Ladle Casting

[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve never ladle cast before. I’ve always used a bottom pour pot and kept a cover of flux on top, to keep to lead from oxidizing. When ladle casting, can I still keep flux on top or does it get in the way?

[Don1357]

You are over thinking it a bit. The amount of oxidation would be so minimal that it would be hard to even measure it.

[ThomR]

I've only ever ladle cast, and I've never used any kind of flux. I just scoop up some lead and start pouring.

[wmitty]

I use a ladle and keep a layer of ash from dry leaves on the surface of the melt. No problems noted to date.

[samari46]

Started out trying to use a bottom pour pot never could get it to work. Plugged the spout and started using a ladle. And never looked back. Though I did slightly open the spout on both ladles both RCBS and Lyman. Frank

[Bazoo]

I flux with wax or sawdust but normally just wax, skim it off and cast. I ignore the oxidized lead on top and cast anyways until I start seeing inclusions or I'm in the notion to flux and refill the pot. I find with ladle casting I get good fillout if I have about 3/4" free fall. Also I let the excess lead run over the sprue plate and back into the pot. I get good results this way.

[country gent]

I have a technique that works for me. My pot is 130 lbs when full and gas fired. I cast heavy long bullets for bpcr. I normally run around 725* on the melt. The ladle only leaves the pot to pour. Wen I fill the ladle to pour I make a swirl 1 revolution around pot under the surface raise ladle and pour the full ladle into the mould letting the excess run back into the pot. My 550 grn bullets are normally within .5 grns for the day doing this. I have modified my ladles with a stop collar on the shaft, allows the ladle to hang in pot without handle being so close. And opened spouts up to .210 dia from .170-.180 for a better flow. Experiment and see what works for you

[mdi]

I normally stir the melt a bit with every ladle full. I "flux" good when the alloy is hot enough and keep it stirred. Stir, dip, pour. Repeat. Keeps the cleaned melt mixed up, no oxidation formed on surface...

[Wayne Smith]

Oxidation occurs when the melt is exposed to air. Ladle casting exposes more to the air, and the tin oxidizes out first. Thus you get a tin layer on your alloy eventually. Wax reduces this back into the melt. I have only ladle cast and have always had wax available. I probably use it two or three times during a long session, mostly to get the tin back into the melt.

[DonHowe]

I ladle cast for BPCR and Schuetzen with single cavity molds. The ladle is RCBS with the spout opened slightly. I flux periodically and push aside any flux or ash on the surface before plunging the ladle in the melt.
The ladle is filled about 3/4 full. I hold the mold sideways and place the ladle spout against the spruce hole and rotate mold and ladle vertical together. For big bullets I will do a 3 count before lifting the ladle, pouring a puddle on the spruce plate. I will vary the count slightly and also the amount of lead in the ladle depending on bullet size and what a particular mold likes.
This routine is what I have settled on to maintain consistency. Your mileage may vary.

[JM7.7x58]

I cast both ways, with a ladle and with a bottom pour pot.
When I am smelting lead in my cast-iron Dutch oven I will ladle pour. My ladle is a heavy duty stainless steel kitchen ladle that I have drilled a 3/32 hole in the bottom of. I have also bent the handle 90°.
The ladle stays hot in the melt. I pour directly over the pot and let the excess return to the pot. I can make a lot of boolits fast this way. It stays very clean, the oxides float on the surface, clean lead flows out the bottom.
When I am done casting, and ready to make ingots, I plug the hole with a sheet metal screw, and start making muffins. Two tools in one.
And the ladle only cost $1.99 at the Goodwill.
JM

[KCSO]

I have always gotten more uniform bullets by ladle casting. This is the only way I make match bullets. In addition my Lee pots are no longer ear marked as drippy Richard. A screw in the spout and its fixed.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Ladle casting is the only kind I do anymore -- the bottom pour went away long ago. I've got a big propane outdoor cooking burner, and a big cast iron cooking pot that I set on top in which to melt the lead. When it becomes molten I drop in a piece of candle wax about the size of a nickel. Then I stir it with the ladle, and it usually catches fire briefly (not always). This causes any dross to float to the surface. I skim it off and dump it into a tin can which is disposed of in the garbage. That usually leaves a thin scum of darker stuff floating on the surface of the lead. Don't skim that off-- it's good stuff. I mix it back in occasionally with the ladle. I usually use 3 different molds for 3 different boolits and swap them around to keep them from overheating. I water drop all my boolits. One afternoon session can turn out a very good supply. I mostly use straight clip on wheel weights as the lead source, but once in a while will maybe add a little tin.

DG

[762sultan]

I cast like Wayne Smith and flux every hour or so or when lead is added to the pot.

[WRideout]

I am also a ladle caster, and a certified cheapskate. I discovered that one partly used birthday cake candle is just the right amount of wax to flux my Lee dipper pot. When the alloy is molten I flux well with wax, and do it again about halfway through, or whenever I think it needs it.

Basically any kind of casting is bottom pour, since the heavy lead always runs out of the ladle first.

Wayne

[RU shooter]

I've only ever used a ladle my ingots are already clean from the smelt/fluxing I only ever just skim off any oxides in my pot with a slotted spoon every half hr or so when it develops . I cast in the basement so if I did flux all it would do is stink up the house and a shout from upstairs of what are you burning down there !

[GhostHawk]

I had a lee drip o matic in my younger years for some 2 months. Gave it away.

Since then (late 70's) I have always dipper cast.

Once in a while if I am seeing a lot of gray powder which could be oxidised tin I'll drop a pea sized ball of wax or bullet lube in.

When I'm dipping, any oxidation is on the top, I'm filling my ladle below that. Plus, any which does get into the ladle. As I turn and start pouring. The ladle nipple is at the bottom, so skim is at the top or back of my ladle. It is the last to go out.

The other thing I do is when I am pressure casting, I hold that for maybe a second, then roll the ladle further up opening a crack for hot metal to exit. With a little practice you can easily control the size stream. So as the melt cools in the mold it has melt moving acoss that it can draw from. And any imperfections rise to the top and are floated away.

Try it, it is not hard, and it keeps the mold from cooling the ladle nipple so the lead freezes in there.

I do a single skim when the melt is fully liquid with an old stirling fork. What comes up on the fork gets knocked off in a drippings pot which I start any smelt session with. Yeah I pinch penny's till they squeak. I come by it honestly, born into the blood and bone and beat into my head by a father who loved me but had concerns of my being able to make my own way in the world.

[Greg S]

I have an older RCBS bottom pour and a Lee 20lb Pot. I use the RCBS for 90 x5x5 and the Lee for everything else. I prefer ladle over the bottom pour and only resort to it for certified alloy without having to clear out the Lee pot. I'll fix that soon with an RCBS ladle pot.

I prefer the ladle over the bottom pour because I know how to get a good consistant result with the ladle especially with heavy boolits. A few small molds require pressure pouring and trying to accomplish it without a mess on a bottom pour is awkward to me.

[RogerDat]

Oxidation occurs when the melt is exposed to air. Ladle casting exposes more to the air, and the tin oxidizes out first. Thus you get a tin layer on your alloy eventually. Wax reduces this back into the melt. I have only ladle cast and have always had wax available. I probably use it two or three times during a long session, mostly to get the tin back into the melt.

Same here. I also use a paint stir stick to scrape the top layer of dross to the side and crush the skimmed dross against the pot side. Most of the dross tends to go back into the melt. The occasional bit of wax helps too. Salvation Army candles, bought on sale, not much money for lots of wax. Bees wax is better but sort of pricey for this I think.

[winelover]

I ladle cast with either of three of the most common commercially made furnaces. Two of which, are bottom pours............RCBS ProMelt, Lyman Mag 25 and a RBCS Easy Melt. All hold 20+ pounds of alloy. I use a #2 Rowel bottom pour ladle, the diameter of which, is just a little smaller than the pot opening. I keep nothing, floating on the surface of the melt. Surface oxidation is negligible, if you return the ladle to the pot, between pours. Sprews are immediately returned to the pot...........this method allows me to cast for a couple of hours, without having to flux or even skim. Re-fluxing is only done when clean ingots are added. For this, I use a pea size piece of bullet lube.

Winelover