filled with fresh hardball from rotometals for my first try. I've seen a pinch, golf-ball sized, and an 1/8 layer all mentioned.

I'm thinking just a thin layer, and then let it char before I stir it in, skim, and another thin layer that's left alone until more alloy's added?

Sound about right?

Jim

docone31
07-22-2010, 10:00 PM
I use plain Kitty Litter.
I put about two tablespoons on top and leave it there untill it is a powder. Perhaps a couple of months later.
I do not know about shaveings. Perhaps an handful?

Blammer
07-22-2010, 10:11 PM
with good lead from rotometal you most likely won't need to flux at all. If you do it'll just need to be a little.

JIMinPHX
07-22-2010, 10:18 PM
I thought I'd I plane down a bit of scrap walnut.


I never thought that I would hear the words "scrap" & "walnut" used in the same sentence.

Since the damage is already done, I would guess that 4 or 5 of those shavings would be a good quantity to try for a 10-20 pound pot. See how it works & then adjust your quantity accordingly.

101VooDoo
07-22-2010, 10:25 PM
Jim,

That's some of the gnarliest, misbegotten, cross grained walnut you'll ever come across. Pretty stuff, but a real bear to plane without tear out.

Jim



I never thought that I would hear the words "scrap" & "walnut" used in the same sentence.

Since the damage is already done, I would guess that 4 or 5 of those shavings would be a good quantity to try for a 10-20 pound pot. See how it works & then adjust your quantity accordingly.

deerslayer
07-22-2010, 10:31 PM
You guys think that is a waste of walnut you should've seen the tree i used for firewood 3 years ago. Walnut straight as an arrow 24-30" at the base and atleast 20' to the first branch. Guy asked me if I wanted firewood where he was clearing a house lot and he already had this cut up for me in 18" lengths it about made me sick and when I explained what he had cut up to him I thought he was gonna cry. It burns mighty fine though and splits easy with an axe no splitter needed it is faster with a maul.

Hardcast416taylor
07-23-2010, 03:37 PM
101 VOODOO. It`s old knife makers like me that gets all slobbery in the mouth for this twisted gnarly grain walnut for use in knife handles and other handle applications.Robert

geargnasher
07-23-2010, 04:02 PM
I use plain Kitty Litter.
I put about two tablespoons on top and leave it there untill it is a powder. Perhaps a couple of months later.
I do not know about shaveings. Perhaps an handful?

Docone, I feel the need to point out to the new guy that kitty litter does NADA for reducing oxides, but does insulate and prevent them from forming. If the OP is looking for a reducant, he'll be disappointed with your recommendation.


with good lead from rotometal you most likely won't need to flux at all. If you do it'll just need to be a little.

Blammer, that clean lead will still oxidize quickly in the casting pot, there is a need for a reducant, if not a "flux", no matter how clean it is.


I've used BW sawdust and power planer shavings before, works great. Just put a tablespoon, or maybe two of those hand planer shavings, in the melt and let it char.

Gear

mpmarty
07-23-2010, 04:11 PM
A place not far from me sells cedar shavings for dog bedding. Makes great flux and smells nice while doing it.

geargnasher
07-23-2010, 04:27 PM
A place not far from me sells cedar shavings for dog bedding. Makes great flux and smells nice while doing it.

I don't know if you're using the same stufff, but somebody here informed me a while back that Western aromatic cedar has some "piasonus" chemicals in it that are released while burning and can cause severe alergic reactions in some people, that's why it repels insects so well! I have used the stuff in the summer and the mosquitoes stay FAR away! I use a good exhaust fan while casting anyway, so I'm not worried about the fumes.

Gear

405
07-23-2010, 09:40 PM
How much sawdust or chips to a 20lb pot? Depends I guess. One thing is to not fill the pot all the way to the top to begin with. Fluxing and scraping calls for some active stirring. Just put in a tablespoon or so of the sawdust or an equivalent volume of chips and start stirring and mixing into the melt. Also, scrape the pot bottom and sides while doing this. Once the smoking stops is about when I quit stirring and start skimming the junk on top. Of course the chips are going to take a bit longer to competely go to charcoal/carbon. I've never had a problem with using too little flux. Then there are examples of those using too much of some kinds of flux :shock:. Wood chips and sawdust are pretty easy to work with. Sometimes, if the alloy is really dirty and/or too much flux is used and not stirred and skimmed completely, the chances for inclusions of foreign matter into the casting increases. This is especially true when using a ladle.

101VooDoo
07-23-2010, 10:46 PM
Probably twice what I needed, ended up with two spoon-fulls of ash, just a bit of dross.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/101voodoo/DSCN0979.jpg

Jim

405
07-23-2010, 11:50 PM
:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Looks like a little too much, but wood is fairly forgiving. No harm. Another thing is since the shavings are fairly large.... might consider smaller pieces or shavings from one of those rasps with the thin, super sharp blades. No more material than you really need shouldn't be much of a problem easily coming up with plenty. Also, your alloy may have started out pretty well mixed and clean to begin with. Beats throwing a bunch of petrol based flux in there and having the classic "home video of the deep fat turkey fryer burning the house down" !!

lwknight
07-24-2010, 12:13 AM
Well.. mostly what you ae doing is keeping oxygen off the melt so that it will not dross up so much. A layer of ash is all you are really after anyway.
I have been tempted to rig up a cover fixd so that I could use a very low volume argon supply to keep air out. Wouldn't that be so cool to still have the mirror shine after hours of being melted?

geargnasher
07-24-2010, 01:59 AM
Hey, I've done the argon/CO2 thing, but even at two cfm it costs about $20/hr to do it unless you can figger a way to work that cover you mentioned.

What I REALLY want to work out is a way to purge the mould cavities with argon right before filling when ladle-pouring, I think it would help making premium rifle boolits. Some sort of bench-mounted bracket with flowmeter and purge nozzle right next to the pot, and a foot valve on the argon line. Foosh, foosh, pour, pour..............

Gear

Jack Stanley
07-24-2010, 07:57 AM
Wow ! that pro-melt looks way nicer than mine !!

Jack

qajaq59
07-24-2010, 08:07 AM
I'm thinking just a thin layer, and then let it char before I stir it in, skim, and another thin layer that's left alone until more alloy's added? Yup, that'll work fine. You just need enough carbon on there to keep the air away from the lead.
When I was young my brother-in-law had an in at the Springfield Armory. He used to get me all kind of rejected walnut stocks so I could make knife handles or whatever I wanted from it.

Charlie, AKA The Deacon
07-24-2010, 02:37 PM
I never thought that I would hear the words "scrap" & "walnut" used in the same sentence.

Since the damage is already done, I would guess that 4 or 5 of those shavings would be a good quantity to try for a 10-20 pound pot. See how it works & then adjust your quantity accordingly.

I was thinking the same thing no such animal as SCRAP WALNUT:shock:

101VooDoo
07-24-2010, 05:35 PM
Tried a bit less this morning,

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/101voodoo/AboutRight.jpg

Seems about right.

Jim

101VooDoo
07-24-2010, 05:36 PM
Wow ! that pro-melt looks way nicer than mine !!

Jack


First day - now if I can just figure out how to get the lead sprinkles off...

Jim

SciFiJim
07-24-2010, 10:07 PM
I have been tempted to rig up a cover fixd so that I could use a very low volume argon supply to keep air out. Wouldn't that be so cool to still have the mirror shine after hours of being melted?

What I REALLY want to work out is a way to purge the mould cavities with argon right before filling when ladle-pouring, I think it would help making premium rifle boolits.

How about casting in something like a bead blasting box? You could purge the entire box of O2. Just have to make sure everything you needed was in the box before you closed it up.

izzyjoe
07-24-2010, 11:06 PM
oh' man now where talking high tech like nasa or something, by the way i was just wondering if you could make a chamber that's under a vaccum and pour boolits. naw that's to high tech. i'll just stick with my fish cooker.

myg30
07-24-2010, 11:56 PM
Saw dust, wood chips , shavings its all good. I also like to stir the pot with a wood stick, let it char and adds to the saw dust. Oak, hickory... smells so good too !! The smoke lets me know if the fan is doing its job of keeping the lead vapors away. If your smelling it than your breathing the lead also ! When im done castin, I stir the pot,scrape the sides and discard the crud. Leaves the pot clean to add lead for the next session.

If you do use a stick, make sure its dry ! Dip it into the pot SLOWLY, it will boil out the moisture in the wood !

Mike

Wooserco
11-13-2020, 02:52 AM
Really old thread, but I had to speak up. Be very careful using Black Walnut in any vaporized form. I get nosebleeds from sanding in for more that 10 minutes without an organic canister respirator.

It's scientific name is Juglins Nigra: Juglone. It is a very powerful killer. Look it up.

waksupi
11-13-2020, 11:23 AM
Saw dust, wood chips , shavings its all good. I also like to stir the pot with a wood stick, let it char and adds to the saw dust. Oak, hickory... smells so good too !! The smoke lets me know if the fan is doing its job of keeping the lead vapors away. If your smelling it than your breathing the lead also ! When im done castin, I stir the pot,scrape the sides and discard the crud. Leaves the pot clean to add lead for the next session.

If you do use a stick, make sure its dry ! Dip it into the pot SLOWLY, it will boil out the moisture in the wood !

Mike

You are not smelling lead unless you are heating above 1100 degrees. What you are smelling is the metal of the pot itself.

Years ago, Grumble sent me a boxful of pinion pine sticks. Love the smell of that.

jimlj
11-13-2020, 07:09 PM
Would pellets for a pellet grill work? I was thinking of trying it the other day when I had the pot hot.

SweetMk
11-13-2020, 07:18 PM
What is the story with sulfur??
I heard it is a flux of some sort,,

Anyways, I was trying everything to help my lawn in the spring, and I ended up ordering a LOT of 25 pound bags of sulfur,, cheap,,
I still have at least three bags,,

Next time I melt some wheel weights outside,, should I sprinkle some sulfur on the melt??:?:

Lowes had it cheap, until I ordered three batches with free shipping,
then, they were "magically out of stock" the rest of the summer!! :-)

Conditor22
11-13-2020, 07:41 PM
Sulfur, used as a flux is mainly used to pull zinc out of your alloy.

IF there is no zinc in the alloy, it will pull any tin out.

Hanzy4200
11-13-2020, 09:40 PM
You guys think that is a waste of walnut you should've seen the tree i used for firewood 3 years ago. Walnut straight as an arrow 24-30" at the base and atleast 20' to the first branch. Guy asked me if I wanted firewood where he was clearing a house lot and he already had this cut up for me in 18" lengths it about made me sick and when I explained what he had cut up to him I thought he was gonna cry. It burns mighty fine though and splits easy with an axe no splitter needed it is faster with a maul.

My father just sold a tree a hair bigger than this, for $2,000. Guy said it was going for high end luxury counter and table tops.

Hanzy4200
11-13-2020, 09:41 PM
I flux with whatever I have handy. Sawdust, grease, candlewax, oil, whatever.

dbosman
11-13-2020, 10:19 PM
Please be careful with wood. If you add too much, it starts to gassify at the surface of the melt - under the sawdust. Wood gas will exit the pot to the point it ignites. When ignited there will be a nice whooshing sound and a plume of fire until it burns off. Unfortunately the big handful I added kept producing wood gas which fed the plume of flame, which sucked up more gas which...
It was an exciting few seconds that seemed like to take a long time to finish.