50/50 vinegar and peroxide mix for leading?

[Iron River Red]

Anyone used the 50/50 mixture for removing lead build up?

An old timer told me about this and I'm wondering if it has much merit before trying it.

I would like to find something to soak my molds in to remove the stuff that gets in the vent lines and under the sprue plates.

Is there a better way? i.e. prevention rather than removal?

red

[fecmech]

Red--In the past when I've gotten lead build up on the underside of my sprue plate I simply open the plate and dip it into the molten lead for a bit. When the plate reaches the lead temp I simply wipe the lead off with a paper towel. Now I spray my spru plate and top of the mould with Dow Corning 321 dry film lube( basically a moly spray) and I have no problems of build up. If you cool your sprues with a wet rag before cutting you will eliminate the streaking and buildup. BTW I have never warped a sprue late doing this. Nick

[Bullshop]

Red
Prevention is certanly the best cure, done with propper prep, but if there is a problem for what ever reason the easyest way I have found is quite simple.
With the mold at casting temp use a good sharp pencil point to just push the lead off. Just that simple. This will clean the lead off and put a graphite film on the area that helps prevent the problem.
If interested we will be listing a new sprue plate lube on our sight in about a week. This lube should prevent the problem altogether.
BIC/BS

[keeper89]

I have had good luck with NAPA dry graphite sopray, at around 8 bucks a can it works well but a long casting session may require a second treatment.

[David R]

I have found the BEST method for me to avoid lead smear is to use the BruceB method of casting.

David

[Frank46]

Red, sometime back the cast bullet association did some tests using the mixture you mentioned. If I remember right they tested it out on barrel sections that had been sawn lengthwise so as to better to observe the effects of the solution. I believe that there were instances where pitting was created and bubbles were observed coming from pits. The final upshot was that they would not reccomend its use in bbls. I have never heard using it on boolit molds. I use a #2 pencil to lubricate the top of the mold and the underside of the sprue plate. Frank

[Iron River Red]

I've been using the DGF spray lately and it seems to help. All the info given sounds good, but i'm running a production machine that doesn't allow me the luxury of heating the sprue plate as mentioned.

After a run of 5-6000 bullets, the mold looks grundgy from the buildup and that alone is what forces me to pull the mold at that point. I'm concerned about cleaning the mold due to damage potential.

I'm wondering if anyone has used one of the benchtop sized UHF or ultrasonic cleaners like is used on jewelry?

I agree that prevention is the best approach, but its difficult to coat the mold while its inside the caster.

I'm going to look into shorter runs to get the mold back out and may try coating it every 1500 bullets or so.

I'll let you know the results of that soon.

The ultrasonic seems like a viable alternative. I'm sure there are some guys out there that have tried it somewhere along the way...

Maybe it accelerates the rusting or something else...?

Red

[Wayne Smith]

Iron River, anything that truly cleans iron "accellerates" rusting, in that there is then no protection. I remember cleaning a cast iron stove in my NH basement. Acid cleaned it, in fact, a piece at a time. As soon as the acid was nutralized I could literally see rust forming. It was amazing how quickly it happened. Remove protection, iron rusts as soon as it is exposed to any oxygen. It's quite reactive, more than I expected.

If you can clean off the lead without removing the protective film you are in an ideal situation. How to do this, I have no idea!