Sawdust and .22 pellet questions :

[PNW_Steve]

Hey Everyone,

I have a dust collector for my woodworking tools. I considered using the dust that it collects for my lead pot but am concerned about the fineness of the sawdust and the fact that I have cut plywood and mdf along with solid lumber so there will be a small amount of glue in the mix.

Is the glue a problem? Is the fineness of the sawdust a concern?

Also,

I wonder if anyone here has cast .22 pellets? Is it worthwhile? Or are they cheap enough at Walmart to make it impractical?

Thanks.

S.

[Neverhome]

Everything would burn off or skim off. I would use it.

Regarding pellets, folks over on Gateway to Airguns have cast pellets. I believe one of the heavy content contributors over there helped get the ball rolling with NOE to make the airgun bullet molds.
I've cast plenty of 22 cal airgun bullets using NOE molds but never the pellets. The pellets cast like a hollowpoint with pins for the skirt. Time consuming I'd imagine but might be fun.


edit: rsterne is the member there and HERE on castboolits. Same username on both and a hundred other sites. I don't know his expertise on cast pellets but I do believe he designed NOE's cast airgun BULLET molds.

[Bazoo]

I've used mixed sawdust for flux including that containing particle board dust. It doesn't seem to cause any issues.

[Hanzy4200]

Use the sawdust. Won't hurt at all. Unless you just want a fun project and have plenty of time, I wouldn't mess with pellets. Unless you are talking large bore stuff, you can get match grade .22 pellets quite cheap. I use Diablo Super Heavy's. Drops critters like a sack of rocks.

[skeet1]

I think a person can over think some things like fluxing. The best way to find out what work is to try it.

[gwpercle]

Pencil Sharpener Shavings ... they work well .
Cedar smells nice and the thin shavings char quickly to charcoal .
Gary

[MT Chambers]

A nice light .22 mold is certainly worth a try for airguns, even moreso if it's a hollow point, my 225107 HP mold is deadly in my very powerful PCP, at 34 grs. I believe it is better than any of the new slug designs. I compared it to the FX Hybrids, the H&N slugs, etc. but my own cast HPs were most accurate. I would think that any mold under 50 grs. would work good esp. with a big HP.

[Wayne Smith]

When you use it I would be a touch cautious breathing the smoke. I have no idea what would be in it.

[sutherpride59]

If you do a search on fluxing most anything works lol. I remember someone even saying they fluxed with left over chicken salad lol. Your saw dust should be just fine.

For the pellets it’s doable but like it’s not something I would personally mess with. For my 25 cal marauder after doing some reading I settled on just buying swaged pellets. They make them so close to perfect I could never get close. Where a lot of folks will cast for air guns are the super powered ones where they are pushing jacketed speeds or just a crazy amount of power. For a normal 22 pellet gun I wouldn’t bother at the price you can get crossman premiers and how accurate they are I find it hard to believe you would be able to make them as well as factory and the amount of time just doesn’t add up IN MY OPINION. If you want to go down that rabbit hole there are some 22 pellet swagging tools made in Europe I believe, you take a lead core and hammer it into place with a rod.

[mehavey]

I would be a touch cautious breathing the smoke.
I have no idea what would be in it.....

Probably no worse than the rotting corpse of Python under the Temple at Delphi.
Who know ? It might make you an irrefutable Oracle of Casting (!)
(Just get your wife's permission)

[Alferd Packer]

You can cast a heavier pellet for hunting if you use the NOE rg moulds.

A pellet that is a few grains heavier is the result of manipulation of the pins that form the pellet's skirt.
More penetration by the heavier pellet can get you a quicker cleaner kill.

The heavier pellets sell at premium prices and are just not available in the weights you can home cast giving you an edge over buying the swaged pellets.
Just my 2 cts worth.:

[GregLaROCHE]

Anything with a carbon base works. I’ve used Quaker Oats when I didn’t have any dry sawdust. Worked just fine.

[farmbif]

from
the handbook of commercial bullet casting

Commercial refiners call this "dry drossing," and they usually do it by adding a layer of dry sawdust to the surface of the metal, stirring it well into the metal, and then skim- ming the dross off the metal. After dry drossing, the material needs what is called a caustic treatment. Now this really cleans the metal!

[kevin c]

Was this "caustic treatment" described, and did the handbook say what it was treating and why it's thought necessary?

Never mind. I found the other threads.

[TNsailorman]

I bought a box off a vendor on here and tried it in my pot. Ended up having to wire brush a scum layer off the sides of the pot. I never used it again. I may have used it wrong but I wasn't about to repeat the process again. james