That wouldnt stop me. Start with a cold pot and keep adding so new ingots stay above melted lead or heat those up on another source to dry out. Lead ingots dry out fast.
I agree , I wouldn’t add. I would go from cold to melted in batches
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Nah, guess I had better toss these out and take better care of my next stash.
Plata o plomo?
Plomo, por favor!
Or dry/pre-warm on your hotplate.
I HATE auto-correct
Happiness is a Warm GUN & more ammo to shoot in it.
My Experience and My Opinion, are just that, Mine.
SASS #375 Life
I've had very similar, but my lead chunks were in plastic "sheet rock mud" buckets, so heating them was not doable. Instead, I fired up the smelting pot (1/2 Freon tank from DavyCrockett on this site)), grabbing each piece with a set of tongs which I played the flame of a propane ice-melting torch over to get rid of residual moisture, as well as a surprisingly large amount of leaves, pollen (?), and all sorts of other non-metallic matter the wind had blown in. . I waited until my Freon pot was 1/2-full -- my "safe" level before turning on the propane burner it rested upon, and it heated with hardly even a hiss. After a few handful's of sawdust from 'neath the table saw put on top and stirred in to flux -- I had quite a good looking product to ladle into ingot molds.
geo
Those aren't hurt. Just put them in the pot before you heat it up and the water will evaporate before the lead melts. You can also preheat them but personally I would be more comfortable with a cold pot. I've smelted wet wheel weights and wet range scrap and wet plumbing traps by starting from a cold pot.
If you have a hot plate to heat your mold, put a few of them on the hot plate to dry while you cast. It will only take a few minutes to dry them. Just remember to handle the hot ones with pliers or tongs.
Meet me at the range in Clayton Tuesday and I'll be happy to take them home!
Tom
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Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?
Agreed. That wouldnt have stopped me either.
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"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
~Theodore Roosevelt~
Notwithstanding the excellent "melt them starting cold" advice,
just put them on a pizza pan in a warm oven for 15 minutes
and forget-about-it.
That is what ovens are for . . . pizza & lead ingots . . . isn't it ?
"Slightly damp".......
You can miss fast & you can miss a lot, but only hits count.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |