Cleaning lead pots

[Ranger 7]

I process a great deal of Range Scrap Lead and my 4/20 gets a great deal of crud on the sides mostly.
I use medium to fine Emory Cloth and simply sand the entire inside of the pot, makes look brand new.
Clean out the inside of the pour spout, a 5/64 drill bit is the size.
Then use Valve Grinding compound and the pour valve stem to get a proper seat/seal.
Of course, do this outside, with a breeze blowing (or use a fan).
Works great. No danger to eyes, fingers or lungs.

[megasupermagnum]

I tried the water method a month ago. It did nothing at all. I let it boil over an hour, and other than the water turning slightly darker, nothing was cleaned. I do not smelt in my casting pots, but wax and wood for flux, and leaves, and other junk find their way in and over time builds up on the walls. When things go bad, the dirt gets trapped underneath the lead and causes inclusions in the bullet. It took me a couple years to figure this out being as everyone kept telling me it was impossible. Finally I took a hint from the experienced casters, many of whom stir with a wood stick, and make it a point to not touch the bottom. Ash from burning wood is the worst for getting trapped.

Anyway, water does not work. Vinegar kind of worked. Eventually I got sick of messing around, got a respirator, a whizz wheel on a hand drill, and went to town. It only takes 10 minutes that way, and does a perfect job. I also run a drill bit through the spout as I find a lot of gunk builds up in there as well.

[bfox]

Water worked pretty good on mine .

[woodbutcher]

A fellow that I know has a pretty easy way to clean his leadpot.Drill with an assortment of wire wheels,positive pressure face mask and a shop vac with a HEPA filter.
Never has any junk floating around after cleaning.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[15meter]

Drained my pot as well as I could, let it cool, then filled with water. Turned on the pot and scraped with an old spoon. It's as clean as I need it.

[Springfield]

I cast at least 4 times a week but don't ever drain the pots for cleaning. When casting I just scrape the insides with a wooden stick and it all comes off. Works on my Magma and my RCBS. I rarely put any really dirty lead in there though, that's what turkey fryers and a Goodwill pot is for. I don't need any lead dust in the air.

[robg]

I cleaned my 10lb Lee pot by draining then hot water .took out the valve shaft cleaned it and the outlet then used solvol autosol polish to lap them together .washed it out .works better than new its 20 years old.

[BamaNapper]

I agree with Springfield above. I made the mistake of emptying my Lee 4-10# pot and cleaning it once. Once! After I had cast maybe 700# of bullets, I read somewhere that emptying and cleaning the pot was the thing to do. What could it hurt? I emptied, scraped, brushed, and had it looking pretty good. the next time I used it I had the drip everyone complains about. Never had a drip before cleaning, but I'd never completely emptied the pot. So I cleaned it again, ran a drill through the nipple, lapped it, rinse, shampoo, repeat, and eventually solved the leak. I now believe that most things are heavier than lead and will float to the top where I can skim them off. And I don't run the pot empty so that any gunk that gets inside will float to the top, away from the spout, where it's not going to start another drip. In fact, when I'm done casting for the day I drop in a couple ingots before I shut the pot off.

[rrob692326]

I just use my compressor and blaster loaded with 120 grit aluminum oxide media, cranked up to 90 psi and blast it out spotless slag, dirt, rust, grease, crap all gone in one minute, then I hit my 40lb heavy duty bullet casting/ turkey/ Lau Lau steamer, homemade stainless steel heavy duty stove base and its hi pressure burner. Everything spotlessly clean, never fails to do a sterling job.