copper enrichment attempt

[mikeym1a]

After reading, re-reading, and finally re-re-reading the post about adding copper to the melt, I decided to give it a try. I took 1/2lb of 95/5 solder, and heated it in the little pot, stripped wires, fluxed them, dipped them in the tin, and re-dipped them in the flux, and then put them in the pot. I was very surprised by how easy it was. By the time I was done, I had 8.3 oz of Sn, Sb, Cu. I then mixed a 3lb batch of WW with the appropriate percentages of pure lead, and my tin mix. Although a cool, breezy day, I was able to make about 130 boolits. Primarily I used the Lee mould for .311 boolit that I lapped out, and got about 50 slugs each for my Argentine Mauser, and the GEW88. That mould had different sized cavities, and I was able to lap them out. Weight for the Argentine is 165gns, and 169 for the GEW88. (those can also be used in my 8.15x46 barrel when I finally get a receiver for it. I even cast a few boolits in my problem 8mm mould. I got some cast, but, will have to lap the cavities. It just does not like to release the boolits, and I don't like beating on the mould.

It was an interesting endeavor. Next time, I'll have the wire stripped in advance. It melted much faster than I had anticipated. Need to get a bigger pot, though.

[hickfu]

Mikeym1a,
Try a small brass brush on the cavities of the mold, Brass wont scratch it and will help take off any burrs on the cavities that hold the boolit in the mold. If my boolits start to stick I run the brush across the cavities real quick and the next cast they drop right out.

Doc

[mikeym1a]

Mikeym1a,
Try a small brass brush on the cavities of the mold, Brass wont scratch it and will help take off any burrs on the cavities that hold the boolit in the mold. If my boolits start to stick I run the brush across the cavities real quick and the next cast they drop right out.

Doc
That does sound easier than lapping the mould. I'll give it a try. Besides, now I can't find the lapping compound......

[mikeym1a]

Mikeym1a,
Try a small brass brush on the cavities of the mold, Brass wont scratch it and will help take off any burrs on the cavities that hold the boolit in the mold. If my boolits start to stick I run the brush across the cavities real quick and the next cast they drop right out.

Doc

Thanks for the tip on the brass brush. I used an old bore brush, and it really polished the mould. Boolits dropped out with no effort, although the alloy seems to not want to part from the sprue plate, not even little ones.

Made a second batch of copper enriched tin today, used much more copper. Toward the end it was getting a bit slushy, which I guess means it was near it's saturation point. Cast several ingots of it, and then decided to cast a few boolits. Mixed up another 3lb batch like yesterday only using the new tin mix. The boolits came out really nice, even the ones from that problem 8mm mould. The rest I cast into ingots. Curious, two of the ingots bonded when I overfilled. After cooling, I dropped another on them, and they 'rang'. Regular boolit ingots make a 'doomp' noise, but these rang. I guess that is the copper and tin combined. Now, I've just got to go shoot some of these new boolits, just to see.... This sure is interesting stuff....

[DLCTEX]

That does sound easier than lapping the mould. I'll give it a try. Besides, now I can't find the lapping compound......
You can't find toothpaste or Comet cleanser? Bon Ami is another one.

[mikeym1a]

You can't find toothpaste or Comet cleanser? Bon Ami is another one.

Read about the toothpaste, but, wasn't sure it would work. Haven't used Bon Ami or others like it in years. But, the brass brush did a good job. Now, If I could just figure out why the sprue sticks so tightly to the sprue plate....

[303Guy]

Do you have any idea of the percentages of the constituents? Anyway, it'll be interesting to hear your results.

Oh yes, how hard are the castings? Have you tried the hammer test on them, as in smacking them on the nose till they're flat? There should be no cracking of the edges even though they need to be hit quite hard to flatten.

[mikeym1a]

Do you have any idea of the percentages of the constituents? Anyway, it'll be interesting to hear your results.

Oh yes, how hard are the castings? Have you tried the hammer test on them, as in smacking them on the nose till they're flat? There should be no cracking of the edges even though they need to be hit quite hard to flatten.
No idea of percentages. What I started off with was Common Ordinary Wheel Weights, COWW. The lyman book says to add one pound of 50/50 to 9lbs of COWW to get equivalent of Lyman #2. That is what I have worked with since I started loading for my pistols about 30 years ago. It worked great in my .45, and my .32 revolters. SINCE I decided to start shooting lead in my rifles, I have read a lot on this site, and other sources about altering the composition to get a tougher alloy to better grip the rifling at higher velocities. Enriching tin with copper sounded the easiest way to do so. So far I have made two batches. The initial test batch was just a test. I have no idea how much copper I used. BUT, I used 1/2lb of 95/5, weighed, and added copper until I decided to stop. I then cast ingots, and weighted the results. I had 8.3oz, according to my new postal scale, which weighs to .1oz. I then mixed some alloy using the Lyman formula. Since I only have a small pot, I made up a mix of 3lbs COWW, and the correct percentage of my coppered tin, and pure lead. My handy-dandy calculator tells me that that is 1167grains each of the tin and lead. I then cast some boolits. They came out real nice. They feel much harder to the touch than the ones I have cast from regular #2. To me, they have a 'slick' feel. Having had success on the first batch, I decided to try it again, but with more copper. This time I used 1 1/2lbs of 95/5 tin, and 1oz of stripped copper wires from and old defunct computer power supply. Set up my pot outside, and started the melt. As things heated up, I started tinning the wires, fluxing, and adding them to the mix. It wasn't too long until I had used up all the wires that I had prepared. So, I looked around and found part of an old auto wiring harness, which I proceeded to strip. Auto wires have very tough insulation. It was a lot more work than the computer wires. Anyway, Just as I was running out of this source of copper, the mix started turning slushy. I turned the heat up a bit, which seemed to help, but, then oxidation started to form, quickly. I had been skimming the mix, as the flux was leaving a carbon-like junk on the surface, but, now it was getting there quickly. So, I decided to stop, cast ingots, and weigh them. Did I say I skimmed a lot of dross from the surface? Well, I started with 24oz of tin, added well over an oz of copper, probably closer to two, but when I weighed the cooled ingots, I got 23.9oz. I really must have skimmed a lot. Guess I need to learn about fluxing. So, curious, I made up a new mix of COWW, the new tin mix and pure lead, and cast some boolits. They are shinier than the first mix lot. As for the hammer test, these boolits are .967long, .318dia., and after hammering, the sample is .207 tall, and and an oblong measuring .712x.623. At no time did it fracture along the edges. Long ago I was an upholsterer, and could hit a tack straight. I seem to have lost that ability. 3 times I did not hit it square, and it went flying. Once it bounced off the sliding glass door. Scared the poop out of me, as I waited for the crash of falling glass. Fortunately, it didn't break. I was more careful the next time. This boolit was cast in the Lee .311 mould for the 7.62x39, which I have lapped out for my '09 Argentine, and my '88 Commission Rifle. The cavities were oversized, and of different sizes when I received it, I was fortunate to get it to make boolits of the size for 2 different rifles. ANYWAY, the smushed boolits still shows the microgrooves in the side, only much smaller. And it got rather warm during the hammering process. This really is neat stuff. Now I really have to impose on one of my friends to go shoot these things to see what happens. So, 303Guy, is there a link on the site to explain the different types of alloy? I've seen references to 40:1, 30:1, 20:1, and I have no idea what they are talking about. Seems I need to increase my knowledge base. need to learn more about fluxing, too. Hope this wasn't to long, boring, or rambling.

[303Guy]

Thanks. I found my copper/tin alloy to get hot from hammering too. I've now added antimony (from lino) and the boolits come out hard. I haven't done the hammer test on those yet. There is a LASCUS link here somewhere or just Google it.

[mikeym1a]

Thanks. I found me copper/tin allow to get hot from hammering too. I've now added antimony (from lino) and the boolits come out hard. I haven't done the hammer test on those yet. There is a LASCUS link here somewhere or just Google it.
I need to try and find some antimony to add to my mix. The 95/5 solder supposedly has 5% antimony in it, but that is severely diluted when you make a normal mix. And I want to find one of Lee's hardness tester. Every place, including Lee's, had them listed as 'out-of-stock', with no mention as to when they might be available. I can afford one of them. I can buy a few toys, but, I have to be frugal. I still work part-time, but, seems to be getting less all the time. So much for the 'RECOVERY'.

[303Guy]

I found what I think is Lino but I also have some No. 12 Babbitt. Since all these are high in tin I assumed it was lino. Anyway, I added some 'lino' and some high tin, lead and copper to pure lead. It cast OK but was rather hard so I diluted it with about as much again lead. It cast OK and was less frosty and took longer to harden and measured softer. But today I beat on them with a hammer and although the harder one took longer to start giving way it flattened the same as the diluted one but took a few more blows.

70603

I want to be able to measure hardness as well as compressive and tensile yield strength.

[mikeym1a]

Here is my smushed boolit. Neat that you can still see the Lee Microgrooves. 7065470654

[mikeym1a]

Well, that didn't work right. The second was supposed to be different. Oh, well.