Cleaning and fluxing alloy

[fredj338]

Been casting for decades in a lee 20# & magma. Never have issues with crud in my bullets. I only put clean alloy in my pot & stir with wooden stick. I do all my fluxing when rendering scrap in a cast iron pot. I flux that with sawdust i bottom pour into ingots.

[BJung]

Your lead looks dirty and I'm not sure I have the answer but this is how I cast my bullets. First, I collect my range lead and pick out the jacketed bullets. Then, I pick out the hardcase and large chunks- like lead that separated from its jacket. Then I take the remaining small pieces along with dirt, pebbles, and wood chips and wash separate the lead in an oil pan full of water. The wood floats to the top and I toss the lead aside to dry. Most of the dirt is gone by now. Then, I melt the scraps individually in my lead pot. I scoop out jackets or excess slag, stiring the lead upward plus scraping the bottom and side to bring up the slag. I then pour the remaining lead content into a Lee Ingot Mold. I stamp the J for jacketed, X for hardcast and large chunks of lead, and the remaning (used for fishing weights). When done, I scrap the sides of my pot, turn it upside down and tap the lead pot on the ground. All sorts of crud on the bottom falls out. When I cast bullets, I melt the lead ingots into my pot. There is obvious slag on the surface. I use a propane torch to melt the ingots into the pot too. Then when melted, I remove the slag and then start casing. I don't even flux. And while I could, doing so never seemed to help while my cast bullets are always clean.

[BJung]

This is a follow up from my last post. I hope this helps. When I cast, I remove as much slag as possible including scraping the sides and bottom of my pot. My lead flows from my bottom spout fine until the level gets towards the bottom. I might add ingots to refill my pot but by the second pot of lead, slag seems to build up at the bottom of my pot and the pour looks chunky and the spout clogs up more. I run my lead level towards the bottom of my pot and empty out the contents by turning over my pot and tapping it on the concrete. This picture shows how much slag has accumulated at the bottom of my pot and by the valve. After I remove this slag and reenter the lead and new lead, my lead flows clean again. The weight of my finished bullets are consistent.

[Sasquatch-1]

This is a follow up from my last post. I hope this helps. When I cast, I remove as much slag as possible including scraping the sides and bottom of my pot. My lead flows from my bottom spout fine until the level gets towards the bottom. I might add ingots to refill my pot but by the second pot of lead, slag seems to build up at the bottom of my pot and the pour looks chunky and the spout clogs up more. I run my lead level towards the bottom of my pot and empty out the contents by turning over my pot and tapping it on the concrete. This picture shows how much slag has accumulated at the bottom of my pot and by the valve. After I remove this slag and reenter the lead and new lead, my lead flows clean again. The weight of my finished bullets are consistent.

Sounds like you are running your pot too low. I never let mine get lower than half full. I do flux with candle wax while casting when needed.

[BJung]

Eventually I have to use a paperclip more often to clear my spout and the flow gets lumpy. As a result, the finish looks rough with impurities in it. As a result, I purposely scrap the sides of my pot and run it low to pour out the whole pot. Then, I tap out the crud. The picture is what the pot looks like after I tapped out the crud. I'll try your candle wax method later. So far, I've used a wooden chopstick to remove lead but it hasn't worked for me.

[ulav8r]

This is a follow up from my last post. I hope this helps. When I cast, I remove as much slag as possible including scraping the sides and bottom of my pot. My lead flows from my bottom spout fine until the level gets towards the bottom. I might add ingots to refill my pot but by the second pot of lead, slag seems to build up at the bottom of my pot and the pour looks chunky and the spout clogs up more. I run my lead level towards the bottom of my pot and empty out the contents by turning over my pot and tapping it on the concrete. This picture shows how much slag has accumulated at the bottom of my pot and by the valve. After I remove this slag and reenter the lead and new lead, my lead flows clean again. The weight of my finished bullets are consistent.

Letting the level get low leaves a little lead on the walls of the pot, where it will quickly oxidize and become slag. Keeping the pot near full with a layer of ash from wood shavings will keep oxygen from the melt surface and reduce the slag produced.

[BJung]

Will this slag affect my alloy. The ash idea can work because my daughter's guinea pig bedding is ash chips. But the problem I have is that it will create a lot of smoke and I'm surrounded by Liberal neighbors. Maybe the chopstick idea will work? I'll experiment with that idea on the weekend. I love casting. I've also been saving the slag. My plan is to melt it back into new ingots from freshly melted range lead used for fishing sinkers. I plan to even hammer the slag into chunks that can be suspended in the middle of 1 or 2lb round fishing weights. Would ash be the best way to return lead oxide back into the lead pot or candle wax or something else?

[Minerat]

Attachment 311516

Here they are. Any ideas?
Usually on just one side but not always.
The longer the nose the more I have this.

I get that same crud when I drop them in a towel that is not 100% cotton. The hot lead picks up something off a dirty towel too that looks just like carbon inclusions. Try water dropping to see if that stops it.

I have also used this method to clean my pots. It works very well.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...-a-Casting-Pot

[BJung]

Thanks for the cleaning link! Am I assuming right that the 1:1 hydrogen peroxide: white vinegar mix is reacting with lead and making it inert? If so, I can mop my garage floor to remove any lead powder flakes, yes?

I am guessing that the crud on your bullets is polyester.

[dondiego]

Will this slag affect my alloy. The ash idea can work because my daughter's guinea pig bedding is ash chips. But the problem I have is that it will create a lot of smoke and I'm surrounded by Liberal neighbors. Maybe the chopstick idea will work? I'll experiment with that idea on the weekend. I love casting. I've also been saving the slag. My plan is to melt it back into new ingots from freshly melted range lead used for fishing sinkers. I plan to even hammer the slag into chunks that can be suspended in the middle of 1 or 2lb round fishing weights. Would ash be the best way to return lead oxide back into the lead pot or candle wax or something else?

Light the smoke with a match. Try using a paint stirring stick instead of a chopstick. It is longer which is safer and easier to scrape the sides of the pot.

[BJung]

I visited a HS woodshop today and got a bag of sawdust. Am I suppose to put the sawdust on top of the slag that floats on the surface and then stir both the slag and sawdust into the molten lead? How deep do you stir the sawdust into the pot? I have a good number of slag and can experiment on which method removes more tin and lead the most.

[ulav8r]

Stir the sawdust into and under the lead as well as you can. Spend at least two minutes vigorously doing that, then stir gently for a while to give the resulting ash time to rise to the top.

[Gobeyond]

@OP are you talking about the oxidized tin, lead layer at the top of the pot of lead? If you scoop up a lot of that in dipper or if it clogs spout on bottom pour, it would leave deposits in bullets- uneven and inconsistent. How many bullets does it affect out of a hundred?

[Michael J. Spangler]

I get that look sometimes on larger bullets when I’m bottom pouring. It seems like oxidation to me. Not sure exactly what is happening but I can tell you I don’t get it with ladle casting.

Give the ladle a try and see if it helps.

Is there a large gap between your mould and the bottom pour? Maybe the thin stream of molten metal is oxidizing and the lead oxides are working their way to the outside of the casting. Seems to make sense but I have no clue really.