New melting pot

I have read that <and I can't remember where I read it> a new melting pot needs to be broke in.. as in some kind of coating needs to he heated on it before I melt lead in it..
any1 know of this???

Thanks
Dan

I am not sure about that one. When I bought my Lee Production Pot, the 10 pounder. I turned it on and let it heat up a bit, probably about minutes and then just put the lead in and let it start melting. Probably doesn't hurt anything, I personally did not feel comfortable with the heating element on without any lead in it to melt. When I am finished, I leave about 1/4" of lead in the bottom to solidify so that when I use it next, the heating element has something to be melting, plus, it will melt the rest of your lead quicker IMO.

I hope that made sense....

I wouldn't let anything "treat" the pot as oils or whathaveyou aren't a good thing mixed in your lead... the instructions do sometimes recommend cleaning them out before using them the first time, with brakecleen or a non residual cleaner like that

I used candle wax to "cure" mine on low heat.. It will smoke and burn out when you add the lead.... no different than fluxing. I will often coat my Lee pot with wax if it isn't going to be used for awhile to keep rust from forming in the pot.

I didn’t do any prep work to mine. Just started tossing in wheel weights. If it isn’t going to be used in a while I’ll spray it down with WD40. No problems yet.

I would assume that the same way you treat your molds before putting them away would be a good way to start it out, or when you store it?
A very knowledgeble individual told me to use Mineral Oil to lightly coat the metal parts on my mold to keep them from rusting when I put it away. It leaves very little residue and quickly burns off without affecting the cast boolits, although I don't use it on the brass or aluminum parts, only the steel ones like the sprue plate.
Don't know if that helps you with your melting pot or not?
I personally would just clean it with some non-residue type cleaner and have at it, use it like you stole it.

I currently only use aluminum molds and store them with the last pour of lead still in them. That’s what ammosmith recommends with steel molds. I probably don’t need to do this with aluminum but so far it works great. When I get new molds I clean them with mechanics’ orange hand cleaner, only the kind without the grit in it.

for all the years ive been reloading i have really never did that much casting. I am now doing a lot of swagging and have gotten myself some core casting molds and plan on making my own as well. What I dont know and why do you flux your lead pot? I watched Daywalkers video and i used parafin like he did but why?

It cleans the lead a little bit more and bring all the crud that is on the side of your pot to the surface. Usually after smelting your lead, you flux that and you have clean ingots. Then when you melt it in the pot, you do another flux to get the crud that clings to the side of your pot and dirt and stuff that collects onto your ingots. Just another good way to make sure you have a very clean alloy..

thanks that cleared up a lot. LOL i was thinking fluxing as in making the lead stick as in soldering. didnt see that it would help much in a pot.

Got ya lol... Yea that i the next thing on my list. Using Flux to bond my cores to the jacket for swaging...

thanks all ...
I did melt some wax into the sides and smoked it, added lead and my 10 pounder is working GREAT!!!
Thanks for all the info.. Daniel came over and showed me the right way to
use my molds.. :-) I guess the old man can still learn a thing or two from the younger generation.. <Big Evil Grin>

Your lead ingots are always collecting oxidation and dirt whether you can see it or not. Notice how they are bright and shiny when you first make them into ingots, then go back a month or so later and they look dull. That's just age taking it's toll and the lead collects all the contaminants around it.
Fluxing while your casting every so often, keeps all that oxidation and dirt rising to the top so it can be skimmed off. It just makes for nicer looking boolits and more uniform fill out when cast, it also keeps the excess crud out of your mold.......which is a big plus.

Here's your free casting tip of the day, and one of the best ones I have to offer.
When smelting down your wheel weights for the first time, try using 20 Mule Team Borax as a fluxing agent. It only takes about 1 table spoon to quickly cover an entire pot of lead because it expands with the heat, and best of all it doesn't smoke, nor does it catch fire. It will sizzle a bit while it cooks on top of the lead, then it turns to a light cake on top. I break the cake up with my big stirring spoon and chop it gently into the molten lead, that way it picks up all the contaminants that it possibly can. Then just simply skim it off the top and discard in your dross can or tray....whatever you use for your waste. The lead left behind will be mirror like shiny, cleaned and ready to pour into ingots.

20 Mule Team Borax comes in a big box like laundry detergent and has so many uses that I don't think they have all been discovered yet. One box will last forever and it's fairly cheap. You may have to do some searching to find a store that carries it, but it's out there and it's normally in the same area where you find laundry detergent and other cleaners.

i'll have to try the borax, i happen to have a box, i use it for washing cloths..

thanks mohunter for the tip!

DanRickard wrote:i'll have to try the borax, i happen to have a box, i use it for washing cloths..

thanks mohunter for the tip!

I don't think the borax laundry detergent is the same thing as the 20 mule team borax I grew up with as a kid..
we did use it as a hand soap after working on cars but just as a scrubber we added dish soap or washed with dish soap after using it.. it was an additive for cleaning floors and the laundry.. I have only seen the old time 20 mule team stuff at ace hardware a few times.. the laundry soap has it in it but it's not the same thing.. the 20 mule team is straight borax with out the extra soap.. Man that does bring back some OLD memories.. :-)

and thanks mohunter for the tip from me too !!!

Danziger..

Danziger wrote:

DanRickard wrote:i'll have to try the borax, i happen to have a box, i use it for washing cloths..

thanks mohunter for the tip!

I don't think the borax laundry detergent is the same thing as the 20 mule team borax I grew up with as a kid..Danziger..

nope.. i got the right stuff.. here's a pic

yep... that's the stuff


:-)

Your right about that Danziger, it's not the same. The 20 Mule Team Borax has no soap in it, and it has no odor.......it's just straight Borax. I really didn't have a hard time finding it, but for the life of me I cannot remember where?
It's an excellent degreaser, whitener, deoderizer, and can be added to almost anything to boost the cleaning power.
It is some amazing stuff and in today's world of prepackaged, ready to use items Borax has all but been forgotten about, mainly because people are too lazy to try it.


Posted before I saw the pic Dan...........Yep that's it!