Saving sprews for your next casting session.

[Mk42gunner]

I break them off right in my hand so they go right back into the pot.
then I open and dump the boolits from the mold.
the good ones go in the pile, the bad ones go into the ingot mold sitting there.

This is pretty close to how I do it too; except I don't have an ingot mold small enough to fit next to my boolit casting pot.

Once the mold is up to temp and I start cutting the sprue with my right hand; most times the sprue ends up in my hand anyway, and needs to be put down somewhere, might as well go into the pot now instead of later.

Robert

[Victor N TN]

I used to use a metal trash can slightly smaller than a 5 gallon bucket. The sprue harden and cool a bit until I get a quart or so. Using a 6 cavity mold with the trough cut in it, it drops something that looks like a wheel weight each time the sprue plate falls.

Other molds don't drop as big a sprue.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

[DocSavage]

I have a reenforced cardboard box that I drop my sprue into. My pot is an RCBS and once it gets half empty I return the sprue with ingots to make up the difference. I cast for about 1 hour at a time which results in 5-6 lbs of bullets.

[DerekP Houston]

I use a towel on a half-sheet pan for dumping bullets and sprues on. Sprues to the left, keepers to the right. Once the pile gets big enough I set the mold down on the hotplate dump them all back in and take a break. I like to look over the 'keeper' pile while I wait for the PID to get it back to proper temp. Works well enough for me.

[Walter Laich]

I would put them back when I had 15-20 but have gone to a pot cover and now just want till the casting session is over.

I'll refill the pot so it's ready to go--know I'm heating the lead twice but I enjoy the process and want to start as soon as possible at the beginning.

I can last for about 45 minutes before it begins to look like a 'job' and I need to step back (usually on a sprue that I just cut--did I mention I don't wear shoes a lot of the time?)

[mold maker]

The sprues have lots of heat in them that you've already paid for. Why allow them to cool, and pay to reheat them? If you need a break, take it without paying to reheat cold sprues.
At the bottom of the pot, how many times have you reheated the same alloy?
My folks lived through the depression and taught me to be frugal. Mom used to send me to trade 4 eggs for 3 shotgun shells. When I brought home 3 rabbits it fed the family lots better than the 4 eggs would. She thought ahead and we ate good. the same principal applies.

[yondering]

You fellers save your sprews? Shoot, I allus figgerd them sprews was junk. Hate to waste nothin though, so I been planting them out back and waterin em regular, should have a nice row of spruce trees some day. Don't know fer sure, but I guess they'll be silver spruce?

[ioon44]

[lightman]

[KCcactus]

I drop the sprue on a cookie sheet. The boolits go on a slanted cookie sheet with 4-5 layers of paper towel on the receiving end. Most roll down, but I occasionally have to pick up the high end of the paper towels to help them along. The timing of the sprues going back in pot depends on the mold I'm using. Some of my molds are more picky about casting speed than others. For the last pot of the session, I usually let the sprues from the bottom half pile up because by then my back is acting up and I want to finish. They are the first thing in the pot for my next session.

[Grmps]

A layer of clay kitty litter or burnt pine sawdust (that I use for fluxing) does double duty, it helps keep the melt from oxidizing and stops the lead from splashing when dumping in sprues.

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

I use a small pot.

The temp is regulated to a point by a hotplate on the same circuit -- a cheap way to regulate current and make use of waste heat to keep molds hot, especially when rotating them.

However, the melt does get a bit hotter than I'd like, so I add either sprues or half-pound ingots or both, depending on the level of the melt.

This cools it nicely.

Regards,

Josh

[Shiloh]

When I get a pile of sprue and rejects I pause and put them back into the pot. In a few minutes, I up and running again.

SHiloh

[plainsman456]

I cut the sprues then dump the boolits on the towel then the sprue goes back in the pot.
Usually on top of some of the wood ash floating on top.

That way i don't have to remember what type of alloy it is later.
When i cast i do a run of 10 or 20 lbs at a time.

Works for me.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I dump the sprue in a sauce pan and add them back when I get tired. Prevents adding junk to the melt and lets you reduce the oxides back in.

I do the same thing, although I use old metal cake pans the Frau was tossing out. I use up most of my RCBS pot and by then am getting tired and arthritis crampy. I add all the sprue catchings and bad boolets back into the pot, which I have turned off, for the next session. At my age I don`t need to find new ways to save time by doing things faster.Robert

[pjames32]

I throw them back into the pot when I need a break and add alloy at the same time. When I end my session I let them cool and tag a bag with the BHN to use next time I cast that bhn to top off the pot.

[JSnover]

I also drop the sprues into a cardboard box. When the pot gets low I'll dump them in along with any bad boolits and take a short break while the temp comes back up.
At the end of the session all sprues and all culls from the boolit box go back into the pot along with enough ingots to refill it for the next time.

[HangFireW8]

I found that constant sprue replacement pushed impurities that floated to the top, down into the mix.

Now, I run the pot down to 10-20%, stir/scrape/skim, dump in sprues, pre-heated ingots, take a break, flux and skim, and resume. Cleaner boolits that way.

[armoredman]

I guess I'm really small volume - I cut the sprue, dump the boolits, then place the sprue back in the pot. When the pot runs dry, I'm done for the time. I have a less than ideal casting table, so my back hurts after about 150-200 boolits, then I'm done. No big deal, still fun and productive. I'm like some here - I had to learn every bit of my reloading knowledge myself, no teachers.

[T-Bird]

I do exactly what 45/70 does