1n5ane
10-23-2011, 05:36 PM
Hey guys,
A few weeks ago, I traded a some stuff for a few WW muffins. I just got around to using them this weekend and I've run into a few problems. I've never used WW alloy before; all my casting so far has been with melted down airgun pellets and 22lr bullets(from a bullet trap). I am casting lee 1oz slugs if anyone is wondering.
First off, there was always this nasty layer of dull grey metal on top. No matter how much fluxing and skimming, I could never get it shiny and mirror-like. I did not have this problem when using my original alloy.
Secondly, the resultant slugs are very frosty/hazy looking. This is usually indicative of a cold mold but every slug I cast was frosty. My previous casts(using my original alloy) never had this problem, all the slugs for my previous batch came out nice and shiny.
The two on the left are with my original alloy, the two right ones are with the WW alloy:
http://i54.tinypic.com/24qod46.jpg
Lastly, I had noticed that this alloy is very brittle. When the freshly solidified sprue was knocked off and dropped onto a metal pan, it fractured and shattered. I also drop the freshly cast slugs onto several layers of wet paper towels; occasionally, one would get dented simply from dropping onto a paper towel! The 4th slug in the photo above is an example of this.
Here is a closeup of the 4th slug:
http://i53.tinypic.com/v6mavr.jpg
Does anyone know what the heck is going on? I suspect that the WW alloy I was given is probably contaminated with zinc but I don't have any way to test this.
A few weeks ago, I traded a some stuff for a few WW muffins. I just got around to using them this weekend and I've run into a few problems. I've never used WW alloy before; all my casting so far has been with melted down airgun pellets and 22lr bullets(from a bullet trap). I am casting lee 1oz slugs if anyone is wondering.
First off, there was always this nasty layer of dull grey metal on top. No matter how much fluxing and skimming, I could never get it shiny and mirror-like. I did not have this problem when using my original alloy.
Secondly, the resultant slugs are very frosty/hazy looking. This is usually indicative of a cold mold but every slug I cast was frosty. My previous casts(using my original alloy) never had this problem, all the slugs for my previous batch came out nice and shiny.
The two on the left are with my original alloy, the two right ones are with the WW alloy:
http://i54.tinypic.com/24qod46.jpg
Lastly, I had noticed that this alloy is very brittle. When the freshly solidified sprue was knocked off and dropped onto a metal pan, it fractured and shattered. I also drop the freshly cast slugs onto several layers of wet paper towels; occasionally, one would get dented simply from dropping onto a paper towel! The 4th slug in the photo above is an example of this.
Here is a closeup of the 4th slug:
http://i53.tinypic.com/v6mavr.jpg
Does anyone know what the heck is going on? I suspect that the WW alloy I was given is probably contaminated with zinc but I don't have any way to test this.