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Thread: Newbie, super excited to start this venture!

  1. #21
    Boolit Master


    Walks's Avatar
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    OS OK,

    I have a "list" of Alloy ingots inside of every Reloading Manual I have. And a good half dozen Laminated copies in Various places with my Casting gear and molds.

    OHAUS - Linotype
    LYMAN - #2
    SAECO - 20/1
    RCBS - COWW
    LEE 1lb - Pure LEAD
    LEE 1/2lb - Monotype or Tin. Mono is painted Red.
    Blank(RCBS) - Unknown / Testing Alloys
    Lodge Scones - Range Scrap

    I also have a few dozen square ingots that measure 2"x2"x1" of COWW's that I bought from a Fantastic Guy here on CAST Boolits.

    I just weigh them like my own various ingots and write the weight on each one so I can Blend each alloy perfectly.
    Last edited by Walks; 10-04-2019 at 03:17 AM. Reason: Forgot something
    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

  2. #22
    Boolit Master
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    Only have one piece of advice. Don't get discouraged. Some days everything works great and not so good on others. I've been casting for years and like the above I know I'm doing it as I always have but the results are not what I've become used to. And don't forget wheel weights to your list of alloys. Frank

  3. #23
    Boolit Buddy
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    Well today I decided to try and melt some and see what happens.
    The first few I poured had some dimples in the bottom, I know people say that’s probably from the lead burning off the nonstick coating or whatever off the first time or two. Well I now know I don’t need to sort anything before hand. I caught a Zinc weight that I missed before. But this way does seem a little quicker (after it’s sorted) so I don’t have to fish out all of the steel and zinc or especially the plastic ones while their in the pot.
    Saturday morning I also drove back up to the same scrap yard and bought what they had left. She said I was just in time because Friday someone dropped off 134lbs of wheel weights (I assume from a local tire shop). So not thinking much about it I bought the rest of the OLD weights, around 300lbs, then the newer 134lbs. When I got home I sorted through the newer stuff and yeah there isn’t many lead weights in the newer weights at all! So I guess I got this old stuff just in time

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  4. #24
    Boolit Master
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    When you melt outdoors ,rig up some sort of a windbreak,an old oildrum cut open is good,the melt will go twice as quick.Even on a calm day,youll be losing heat to the slightest breeze.

  5. #25
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by john.k View Post
    When you melt outdoors ,rig up some sort of a windbreak,an old oildrum cut open is good,the melt will go twice as quick.Even on a calm day,youll be losing heat to the slightest breeze.
    This old skillet/pot has a lid. I kept it on until it was time to scrape and flux. Only took 10 minutes or so to get it melted down

    Oh nvm, I see what you’re saying. Awesome idea. I’ll rig up something when I start to melt a bunch in the next week or so!

  6. #26
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Welcome to the "addiction"! It looks like you are off to a good start. That was a good score on the wheel weight purchase.

    Everyone has pretty much covered things with advice but I'll add a few things.

    1. Read the stickies about sorting weights, smelting set ups, fluxing, ect. They will help a lot.
    2. Try to think about where you want to be, casting wise, down the road and plan ahead. Yeah, I know, not easy to do.
    3. Buy a set of cheap steel stamps and mark your ingots before you get so many that you can't catch up. Ask me how I know!
    4. You got a nice stock of lead pretty quickly but don't stop looking for bargains. It will only get harder to find in the future.

    Your set up looks good. I would suggest looking for a larger smelting pot. A cut off propane tank is a favorite. If you like those loaf pans I would suggest buying a few more. Your ingots will stack and store better if they are all the same size and shape and a few more will save you time waiting on them to cool off. A few years ago I bought a nice Rowell Ladle and skimmer. I had been using large kitchen spoons and they really speeded up my operation. I wish I had bought them years ago!

    Nice pictures by the way.

  7. #27
    Boolit Master
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    Lead wheel weights are going to get ever more scarce over time. Have you thought about powder coating? It may seem like an odd question relative to WW’s getting harder to find but I believe switching to powder coating allows a caster to run boolits with more soft lead mixed with WW’s thus stretching your supply. In as much as soft lead is perhaps easier to source (plumbers, roofers and phone company field men, boat keel weights, as well as radiology room renovations) you can shoot much longer before running out of metal to cast.

    In looking at your pictures it jogged my memory on my big smelt of several years ago along with lightman’s above post where he suggests stamping your ingots.

    I am also a believer in stamping as well. Also along with stamping I like to re-smelt my ingots a couple more runs to get them more clean. I stamp an identifier as to how many times I have run them. I also like to shuffle my batch of bars so the alloy gets rather blended instead of in sequence compared to the previous smelt run.

    To that end as someone else suggested, I like to use a larger lead pot which saves time and also enhances blending.

    Three44s
    Quote Originally Posted by Bret4207

    “There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole.”

  8. #28
    Boolit Buddy Cast_outlaw's Avatar
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    This info could be useful to you
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  9. #29
    Boolit Buddy
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    So I’ve made roughly 90lbs of ingots so far. Sorted out the rest of the weights and I have 4 buckets at 120lbs, 1 bucket at 50lbs now, and 1 bucket at 133lb of stick on weights.

    These mini loaf pans were brand new when I got them, so I assume the dimples and stuff are just from the oils and what not burning off of the new pans? I know ingots don’t really matter, other than them being clean!!!!!

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  10. #30
    Moderator


    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
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    Down there, its so humid, those bubbles might just be moisture in the air going to steam and getting trapped.

    But you're rocking along real well.
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
    In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.


    OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
    This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
    EVERYONE!
    Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.

  11. #31
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Winger Ed. View Post
    Down there, its so humid, those bubbles might just be moisture in the air going to steam and getting trapped.

    But you're rocking along real well.
    Awesome. Thank you
    Yes very humid and it’s starting Fall and going to be raining a lot more. So I need to hurry up and get it all into ingots so I can start trying out powdercoating now

    Also, how can I add my Air Force member logo under my name?

  12. #32
    Moderator


    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
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    It's hot & humid here, but the company I worked for started in New Orleans.
    After that big hurricane I went down there for a couple weeks to help with the clean up.

    That place takes hot & humid to a whole new level.
    I called it 'Weather you can wear'.

    Where ya are, and since there is no residue on the bubbles, humidity getting trapped on the mold and in the air under the pour,
    then jumping to steam, and the lead hardens with the bubble in/on it is my guess for what's causing that.
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
    In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.


    OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
    This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
    EVERYONE!
    Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.

  13. #33
    Boolit Master flyingmonkey35's Avatar
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    One of us

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  14. #34
    Boolit Master
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    Where are you located in Louisiana??. I'm in New Iberia. Frank

  15. #35
    Boolit Buddy
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    Sadly I am from the Monroe area. But I want to move around Lafayette eventually. Basically south of i10 anywhere (in Louisiana)

  16. #36
    Boolit Master

    Sig556r's Avatar
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    welcome fellow cast-a-holic
    ...Speak softly & carry a big stick...

  17. #37
    Boolit Buddy
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    Doubled my stash today
    Almost got a full bucket melted down

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

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