First time smelting guestions

[Wickyd]

First time smelting lead. I had lead purchased from scrape
Yard.
First up was a lead brick that came out OK 2nd pic.
Next was a lead boat anchor about 20 lbs . When I dumped from my mold it might have been a little early. When I came back and looked some had broken and they looked grainy.
They are a lot harder than the first ones.
What might I have done wrong.
I was keeping temp around 500 degrees.First batch I let get to 700 degrees.
Outside temp was running around 53 degrees.
3rd batch was lead flashing very soft they came out good.
Darrell

[shadowcaster]

500 degrees seems to be a bit cool. That may be the reason your one batch came out grainy (possible high antimony) and then broke. I run my smelter at a consistent 700 degrees and so far each batch of lead has come out great. I also heat up my cast iron molds like I would do a boolit mold. It seems to make the whole operation run smoother.

Shad

[master caster]

Id say dumped early also but all looking good. Lead is addicting i love smelting when i can get enough to fill up my half propane tank otherwise its hard to skim off the trash. I run around 650 or so for temp most of the time.

[Hammerlane]

1st pic looks like you need a little more heat and fluxing. Let the lead cool couple of more minutes before you turn them out. Still nothing wrong with the ones you have.