First i need to thank blacksmithden for the sticky up top on how to get down to business. You made this process a whole heck of a lot easier bud!
i started to make my first ingots from wheel weights today, and i was amazed at how easy it really is! starting out i laid the weights out on a sheet of plywood in the yard at work and let them sun bake while i picked out the valve stems and obvious Fe and Zn weights.
when i was satisfied i was ready i fired up the propane burner with a 5 gallon metal pail on it and filled it 1/3 full with weights. while it was heating i went inside to suit up in heavy cotton coveralls, welders boots and gloves, a p100 lead abatement respirator and faceshield. by the time i got back outside my lead was already melting!
after about 10 min and a few stirs it was quickly turning from slush into molten lead. at this point i skimmed off the clips and any Zn weights i had missed, and then dropped in a pea sized ammount of wax to flux, stirred, scraped, and skimmed off the dross. i know some people dont flux before the ingot stage but i couldn't see the harm in putting very clean ingots into the lee pot to be fluxed again, and i wanted to ensure the tin content didn't oxidize much while it was cooking. please inform me if im wrong to assume this.
Knowing my weights were VERY dry i left an inch or so of molten lead in the bottom to add more WW to, so as to speed up the process. all in all i made several hundred 1 pound ingots in muffin molds in about 5 hours using the direction provided by blacksmithdens' sticky. very nice!
And as an added bonus, i stopped by to check the mail on my way home to find my RCBS lubamatic, mold handles, sizing die, and gas checks had arrived! Now im just waiting for my mold from NOE to arrive and im ready to go!
VERY EXCITED! i have enough lead and supplies on hand to make about 12 000 265 grain gas checked .432 bullets for my 444, and the lead stash just keeps on growing! i am no longer missing the 30-30 i had to part with to afford the casting gear AT ALL! i'd much rather have one powerfull rifle with nearly unlimited ammunition than 2 rifles shooting expensive factory made, hard to come by boolits anyday! not to say i only have one rifle, but you see what im getting at.
i started to make my first ingots from wheel weights today, and i was amazed at how easy it really is! starting out i laid the weights out on a sheet of plywood in the yard at work and let them sun bake while i picked out the valve stems and obvious Fe and Zn weights.
when i was satisfied i was ready i fired up the propane burner with a 5 gallon metal pail on it and filled it 1/3 full with weights. while it was heating i went inside to suit up in heavy cotton coveralls, welders boots and gloves, a p100 lead abatement respirator and faceshield. by the time i got back outside my lead was already melting!
after about 10 min and a few stirs it was quickly turning from slush into molten lead. at this point i skimmed off the clips and any Zn weights i had missed, and then dropped in a pea sized ammount of wax to flux, stirred, scraped, and skimmed off the dross. i know some people dont flux before the ingot stage but i couldn't see the harm in putting very clean ingots into the lee pot to be fluxed again, and i wanted to ensure the tin content didn't oxidize much while it was cooking. please inform me if im wrong to assume this.
Knowing my weights were VERY dry i left an inch or so of molten lead in the bottom to add more WW to, so as to speed up the process. all in all i made several hundred 1 pound ingots in muffin molds in about 5 hours using the direction provided by blacksmithdens' sticky. very nice!
And as an added bonus, i stopped by to check the mail on my way home to find my RCBS lubamatic, mold handles, sizing die, and gas checks had arrived! Now im just waiting for my mold from NOE to arrive and im ready to go!
VERY EXCITED! i have enough lead and supplies on hand to make about 12 000 265 grain gas checked .432 bullets for my 444, and the lead stash just keeps on growing! i am no longer missing the 30-30 i had to part with to afford the casting gear AT ALL! i'd much rather have one powerfull rifle with nearly unlimited ammunition than 2 rifles shooting expensive factory made, hard to come by boolits anyday! not to say i only have one rifle, but you see what im getting at.
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