NOOB, first real smelting experience.

[Nikolaus]

So, I couldn't wait any longer. It was about 20 degrees here finally, and I had about 120 lbs (4 gallons) of clip on wheel weights that needed smelted. I am a newbie to casting, and smelting. So I smelted all 120 lbs in a 2 gallon SS pot, sitting on top of my turkey fryer. I filled the 2 gallon container and melted, 2 times. Other than the smoke, it seemed to go really smoothly. All weights are sorted, no zinc, no steel. I ended up with 100 lbs of ingots. Ingots were made from muffin tins acquired at the grocery store. I fluxed with some corn cob media kitty litter I tried out for my tumbler but did not like. Everything seemed to go really smooth. Only thing I am wondering, is that the first ingots from the pans seem to have air bubbles in the finish, and the second set to come from them are completely smooth. Any guess to why this is? I don't really care about the appearance much, but the second set do look much nicer.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo329/Nikolausxx/boolits/IMG_16191.jpg (http://s388.photobucket.com/user/Nikolausxx/media/boolits/IMG_16191.jpg.html)

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo329/Nikolausxx/boolits/IMG_16221.jpg (http://s388.photobucket.com/user/Nikolausxx/media/boolits/IMG_16221.jpg.html)

[ffries61]

were the muffin tins coated ? probably just outgassing from whatever was on the tins till you burned off with the lead. Nice looking ingots :drinks:

Fred

[Nikolaus]

Yes, they appear to have some kind of non stick treatment to them. One of them is a dull grey, and the other a bit shinier grey. That makes sense on the out gassing. I did not do much to treat them other than than setting them over the top of the pot to heat them up and smoke them some. Thanks Fred!

[CGT80]

Some people like to remove the coatings before using those pans. I made some molds from aluminum scrap that I welded together. They made nice smooth ingots. Preheating the molds seems to make the ingots look better, but I found it is not necessary and I skipped it on the other batches. I did see cast iron muffin pans at smart and final, the other day. They were around 10 bucks each, and made in the USA.

Your ingots look good. I would be sure to use them with plenty of ventilation when you turn them into boolits. I have no idea if any of the off gassing could have been trapped in the lead. Others have said they thought they had gas become trapped in ingots and it popped a bit when they remelted it. It probably isn't a major problem, but some safety items like long gloves and a face shield and fresh air can go a long way.

I smelted for the first time, just last week. I had some nice 60+ degree weather and a very light breeze.

What is that white stuff on the ground? Did your pot foam over or something? :kidding:

Welcome to the forum!!!

[jonp]

Fluxed with corncob media? I have not read of someone doing that. Is it possible that the bubbles are some of the mediad that did not char?

[Nikolaus]

The white stuff on the ground is snow! The corncob media, is 100 percent ground up corn cobs, its really fine stuff and too dusty for my tumbler. I figured it would work, as it seemed very similar to saw dust. I had a couple toilet rings, and tea candles on standby if it seemed like it was not doing the job. From what I have read it did the job. The clips were chard black, and it appears that I got all the tin and antimony back into the mix. I have a friend that will be bringing some sawdust to me for future sessions.

[CGT80]

Ohhh........Snoooowwwwwww. We get a little of that white stuff on the ground about once every 10 years or so :grin:

Did you add any polish to your corn cob, when you used it in your tumbler? It seems to keep the dust down more. I have gone to using corn cob from Grainger which is 14/20 grit. It is around 40 bucks for a 40 pound bag and works well. I just add dillon or lyman polish to it.

I needed saw dust last week and didn't want to go to the store. I ran an 18" long 2x4 through my planner and caught all the dust. I had 3/4's of a 5 gallon bucket of fluffy saw dust. It seemed to work pretty well. I figured that pine or doug fir shouldn't really tear up the blades, especially compared to oak, maple, ash, and purple heart. My last batch may have been from the planner too, and is some that my dad saved for me.

It sounds like toilet rings used to be bee's wax and worked good, but the new ones could be anything. I know the new ones I have always used are extremely sticky. I don't handle that stuff more than I have to and wouldn't want it in my smelting pot. I haven't tried it, just read about it here. I have used parafin wax and old boolit lube. Now that I use White Label Cred, that other lube can be burned up, besides the other lube is probably 30 years old.

[Wolfer]

I think anything that will burn can probably be used for flux. I've tried most, beeswax, parrifin , crayons, sawdust and just stirring with a pine stick. Any more I just use the stick. I don't get the smoke / flash fire like I do with parrifin.
When the smoke flashes on fire it might not hurt you but it will cause you to hurt yourself!!

The smoke can be lit with a match. Beeswax and toilet bowl rings don't flash as fast as parrifin