How do you clean your ladle?

[BCRider]

I've got a ladle that I made from a 1 inch copper plumbing end cap and a length of 1/8 x 3/4 steel. With a side pour spout it works like a charm. But after using it a little more than a half dozen sessions it's becoming extremely crusty looking. I'm thinking of heating it up with a propane torch and giving it a good brushing down with wire brushes. Does that sound about right? I'm also likely going to use a battery post brush or similar for the inside.

Or do some of you have some other way?

I tried the wire brush idea with it hot from the pot. But without any lead in it the metal just cooled too rapidly and I just ended up pushing the crud from one spot to the other on the ladle.

Oddly enough even as cruddy and crusty as it is it still works well. But the crusty stuff is building up a little more each use and I can see it plugging up the little side spout sooner or later.

[John Boy]

Why not put it in the pot when you are fluxing the melt? Works for me with the cast ladles

[USAFrox]

I use a big stainless steel spoon for mixing the melt and fluxing and removing dross. Once it heats up, it sheds the lead like water. I just make sure I heat it up well, and it drops all the crud off easily.

[Forgetful]

I use cast iron ladles and just tap them on the pot to knock off their crusts, rotate/tap/rotate/tap. Flux the crusties into the lead. I don't use the cast ladle for stirring, just pouring (RCBS ladle). I use a small Lee Ladle for stirring my electric pot. I use a large 1.5lb cast iron ladle (40+ years old, unknown origins) for alloying in a large pot. All of the, I just tap them to knock off whatever wants to fall. Whatever doesn't fall, I don't really care unless I'm making small ingots of tin from large ingots, in which case I just tap the hot 1.5lb ladle harder to knock off everything after the end of an alloy session, in anticipation of doing the tin next.

Since you have a copper ladle (great idea btw!) your lead will be bonding to the copper wherever it was "clean." Fluxing is cleaning and from a good flux you'll have a good bond to your ladle. I wouldn't worry about it unless you're calculating your alloys to 4+ significant digits. Or make a 2nd ladle for special batches. I'd recommend cutting a piece of copper tube (a chord cut, like in geometry class or whatever) with a little vent in the bottom, to arc-weld to the inside of your pour spout to make it a bottom-pour ladle. Don't try soldering it...... lol?

[5Shot]

I'd recommend cutting a piece of copper tube (a chord cut, like in geometry class or whatever) with a little vent in the bottom, to arc-weld to the inside of your pour spout to make it a bottom-pour ladle. Don't try soldering it...... lol?

You could use 1200* silver solder in a pinch...

[GhostHawk]

I have an old lyman ladle with the nipple on the side. I mostly just immerse, then pull it out and give it a knock.

I did notice that It seemed to be gathering more crud than normal so I cooled it off and took it to the brush side of my bench grinder.
She shined up real nice and nothing sticks to it now!

[Beagle333]

I have an old lyman ladle with the nipple on the side. I mostly just immerse, then pull it out and give it a knock.


+1 works great for mine.

[runfiverun]

mold release has a use.
this is it.

[dikman]

I tend to agree with forgetful, just heat it up in the lead and quickly rap it against something hard. That should dislodge most of the loose stuff.

Arc weld copper tubing?:veryconfu My arcwelder would blow it to smithereens.

[Mk42gunner]

I've never tried it, but the 1980-ish vintage Lincoln welding book I read said that welding copper took a lot more amperage than welding steel. I don't have a stick welder to try it with anymore, but I wonder how some 12 gage solid wire would do as welding rod?

Robert

[masscaster]

If you have access to a fire pit or wood stove it makes it easy.
I oil the Ladle up when it's cool, then in the wood burner I roll it around in the coals for a bit. Knocks the crud right off. A few taps, and a little oil afterwards and away you go in your next session. I use a 20 lb. Ladle, and a couple smaller ones when rendering. I also do this with an oil soak for my cast iron ingot moulds.
Old timers used to do this in a campfire, and is very useful for bag moulds. Just watch for nails in the fire on those. ; )

Jeff

[country gent]

My steel ladles I simply sand blast in a incased sand blaster. Heat and tap to knock most of the crud off and out of it then let cool and sand blast with fine sand or beads. Wire brushing will work but hard to get the inside good. One plus to wire brushing is it slowly polishes smooths the surfaces making it harder for crud to adhere to. I wonder how a few hours in a vidratory polisher would do? Pre cleanit as best you can and drop in the polisher.

[Ricochet]

Last week I cleaned years of crud out of my Lee pot. I didn't do any heavy duty brushing. I mostly filled it with water, filled it the rest of the way with white vinegar and boiled it. Left it all clean and spiffy. Dissolved lead is toxic, of course.

[BCRider]

Sorry that I wasn't around sooner to reply. I've been busy for the last few days and sort of .... um..... forgot? that I posted this question. I just remembered about it on the drive home just now.

Thanks for all the suggestions to try. I'll try some more aggressive rapping but it seems like the crust, slag or whatever is built on pretty well. Oddly enough it doesn't affect the dipping and pouring.

I turned it into a side pour by drilling a hole at an angle then using a piece of 1/8 music wire to stretch form a pouring spout. This does a great job of avoiding a lot of the floating dull stuff that always seems to be present despite the clean looking pool of lead.