Thread: Poured first heads today, need some advice

Being as I owned a shop that poured, painted, and sold close to 5000 jigs per week (1/2oz or bigger) I "might" know a thing or two!

One thing I have never done is left lead in a pot to cool. The issue you described with the red residue was probably rust coming from the side of the pot. You will get that from time to time. I always had a good kitchen spoon to skim off the top of my lead. That gold color you got could be alloys melting off. When you get really soft lead (say 95% or higher in purity) you can burn it. Meaning the pot can get too hot. You will know it is happeneing when you start to get a whole lot of clumps on the surface.

As others have said, clean the spout. That dripping is allowing the lead to cool as it enters the mold. You want a nice smooth flow. If you find that you are having issues with the bottom pour, you might consider purchasing a laddle. I laddle poured the majority of my jigs while running two or three pots at a time.

A few things I have learned that might help you out.
Hard lead (wheel weights and bullet molds) cool quicker and have a less consistant pour. You can develope issues even though you are doing everything right.
Pure lead has a tendancy to tarnish after the head is poured if you don't use it right away. Not a huge deal if you are running solid colors but a big deal if using unpainted jigs for their brightness or colors that are see through (like candy).

Prepare all your lead long before you use it. I purchased my lead in bulk (300 to 1000lbs at a time). I would hang the block from my tractor bucket and use a propane weed torch to melt it into a cast iron skillet. From there I would dip it into my ingot molds. A cast iron muffin tin works great and will yeild approximately a 2lb puck.

Prepare HARD lead as well. I would get wheel weights from shops. Many of them are NOT lead anymore but you will still get them. I prepared 1lb and 1/2 pound ingots from my lee mold.

The recipe I found that worked the best for me was 15lbs of soft lead to 3 lbs of hard lead. This gave me a tempurature over 750 degrees, allowed for a nice even flow, reduced slag, produced a slightly harder head than soft lead, and reduced the head tarnish issues. Understand that I could pour 20lbs of lead into jigs in under 15 minutes so I was going through the lead. It didn't have time to sit long.

It is a learning process and finding the right recipe for you based on what you have access to is key. Some with "flow" better than others. Some will not clog up your bottom pour. You just have to find the right recipe!

Thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate it. I never considered buying lead but I may have to, especially for the 32’s. Where is the cheapest place to buy good lead and what should I expect to pay per pound? I’m sure the more that I buy the cheaper it will get.

One more question, where does the rust in the lead come from? Is it from the pot?

Originally Posted by FurFlyin

Thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate it. I never considered buying lead but I may have to, especially for the 32’s. Where is the cheapest place to buy good lead and what should I expect to pay per pound? I’m sure the more that I buy the cheaper it will get.

One more question, where does the rust in the lead come from? Is it from the pot?

Best place if you have one or more is check with your scrap yards. Most will have it sperated if they have any. If you know anyone that works for a power company sometimes they can get you scrap lead from institutions of high power ines. They use a lot of lead couplings that get damaged when installing. At scrap yard it will be market price which normally is less than you would pay someone else. I have resorted to eBay and gotten good soft lead.
Yes the rust or oxidation is from the pot itself. That’s the reason for a periodic cleaning.

Originally Posted by Cray

Get you a 6 in piece of stainless wire abou .026- .032. Bend about 2 inches over into almost a L. Using a good pair of pliers grasp the longer part of the wire. Start the tip of the short section into the spout, lift the handle and work that wire up into the spout. That should clear it for a bit. You need to get something to pour ingots into that are a size that will fit back into pot. Pour out all the existing lead. Then scrape and clean the pot really good. And if you can find one a small round wire brush to clean the por spout. You will need to remove stem that is the stopper for pour spot and clean tip good on wire brush. Then remedy your lead. Almost every time you flux you will get a little residue on the surface. I use a old bent table spoon to clean it off. Almost impossible to find pure clean lead.

Go to a welding supply store and get a set of gas torch tip cleaners,after you clean lead out of pot take tip cleaners and run into pour spour, the ridges in the cleaners will scrape it clean and make it pour better.I had the same problem with my pot from using wheel weights until I learned better

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I've got torch tip cleaners at the shop, I'll give those a try, thanks.

When I got the pot, I cleaned it. Really good. I got all the residue off the sides of the pot. I used a 60 grit flap wheel in a die grinder to get every speck of old lead and corrosion out of the pot. Once it was empty, I used a drill bit the size of the rod that opens and closes the spout and ran it down in the spout by hand to get the corrosion out of the spout. I wish I had asked the questions before I went to all that trouble because once I got it spotless, I put that same old lead back in the pot. LOL

I don't know anything about pouring, but if you know any contractors that work hospitals that's a great place to find great pure lead!

Skip

Skip I don't, but I can look. Thanks.

Originally Posted by FurFlyin

Skip I don't, but I can look. Thanks.

From time to time they have to re-do the X-Ray room lead I believe. So the old stuff is what your looking for and hoping for a good deal?

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