skytex
11-21-2010, 02:06 AM
Well, I've doddled around too long and finally decided I wanted to give it a whirl. I picked up one of the lyman big dipper 10lb furnaces at cabela's last weekend and got around to plugging it in this morning and burning the preservatives out. Then I loaded the little double handfull of WW I'd managed to get in the last stinking month and realized I had no moulds. So, I bribed my mother of all people to make some phone calls for me. The wife gets pissed off quickly calling the small tire shops because few of them speak much english. Well, mother has far more patience, and she owes me big for alot of car work i've done and continue to do to keep her ride running so I call in a favor now and again. Anyways, while I went to wal-mart for some mini-muffin pans, she's calling the few places open on saturday. I get outta walmart and she calls and tells me one place wants $91 for 141lbs of mixed ww. I declined that one, I don't even get outta the parking lot and she says there's another place with a half a bucket for 15 bucks. So, I go over there and he doesn't have a half a bucket. It's a 2.5gal bucket and only 1/4 full. I'm all disapointed and I guess it showed, cause they were slow so he had his 3 helpers start picking up WW around the shop, off the ground, out of the back, etc. In 20 minuts I had a half bucket of WW. He said since it wasn't really half full he'd take $10 for it. Cha Ching!
Anyways, I get home and fire up my little lee-knockoff pot and melt down the first double handful I had from before. Man, those things don't amount to much lead. I got 2 ingots from it. Nice shiney silver lead. Fluxed it with that frankford arsenal stuff I got with my shot dripper and did everything the way i've read and seen here. Weighed the ingots in at right at a half a pound a peice. Yay!
Then I start loading those WW I got today. I really pack that pot as full as I can and heap a little in the middle above the top and turn it back on. 10 maybe 15 minuts later I'm digging out clips with my spoon, flux it, and knotice it turning a golden color on top. Remembering reading here, I cut my heat back. Damn bbq thermometer I had broke btw, peice of garbage. So any recomendations on which one to get to replace it are welcome. Still, after lowering my temp, fluxing again, I got nice lead yet again and filled 5 more of those mini-muffins. So, I got about 3 1/2lbs today and still have the largest part of that bucket left for tomorrow. I did have a brief encounter with the tinsel fairy. When I first stuck my spoon in apparently a piece of dirt or some such got in it and I had a lil pop. I jumped near high enough to hit the ceiling. Still no harm done as it was under all them clips nothing came out.
Now, one thing I've been doing to check for zinc/iron weights is tapping them on the side of my metal cart i'm building to hold my shot maker. I can tell by the tap if it's lead or not, or so I think. The iron ones make a distinct ting ting instead of a tap tap. I haven't encountered any Zinc weights as of yet I think. none have a Zn that i've picked out but all Fe. I wouldn't think they would make the same tap as a lead though with their being harder and lighter. Sadly, out of the weights to make that last 2 1/2lbs I got out 4 or 5 iron weights. Well, I picked em out before puttin em in the pile to melt.
Yes I know I need a propane/turkey cooker setup but I'm using what I have. I'll get the other next month if not sooner.
Anyways, I get home and fire up my little lee-knockoff pot and melt down the first double handful I had from before. Man, those things don't amount to much lead. I got 2 ingots from it. Nice shiney silver lead. Fluxed it with that frankford arsenal stuff I got with my shot dripper and did everything the way i've read and seen here. Weighed the ingots in at right at a half a pound a peice. Yay!
Then I start loading those WW I got today. I really pack that pot as full as I can and heap a little in the middle above the top and turn it back on. 10 maybe 15 minuts later I'm digging out clips with my spoon, flux it, and knotice it turning a golden color on top. Remembering reading here, I cut my heat back. Damn bbq thermometer I had broke btw, peice of garbage. So any recomendations on which one to get to replace it are welcome. Still, after lowering my temp, fluxing again, I got nice lead yet again and filled 5 more of those mini-muffins. So, I got about 3 1/2lbs today and still have the largest part of that bucket left for tomorrow. I did have a brief encounter with the tinsel fairy. When I first stuck my spoon in apparently a piece of dirt or some such got in it and I had a lil pop. I jumped near high enough to hit the ceiling. Still no harm done as it was under all them clips nothing came out.
Now, one thing I've been doing to check for zinc/iron weights is tapping them on the side of my metal cart i'm building to hold my shot maker. I can tell by the tap if it's lead or not, or so I think. The iron ones make a distinct ting ting instead of a tap tap. I haven't encountered any Zinc weights as of yet I think. none have a Zn that i've picked out but all Fe. I wouldn't think they would make the same tap as a lead though with their being harder and lighter. Sadly, out of the weights to make that last 2 1/2lbs I got out 4 or 5 iron weights. Well, I picked em out before puttin em in the pile to melt.
Yes I know I need a propane/turkey cooker setup but I'm using what I have. I'll get the other next month if not sooner.