How often do you clean your pot??

[gray wolf]

Try raising your temp a bit and stir, scrape, stir. You should have fine ash on top w/o any alloy adhered to it. If you push the ash away you should see mirror bright alloy underneath.

Yup, yup and yup It's what I do and my pot stays clean.

[shagg]

um, right before you smoke it?


a joke of course

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

with a wooden stick (I use Oak)...

stir, scrape, stir. You should have fine ash on top w/o any alloy adhered to it. If you push the ash away you should see mirror bright alloy underneath.

[mold maker]

I have only removed the valve shaft once for a thorough brushing and cleaning. Next pour it looked same as before.
Free paint store paddles used to scrape the sides and bottom, and sawdust for flux keeps my pot clean.

[justingrosche]

Thanks for the addition Jon, yes w/ a DRY wooden stick

[imashooter2]

Anyone else have issues with the sawdust leaving crud fa into their boolits on a bottom pour?? Are those of you that are using sawdust ladle casting were it doesnt matter what sinks to the bottom??

How do you get wood ash to sink in lead?

[soldierbilly1]

Plus one on raisin' the temp. Seemingly, gets the pot cleaner or easier to raise and settle and clean the dross. works for me.
billy boy

[justingrosche]

How do you get wood ash to sink in lead?

Thats easy, don't stir your flux in, and you'll see it in your inclusions.

[HDS]

I read up a bit on the sawdust as flux issue and the message I took from that was, don't use anything but sawdust and don't use a wooden stick to scrape your pot, use metal. Because the stick itself can cause inclusions as it can burn and cause ash, especially if you scrape the bottom with one, which then plugs up your bottom pour pot. (Got a 4-20, never used yet)

With this regimen and pre-fluxing and alloying in a separate cast iron pot I gather cleaning should rarely be required. I've heard some use vinegar to clean their pots though?

[imashooter2]

Thats easy, don't stir your flux in, and you'll see it in your inclusions.

Not stirring makes wood ash heavier than lead?

[Doc Highwall]

First of all I do all of my smelting in a 11qt Dutch oven and flux to get as much crud out and pour it into 20lb ingots. Then I weigh it and alloy it in a 8qt Dutch oven and flux some more and pour it into 2-1/2lb ingots the fit into my LEE pot. This process give me two chances to flux the alloy giving very clean metal for the LEE pot. When I am casting with the LEE pot I am always fluxing and scraping the pot with a oak stick keeping crud from building up on the sides and bottom of the pot and I also flux with wood chips.

[Doby45]

When I am casting with the LEE pot I am always fluxing and scraping the pot with a oak stick keeping crud from building up on the sides and bottom of the pot and I also flux with wood chips.

Yhea, what he said..

[Bullshop]

I empty and clean my pots after about every 100 pounds of alloy run through.
I never empty all the alloy through the bottom pour nozzle. To empty I run the volume down to about 5 pounds then unplug the cord, coil it so it stays out of the way and dump the remaining alloy into ingot molds. Once the pot is empty without turning it back upright I let it set upside down until cool. This will free the valve for cleaning. This procedure developed over many years and many ton of alloy is what keeps my pots working best.
Right or wrong that is what I do.

[cbrick]

Haven't felt or seen a need to since I threw Marvacrap in the trash. How badly & how thick that stuff will cake rock hard on the sides of your pot has to be seen to be believed. Since using only sawdust as flux as the level in my pot goes down and I look at the sides of the pot I see only clean steel.

When smelting WW into ingots I flux at least twice for assurance the ingots are as clean as possible. When using (adding) these ingots to the casting pot it gets another good fluxing with sawdust.

My WW alloy is about as clean as practicle for bullet alloy from scrap. Not much to stick on the inside of the pot and need cleaning out. I also have no problems either bottom pouring or ladle casting. I guess if I started to get inclusions bottom pouring I would have to consider emptying it out and cleaning it but until that time . . . Sawdust only!

Rick

[HollowPoint]

I haven't smoked pot in years but, back when I did I'd just go through it and pick out the seeds.

That was the extent of my cleaning routine.

HollowPoint

[fredj338]

Seems like I clean my bottom pour about once a year, more often if I am casting a lot of pistol bullets. I use wire brushes in the drill to remove all the scale, rust, ****, etc. that builds up on the sides of the pot. Have never cleaned the SS pot I use for ladled bullets.
Tony

If you leave the pot full at the end of your casting, there is nothing to rust IMO. Plus it heats up faster.