First timer!

[brockj]

First post!! Been lurking her for the last couple weeks, been toying with the idea of casting for a couple months. Well tonight I smelted up my first ignots! Only had 8lbs of wheel weights to start with, ended with about 6.5 lbs of lead. Not at all very much, but I have been dying to try out my equipment! Been collecting it slowly over the last month or so.

I am using a lee production pot IV (10lb capacity), have a couple lee molds and a lee ladle, as well as a Lyman Ignot mold. Also picked up the Lyman cast book and have been studying it diligently!

Well just wanted to introduce myself, which I haven't really done yet, my name is Joe, live in the Twin Cities and shoot mostly Mil surps. My primary casting will probably be for my M1 carbine, I can't shoot that thing enough, will be picking up at least one, maybe 2 more so I don't wear it out :-D

There is a great wealth of knowledge, and as I begin to start actually casting boolits, I am sure the questions will start to fly!! But it is ok, I am a quick study!!

[brockj]

Had to include a picture!

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj45/joebrockman/Random/Ignots.jpg

[kooz]

Welcome to the forum, I have also recently decided to try casting my own. I have gotten all the materials together but have not melted anything yet. It looks like you did well with your first ingot melt. There are a lot of knowledgable and friendly folks here.

[Bob Krack]

I am using a lee production pot IV (10lb capacity), have a couple lee molds and a lee ladle, as well as a Lyman Ignot mold. Also picked up the Lyman cast book and have been studying it diligently!

There is a great wealth of knowledge, and as I begin to start actually casting boolits, I am sure the questions will start to fly!! But it is ok, I am a quick study!!


Brockj,
Congrats! If you do not know yet, your ingots are gorgeous. The wrinkles you see make no difference in the ingots, but remember that look when you first start casting boolits. The wrinkle usually indicate a cold mold, be it an ingot mold or a boolit mold.

Keep on doing what you are and you will get more advice than you know what to do with.

Vic

[Razor]

Welcome ..(from another newbie):-D
I started hanging around here about 4 or 5 months ago...
BEWARE !!! These casters are an insidious lot..:twisted:
They (OK..WE ! ) will have you selling your extra Milsurps for "casting" money..
buying moulds you don't have a gun for (yet)..
then buying a gun for a mould you just got !!!
There is a lot of excellent information on the "stickies" at the top of each forum catagory..
check them out.. They'll answer questions you didn't know you had..

Razor:castmine:

[Cloudpeak]

Brockj,
Congrats! If you do not know yet, your ingots are gorgeous.
Vic

Yeah, but there's something "odd" about the "N" [smilie=1:

Cloudpeak

[NVcurmudgeon]

Yeah, but there's something "odd" about the "N" [smilie=1:

Cloudpeak

Yes, that is the extremely rare Lyman ingot mould with the backwards N. Carpetman and I are two of those fortunate enough to have one of these valuable collectors items. When posting about these rare moulds we call them "LYMAZ" to indicate we are talking about the seldom-seen variation.

brockj, welcome to the board. Now that you have some good-looking ingots it's time to make useful boolits from them.

[mroliver77]

Hey Joe,
What are you using to smelt your Wheel weights? You dont want to use your production pot or it will muck it yucky.
J

[jleneave]

Welcome to the board from yet another newbie. The guys on this board are very knowledgable and more than willing to help out. It won't be long, if not already, before you will be addicted to molten lead. Something mesmerizing about that silver liquid!!

[brockj]

Hey Joe,
What are you using to smelt your Wheel weights? You dont want to use your production pot or it will muck it yucky.
J

Thanks for all the kind words! Unfortunately I was using my production pot for smelting, it is all I have. I guess I will have to start hunting for a pot just for smelting....

[Wayne Smith]

Thanks for all the kind words! Unfortunately I was using my production pot for smelting, it is all I have. I guess I will have to start hunting for a pot just for smelting....

It's in your kitchen! Or your local yard sale, dollar store, or Salvation Army store. Any steel pot can be used but a cast iron dutch oven is better.

Then you ask about a heat source!

[44man]

This is my setup along with my helper. I tried to get her to carry the box of ingots down but she just gave me a funny look! :mrgreen:

[Calamity Jake]

Yes, that is the extremely rare Lyman ingot mould with the backwards N. Carpetman and I are two of those fortunate enough to have one of these valuable collectors items. When posting about these rare moulds we call them "LYMAZ" to indicate we are talking about the seldom-seen variation.

brockj, welcome to the board. Now that you have some good-looking ingots it's time to make useful boolits from them.


Yep, I'm lucky enough to have 4 of them puppys :razz::razz:

Oh by the way, welcome brockj

[brockj]

I heat source should not be much of an issue. I have 2 superb burners with both natural gas and propane hook ups as well as a modified turkey fryer burner...my OTHER hobby is homebrewing!!

I think I would prefer one of the cast iron pots as they seem much better, guess I know what I will be hunting around for today!

[Cloudpeak]

Yes, that is the extremely rare Lyman ingot mould with the backwards N. Carpetman and I are two of those fortunate enough to have one of these valuable collectors items. When posting about these rare moulds we call them "LYMAZ" to indicate we are talking about the seldom-seen variation.

NV, Look again. He's got the new mold. I was just trying to be a smarty. I have the "Z" mold, bought new when I first got into casting.

Cloudpeak

[floodgate]

NV:

Dammit! You keep talking about that Lyman ingot mould with the backwards "N". I've looked and looked at MY mould and it is the "L"that's backwards! Of course, the whole word is backwards, too.

floodgate

[44man]

Brockj, hey buddy, I make the best home brew going, all grain. We just have to share recipes.

[brockj]

Brockj, hey buddy, I make the best home brew going, all grain. We just have to share recipes.

Would love to do that!! I've been doing all grain for a couple years now and have been trying to enter comps as much as I can, although the last year has been pretty weak....spending too much time with my cold steel!!

What area of the country are you in?

[felix]

Need method for making malt. ... felix

[looseprojectile]

I think your gummit says not to make malt.

[44man]

I live near Harpers Ferry WV.
No law against making malt. It is just sprouted and dried barley.
Now if Felix is talking about single malt scotch, that's a different story. I would love to know how they get the flavor.
In other parts of the world you can make anything you want but here the tax man rules. Don't dare cheat them out of a buck and it is the only reason it is not legal.

[Scrounger]

I live near Harpers Ferry WV.
No law against making malt. It is just sprouted and dried barley.
Now if Felix is talking about single malt scotch, that's a different story. I would love to know how they get the flavor.
In other parts of the world you can make anything you want but here the tax man rules. Don't dare cheat them out of a buck and it is the only reason it is not legal.

I would say the people in the business of making and selling whiskey have a vested interest in stopping amateur production.

[felix]

Actually, I am talking beer malt. I would like to duplicate that which comes in a can as syrup. I have absolutely no idea what that can contains. ... felix

[felix]

Distillation is a major problem at home because of the contaminates in the goodies to make the booze. Higher alcohols are a major problem, and they can spill over into the "finished" goods. The only lower alcohol, methyl, is not a problem in most instances, and besides that can be tasted. The higher alcohols cannot be tasted for the most part, and they are a cumulative poison. The reason home wine and beer makers don't run into this problem is because the amount of poison is so low as to be non significant. Once that beer/wine is reduced to pure white lightning, the poisons are concentrated. Don't freeze wine/beer to take out the water component for the same reasons. ... felix

Years ago the Canadian govt enforced very specific rules in the amount of higher alcohol (amyl types) allowed. The booze experts found that rye grain was the best grain to use in this regard. However, rye has not been an efficient producer of sugars to ferment, and that is why American booze makers prefer corn. It appears that the Canadians now produce their booze with corn and other grains as everyone else in the world, in addition to rye. The reason for this is probably/hopefully they have found a filtration method whereby the higher alcohols have been eradicated from the final ethyl, drinkable, alcohol. ... felix

Another flash.... There has been lots of research in the yeast types used in all booze factorys over the last 20 years or so, via DNA techniques. Most especially at the the University of California at Davis and the University of ???? in Paris. The objective is to be more efficient in producing a better grade of final alcohol for either drinking and/or burning from sugar or other energy equivalent (garbage??). This could be a reason why rye is not required to make Canadian booze anymore. They (the universities?) found/made a very good yeast that produces ethyl alcohol and only ethyl alcohol. ... felix

[brockj]

I live near Harpers Ferry WV.
No law against making malt. It is just sprouted and dried barley.
Now if Felix is talking about single malt scotch, that's a different story. I would love to know how they get the flavor.
In other parts of the world you can make anything you want but here the tax man rules. Don't dare cheat them out of a buck and it is the only reason it is not legal.

Cool! Not sure if you are a member of a brew club or not, or if you enter any competitions. I am in the Twin Cities and we have a couple good clubs out here, kinda fun to get together with a group of guys (and gals) who know what they are talking about and compare! In fact, I have 2 scottish ales at a competition in Duluth this weekend, heres to hopin!

[brockj]

Actually, I am talking beer malt. I would like to duplicate that which comes in a can as syrup. I have absolutely no idea what that can contains. ... felix

There is a good book that talks about methods for malting grain. I can't find my copy right now, but it is something like Homebrewers Garden. They talk about growing grain and hops as well as malting and drying them. Might give you some information there about that.

[44man]

Felix, the higher alcohols turn to vapor at a lower temp then ethyl. The first runnings are just dumped. Ethyl turns to vapor at 170*.
To make beer malt the grain is moistened and allowed to start to grow rootlets. Then it is dried and tumbled to remove the roots. The growing process activates the enzymes to convert starch to sugar. The grain is dried and roasted to produce different tastes from pale to black malt for stout.
I heat water to 130* and add the ground grain which will take it to about 122*. This is called a protein rest and develops more yeast nutrient. Then I take it slowly to 154*. As it passes 140, the enzymes start to convert starch. It is like scissors cutting the long starch molecules into shorter sugars. I leave it at 150* for 1 hour. Then I take it to 158* for a short time as there are enzymes that work there. A small amount is put on a white spoon and a drop of iodine is dropped in. If it turns black, there is still starch. If it stays the same color, it is done. Then I raise it to 168* and sparge (Strain.) with 168* water to rinse all the sugar and flavor out of the grain. I do this until I have about 7 to 7-1/2 gallons that is boiled down to a shade over 5-1/2 gallons. As soon as it starts to boil I start adding hops and add the right amount at different times with the aroma hops added when I shut off the burner. Then it is run through a strainer bag through a cooler into the fermenting bucket. It is aerated and yeast added. It works in this primary fermenter until the air lock slows then it is transfered to a secondary to remove the bulk of the dead yeast cells. It works until the air lock quits and the beer is settled, then I keg it and carbonate with CO2.
To make syrup, the converted liquid has most of the water removed in a vacuum process and the resulting stuff is canned. I don't like the flavor of beer made with syrup. If all of the water is removed you wind up with malt powder. (Dry malt.) It is mixed with wheat flour and used for malted milk balls and malted milk ice cream sodas. Malt is used for testing for bacteria on the petri dishes because everything loves the stuff.
It is OK for beer but all grain is still better.
Basically, the syrup is the sugar and flavor from the starch in grain converted to sugars by enzymes.
No, it will not work for a boolit lube! :mrgreen:

[brockj]

Don't freeze wine/beer to take out the water component for the same reasons. ...

There is actually a beer style known as eisbock (pronounced ice-bock) that is exactly that. It has been controversial in the fact that it is essentially distilling. Started in Germany when apparently an apprentice brewer left the kegs outside over night and they froze, well not completely. Anyways in a good, clean beer it is not bad, but it also accentuates any flaws in the beer.

[brockj]

It is OK for beer but all grain is still better.


Amen brother! I have tried going back to making extract batches once in a while (when I don't have enough time for an AG batch), and the extract twang* is so pronounced, I don't know if I am more susceptible to it or what, but it is very noticeable...

[wrench]

Hi Brockj, I've seen your posts on some of the other boards, as well as here.
I'm a newby here also, haven't cast a single boolit yet, but have accumulated about 800# of lead, about half smelted into ingots.
Hopefully I'll get out in the spring and start casting.
I'm in the Twin Cities also.:drinks:

[44man]

Since it is still cool, I have been making lagers. When it warms up I switch to ales.
Here is one that came out super.
5# english malt
3# Briess
1/2# cara pils
2# 60 LB crystal malt
1 oz Saaz
1 oz Crystal hops
1/2 oz Tetnang
1/2 oz of some bulk hops, the markings came off the bag so I don't know what they are.
I throw in a small amount of home grown cascade leaf hops in the hop back bag to help filter.
Bavarian lager yeast.
Yeah, I know, it is off topic but a glass makes the sights hold steadier. :drinks:
If you can melt lead you can make beer! :Fire:

[TxGunfighter]

It' addicting!

[felix]

Thanks, 44man!!!!!!! ... felix