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What did I do wrong - casting round balls

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CharlieTN

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Newbie mistake I'm sure, just not sure what it was.

Having a hard time finding .530 round balls, and wanting to cast my own anyway I bought a Lee .530 mould, small lee electric pot and ladle and some Hornady .58 round balls figuring that since they're supposed to be pure lead they should melt easily.

I cleaned the mold as per the instructions, put the .58 balls in the electric pot and plugged it in. Set the dial for roughly 6.5 and waited for the lead to melt. It did in a matter of a few minutes but then started to continuously form a rough looking layer on top that I kept skimming off. The layer was sort of crunchy and yellow. I wound up scraping off enough of this layer to fill a small cat food can.

Did manage to cast a few balls but this yellow layer kept coating the ladle as well. No matter how much I scraped it off, more would form.

Any ideas what I was doing wrong?

Thanks,

Charlie
 
What kind of lead are you using - anything besides the lead balls? With all new equipment, and clean lead, I can't imagine the extent of stuff you've had to skim off.

In the past, I've used reclaimed roof flashing and lead drainpipe that was corroded, and required a lot of fluxing and skimming to clean it up. If you use clean lead, or even used stick-on wheelweights with the adhesive and foam backing removed, you'll still get a little smoke and surface dross, but nothing to the extent you've mentioned.
 
For cost sake: Don't buy Hornady roundballs to cast your own balls. Look online for rotometals or on ebay for pure lead. Much cheaper and pure.
 
bpd303 said:
With what you are describing, I think the melt may be too hot and it is oxidizing. Try lowering the heat and fluxing. I don't know if Hornady coats the round balls but that's a possibility.

That's what it sounds like to me also.
 
Did the balls you cast look frosty? If so, that usually indicates that you're casting too hot. If you get wrinkles, or any other form of your mold not filling out completely, it means you're casting too cold. Does either of those sound like the RBs you cast? If the RBs are good, then maybe you didn't flux enough, or have some kind of coating on the commercial RBs you melted. Does that help get you in the right direction? Aside from getting a thermometer, or if the RBs are good, then I would bet the guys that posted above are dead on.
 
AZbpBurner said:
What kind of lead are you using - anything besides the lead balls? With all new equipment, and clean lead, I can't imagine the extent of stuff you've had to skim off.

In the past, I've used reclaimed roof flashing and lead drainpipe that was corroded, and required a lot of fluxing and skimming to clean it up. If you use clean lead, or even used stick-on wheelweights with the adhesive and foam backing removed, you'll still get a little smoke and surface dross, but nothing to the extent you've mentioned.

Just using the Hornady round balls. I picked them up simply because I was not able to find any other lead yet (work for a distributor so I got them cheap).

Reading through others posts I suspect I may have had the pot way too hot. Literature says it goes from 450 to 900 degrees. I had it set roughly half way inbetween but without a thermometer hard to tell.

Towards the end I turned the pot off and kept molding balls. As the lead cooled some I started to get less of the stuff on top.
 
tenngun said:
Try fluxing a few times. do you have a bottom pour pot? Run out a few runs from under the top scum.

Using a small electric pot I have to dip from. I'll try fluxing some more next time. May have found a good source for some lead finally.
 
Lee pots are inconsistent as far as the #s go. One pot may do good at 6 and someone else may need higher or even lower. ^ 1/2 isn't high enough for me with pure lead but it is ok with other lead I have that has alloys in it because the alloys melt at a slightly lower temp and the alloys help it pour and fill out better.
When I cast I still get some oxidized lead but not near what you were getting. I just scrape it aside and dip from a clear spot. I suspect also you didn't begin casting right away because of the unknown crud and that just caused it to continue to build up. Just start casting next time and see how you do.
 
I've always put my pot on 7.5 taking it to mean 750 degrees and have no problems with it. I think the lead is to cool and you the top was cooler and was trying to harden. Try it again at 7 to 7.5 and see how it does. If the mailman shows up today with the .530 mold that I ordered from Track I'll mold some up and tell you the number I was using.
 
Guess I'll have to play around a bit more. Thanks everyone for the information. This is something new for me.

May have found a source for a 30# block of lead locally.
 
armakiller said:
I've always put my pot on 7.5 taking it to mean 750 degrees and have no problems with it. I think the lead is to cool and you the top was cooler and was trying to harden. Try it again at 7 to 7.5 and see how it does. If the mailman shows up today with the .530 mold that I ordered from Track I'll mold some up and tell you the number I was using.

Thanks.
 
I usually stir my pot while casting. Not all the time but frequently. They may help cut down on oxidation. I know some with bottom pour pots will lay a layer of clay cat litter on top the lead. Cuts down on the air hitting it so less oxidation.
 
I just use an iron pot on a comendeered coleman stove. No thermometer. I get the pot hot enough to melt lead and my tools hot enough so that lead won't stick to them and start casting. No issues at all. I have no clue how hot my lead is other than I know it has passed the melting point. Skim the top on occasion when it looks like it needs it.
Now I am not saying that I wouldn't use a thermometer if I had one, just I haven't seen a real reason to run out and get one.
So long as the majority of my casts are round, shiny and wrinkle free I am pleased.
Now what I do need to get is a proper grain scale to weigh them and cull out the light ones with possible voids.
 
Yeah, that method will work fine and has for a couple centuries,lots of them being cast over and open camp fire.
Still for more consistency a lead thermometer is the best friend you will have in casting next to a good ladle.
Lead balls will cast nicely at 650-675 degrees F. but long bullets and Minie's will require more heat. I like 750* F for the really big ones. Mike D.
 
I like to pump it upa little higher than MD.
I actually bought a thermometer several years ago when I was learning just so I could get a grasp on what the temp really was.
Like you I use pot and coleman stove. But with pure lead I like it 700-750 and that's about where you begin to see those iridescent/rainbow colors forming on the surface. If it get's a little hotter, towards the 800 mark, that's when the lead starts to oxidize and you get that scum floating that this topic is about.
I have found that when that scum comes to back off a bit or add cold lead but the scum doesn't hurt the cast. Just stir it around a bit and keep going.
I do like the Lyman ladle vrs. the Lee as it can reach inside the lead and not skim off the top so much.
It get's dicey in that 750-800 range but once you get the stove set right at around 730750 things run nice.
I don't use the thermometer anymore, it kind of get's in the way, I just watch for the colors.
 
Mooman76 said:
I usually stir my pot while casting. Not all the time but frequently. They may help cut down on oxidation. I know some with bottom pour pots will lay a layer of clay cat litter on top the lead. Cuts down on the air hitting it so less oxidation.

Yeah, I've seen you stir the pot before :rotf:

Bentonite Kitty Litter is a good insulator, but it will be a mess when adding more lead.

I had left some kitty litter in an old coffee mug, and Matt the Cat saw it as a cat porta-potty. He's got good aim, too. Suspect that the short hairs would take a while to grow back if he used a hot casting pot.

Several decades ago, I found a domed aluminum fence post cap left after a crew installed a new chain link fence down the street from me.

I cut out a slot so it fits over the bottom pour valve rod on my Lee pot, and also installed wooden knob on top. It fits well enough to trap heat - especially while the pot is heating up.
 
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