help me build a shopping list

[uncoolperson]

Okay, sold all my fancy shmancy guns... no nothing but levers and single action (and a few shotguns...)
I think now is the time to start melting metal.

From my rough understanding I need a:
furnace
dipper
molds
lube
sizers are good
lead
a good book

Do I have this right? anything else I need, or will probably end up with a week into it? (every little thing is appreciated)

Planning to cast .30-30 and .45 lc to start.

I realize you get what you pay for, but are the cheaper furnaces worth messing with:? (as with everyone starting something, I'd like to keep this on the cheaperish)


I was thinking
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=277310


http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=116429
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=501819

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=775664
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=574963

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=867465


Thanks

[largom]

I would add a good thermometer. There is nothing wrong with the Lee furnaces. I would not smelt in my casting furnace [pot] but would use a cast iron pot on a turkey fryer or other heat sourse. You will also need ingot moulds, muffin pans work good.

Larry

[uncoolperson]

ohhh... I should add, probably only putting together a few hundred a month during the shooting months.

thanks for the input largom.

Turkey fryer may not be something I can do, but I'll do some research on alternatives.
My understanding is that smelting is only really necessary when using scrap lead, the commercially available lead alloys for casting don't require this step... is that correct? If so I might hold off on the smelting stuff for awhile.

[Bkid]

I would suggest some muffin pans or ingot molds. I would get some bees wax from RandyRat here on the forums. I would get some nice long spoons and Laddle. Lee 4 20lb pot for casting.Face shield ,welding gloves and a good pot with a lid.My Bayou burner from Turkey Fryers .com works really nice and it was only 40.00.

[a.squibload]

Someone in another thread said there is a 1000W hotplate at Walgreens,
I got same at Harbor Fright, $10. I was using a Coleman campstove and
an old SS pot.

Maybe a fire extinguisher?

I need to remember to get a heavy lid for my pot, just in case.

[uncoolperson]

Maybe a fire extinguisher?


I'm 27, and alaskan.

watching TV requires a fire extinguisher (I've got a few).


is there much gained from a pour spout over dipper? Is it just speed or...?

Am I correct on the smelting only being necessary when using scrap lead? Is this something I should plan for down the road, or immediately?


The engineer in me (trained in mech tech, employed as associate electrical engineer), says I could probably rig up a half decent rockwell hardness tester.... anyone ever done that?

[mdi]

Get the manual first, and when you read it you'll have a much better idea of what equipment will suit your casting needs.

[frankenfab]

Am I correct on the smelting only being necessary when using scrap lead?

I say yes. But purchased alloy may not be in a size that will fit in your casting pot. The $10 hot plate and some kind of ingot mold would be good.

[WRideout]

You will need some kind of billet to whack the sprue plate around. I used a broken hammer handle for a while. A good alternative might be a leg from an abandoned hardwood chair, but really almost any hard heavy piece of wood will do.

WRideout

[miestro_jerry]

I use a hot plate to warm my molds up. I have the iron dutch oven on a turkery fryer for my bulk lead smelting. I use a lot of Lee ingot molds, because they were on sale.

Every body has pretty much come up with everything that is needed. Plus never use your casting pot for taking WWs and other rough lead alloys to make ingots or add tin or antimony to the mix. A clean casting pot is very important.

I have a the current Lee 20 pounder for most of my casting and I have my old Lee 10 pounder for when I am casting "pure lead" for my BP bullets/RB or for my shotgun slugs.

Get two thernometers, the second does come in handy.

Jerry

[Thecyberguy]

I can tell you this. I was smelting wheel weights this weekend and the side burner on my grill would not get a 2 qt. cast iron pot of wheel weights hot enough to turn liquid. They just sat there in a paste like state. I have no idea the BTU's , but it was not enough. Guess I will try one of those $10 hot plates.

If you buy ingots small enough, you can skip this step. But as others have said, many times the ingots for sale are too big.
Have a good 'un, Guy

[a.squibload]

I haven't TRIED the hotplate yet, but it's 1000 watts. The other poster
seemed to think it was good.

[Bret4207]

I'm 27, and alaskan.

watching TV requires a fire extinguisher (I've got a few).


is there much gained from a pour spout over dipper? Is it just speed or...?

Am I correct on the smelting only being necessary when using scrap lead? Is this something I should plan for down the road, or immediately?


The engineer in me (trained in mech tech, employed as associate electrical engineer), says I could probably rig up a half decent rockwell hardness tester.... anyone ever done that?

There may be a little speed advantage once you get the hang of it, but I don't think there's much in the real world. I think some people just find a BP easier to work with, I don't. It's a royal pain in the keester for me.

Don't smelt in your casting pot. Too much junk even in "clean" alloy to risk contaminating your good pot.

I use an 1100 watt Wally World hot plate and a 12 cup (IIRC) stainless steel measuring cup to cast from. That holds over 30 lbs of alloy when full. The hoot plate works fine for me. I also have a SAECO BP I'm learning to use and someplace around here there's a Lee BP which I hope never to see again.

Alloy hardness is relatively unimportant. As an engineer you'll understand when I say you can have 3 different alloys all reading the same hardness and all with differing characteristics. Plus the alloy will change over time just sitting there, especially if you water drop. So worry less about hardness and more about boolit fit, quality of your castings and getting your moulds working for you instead of against you. I'd recommend mixing up a large batch of your most easily obtained alloy and learning to work with it, rather than going the route of trying to mix some exotic "hard" alloy. Learning to fit the boolit to the particular gun, learning to tailor your loads for the ultimate fit as it goes down the barrel and learning WHY something does or doesn't work is far, far, far more than being able to brag you have an alloy that is 37.6 Bhn.