Oh my, melting lead is fun!

[tommag]

Ohhh, this sounds Fun; and I thought I would never get rid of the 2 stroke oil I have stashed! Speaking of which, when lubricating with it, do I get it inside the mold itself or just on everything else? Starting off with .45 colt is great, I just happen to have a S&W 460 Magnum that shoots them like a .357 shoots .38's. I also picked up a complete set of reloading equipment that had .45 Colt in process; including cast .45's that were powder coated, along with detailed notes. The powder coating materials were included and they came from Eastman, a company I first ran into while restoring cars. I must have a Guardian Angel out there or something. I am going slow this time; I learned that the hard way as usual (that humor would fill a complete thread). I did notice that the last lead melted was a folded sheet and it definitely had something in it, as it turned out a different color. I'll find the appropriate forum and post pictures. I seriously can not believe that I have never done this before, the closest I have gotten is soldering. Thank you for the encouragement.
Mike

Chances are good that your folded sheet is pure lead. If the different color was a little purple on top of the melt, that's what pure or nearly pure lead looks like.

[Walks]

Lots of ideas here. I will add one more.
Buy a cheap hot plate to preheat your molds on. It's a constant even heat source, you don't have to worry about warping an aluminum mold the way a propane torch might.

Don't bother to look for Lead Wheelwright in CA. nanny brown outlawed them many years ago.

[littlejack]

I use a single burner I picked up from St.Vinnies to heat my moulds. I set a circular saw blade on the coils to set my moulds on. I don't like the idea of setting my moulds directly on the red hot coils. Especially my aluminum moulds. I cut out a section of a coffee can (think open door) to set over the burner element, and slide in the mould. This also confines the heat. You may find (I did) that different moulds cast better boolits using different techniques, i.e. pressure pour as opposed to pouring from above the mould, to tilting the mould while pouring.

[Lakehouse2012]

Greetings One and All,
As I am stuck behind the curtain in the The Peoples Socialist Republic of California, where everything is restricted. THEY stopped the importation of an Allen Wrench last week,
Newooboobie Manic Mike.

Welcome to the forum Mike!! I can't help laughing, is it true that Allen wrenches are illegal? LOLOLOLOL

[MightyThor]

I only scanned the messages here, but did not see any mention of a sizer/luber. Get one. You will want to measure your cast boolits because they will likely not be the exact size that you will want to shoot. Molds vary and you probably will not be able to shoot them as cast in every caliber. keep in mind that lead boolits are usually oversize to the actual caliber so a 357 in lead shoots a .358 maybe even .359 so as to fill the groove in the barrel.

[littlejack]

^^^^^ yes^^^^^

[gwpercle]

The second best thing I ever spent money on was a Lyman 450 Lube/Sizer .
A cast boolit isn't worth doodley-squat if it isn't sized , lubed and gas checked .
I tried all the pan and tumble and cake cutter methods ... you still need them sized ...
The Lube sizer does it all , lube - size - gas check ... in one up down handle stroke ...
In - Out ...whoop there you are ready to shoot ! You don't need gas checks on all boolits but when you do the 450 crimps it on ... you want them suckers crimped on , trust me !
Gary
You got any people living in Louisiana ... My business partner for 35 years was an engineer from Baton Rouge named Langlois ... good Cajun-French boy !

[Texas by God]

Melting lead is fun.
These poached eggs fit my Lee pot perfectly!


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[elmacgyver0]

Melting lead is fun.
These poached eggs fit my Lee pot perfectly!


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guess you won't make furdens in there no more.

[dverna]

You have received very good information.

I hate casting but I am a normal person...lol. I cast to save money...that is the only reason. And if things get bad, casting is a good skill set to have. But fun?? No way.

You will get burned eventually. Alloy at 700+ degrees is nasty. Don’t skimp on PPE. Burns are not fun.

As to where to start, I suggest .38 Spl or similar. Low pressure and low velocity rounds are easier to get good results with.

IMO, casting is an essential skill to master. The world is changing and not for the better. Best to be prepared.

[WRideout]

Members here rely on personal messages (PM's) to pass on information they don't want everyone to see. You could put out a request for another boolit caster close to you for some instruction, and they may send you contact information via PM. Oh, and be sure to tell us where you are in the known universe.

Wayne

[Texas by God]

guess you won't make furdens in there no more.

Nope. It’s role has forever changed.


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