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HELP! Casting issue

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Does not work that way, would not have changed the structure of the lead.
Getting rid of it is a good call, new mold is a given. I still think zinc as I noted before.
Have you checked your pot, is it a Lee also, if you do a search online there was a pot meltdown a few years ago related to zinc being melted, not sure what the outcome of that was or even if it was a correct cause, zinc is on Lee's paperwork/online instructions as a do not melt in their pots.
 
I agree with DBrevit and others that there is zinc in your lead. If you watch the video on " Lee Pot Meltdown" it shows what zinc does to a Lee pot . The zinc went through the pot and the aluminum base! Since it looks like you have Lee equipment, that's what happened. The Lee instructions on the melting pot warn strongly of not using ANY other metal except lead in their melting pots. At least you didn't get hurt. Happy casting!
 
Aluminium melts at 1221 degrees Fahrenheit. It looks like your mold started to melt. How hot did you have your metal, whatever it was?
Not sure, don' have a thermometer for it. An lesson learned. Going to buy new pot and mold.
 
Get a casting thermometer while you're at it. (Tel True is one brand). They're not expensive and are an immense help in making sure your melt is neither too hot nor too cold. (Don't ask....)
Hmmm, maybe you had an issue too? Glad I'm not the only one
 
Interesting. There are several contaminating metals that can make a casting alloy look like "soft serve" or lumpy oatmeal, zinc being the usual culprit because it is the least expensive. Many time it is introducced in casting pots from wheel weights that are part zinc. Cadmium, usually from lead acid batteries will do somewhat the same thing and is dangerous to melt for the fumes it gives off. A high copper content can be a problem as well. The thicker consistency is partially the result of a metal being in the alloy that has a significantly higher original melt temp than lead

A lead hardness tester is handy to have, but as others have said even scratching will help determine pure lead from alloy, although it will not tell you what you have. In some cases hard alloy with tin and antimony is a good thing and will melt in the average casting pot fine, Things like zinc, copper and others, are a problem and a contaminant.

Also as others have said, a "scrap pot" for testing unknown alloys is always a good idea. Weight of a piece of the material can also be a determining factor in whether it is pure lead or not, in comparing it to a sample of what you know to be pure lead. You can get by without a thermometer if you are working with known pure lead only. If you are casting other alloys, for harder bullets, etc. it is almost a must.

Strange that those containers would do that. I have used some before that were definitely pure lead and worked well, but it was years ago. I wonder if some of the newer ones have a different metal (likely zinc) added to make them lighter/cheaper as they did with wheel weights,, while retaining their screening properties? Oh perhaps someone was scamming on the content to save money, given the increasing prices and more difficult availability of lead in our country due to regulations. Not a happy though, with what is involved.

castboolits.gunloads.com is a great source of info on all things casting related.
 
Tossing the batch of "lead" is a good idea. You might also check your work area, mold, and yourself for radiation poisoning. I don't want to alarm you unnecessarily, but you may have gotten hold of a batch of radiation shielding material that had absorbed some radiation and was still "hot." If so, some of your work area and gear may need to be either decontaminated or disposed of. I used to work on a research installation where we used lead bricks and lead-infused concrete to build shield walls around the equipment. Spare bricks, etc., were often used for other purposes by staff members, including some that were converted to ML bullets (cough ... cough!). It was important to check them first to be certain they were not already "hot" in the radiation sense because some were. All of us were required to wear dosimeters whenever we were working near the equipment, and we were required to always wear film badges whenever we were anywhere near the work area. One of my colleagues cut a lead brick in half and used the pieces as bookends on his desk. Imagine his shock some weeks later when the Radiation Management team did one of their routine checks with a Geiger Counter and his bookends, desktop, books, and his film badges were completely black! He got a few days in the hospital while they ran tests but was ultimately okay. It could have been much, much worse.
 
The stuff in the picture that looks like it was broken looks like zink to me.
Zinc is a very brittle material that will break leaving a very rough surface.

As for your mold, it doesn't look very damaged to me. That is, yes, it isn't pretty but the slightly larger sprue that it leaves on the castings should be easily sheared off with the sprue cutter.

If the mold still has some of that unknown material in it, you should be able to melt it out with a propane torch.
 
Does not work that way, would not have changed the structure of the lead.
Getting rid of it is a good call, new mold is a given. I still think zinc as I noted before.
Have you checked your pot, is it a Lee also, if you do a search online there was a pot meltdown a few years ago related to zinc being melted, not sure what the outcome of that was or even if it was a correct cause, zinc is on Lee's paperwork/online instructions as a do not melt in their pots.
Just buying a new pot too. It was second hand and on its last leg.
 
Tossing the batch of "lead" is a good idea. You might also check your work area, mold, and yourself for radiation poisoning. I don't want to alarm you unnecessarily, but you may have gotten hold of a batch of radiation shielding material that had absorbed some radiation and was still "hot." If so, some of your work area and gear may need to be either decontaminated or disposed of. I used to work on a research installation where we used lead bricks and lead-infused concrete to build shield walls around the equipment. Spare bricks, etc., were often used for other purposes by staff members, including some that were converted to ML bullets (cough ... cough!). It was important to check them first to be certain they were not already "hot" in the radiation sense because some were. All of us were required to wear dosimeters whenever we were working near the equipment, and we were required to always wear film badges whenever we were anywhere near the work area. One of my colleagues cut a lead brick in half and used the pieces as bookends on his desk. Imagine his shock some weeks later when the Radiation Management team did one of their routine checks with a Geiger Counter and his bookends, desktop, books, and his film badges were completely black! He got a few days in the hospital while they ran tests but was ultimately okay. It could have been much, much worse.
It was all screened before it left the lab.
 
I know this is lake but Roto Metal sells pure lead. They will mail it to your mailbox. Yes it isn`t free. It is good and never had it cause a damaged mold.
Buy a new Lee mold and try again. I started with aircraft wheel weights that were free. I knew that it was pure lead. Auto wheel weights may be zinc and that may be some of what you got. It will ruin your day.
 
I know this is lake but Roto Metal sells pure lead. They will mail it to your mailbox. Yes it isn`t free. It is good and never had it cause a damaged mold.
Buy a new Lee mold and try again. I started with aircraft wheel weights that were free. I knew that it was pure lead. Auto wheel weights may be zinc and that may be some of what you got. It will ruin your day.
No wheel weights. It was all radiopharmacy containers. Tossed them out and starting over. I have more lead to get me by.
 
I had some radio pharmacy containers that I assumed to be lead.
Captain Rob
Best not to use these or even lead sheeting from x-ray and radiation labs. There are a whole lot of variables in the containers depending on what they were originally used for, that is what isotope, is it a storage container, a shipping container, a container to be used in a hospital just before deliver to the patient.
The containers come in different classes. Depending on the isotope and if it is protein or peptide bound, the proteins or peptides potentially can leak into the lead of the container, the melting of which may be adverse to the leads response when melted and maybe your health. I once practiced this kind of pharmacy back in the 70's when it was in it's dark ages, but eventually got to scared of it: didn't want to die of cancer or have children with three heads, so gave that up. I have never used those containers for lead, I did try to use lead sheeting from an x-ray room in a hospital and had the results you are describing. I then found out that some kind of Flux is used in the preparation of the sheets to keep them pliable, of even thickness, ruin't about 5 pounds of lead in a pot that all got the herpes from that stuff. I would expect that is also what screwed up your lead. By the by I thought the containers were considered accountable. Any how, don't use them. Locomiguel
 
Captain Rob
Best not to use these or even lead sheeting from x-ray and radiation labs. There are a whole lot of variables in the containers depending on what they were originally used for, that is what isotope, is it a storage container, a shipping container, a container to be used in a hospital just before deliver to the patient.
The containers come in different classes. Depending on the isotope and if it is protein or peptide bound, the proteins or peptides potentially can leak into the lead of the container, the melting of which may be adverse to the leads response when melted and maybe your health. I once practiced this kind of pharmacy back in the 70's when it was in it's dark ages, but eventually got to scared of it: didn't want to die of cancer or have children with three heads, so gave that up. I have never used those containers for lead, I did try to use lead sheeting from an x-ray room in a hospital and had the results you are describing. I then found out that some kind of Flux is used in the preparation of the sheets to keep them pliable, of even thickness, ruin't about 5 pounds of lead in a pot that all got the herpes from that stuff. I would expect that is also what screwed up your lead. By the by I thought the containers were considered accountable. Any how, don't use them. Locomiguel
Great info. Much appreciated. I won't be using it again. I don't work there anymore anyway. Already ordered new pot and molds.
 
I used lead foil backing from dental x-rays for many years (but with digital x-rays there are no more foils), and the box of foils registered just barely above the background radiation level.

One source for 99% pure lead to melt is any stained glass artisits or studios in your area, as they have small end pieces of "lead came" that are thrown away. I've used there from my wife's projects with good luck.
 
I have used Isotope cylinders for years. Most are very close to pure. Guess what they have no alloys. Alloys can become radioactive. DUH!!

This thread is full of supesitions and fear.

I like it leaves a source of lead open for me.
 

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