Cast questions

L

lyktohunt

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
25   0   0
Location
Quesnel BC
When some one says add some flux to clean up the melt, what does one use and how much say in a 10lb melt.
Also when you add 2% tin (using lead free solder) is that 2% weight of solder compared to weight of lead, so again assuming you have 10lb pure lead =160oz would you add about 3.2 oz of solder to get the right hardness for smokeless loads?
 
what are you using for lead??
pure ? wheel weight? range lead ???

what i have found is if when you are casting and you are turning the heat up so high that every bullet is frosted and you are still not getting good fill out that is when to add tin (as tin is $$$ and you do not need for every bullet)
try 6" of solder mix it up and try casting again in the small pot (10lb) if it does not work add another 6 inch pc
if using pure lead it might take so much tin to make good bullets it might be cheaper to trade it to someone that needs the soft stuff and only has hard

and if using pure lead you might not want to add tin (black powder or slugs)

the more tin you have the higher temp you need

frosted bullets can still be used and if you see them you can turn down the heat a bit at a time but it might take 20-30 min (or adding some cold lead to bring the temp down)

one of my moulds only throws good bullets if there is some frosting

range lead might not need any tin added
ww also might not need any tin depending on mould/ temp of pot

the worst casting session i had i was using 2 moulds a small and a big cal sorted the next day (when casting the realy bad rejects got put back right in to the pot as they came out

(I cast using plain safety glass / sort using prescription)

95% of the small were good and 95% of the large cal were bad got fed up sorting the big ones and put them all into the pile to go back in to the pot for next time (bullets looked good but when you started to measure them they were undersize)

good luck
 
flux in the 10 pound pot

try a pea size pc of candle wax or 5-6 used bullets with wax

and the wax will burn just like a big candle

you can also try dry wood saw dust (just do not use pressure treated wood) tea spoon size on top let it char and then mix
 
Thanks Just Having Some Fun for your response . My question about the tin or solder was for use with pure lead, as I have a fair bit of that. I also have unsuitable or reject cast bullets and WW material that I am hoping to use without adding anything but maybe some flux.
I know on the pure lead I will have to make it harder for smokeless loads,rifle loads aprox 1200- 1300 fps and handgun loads about 750-800 fps
 
Actualy Tin in your mix LOWERS your melt temp . Pure lead has a higher melt temp that ww or ww/tin mix . And as stated you can use sawdust , or candle wax . Just be carefull with the wax as it will smoke lots and want to flare up , You can ignite the smoke and control it that way . The tin does very little to increase the (hardness ) of your melt , but does improve mould fill out for nice sharp driving bands and crimp grooves . It's a real learning experience . Enjoy the misery ! If you realy feel the need to drink the Kool aid check out the cast boolits forum any and all questions will find answers there !
 
For rifle loads in the 1200fps range you can get by nicely with 50/50 wheelweights/lead. Blaser.306 is correct, the addition of tin will decrease the melt temp and allow the mold to fill out well but use as little as possible as it is verrry expensive. I use to use candle wax for flux but got tired of the smoke so I now use Marvelux (Ellwood Epps?). Only a little is needed (10 lbs dirty WW requires about the size of a large single peanut)so the can lasts a long time. Also for the velocity you mentioned (45-70?)you can get by very well with the liquid alox lube sold by Phishroy on this forum, his price is REALLY cheap and he is a nice man to deal with. If you need a higher velocity I would try heat treating the bullets, use as little tin/wheelweight metal as possible as these are getting harder to find and you mentioned you have a good supply of lead.
 
Re: flux. I use beeswax, because I have a bunch.

I use 'some', not 'lots'.

I figure the pine or fir stick I stir the pot with, is doing it's bit too. The ash floats on the surface, and the stick allows me to scrape down the sides of the pot and float off any dross or whatever that has built up there.

Cheers
Trev
 
Tin does not really harden the alloy. Tin's benefit is that it improves mold fill out because it improves the flow characteristics of the melt.

You need antimony to harden lead. You can water quench lead that is alloyed with antimony to get it even harder.

What guns/calibers are you casting for?

Join the Castboolits forum and you will find a lot of answers.
 
Note that water quenched or heat treated bullets change hardness with time, it takes a few days or weeks to reach their max. hardness, and sometime after that they start to soften up and eventually will return to their orig. state. Linotype will harden bullets the best and hardness does not change , over time. Tin helps with casting as it aids in the flow of alloy, it also makes the bullet more ductile, as making bullets hard also makes them brittle. Hardness of over BHN 20 has proven to be too hard for most hunting use and tends to shatter if it hits big bones, and if not, will penetrate soft tissue without expanding.
 
I use free hardwood sawdust I get at the local cabinet shop. Sawdust is also a sacrificial reductant that reduces tin, thereby returning it to the melt,reduction is the opposite of oxidation. It also has many building blocks lignins, tannins, gallates that bind to oxidized metals.

A heaping tablespoon is just about right for a 20 lb pot, stirred it in thoroughly to begin with and then leave it. Halfway through the pot,stir it again, this time the activated carbon (dross) is removed. By leaving the charred sawdust on the melt for the first half or so of the casting session, a barrier is formed to slow down the oxidation of the tin, and by removing the charred dross before reaching the bottom.

As far as Tin hardening Lead Elmer Keith used a mix of 16:1 Lead/Tin for his plain base 44 Mag. loads,Tin will harden lead to a certain degree depending on how you mix it.

BHN of Tin/Lead Alloy
1 to 40 tin lead 8
1 to 30 tin lead 9
1 to 20 tin lead 10
1 to 10 tin lead 11
 
For fluxing the melt, many of the BlackPowder guys suggest a wax toilet bowl ring, cheap and readily available at any hardware store. You won't need one with a flange, just the donut. While you won't need to put much in the pot to flux the melt, I don't think you can over do it with flux, so error on the side of a little too much rather than to little. It will smoke a lot.
 
Thanks everyone I see along with black magic and witch craft there is alot of science that goes into this casting game.
I see some say tin does not do much to harden lead ,but some talk about linotype,what is that and where does one typically find it.
 
Linotype is getting harder (no pun intended) to find. It's primarily used in print shops. I believe they use it for letter sets and the like though not being too familiar (OK not at all familiar) with the printing process, I'm just guessing...lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom