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Okay... I guess I should have mentioned that all of the ingots and boolits I tested were air cooled. I'm just trying to get some kind of idea about the baseline hardness for the lead, and then...

That statement is meaningless without elaboration to back it up. I'm listening with great interest.

I just got a Lee hardness test kit. I made a microscope holder out of a piece of 2x6, and it makes reading the microscope a lot easier. I have been testing numerous samples of my stock of lead...

And tell me what I'm doing wrong, please. They're 9mm from a Lee 356125 mold. I'm using pure clip-on wheel weights at 750 degrees according to my PID controller (I've checked it against several...

I have about 40 pounds of ingots. It's a mix of SOWW, COWW, and range lead. It must be very low on tin because it is very soft, and it doesn't cast well enough to get any decent boolits (Wrinkled...

I have smelted up a fairly large supply of SOWW ingots, and I have found out that this stuff is very soft, likely nearly pure lead. I can scratch the boolits with my fingernail. So I found me some...

I just ordered some linotype to sweeten up the SOWW a little. I'm hoping that will improve the castability of the lead. I'll report back when I try it.

Nope. I figured that out first thing.

I found a 900 watt hotplate at wallyworld. So I started everything up again and preheated the mold on the hot plate.

Finally got some results, sort of, with the lead at 800 degrees and the hot...

Okay, before I cast anymore, gotta go find a hot plate. I'm off to the charity resale stores first.

It also did occur to me that the SOWW lead might need a little tin, but I need to get this temp...

I just finished my second attempt at casting boolits, and have yet to create any usable boolits. Yeah, I know. I should expect that, and I do, but I could use a little advice.

I am using a Lee Pro...

One correction.
The longer slot on the male & female 110 VAC sockets are the neutral wire (white),
The smaller slot is the HOT, not positive (it's AC) wire (black), and
The round slot is the...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=99067&d=1394387044

I've been measuring temperatures in the pot as the lead solidifies. In testing this thing out, I've made a few discoveries.

The lead in the pot is stick-on wheel weights, and I would guess that...

I just finished the PID temperature controller for my Lee Pro 4-20 pot.
99063

99064

99065
The controller and SSR cost $32.99 and the thermocouple cost $6.39, both from evilbay.
The single ac...

After casting a few boolits, I thought I would follow up.

I disassembled everything and inspected the mold halves for burrs with a magnifier. There were quite a few burrs and leftover machining...

I've only bought one mold so far. I was looking for a new Lee mold, handles, and casting pot. I shopped around, checking all the known suppliers I could find, looking at total cost, shipping and all....

Well, based on all the glowing praise for the Mypin controller in one of the sticky threads, I just ordered one, with SSR. I found another vendor with the correct thermocouple at a good price. I may...

Okay, I know I can probably get by with this setup by learning when and how much to turn the knob, but I'm now leaning toward a buying PID temp controller. It looks like a piece of cake to kluge this...

The metals in thermostats have limitations. They cease to be consistent durable at temps much above 750 degrees. I've looked, and I can't find any thermostats designed to work in any temperature much...

Negative. There is definitely a thermostat. It cuts on and off. It is not a rheostat, which varies the voltage.

I finally fired up my new Lee Pro 4 20 today for the first time.

When I got all the ingots melted, and stuck a thermometer in the pot, the temp shot up to nearly 800 before I could get it stopped....

That's evilbay. People automatically assume that if it's on evilbay, it must be a bargain.

I've seen the same thing happen in the Swappin & Sellin section here.

Agreed. What I've found was that any "solvent" only helps the brush/scrubber by lubing the surface and making the shaved bits of lead easier to remove. Mineral spirits works as well here as the more...

Somehow, I suspect that this is a subject that has already been beaten to death, but I really did try some searches before I decided to post this thread.

I recently overloaded a few rounds, and...