**** clogging the furnace

[RoGrrr]

I "mine the berm" for spent boolits and then smelt them into 2# ingots so I cast with clean lead. I have a 10# Lee bottom pour furnace. Occasionally, I dump the remnants out and then bounce the pot upside down while still warm to clean all the **** out of it. And I do get PLENTY of ****.

I would have thought that all the **** would float to the surface of the melt to be skimmed off.

Today, it got so bad and plugged the valve so the valve would not allow ANY lead to pour out to fill my mold. I tried poking a wire up from the bottom to open the orifice but got nowhere with that so I had to dump the content and clean as indicated above. Then it came back to life.

My question is this - WHAT is that **** and other than dumping the melt, how do I clean the melt reservoir and valve ?

I understand fluxing but isn't that just for the top surface ? Well, maybe I DON't understand fluxing....

[Mooseman]

Never ever put junk boolits, ww, etc . in the drip type pots.
I recommend a cast iron pot on a burner to melt that stuff first and then clean, flux and pour cast ingots of clean lead for use in the casting pot.
Dirt and contaminates will crust and stay in the bottom of the pot and get into the spout causing big pains like you have experienced.

I learned my lesson the hard way.
Rich

[dragonrider]

No you don't understand fluxing. First thing is I hope you are smelting your range lead in a separate pot and not using your casting pot, that would be the best way to get your pot loaded with junk. When fluxing pour a good handful of sawdust ontop of your melting lead. Allow it to burn completely to ash and then mix thoughroughly with a wooden stick, a very dry wooded stick. If you have a ladle scoop up ladlesfull of lead and pour back into the pot, do this reapeatedly, this is getting the ash mixed through the lead. This is how I flux. Then skim the dross off and repeat the process again. One more thing, DO NOT PUSH THE SAWDUST DOWN INTO THE LEAD BEFORE IT HAS TURNED TO ASH, I know you think it is dry, but it ain't, not until it is ash. Heed this advice as tinsel fairies cause a lot of pain. This method works verry well for me at least. When casting use a wooded stick, a very dry wooden stick to stir up your melt every now and then while casting, scrape the sides and bottom of the pot at the same time. Paint stirring sticks work well for this purpose. Insert the stick into the melt slowly, very slowly giving it time to dry out as it is moved under the melt.

[NPBullets]

No you don't understand fluxing. First thing is I hope you are smelting your range lead in a separate pot and not using your casting pot, that would be the best way to get your pot loaded with junk. When fluxing pour a good handful of sawdust ontop of your melting lead. Allow it to burn completely to ash and then mix thoughroughly with a wooden stick, a very dry wooded stick. If you have a ladle scoop up ladlesfull of lead and pour back into the pot, do this reapeatedly, this is getting the ash mixed through the lead. This is how I flux. Then skim the dross off and repeat the process again. One more thing, DO NOT PUSH THE SAWDUST DOWN INTO THE LEAD BEFORE IT HAS TURNED TO ASH, I know you think it is dry, but it ain't, not until it is ash. Heed this advice as tinsel fairies cause a lot of pain. This method works verry well for me at least. When casting use a wooded stick, a very dry wooden stick to stir up your melt every now and then while casting, scrape the sides and bottom of the pot at the same time. Paint stirring sticks work well for this purpose. Insert the stick into the melt slowly, very slowly giving it time to dry out as it is moved under the melt.

I have to try this out. Thanks!

[mdi]

I use much the same method as Dragonrider. No junk (wheel weights, berm bullets, or scrap lead) in my pot, that's what the 24 qt. stainless steel pot and Coleman stove are for. At the hardware store I found shom wooden "shims". They are about 1"x 12" 5/16" at one end and taper to a chisel point at the other. Rough wood prolly used for leveling. A bundle of 24 was around $5.00. A handful of sawdust, stired vigorously while scraping the bottom and sider of the pot; works quite well for me...