Just got started

[CTI1USNRET]

With the amount of shooting I'm doing these days I had to get started. I couldn't wait for the weekend so today after work I melted down some wheelweights and ended up with 30 Lyman ingots. It hardly made a dent in the three 5-gallon buckets of WWs I got from a tire shop for free. 15,000 BTU stove with 5 ft hose and regulator hooked up to a 20lb propane tank. 6 inch/20 lb cast iron pot. Once I got about an inch of alloy in the pot things went pretty fast. Had to grab a slotted spoon from the kitchen to lower the weights into the pot and lift out the clips. (I don't think she'll notice. And, she's missing a ladle too.)

Does the sludge ever end? I used bits of beeswax for fluxing. The WWs were a pretty varied lot. Are they all the same alloy?

Frankford Arsenal Drop Out Bullet Mold Release made dumping the ingots easy. I used two sets of ingot molds. The Lyman thermometer showed 770F.

I have Lee 2-cavity molds for 358-125 RF, 452-200-RF, TL-452-230, and 2-cavity round ball molds for .375, .457, and .530. I can't wait to get casting.

Bought some pure lead from MidwayUSA for the RB molds.

I plan to pan lube for my 38 Spl, 45 ACP, and 45 Colt. Can I use a homemade BP lube of 50% beeswax, 40% Crisco, and 10% olive oil? I use it for patch lube with my Lyman 54 cal Great Plains Rifle.

[kendall yates]

You made a HUGE mistake. Ya NEVER take things from the wifes kitchen to cast lead. I learned the hard way. lol

[lathesmith]

Just make sure you replace what you took with NEW, improved stuff, and maybe she won't notice.:mrgreen:
lathesmith

[Ithaca1911]

I take what I want, she's got too much stuff anyway, she almost never notices.

[Echo]

I remember my GrandDad using one of my GM's silver spoons to pick up dross when he was casting some fishing weights. And I truly remember the look on his face when he realized the lead was soldered on - and the look on her face when she also realized it. One was sheepish, the other wasn't. And this was about 65+ years ago...

[Recluse]

I'd lower my smelting temp a bit--you're at that danger zone where zinc can begin melting and contaminating your alloy ("does the sludge ever end?")

Wheel weights have a lot of crud and dirt on them. Plus the usual debris/trash that comes from tire shops. . . . That's what the slotted spoon is for. :)

I try to melt my wheel weights down, leaving an inch or two of already melted alloy in the dutch oven to help melt the new additions down faster. I flux very often and stir very often with a wooden stick, then skim, and then get the alloy in to my ingot moulds as fast as I (safely) can.

Reason being, I want to minimize oxidation. When I'm casting, I have charcoal covering my allow to halt/slow the oxidation, but when I'm smelting, I'm trying to clean the WW alloy up to make it suitable for casting without having to do excessive fluxing. So, I keep my temps low enough so as not to let zinc melt, flux generously, skim and then pour into the ingot moulds quickly.

:coffee:

[CTI1USNRET]

What temp should I aim for during smelting? How does oxidation affect cast bullets?

[Storydude]

What temp should I aim for during smelting? How does oxidation affect cast bullets?

I try to keep my smelt JUST above where the WW melt at. That lets me grab Zinc before it becomes a problem. IIRC, It's around 590-625* I'm currently using a Coleman stove running Gasoline, so getting much over 650* is a problem.

Now with my new(old) Cast iron Propane 2 burner I've been modifying, I should be able to reach 750 easy....And probably open a whole new world of Zinc confusion.

[badgeredd]

What temp should I aim for during smelting? How does oxidation affect cast bullets?

I melt WW at 650-700 degrees. I try to keep everything in the 675 range as much as possible. Someone mention here months ago that they believed that one could get some contamination if one got much over 700 degrees because some of the zinc could sluff off the zinc weights with prolonged temps in the 750 range. I figure it'll take a bit longer but I am safe.

Edd

[CTI1USNRET]

I probably have zinc-contaminated ingots then. If I remelt them at about 650 will the zinc come to the surface? Can I get the lead out? :-D

[Cherokee]

I would not worry about it. You probably did not get enough the make a diference, if any at all. I have some zinc contaminated alloy that still cast good. Remelting I have been told will not help once its done.

[atr]

OH NOOOOOOOOO....you took something from the kitchen !!!! BIG NO NO
I remember when I first got started years ago, I took my moms muffin tins to use as ingot molds....of course I ruined them and paid the penality !!!

My suggestion....stay out of the kitchen !!!

[dabsond]

I spend more time in the kitchenware department of my local Walmart than my wife does. Never "Borrow" anything.