New to casting questions

[Mattog22]

I wasn't sure where this belongs but it's about equipment for the most part. I am getting ready to melt down some wheelweights on a propane turkey fryer and a cast iron pot. I have a turkey fryer thermometer that goes up to 750 degrees. I am extremely worried about melting zinc ww in the batch so how do you guys do it? Throw all the ww in on the heat with the thermometer in at all times and keep it below 650-700? Then when casting bullets how hot since the zinc should be removed? Any other first timer tips?

[semtav]

get a pair of dikes and cut each one. if it won't cut, its zinc. Or drop each one on concrete. if it thuds, its lead, if it rings it is probably zinc.

[Mattog22]

I did that for a while but with the coating on some I still had some trouble being sure. I was hoping to be able to heat low and skim the zinc and steel off the top. I didn't know if people usually use a thermometer for this or not.

[HeavyMetal]

Also Zink WW are usually marked "ZN" some times it's hard to see under the dirt on them.

Iron are marked "FE"

Waving a magnet over your wheel weights won't reveal the iron ones because the clips are magnetic.

If you keep your pot at the 680 700 mark zink and iron WW will float.

To start out on a smelting run I usually start by sorting, clip on ww from stick on ww. During that operation I will find both zink and iron ww.

Trust me on this: you will not get them all that's Murphy's Law.

Once you get a small batch that you feel certain is lead only pile them into the dutch oven and fire up the heat. If the dutch oven you have has a lid put it on! It will help hold in the heat and get the first batch up to speed and melted much faster.

Now once you get this batch melted add new ww slowly a few pieces at a time. the idea is not to cool the alloy already melted to much and to watch what you add to the pot. At 700 lead ww will go into "solution" pronto any thing that floats around after the lead ones disappear is zink or iron!

Fish them out quick along with the left over steel clips!

Repeat until you have a nice pile of ingots on one side of the fryer and clean clips and the odd iron and zink ww on the other.

Now lets talk about Do's & Don'ts while smelting / casting.

Don't do this in shorts

Don't do this in flip flops or bare foot

Don't have any water near the pot and don't wash the ww before you put them in the pot, real bad JU JU happen then!

Don't strike the pot with the anything! This includes the skimming tools you use. Hot cast iron is "brittle" 40 pounds of hot lead pouring into your shoes will get you two things: An "Owie" the size of Texas and a butt chewing by SWMBO you may not survive!

Don't Have a bunch of people, AKA kids & pets, in the area while smelting. Someone to assist is not a bad idea but the peanut gallery should view from a safe distance.

Do wear eye protection

Do wear a long sleeved shirt

Do wear a good set of gloves

Do consider breathing protection. No fear of lead fumes but most ww is covered in filth, stick ons have that nasty glue on them, and you will also be fluxing with wood chips or the like before you pour ingots. All of these things make smoke.

Hope this helps out.

[Mattog22]

Thank you Heavy Metal, that is the step by step I was looking for. Do you keep a thermometer in the lead most of the time to keep an eye on temp?

[Edubya]

I did that for a while but with the coating on some I still had some trouble being sure. I was hoping to be able to heat low and skim the zinc and steel off the top. I didn't know if people usually use a thermometer for this or not.

Matt, I put in a couple of pounds and run enough temp to get them to start melting. As they liquefy, I'll scoop out any clips or lead that seems to be slow and is floating. As I clean, I'll add a couple of more lbs (be very sure that all is dry!) and keep the temp to approximately the same. This may take a little longer but no longer than checking each weight for markings and I have very good luck for over a couple of years of doing it this way.

EW

[HeavyMetal]

Long term exposure to high temps is bad for a thermometer, or so I've been told.

My practise is to keep it handy, dial down, on a small table or ther flat surface near the casting area. When I need to check a temp I pick up the thermometer by sliding the "stem' between a pair of fingers with the back of my hand pointed down.

When I turn my hand over to put the stem into the pot the dial faces up so I can read it and the palm of my hand, which should have the most protection from the glove construction, faces down over the alloy.

Sounds complicated but in reality it's a simple twist of the wrist to make this work. A big plus is you get your reading and then get out making sure the stem does not touch the metal of the lead pot and give you a false reading.

As soon as the heat starts getting uncomfortable in the gloved hand you'll know it's time to move on!

Now the real truth is, unless you have one wicked turkey fryer, you most likely will not be able to make enough heat to melt zinc.

If you had a plumbers furnace then I would be much more concerned about temp levels.

Mine will easily hit 1000 degrees with 80 pounds of lead in it! Sounds like a jet when I light it!

Great for blending high BHN alloys it makes it real hard to get the zinc out before it melts so mine got retired unless I need a special alloy with a real BHN.

Good luck with your first smelt and let us know how it worked out for you.

[Mattog22]

That's good to hear that my turkey fryer won't melt the zinc too quick. I have a feeling my first time will take me a while to get up to heat but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I worked my a** off trying to find somewhere to get WW. I sure don't want to ruin my treasures from a whole day off work driving all over to tire shops. Really made me mad when I found out that some scrap lady that only comes around once a month beat me to 3 shops that would have given it to me that morning. I was about 2 hours behind her at each of those shops. Beer talks though and I think I'll beat her to it next month.

[docone31]

Have you tried roofers yet?
You might be pleasantly suprised there.
You can mix the roofing lead with wheel weights at 50/50, or around there and still have a very workable alloy.

[Mattog22]

not yet, I will though. Do roofers usually have to take the old lead off old roofs and find a way to dispose of it and put the new roof on? I will give them a shot next. A friend of mine has some pure lead ingots that I guess are too heavy for him to carry so he is bringing it to work for me on a forklift. I am guessing they are pure lead, can I mix them 50/50 with WW and use it? Is roofing lead usually about 100% lead also?

[Echo]

not yet, I will though. Do roofers usually have to take the old lead off old roofs and find a way to dispose of it and put the new roof on? Yes

I will give them a shot next. A friend of mine has some pure lead ingots that I guess are too heavy for him to carry so he is bringing it to work for me on a forklift. I am guessing they are pure lead, can I mix them 50/50 with WW and use it?

Yes

Is roofing lead usually about 100% lead also?

Yes


I pile WW's up in my DO and cook them slowly. Takes at least 30-40 minutes to cook down, and doesn't get hot enough to melt any zincies, so they can be scooped out with the clips.

[Mattog22]

Do you guys using turkey fryers use the highest setting to get it up to temp? I am not real sure how hot those fryers can get the pot.

[Edubya]

Do you guys using turkey fryers use the highest setting to get it up to temp? I am not real sure how hot those fryers can get the pot.

I do not use the highest setting. And the reason that I don't just fill up the cast iron pot and heat them all up, the lead weights can hold the zincs down under in the molten lead and may contaminate my entire pot but go ahead and do it any way that suits you.

EW

[Mattog22]

I do not use the highest setting. And the reason that I don't just fill up the cast iron pot and heat them all up, the lead weights can hold the zincs down under in the molten lead and may contaminate my entire pot but go ahead and do it any way that suits you.

EW

The way that will suit me is the way I will avoid melting zinc into my mix. So start at a lower setting and gradually heat up the pot until the lead melts. Thanks guys for the smaller details I missed reading around elsewhere in the forums.

[CowboyPoetWannabe]

And THANKS from CPW in Tucson...I've been out of casting for 25 or 30 years. The basics are the same, but details (like zinc WWs) have changed. My dad and I used to smelt right in the Lyman bottom-pour furnace with no problems, but I may now go get an iron pot for the initial melt and flux. We recently got WWs that were, probably, 30-40% ferrous metal and zinc. Kinda frustrating how much work it was to separate them. I may try the gently-melt-the-lead-only method and see how it works.

Thanks for the great info!

[Circuit Rider]

CPW, off subject a bit, but at the bottom of your post, SB1070 reference. R.I. has had a very similar law for quite some time,they enforce it, but no mention about it in the MSM. As far as your statement of what you support, Add 110% for me. Your Governor is making obummer and his bunch look like the fools they are. Regards, C.R.

[CowboyPoetWannabe]

And thanks to you, C.R. I don't wish to continue this too much here, but the guy that was most responsible for writing SB 1070 says he's been contacted by 34 states in support, of which 20 are writing legislation similar to it. Looks like they're waiting to see what happens to the fed lawsuit before proceeding, though. For those interested, SB 1070 is simply enforcement of already-existing federal immigration laws -- that aren't being enforced. Info is at
http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1070
http://www.azgovernor.gov/dms/upload/PR_042310_StatementByGovernorOnSB1070.pdf
http://www.securetheborder.org/

=====

Flux question...
We used to use beeswax or bullet lube. Any suggestions that work for y'all? I hadn't heard about fluxing with wood. What's with that?
-CPW