kbstenberg
02-26-2011, 04:09 PM
I don't know how it got in my casting pot but some kind of contaminant got in my pot an the lead I had left in the pot.
The first sign i had was that i restarted the little i had left in the pot. There was the dreaded oatmeal substance on the top of the lead after it had melted completely. Fluxing would not let it be re-absorbed into the melt. I took about 2 large tablespoons full of the oatmeal substance off of the top of my Lee 4-20.
After i re-fluxed no more oatmeal came out of what lead was left in the pot. I than tried casting a few to see how the bullets came out. After about 9 or 10 cycles through a mold, the bullets still were coming out wrinkled an all the edges were rounded.
Now several days later. I re-melted the same lead. After melting there was minor dirt colored clumps on the top of the melt. I removed it before I fluxed. It was about half of a tablespoon.
I fluxed an only got the normal amount of debrie from the charring from the stick I was using to Stir the pot.
Again the bullets were coming out wrinkled an without filling out the corners. I turned the heat up to 800 an still was getting wrinkles an incomplete fillout.
Now I drained the pot and am probably going to dispose of the contaminated lead.
I am now asking; What do I have to do to clean out my pot to get any remaining contaminants out of the sides of my pot?
Kevin
The first sign i had was that i restarted the little i had left in the pot. There was the dreaded oatmeal substance on the top of the lead after it had melted completely. Fluxing would not let it be re-absorbed into the melt. I took about 2 large tablespoons full of the oatmeal substance off of the top of my Lee 4-20.
After i re-fluxed no more oatmeal came out of what lead was left in the pot. I than tried casting a few to see how the bullets came out. After about 9 or 10 cycles through a mold, the bullets still were coming out wrinkled an all the edges were rounded.
Now several days later. I re-melted the same lead. After melting there was minor dirt colored clumps on the top of the melt. I removed it before I fluxed. It was about half of a tablespoon.
I fluxed an only got the normal amount of debrie from the charring from the stick I was using to Stir the pot.
Again the bullets were coming out wrinkled an without filling out the corners. I turned the heat up to 800 an still was getting wrinkles an incomplete fillout.
Now I drained the pot and am probably going to dispose of the contaminated lead.
I am now asking; What do I have to do to clean out my pot to get any remaining contaminants out of the sides of my pot?
Kevin