Newby on the block... well, to casting anyways.

[triggertreat]

I ordered 5# of 99.9% pure lead ingots from Rotometals. I want to see if I get better results for my .22 and .25 pellets than I do with the wheel weight lead. I have no idea what % my wheel weight ingots are. I am positive they are not 99.9%.
I'll empty and clean my pot and get a clean start when the lead arrives. I may even change the pot back to bottom pour. I'll build a slide for the molds.

Not a bad test to do.  Pure lead is quite soft though, so one has to be gentle when handling and storing.  Not sure about tumbling them either.  You might consider testing the 1 to 40 lead they have also.  It only contains 2.5% tin to help with fill out and better handling. It's still soft and expands very well.  They always flatten out like a pancake for me, but I don't shoot anything under 30 FPE.

[avator]

Thanks Keith... I should order a test kit to see what I have in this wheel weight lead.

[2A Georgia]

I ordered 5# of 99.9% pure lead ingots from Rotometals. I want to see if I get better results for my .22 and .25 pellets than I do with the wheel weight lead. I have no idea what % my wheel weight ingots are. I am positive they are not 99.9%.
I'll empty and clean my pot and get a clean start when the lead arrives. I may even change the pot back to bottom pour. I'll build a slide for the molds.

Not a bad test to do.  Pure lead is quite soft though, so one has to be gentle when handling and storing.  Not sure about tumbling them either.  You might consider testing the 1 to 40 lead they have also.  It only contains 2.5% tin to help with fill out and better handling. It's still soft and expands very well.  They always flatten out like a pancake for me, but I don't shoot anything under 30 FPE.

I like the bottom pour.  Got my pot on the cheap cause the previous owner hated it and swore by laddle....YMMV.
Tracking again and the idea for the slides is spot on, I had some large goober sprus...lol.  I was kinda missing my PB tumbler, but I don't think I'll need to tumble any of my or NSA slugs.....Good to hear the 40to1 still expand and stand up better to handling.  My slugs will be for the 90+fpe 30cal so I could probably pour the 40to1 mix from RotoMetals, which is the other reason I started with just 10 pounds of 99.9 instead of a full pig....From my PB boolits trolling your wheel weight scraps should be even harder than 40to1.  Many of them cast WW without HP and water quenching for weight retention and bone-crushing ability (high shoulder shot)

[avator]

I melted the lead and dumped it into muffins and cleaned out the pot. Them I put the bottom pour stem back in it. I put one puck back in for a test and it works like it should. Tomorrow I'll come up with a slide. I have a low drill press vise I will probably use.

[triggertreat]

I like using the bottom gravity pour spout on my Lee 20lb pot for a couple of reasons.  First, I can adjust the flow rate with the adjustment screw for consistency as the level in the pot drops.  Second, with the Lee slide adaptor, all pours are at the same distance from the spout, so the lead enters the mold slots at the same temperature for better consistency.  Plus, I can keep the mold level.  I can also easily over run the mold slots a little more to heat up the sprue plate more when needed.  I find with the aluminum molds if I alternate the pours from front to back and back to front every so often on a four port the mold temps stay more uniform across the mold.  At near 800° the lead is cooling off fast after exiting the spout.  I even place tiles or wood around the bottom sides of the pot to help maintain the temp better from spout to mold.  Any wind and consistency go out the window and the spout could seize up.  I know the ladle guys who cast outdoors will laugh at me, but my weights are very consistent, and I don't have to toss too many back into the pot.  I do have a ladle and sometimes I also pressure pour.  It just depends on how I feel or what I want to do on any given casting day.

[Madd Hatter]

I've been using Wayne's pressure pour method since I started casting and as long as I keep the lead and mold temps some what close they turn out fine.

[Back_Roads]

 I did my setup in a controlled environment, after having poor results trying it at first in a drafty garage, now I have an old range hood, with added high volume blower linked in the ducting. This gives me constant results.

[avator]

Yep, I'm keeping an eye out for an old range hood to repurpose. It's spring time and that's when folks around here put junk at the side of the road for collection.

[avator]

5# 99.9% lead came in from RotoMetals. I cleaned out the pot and melted the ingots in but have yet to pour anything. 70% + chance of rain predicted for today so I might get to pour some today being confined to indoor activities.

[cosmic]

Newer wheel weights contain a lot of zinc... Use pure lead or 1:40... alloys from wheel weight should not be used in air guns IMHO.

[avator]

Got a 50 pellet run of the .22 20gr in the tumbler now. They are from the 99.9% Rotometals pure lead. 
I ran they in the 2 cav brass mold pre heated to 325f and the 10# pot is running at 700f.
We'll see.

I will say this.... they are some shiny pellets. Even the sprue is alot shinier than the wheel weight lead.

[2A Georgia]

Got a 50 pellet run of the .22 20gr in the tumbler now. They are from the 99.9% Rotometals pure lead. 
I ran they in the 2 cav brass mold pre heated to 325f and the 10# pot is running at 700f.
We'll see.

I will say this.... they are some shiny pellets. Even the sprue is alot shinier than the wheel weight lead.

Tracking.  I'm curious how those 20gr 99.9pure are gonna group.  Many have told me not to bother casting .22cal.  With the PID and pre-heat I'm sure yours are dropping at consistent weight and very few "recasts."  I have the same NOE mold so curious how it works out for you...

[2A Georgia]

I now see why the previous owner was a ladlecaster.  My pot stopped bottom pouring as I believe the opening mechanism is clogged/needs cleaning :-(
Of course I have like a dozen 63.2gr and need to chrono test the new 30cal hammer springs.....
I tried to ladle and pressure pour and got another half ladle shaped casting...lol

[avator]

I sorted and weighed the 50+ test run last night after tumbling them. I lost about 10% in culling and the rest came in between 19.50 and 20.50. I think I'll clean and run a saample of the 217 24 RF 2 cav aluminum mold today. Aluminum molds are much easier to pour. If it pours good I may have to scrape up the funds to order the 20gr aluminum mold. I wish NOE had the 4 cav in stock but they only have to 2 cav. The only problem with these small 4 cav molds is getting all 4 pins set exactly the same for consistent weights throughout the run.
I check that brass mold before the run and it was so close and I was shocked that weights varied as much as they did.

[triggertreat]

I have heard that zinc will "poison" lead.  More commonly, brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc, is the source of the zinc that "poisons" the lead.  I have read that lump Sulfur, broken into pieces, will adhere to the zinc and then can be skimmed off to clean up WW lead.

[avator]

I have heard that zinc will "poison" lead.  More commonly, brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc, is the source of the zinc that "poisons" the lead.  I have read that lump Sulfur, broken into pieces, will adhere to the zinc and then can be skimmed off to clean up WW lead.

NOE sells ALOT of brass molds.

[avator]

I just ran 2 50ct runs in the 217 24 RF aliminum (Magnum). With the long pins I got between 22.00 and 22.40 with 10% cull. The 10% cull was probably my fault for poor bottom pour. I missed the hole or poured to fast and splashed out.
The 2nd batch of 50 is in the tumbler. I tumble for 20 minutes give or take and they come out looking like little shiny diamonds.

[triggertreat]

I have heard that zinc will "poison" lead.  More commonly, brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc, is the source of the zinc that "poisons" the lead.  I have read that lump Sulfur, broken into pieces, will adhere to the zinc and then can be skimmed off to clean up WW lead.

NOE sells ALOT of brass molds.

My reference was to removing zinc mixed in with molten lead when using wheel weights.  A bit different than a brass mold at much cooler temperatures.

[avator]

I have heard that zinc will "poison" lead.  More commonly, brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc, is the source of the zinc that "poisons" the lead.  I have read that lump Sulfur, broken into pieces, will adhere to the zinc and then can be skimmed off to clean up WW lead.

NOE sells ALOT of brass molds.

My reference was to removing zinc mixed in with molten lead when using wheel weights.  A bit different than a brass mold at much cooler temperatures.

Yep, thought about that after I hit send.

[triggertreat]

I have heard that zinc will "poison" lead.  More commonly, brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc, is the source of the zinc that "poisons" the lead.  I have read that lump Sulfur, broken into pieces, will adhere to the zinc and then can be skimmed off to clean up WW lead.

NOE sells ALOT of brass molds.

My reference was to removing zinc mixed in with molten lead when using wheel weights.  A bit different than a brass mold at much cooler temperatures.

Yep, thought about that after I hit send.

You're fired, lol.  It was/is an interesting thought though.  I'm not a metallurgy expert by any stretch.