First Casting With New Pot

[BigSkyRambler]

It has been a long time since I cast any round balls and that was old school. So I bought a new electric bottom pour pot. For lead I had a mix of .50 balls and bullets that came with a rifle I no longer have, probably 140, about 40 heavily oxidized .50 balls that came with an old shooting pouch and maybe 150 Hornady swaged .50 and .58 balls. First in pot went shiny cast lead balls. Once melted, I added the Hornady balls. What happened was weird. The Hornady balls shed a "skin", like something the pod people would leave behind. Skimmed it off. After casting maybe 20 .530 balls I added the oxidized balls. It was amazing what built up on surface. I kept skimming a couple of times then paused to answer phone. In just a couple of minutes a thick hard layer had formed that I had to bust up with a spoon. Was about 1/8" thick and looked like a soil

sample brought back from some alien world. All of this gunk seemed excessive. Is the inside of a new pot covered with some factory sealant that could have added to the mess? The 60 balls I cast came out fine. Pics for reference and comment.

 

[Winchester97]

Looks like normal crud you would get from dirty lead, however the heat setting looks a little high, and lead level is pretty low in a big pot like that, not sure if the extra heat may have done something.

 

[mooman76]

I agree with Winchester97. I wouldn't loose sleep over it. Just old crud and maybe something coated some of the balls. Clean it up and move on. You don't want to get that crud around your pour spout, you'll start getting leaks.

 

[BigSkyRambler]

Thanks. My previous casting was using an iron pot and sketchy lead, so I expected lots of grid. Pot still has about an inch of lead plus the crust. I will buy some ingots and get level up.