Problem alloy..."slushy".

[triggerhappy243]

glad to hear no zinc.

[dahermit]

The stick on wheel weights that I encountered were almost pure lead. Not like clip on WW at all.

The melt consisted of almost all clip-ons with only a very few stick-ons.

[John Boy]

It appears much like Anitmony, but when I hit it with a propane torch it does not want to melt like Anitmony has for me in the past.

Well, I don't have a clue what melted antimony looks like, but it melts at 1118.534℉
So good luck with your mess cause I can't offer any suggestions

[MaryB]

I have seen this in high tin and antimony alloy like printers lead... it will flux back in with lots of pine sawdust and beeswax

[David2011]

I have seen this in high tin and antimony alloy like printers lead... it will flux back in with lots of pine sawdust and beeswax

Agreed. I frequently use monotype with wheelweights. The monotype forms a slush on top of the melt but sawdust mixes it back into the melt with ease.

David

[DerekP Houston]

I have seen this in high tin and antimony alloy like printers lead... it will flux back in with lots of pine sawdust and beeswax

I've seen that recommended a lot, I keep all my 'dross' from skimming my bottom pour. I've got a few lbs for the next time I make ingots and i'll flux the devil out of it to save what I can. Itching to get back to melting some lead once it cools off and dries out here.

[dahermit]

I have seen this in high tin and antimony alloy like printers lead... it will flux back in with lots of pine sawdust and beeswax

I have been using powdered charcoal. Where does a person get pine sawdust?

[MaryB]

Take a 2x4 and use a skilsaw and make a bunch of fine cuts... I collect it from my table saw base too. Anytime I am doing cutting of lumber I arrange to catch the sawdust. Another option is pine bedding shavings form the pet section at Walmart etc...

[Smoke4320]

Yes the dog bed pine shaving work great and cheap too

[runfiverun]

it doesn't have to be sawdust.
I pick chunks of rosin off the trees when I see them.
pencil shavings will work too.

[kens]

I played around with the copper enriched alloy, and I got the oatmeal looking stuff. It took a lot of sawdust fluxing and it melted back in, but the bullets casted difficult, and higher temp than regular alloy.

[dahermit]

Addendum: This A.M. I cast some more bullets with that "slushy" alloy. However, I tried fluxing with Pine shavings and Beeswax as per suggestion. It fluxed no better, no worse than my customery powdered charcoal and Beeswax. I ended up skiming the slush off the top and disguarding it. The alloy makes acceptable bullets, but noticed that they stay shiny no matter hot hot the molds get...unlike most alloys. However, they are usable nontheless.

[triggerhappy243]

shiny is not a bad thing. but does the slushy issue come back after you skim?

[dahermit]

shiny is not a bad thing. but does the slushy issue come back after you skim?

Somewhat, but less than when first melted. However, the skimming is removing more alloy than normal, or what I want. I mentioned shiny, not because it is bad...just that it does not feel/seem normal from what I have experianced in the 53 or so years I have been casting. There is definately something odd (some unusual property/stuff) about/in this alloy.

[triggerhappy243]

I know you said you tested for zinc. if there were a bad zinc problem, you would continue to see the crud surface over and over again. if it is a super thin layer that lays flat for the most part.......... eh.... but if it is mounding up.......... that is an issue. have you had it xrf tested? that would provide a full analysis of whats in the alloy.

[MaryB]

Don't toss the dross, next time you smelt chuck it in the pot and remelt it!

[dahermit]

Don't toss the dross, next time you smelt chuck it in the pot and remelt it!

Once the mush come to the surface, it does not melt...even when I use a propane torch on it. It just seems to bubble a little. So. if the added heat of a propane torch will not melt it back into the alloy (like anitmony does), I doubt that I could get it hot enough in a dutch oven in a wood fire would (my method of melting wheel weights). And even if it did, the product of doing such would likely just precipitate out when I try to cast bullets...as it does now.

[dahermit]

have you had it xrf tested? that would provide a full analysis of whats in the alloy.

I am not really interested in what the alloy is. At 74 I don't want to waste money or time finding out. If no one here can provide a way of getting the mush back into the melt, I will just continue to skim it off and cast bullets with it anyway...but it is very annoying to toss so much mush from each melt.

[Dusty Bannister]

It is pretty hard to figure out how to remove an element until one finds out what that element is. But I do agree, if you do not feel it worth your time, no sense in messing with it further.

[lwknight]

No, it just looks like Antimony slush like normal, only it does not go back into solution with fluxing and the flame of a propane torch does not melt it as Antimony will. Nevertheless I will get some Muratic Acid from Walmart at the first opportunity and test with it.

It will do that if you have a high antimony content and not enough tin. You can cast bullets just fine without tin so if the alloy is pretty hard, it just might be antimony. Add 1% tin to the mix and watch it clear up like magic if it is in fact antimony. Tin makes antimony become part of the alloy instead of just something floating in the mix.
Also the blue colors can indicate pure lead with pure antimony crystals suspended in it.