Anxious to start casting

[vaiger]

So, I am new to casting. I picked up a bunch of wheel weights, a slotted spoon, a ladle and muffin tins. I already have a turker fryer and a pot....but I am thinking I will need to rig up a heat shield of some sort. 200-1000 degree thermometer is on the way. Man, I have been itchin all week to cast some ingots, but every evening when I get home it is either raining or a good chance of rain. I am thinking 600-700 degree lead and rain are not a good mix, so I am sitting here wishing for sunny days. If you notice anything I am missing for my ingot session, let me know.

I bought a Lee mold and I have been thinking about a Lee bottom pour pot. I may try it first just old schoolin' it with a ladle and hotplate or campstove. Anyone have thoughs on the Lee melting pot, bottom pour pot or a budget setup without a lee pot?

[ttocswob]

Probably obvious, but (1) gloves - mine are insulated leather (2) eye protection.

Turkey fryer, campstove, works good. I just use a Lee ladle. I'm only using Lee 2 bullet molds, though. I usually cast 300-400 before I tire out. I started with an old club aluminum saucepan for a pot. I've even used a tin can. I have a RCBS cast iron pot now, $12+ at Midway.

[VERO1]

Ventilation is your best friend!

[vaiger]

Thanks for the feedback. I forgot to list welding gloves, eye protection, silicone spray for the muffins and a chunk of wax for fluxing in the things I have gathered (wife has not noticed the chunk out of her decorative candle yet). I will checkout the Midway pot. I am leaning toward the Lee Ladle instead of bottom pour for now....I think I will probably only do a few hundred at a time also.

On the ventilation side, I am committed to doing the initial smelting of the WW outside in open air. I thought about the garage with the door open because of the rain, but did not want to risk poor ventilation or strain my marraige by cooking that nasty stuff in the garage.

[Caster]

Why would you need silicone spray? Once cooled, just drop the tin, upside down, maybe 2 or 3 ft off the ground. They fall right out. You're gonna get some nasty fumes dumping molten lead on silicone spray.

Ventilation...Get a good (that means something other than a Lasko) box fan and draw air away from you. I have a respirator I wear when smelting. Also, get a lid of some sort for your smelting pot. it will melt faster if you keep the heat in.

I guess the turkey fryer would work great, but it doesn't seem very cost effective. Then again, most people don't have the surplus time that I have. I use a hot plate. Smelt the rough stuff and pour into large ingots that I then (after all smelting is done) remelt and flux heavily. Yard sale candles are great for this. I like stick candles, just shove it in and swirl it around about a second and a half and pull it out just in time to get that *POOF* as the paraffin ignites.

I find melting twice before putting away really gets the crud out and keeps my casting pot nice and clean.

What are you going to be casting for? Do you separate stick-on wheel weights? They are MUCH softer than clip ons mind you. I usually cast stick ons into ingots and save it for casting buckshot. It's a touch harder than pure lead, buy not my much.

I've said this many times: Do you realize how deep this rabbit hole goes? You can go so deep with casting, you won't be able to see the light of day. It's great really! If you like to experiment and tinker...this is the only game in town. I'm going to be trying out a hollow point I've come up with soon. I take a 310g gas check 45 and using a 7 degree tapered carbide endmill, I open up the end until it runs about 260g. It's a DEEEEEEP hollow point too. I figure about 1450 fps out of my blackhawk ought knock something down;)

Good luck brother! This casting thing....it's a sickness. They say lead poisoning is a painful death....I'm not so sure!

[dlm37015]

you are right casting is a sickness .it also brings life to old rifles or pistols .i shoot a lot of old big five cartriges that i couldnt with ouy casting .

[vaiger]

Caster, I had heard that the lead would stick in the muffin pans if you did not spray them first. Hmmm, I will try it without it first if that seems to work for you. I plan on sitting my stick on WW's aside for now and not doing anything with them at this point. I plan on just starting with 9mm to see how it goes. Then I can expand from there.

I do have a fan I am planning to use but don't have a respirator yet.

When you say melt twice, are you saying that you go all the way to ingots and then later melt those ingots a second time, flux, etc. and go back to ingots?

[Caster]

Caster, I had heard that the lead would stick in the muffin pans if you did not spray them first. Hmmm, I will try it without it first if that seems to work for you. I plan on sitting my stick on WW's aside for now and not doing anything with them at this point. I plan on just starting with 9mm to see how it goes. Then I can expand from there.

I do have a fan I am planning to use but don't have a respirator yet.

When you say melt twice, are you saying that you go all the way to ingots and then later melt those ingots a second time, flux, etc. and go back to ingots?

Well, I shoulda been more clear. They'll stick when they're really hot. As they cool, they'll contract and let go. Give'em a tap, they'll let go either way. They're not a baked good, they won't tear:)

A decent quality face mask with replaceable filters can be had cheap, and it's worth every penny. One lung full of the demon smog that comes off of melting wheel weights and you'll agree......trust me!

Melt twice...yes. I melt the wheel weights in one pot, with another pot standing by. Once melted, I scoop off as much debris as possible, getting all the steel clips and gooey funk out as you can. Then, I pour it into the waiting pot. When that pot is full, I melt it down, flux heavy, scoop, scrape, and stir like a witch over a cauldron. THEN, I pour into ingots for storage/later use. When I melt those ingots for actual cast, I lightly flux again for good measure. Sound like a lot of effort? Well, it is. Maybe it isn't worth it. I don't care. That's what it takes to make me happy. For the record, my boolits come out VERY consistent. Less that half a grain once I get up to temp.

[Caster]

you are right casting is a sickness .it also brings life to old rifles or pistols .i shoot a lot of old big five cartriges that i couldnt with ouy casting .

YES! ^ THIS!

Got an old warhorse surplus rifle that doesn't shoot so well. Well, I bet you a dollar and a quarter it CAN shoot very well.

Use a tight cleaning patch and a mark on a cleaning rod to determine twist rate. Slug the bore for diameter. Select appropriate weight boolit and sizing die. Then develop a powder charge. The last Mauser rifle I had could shoot about 2 inches @ 100 yards using a 215g Karabiner boolit over AA 5744.

[R_Bert]

Well, I shoulda been more clear. They'll stick when they're really hot. As they cool, they'll contract and let go. Give'em a tap, they'll let go either way. They're not a baked good, they won't tear:)

A decent quality face mask with replaceable filters can be had cheap, and it's worth every penny. One lung full of the demon smog that comes off of melting wheel weights and you'll agree......trust me!

Melt twice...yes. I melt the wheel weights in one pot, with another pot standing by. Once melted, I scoop off as much debris as possible, getting all the steel clips and gooey funk out as you can. Then, I pour it into the waiting pot. When that pot is full, I melt it down, flux heavy, scoop, scrape, and stir like a witch over a cauldron. THEN, I pour into ingots for storage/later use. When I melt those ingots for actual cast, I lightly flux again for good measure. Sound like a lot of effort? Well, it is. Maybe it isn't worth it. I don't care. That's what it takes to make me happy. For the record, my bullets come out VERY consistent. Less that half a grain once I get up to temp.

What do you flux with ?

What guidelines & tips can you give on collecting & recovering tire shop weights ?

Thanks, Bert (who just got a used Lyman bottom-pour & some moulds, etc.)

[buck1032]

I use 20 Mule Team borax to flux my casting.

Also keep an eye out on your "boolits" (i might have to steal that team, I loke it LOL) when casting. If your pot isnt hot enough your molded bullet will look "wrinkled".

[R_Bert]

I use 20 Mule Team borax to flux my casting.

Also keep an eye out on your "bullets" (i might have to steal that team, I loke it LOL) when casting. If your pot isnt hot enough your molded bullet will look "wrinkled".

Thanks. please bear with my questions -

Borax powder I assume, just added to hot lead, and stirred, then crud skimmed off ? Or do you add the borax powder with the cold scraps ?

Thanks,

Bert

[Caster]

What do you flux with ?

What guidelines & tips can you give on collecting & recovering tire shop weights ?

Thanks, Bert (who just got a used Lyman bottom-pour & some moulds, etc.)

The days of abundant wheel weights for cheap are all but gone, but don't hesitate to hit up every tire store in your area.

I'm always more than happy to share what little I know, but be mindful of this: Asking a bullet caster where to get lead cheap is like asking a fisherman where his best hole is.

Just ask your local tire shop if they'd be willing to sell you a bucket of scrap weights. Worst they can do is say no.

I cast with wax. Regular old paraffin. Some people use borax, some even use saw dust. Candles are cheap and don't stink as bad.

[buck1032]

Just add and stir in the borax powder after you have your lead hot and stir. I generally add a table spoon or so at a time. Stir and skim off the slag. And repeat until there isnt any crud stuck to the borax.

[Caster]

Thanks. please bear with my questions -

Borax powder I assume, just added to hot lead, and stirred, then crud skimmed off ? Or do you add the borax powder with the cold scraps ?

Thanks,

Bert

Yes, you [carefully duh:p] add it to the molten lead. Stir it gently being sure to scrap the bottom and sides. All the will then float to the top. Skim it off with a spoon and you're good to go.

[owejia]

Be aware of the zinc and steel wheel weights mixed in also.Zinc melts at a higher temp. than lead,but if you don't have a therometer to measure temp with you could possibly get some zinc mixed in. I check my wheel weights with a pair of side cutters, lead cuts easy zinc is hard.Dry sawdust makes a good flux also.

[Dad03]

Antique shops are a good place to pick up old cast iron pots, ladels, corn bread molds for ignots

While in Land Between the Lakes (Ky) at some antique mall I found some 10lb lead blocks that had a shop from Nashville name molded in it. $10 for 20lbs and they are now 220 grn 45 acp memories.

[I_Like_Pie]

Resale shops also have the muffin tins that are great for ingots.

One thing I also have handy is an old hammer handle that I use as a tapper. Dowel or hickory works wonders to get the sticky ones out.

I also ALWAYS have a towel there with me in case I get sweaty. Wipe my brow with it so that i don't drip into the pot...water is a scary thing to have anywhere near that pot.

[vaiger]

So I went to the flea market and picked up cast iron dutch oven (really old and rusty) yesterday. I got my thermometer in the mail, so I was ready to start casting. I set aside all of the stick on WWs, fired up the turker fryer and started melting. It was outside and a little breezy, so ventilation was great.

Walmart had stainless steel condiment cups for 88 cents for 5. I bought 20 for under $5. They hold about 1lb of lead each and they worked great. All of the lead dropped right out. I ended up with about 20lbs of lead ingots.

I was fluxing with a stick candle and it seemed to work pretty well. I don't know yet how clean is clean enough on the lead. I felt like I could have gotten it a little cleaner, so I will melt down and flux again and go back to ingots. The pot was pretty rusty, so I am going to clean it out better before I re-cast the ingots.

It was my first time to do this and it was tons of fun.

[Caster]

It was my first time to do this and it was tons of fun.

It's a LOT of work, and folks just don't get it......now you do. Wait until you shoot a tight group using bullets YOU cast. It's a great feeling to know you MADE them. Anybody with a few bucks can buy stuff, but how cool is it to make things with your own hands?

Good Job!

[vaiger]

My kids were quite interested as well. I have a buddy with toy soldier molds. I think I am going to save the zinc weights and make toy soldiers with the kids. That seems like a good use of the zinc!

[Caster]

As long as the molds are not aluminum. Aluminum will dissolve in molten zinc.