Baron von Trollwhack
07-09-2006, 12:09 PM
I have a lot of casting gear loaned out to help someone so I got ready to use my little Lee electric for some small lots. I borrowed a ladle, melted lead from my ingot pile, fluxed with a bit of bullet lube and started to mold when the pot got really hot. Pure lead. There was a purple /gold sheen I've seen before from foundry lead, but my ingots were good just before this. but then it got totally golden and started to sludge up with a sticky mushy, clogged ladle pour, no particular smell, the molten liquid looked normal but the sludge kept forming every three dippers or so. The borrowed ladle started grey & crusted cold but I had wire brushed it outside before I started and the bullet lube was beeswax/tallow with a bit of lee case sizing lube in it, that I had never used before for flux. I dumped this mess, scraped the pot, wire brushed the mold and bought a new ladle and got the same results with more lead less the old flux. The pot and ladle were a powdery yellow underneath the scum when I cleaned them and the scum was golden till it cooled and splatters looked like miniature grainy cornflakes. What in the world kind of contamination have I got and how do I clean up the gear. I have never had this problem in 40 years of casting. It looks like a scraped pot and ladle interior are enough to contaminate previously known good lead. Help!