Pot lids

[marky123]

Howdy
Would a metal tray floating on the surface of your molten lead in your pot serve to prevent oxidation?
Instead of a layer of cat litter after you fluxed.
MARK

[rancher1913]

personally, I use a bottom pour and dont worry about the surface.

I suspect you will have a hard time getting it to fit tight enough to do any good and still be able to remove it for reloading ingots.

[Retumbo]

You could try Mig welding gas

[Dusty Bannister]

Everything you put in contact with the melt will transfer heat from the melt. You are looking to insulate, not make a heat sink. Leave the metal lid out of the melt.

[Brass&Lead]

I like the tree and the story. I am offended by Politically correct speech.

[gwpercle]

Howdy
Would a metal tray floating on the surface of your molten lead in your pot serve to prevent oxidation?
Instead of a layer of cat litter after you fluxed.
MARK

The metal tray would be a pain in the pot to work around .
Flux the melt with wood shavings (pencil sharpener shavings)+ a little beeswax and when the wood & wax has turned to layer of ash/carbon don't skim it off , just leave it floating on top ... in place of the kitty litter .
This will prevent any further oxidation just as well as anything .
Kitty Litter ? Fresh Step is my kitty's brand.
Gary

[kevin c]

I tried something similar: a cut to shape piece of sheet metal to fit into the top of the pot. I even made it hinged and had a little wire handle that could open the hinged section to drop in fresh ingots.

Like gwpercle said it was a pain, and never worked that well. What with the bottom pour valve lifting rod and a PID probe going into the melt, I couldn't get a good seal, and it was clumsy and slow to add back sprues, rejects and ingots. Floating granular material will flow and seal around anything sticking into the melt, and doesn't need to be pushed aside when adding ingots. Many options for granular toppings are also insulating rather than conducting.

Eventually, with the bottom pour setup I use, I just gave up on any top cover material, saving significant time and hassle and not seeing a big difference in the boolits between with versus without.

[bangerjim]

Total pain!


Stick to the way it has been done since they invented melting lead. Throw a tiny pea-piece of beeswax on the surface of your casting pot and stir it around. It will REDUCE, not flux, the mix and put all the Sn and Sb back into your mix. You will have a mirror-shiny surface (for a while, then do it again).

Besides, I add feed ingots (preheated on my electric hot plate) frequently during a casting session and I sure would not want to mess with trying to fish a 650+ F piece of flat metal out of the pot every time!!!!!! OMG.

Do not use carbon-based stuff that floats because it will only end up in your casting.....even with a bottom pour! The stuff finds it's way to the bottom. I NEVER use fluxing materials in my casting pot, because, after all, your ingots should be fluxed 3X and perfectly pure, right???????



banger