Getting ready.... Need to clean this pot

[s1120]

Well here is my pot. I got it after my dad passed and as you can see it's pretty much as he left it many years ago. I've been studying casting for some time, but have yet to fire up the pot. What's my best way to get all the old lead and crud out, so I can get the pot ready? Just heat, skim the crud, and pour?? I've seen many post on cleaning, but never from a full pot. Thanks for any advice. http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160410/5d33936a4837806df6e5ee29e8aa9e11.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160410/7cfaf4239122abab2666af47b7afe63a.jpg


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[4719dave]

Plug er in lets go ....lol .Get thermometer keep the temp around 700 deg .looks to have some boolits in here now .not sure what lead is in there now ? Pour some molds then check the hardness of the boolits .

[Hickok]

My sympathy to you at your fathers passing.

I would think your father was a very good castor by the looks of his equipment, and if it were me, I would fire up the pot, melt the alloy, flux, and pour the alloy out into ingots. I doubt your father put any "trash" in his alloy.

Since you are new at casting, just a reminder, wear safety glasses, again I say, wear safety glasses.

Also a good pair of gloves, full coverage shoes/boots, no sandals or flip-flops.

[country gent]

Depends on what you want to do. If you want to cast right off the bat heat her up flux rduce with a small amount of wax and cast bullets for a low intensity cartridge ( sinde you dont know what lead this is) cast for light 38 spl loads or 45 light target loads. Something along those lines. If you want to clean the pot up and start "fresh" Heat it up flux /reduce and pour off lead into ingots that can be fit into the pot again. An ingot can be sent to a member here or taken to scrap yard for x ray analissis of what it is. Disasemble pot so its open inside when cool. With a cupped wire brush scrup the inside of the pot and parts for the bottom pour valve. Wear a mask as the dust isnt good for you. You now have a clean like new pot inside reassemble the bottom pour mechanisim and you can cast now.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

while it probably doesn't need a 'cleaning', probably just plug it in and go. But if you want to become more familiar with it, maybe a cleaning will help you learn a little bit about the pot. Here is a post I made about safely cleaning a casting pot.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?42865-How-to-clean-the-pot&p=2942588&viewfull=1#post2942588

There are more links to cleaning pots in the "this old pot" sticky.

[jsizemore]

I'd suspect dad knew his pot and alloy. I'd try to figure out his temp setting if he didn't leave any notes. Enjoy the moment and connection.

[koehlerrk]

Since you are new at casting, just a reminder, wear safety glasses, again I say, wear safety glasses.

Also a good pair of gloves, full coverage shoes/boots, no sandals or flip-flops.

I respectfully disagree with safety glasses. Get a full face shield. Well, unless you WANT scars on your face...

http://www.amazon.com/Hobart-770118-Shield-Clear-Ratchet/dp/B0017Z04Z8?ie=UTF8&keywords=Face%20shield&qid=1460367730&ref_=sr_1_9&sr=8-9

You can get them cheaper, but this one is comfortable and has served me well.

[Sasquatch-1]

I have an old Lyman pot very similar to yours. One thing I will suggest is to check where the cord plugs into the pot. There is an insulator between the two prongs. The insulator in mine had decomposed. I went to an electric motor outfit and they gave me a small piece of material to replace it with.

And those numbers on the dial do not denote temp. As stated get a thermometer.

As for your original question, I use an old bore brush on a drill when I really want to clean the inside.

[s1120]

Yes, Im getting a full shield.

Thanks for all the info. Ya, he casted a lot, and Im still loading wadcutters that he casted many years ago. Ive had this stuff for years now, and have been studying up, But have had so many all ready casted, I haven't really had to think much about it. I still have a lot, but have found they are a little undersized for my revolver. He had a few deferent guns he casted 38 for, and some had smaller bores.. So I plan to get some casted up, and sizing them a little bigger. They run about 356-357.. And I really need about 358 for my revolver. I also have a lot of ingots, that seem to be two diferent hardness. One seems pure lead, the other harder, that im assuming is around Lyman #2....I still have to sort that.

[Hickok]

I agree, a full face shield is best.