making leads?

[codhead]

Once you get into the swing of things, it's a doddle. I made a combination of 57 Gemini & plain leads in less than two hours on Saturday

[steve devon]

Problem i had is my stove takes ages to melt the lead then it just goes solid again

Used a blow torch the other day and that worked a treat

[mithrandir]

Hi, if you are using a camping stove and not getting enough heat it could be that it is just butane,

To get a bit more heat into the lead either use a butane/propane stove or if you can get one a propane burner ( like the roofers on a building site use) these both burn hotter. Alternatively try using a smaller container, sounds like it is losing too much pre heat in the lead.

To help pouring see if you can get a bit of Plumbers flux and drop this in the melt just before pouring, watch the fumes though, can be a bit overpowering, the flux gets all the dross to the surface and gives you a runny lead to pour

Mike

[Omahayank]

I use bee's wax and (I'm told) parafin wax will do the trick too, instead of flux.

[John Marshall]

Originally Posted by Omahayank

I use bee's wax and (I'm told) parafin wax will do the trick too, instead of flux.

When do you add the wax? do you skim the dross? and what temp should the lead be?

Sorry for the questions just need to "polish" my lead making.

[Omahayank]

Theres 2 times I add wax. 1st when I'm cleaning up the lead (tire weights mostly) and dirty lead, when the lead is almost all melted and the steel clips are floating on the lead and a couple pea size pieces. It'll slough the remaining lead off the junk. Gets a (tiny)bit more lead and theres a lot fewer molten drops to watch out for when you pick them out(or skim them off).

I started out skimming w/a small ladle and came to the conclusion that I lost/wasted a LOT of lead. I tried several "tools". Finally I made a sort of tongs w/heavy wire to pick the major junk out, and a sort of "tines of a fork" contraption out of wire to skim the dross.

You can add the wax again either, after you've picked out the junk or when you go to use it. The dull grey on the lead after it sits will become a really fine powder dross. Add wax then, it'll turn the powdery dross to a wax mud. Skim this off before the wax burns away.

Wax also helps to keep alloys mixed if your mixxing up for modern or rifle bullets.

As far as temp I cant really say for sure...cool enough that the wax doesn't ignite! Be ready for it, just cover the pot

And remember this whole process is going to SMOKE LIKE CRAZY. Have enough ventilation to move the smoke from a candle, this should be enough for the actual pouring process

Good luck let us know and be Safe

[pingu]

wow good info omaha will trynext time

[codhead]

Originally Posted by steve devon

Problem i had is my stove takes ages to melt the lead then it just goes solid again

Used a blow torch the other day and that worked a treat

I've just managed to lay my hands on four of these little babies



They're Bullfinch patching furnaces, used by professionals. I'm jsut in the process of checking them over and cleaning them up. Once I've done that (waiting for the Bullfinch manual and parts catalogue), I'll have three for sale.

New ones retail at well over £100

[dobbin]

If you search around you will find a solid cast iron pan with a spout. They are hard to find nowadays but for gods sake dont use an aluminium pan cos the bottom will drop out. I make all my own weights and have saved myself a fortune over the last 40yrs

[monkey nuts]

as dobbin said use a good solid iron pan or you will get hert, the other good thing about iron is it will hold heat for longer
if you can get your hands on a oxi/asetlin gas axe(cant spell 4 ****) thay make it very easy and will give you a lot longer with molten lead to work with.
glad i saw this its reminded me to start making some wieghts for my wrecking trips over the next year. and the way i lose them its saving a lot of money