Ww question

[trying2learn]

First I would like to say hello. I have been reading this forum for few days and found very useful amounts of information here. However I am either searching the wrong things or not seeing the answer I have been looking for. I have never cast a single boolit nor smelting a thing either. I am just starting and have been separating my stock out.

What I am wondering is this. Is it necessary to remove the sticky pad on the back prior to the smelting or casting? If so how is the best way to get this done? I tried boiling them and it worked very poorly.

Thank you for the advice.


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[RobS]

The stick-ons are really soft and the clip-ons are harder. I simply smelt the stick-ons as they are with the sticky pad on the back etc. Do yourself a favor and smelt in a different pot than you cast your boolits with especially if you have a bottom pour pot.

Then of course you have the zink stick-ons and clip-ons that you have to seperate out as well. The best way to keep zink out of your smelt is to keep the temp 700 degress or so.

Welcome to the forum.

[bobthenailer]

I just put them in the smelting pot, tape & all and let the smelter do the work !

[fecmech]

Basically smelt outside. What burns such as the backers you mentioned can be called a flux as is the occasional valve stem that you miss. What doesn't burn floats to the top and can be skimmed off such as rocks ,nut and bolts etc. Sort out the zinc and have at it, just stay up wind!

[trying2learn]

Ok. I will separate the zinc out as I have been since I can't purchase any tools as of yet. I plan on having two pots eventually. However I will have to save for them.
One other quick thing is will I get say a 90-95 percent yield from a pot of lead? Or do you lose more to waste or other things?

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[runfiverun]

clip on ww's, you'll toss the clips and the overall yield is usually in the 75-89% return rate.
i like to light the stick on's on fire and burn off the tape, a little gas,diesel fuel, charcoal grill fluid.
fluxing will return the oxides back to the alloy.
anything else that comes out you didn't want anyway.

[500MAG]

I smelt in a cast iron dutch oven on a fish fryer propane burner. I add charcoal lighter to burn off the glue and other stuff, it also helps the heating up process.

[Balkandom]

How many times should you flux? I ahev heard lots of different ideas.

[John Boy]

Is it necessary to remove the sticky pad on the back prior to the smelting or casting?T2L, short answer ... No

[trying2learn]

Thank you all. I just took a short stick out back with a torch on my metal bench. To see what the effects are. It was rather interesting. I found a old water dish for a dog I don't have any longer to out it in to cool it off. That was a interesting experiment. I understand a little better what everyone has been talking about with the crud coming up to the top.

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[MtGun44]

Mix in some sawdust as flux. Not absolutely clear in the posts, keep the stick on and
clip ons separate. Clip ons are your basic alloy, add stick ons as necessary to soften as
they are around pure lead. Stick ons are good for muzzle loaders and cap and ball
pistols.

Bill

[Wayne Smith]

Agreed, I've not yet seen sticky stuff that will survive 650 degrees F!

Sounds like you don't yet have melting equipment. Have you any idea the typical volume of casting you are likely to do? I drive 45 minutes each way to the range and pay to use it. I don't shoot competitively and thus do not cast or load at a huge volume. I have not yet invested in the turkey fryer kind of melter. I cast with a ladle over a Coleman stove and an iron or steel pot. I smelt in the same pot and clean it after. It is slower, but I'm not shooting 1000rds a month, either.

If you are planning on using a bottom pour pot you absolutely need a separate melting set up. The size of that set up is determined by how much you can shoot. DO NOT put anything but clean alloy in a bottom pour pot.

[trying2learn]

Not planning on a lot of volume for the start off or very near future. I get one maybe 2 trips a month. I am looking at the lee molds that come with the handle and sprue plates and cast two boolits at a time. Mainly due to the cheap price and then I was going to use my propane stove for starting off. Go cheap in case I find out it isn't something I can get the time to do right now.

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[44man]

I sort out the sticky weights. I have found too much zinc and weird metals.
I found to keep the metal at 600* with a thermometer helps and anything that floats gets tossed out. Scoop all junk out then flux before casting ingots. I never flux before removing junk because it can make it melt into your good lead.

[trying2learn]

Sweet I was looking at amazon just now and found a small cast iron pan for 6 bucks. I have to go to Texas near cheaprthandirt this coming weekend. I will look into the moulds there. Who knows I may be starting this fairly quick. I have probably got roughly 30 lbs of lead separated right now. Which should give me quite a few 230group lrn 45acp boolits I hope. My plan is to start small amounts learning the ins and outs of doing this so if something is wasted it isn't a large amounts of my "precious" lead. Sorry I couldn't resist the lord of the rings thought in my head.

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[blackthorn]

Melting of scrap lead, be it WW or other, should not be done in your casting pot. Rather, use a cast or stainless steel pot or a pot can be made by cutting down an old 20 lb propane tank. Do not use an aluminium pot to melt lead!!

A melting pot for reducing scrap lead can be made from an old 20-pound propane tank in the following manner. Remove the threaded valve from the top of the tank. Fill the tank with water to displace any residual propane. Using a hand held grinder with a ‘cut-off’ disc, cut a 4 or 5-inch hole in the top of the tank. Dump the water and make a line around the tank at the point you want to cut it off. Use the grinder with a metal cutting wheel to cut away the excess tank. Make a fitted lid from sheet metal to keep the heat in and to reduce smoke/fumes/spatters. A pouring ‘spout’ can be formed in the rim of the pot exactly midway between two large steel washers that have been vertically welded, one on each side of the tank, directly opposite to each other. These washers can be used to attach a ‘bail’ type handle, or to slide a steel bar through so that two people can lift it from the heat source. The spout will also act as a vent for the smoke and gasses produced during smelting. If you use washers with a 1 1/8’’ hole, a 1” steel bar can be slipped through the holes and suspended on axle jack stands in a way that relieves the weight from the top of the heat source. This set-up also provides a ‘pivot’ so that the pot can be tipped to pour without removing it completely from the heat. A handle can be attached opposite to the added-on spout. Since lead weighs about 24 pounds to the quart, a 20-pound propane tank, cut off at the top shoulder, will hold much more molten metal than most folks will want to attempt to lift. The extra space is used to contain bulk wheel weights or other scrap lead at the beginning of the smelting process.


To test a WW suspected of being zinc, use the muriatic acid test. Dip the suspect WW in a small container of muriatic acid (50% hydrochloric acid). If it is coated with something, first break through the coating with cutting pliers. If it is zinc, it will fizz like Alka-Seltzer (lead alloys will not). It will turn the acid blackish. If the WW is lead or steel, with no zinc, nothing happens. Be careful; it is acid. Muriatic acid is a common cleaner usually found in stores in the paint section.