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Here's what I got. I received a new Lee IV pot. I got 8 various molds. I got several pounds of 1/4-oz lead balls (they have some chalky substance - is it ok???) I have no hooks to fit any molds yet, but I want to play around pouring. Can someone teach me from there? What needs to be done to clear the chalky substance and can I pour a few practice shots w/o hooks. Thats for any help.
The chalky stuff on the lead might be cause it's recycled from car batteries. The white stuff might be acid. I might be wrong and probably am but I'd be careful.
i am by no means an expert, but i would guess you could just put them in the pot and melt them. It would prob be nice if you could figure out what the chalky stuff was though. Perhaps there's a way to clean them before putting them into the pot. just make sure they are DRY if you do wash them off.
You could do practice pours if you wanted. I will make several practice pours before I start putting the hooks into the molds just to make sure the molds are heated up. The smaller jigs are a little trickier to pour because of how little space there is in the cavity. From what I've learned, you have to pay more attention to make sure the lead pours directly into the hole and doesn't break stream or the jig will not come out perfectly.
It's corrosion.Rinse the lead off with plain water and let dry completely.Put them in the pot and melt it down.Throw in a marble sized piece of beeswax or pretty much any candle wax.It will flame up or smole a lot,don't be alarmed,lol.Get an old teaspoon and scoop the crud off the top of the molten lead.Make sure that you put a trash can of some kind to throw it in.Don't get ahead of yourself and chuck it on the ground.lol.You can pour all of your molds without hooks.You can try some other hooks that you have.They might work here and there.Be carefull.I keep mine at around #7 and it does well,heat wise.
Here's what I'm planning on doing. Wash and rinse the lead balls to clean some chalky stuff off. Then bake the lead to insure its dry. Then heat the lead in the pot at the #7 setting and add some candle wax. With eye protection, long pants and sleeves, and gloves pour some sample runs w/o hooks. Couple questions... can I keep the melted lead stored in the pot or should I empty the pot each time? What should I do to prepare the mold? Spooning out floating stuff - does lead come with it and should the lead also be discarded? thanks again.
NP64
Yes you can store the lead in the pot try and keep the pot Half full.To prepare your molds as your heating up your lead lay the mold on top of the pot to heat it up as well (Dont get the wood handle to close it will burn)When spooning out just skim the top you may get a little lead but not much as your pulling it out let the lead flow out of the spoon.Hope this helps JamesQuote:
Originally Posted by Nightprowler64
A couple of things
Do not melt this lead down in your new pot ... you need to melt it down in another pot such as a cast iorn one ... best to heat it with a gas flame (I use a Deep Fry Cooker Burner) ... Do the fluxing thing (Very important) add most any wax (after it has melted) .. for the amount you mentioned a Small marble size will do ... it will smoke and if it does not ignite it self take a lighter .. match what have you .. light a piece of paper and stick it in the smoke and be prepared for it to ignite ... it is best to STIR WHILE BURNING ... after the burn is complete dip off the residue on top ( helps to scrape the sides and bottom of the container as well and dip again) I use a big Kitchen Spoon. ...... now then pour into ingots .... a cast iorn Muffin pan, some use other than cast iorn.
You need to keep the lead in the Pouring pot as clean as possible and when adding to the old in a pouring pot do a "Fluxing" on it ... Yes you are advised to keep the pot full when not in use .. cuts down on corrosion.
Hope this helps
JSC
The chalky stuff is because it's oxidized, all lead will do this. It comes from
contact with humidity in the air. It will SMOKE and is very toxic, so outside is
a must!!! Once you melt it down and skim off the slag, it will be fine. Store
your ingots in a ziploc bag if your going to keep them outside. Or something
airtight, ammo tins, popcorn tins etc. You can use your Lee to melt, you will
have to "clean" it a little more. Or use a piece of wire to poke the spout out
if it clogs up. With this EPA stuff I wouldn't rush out and buy a bunch of stuff
I keep my pot half full for quicker start-up and I also pre-heat my molds on
top of the pot. Practice runs are good, but every time you remelt lead you
will get more oxidation( the slag that floats). Welcome to the world of af-
fordable fishing. Now you'll have all your buddies fishing your tackle. Just
remember "It costs 2x as much at the lake" haha. Theres some other threads
listed for pouring, have fun and enjoy. Molten lead is hypnotizing, be careful.
Looks like you got all the information that you need for awhile.get going now,lol.
I jumped the gun a bit and put the lead in the heat pot. It had sand like stuff floating on top which I scaped off with a spoon... and the heat melted the spoon tip. I pour the liquid lead into a cast iron mold just to get the lead clean. It did not smoke much at all, so I didn't add wax since I didn't pour any into the lure mold. The end results came out bright and silver. Then I ran out of time, so tommorow or this evenng I will play some more. I found a source for pure lead in 1 pound ingots for fifty-cents per pound. Is that a good going price? Thanks again.
The wax fluxes the lead.Turn the pot down a little at a time until you get just enough heat to do what you need to do.You won't get any smoke or flame ups because you did'nt add the wax.
Even if you have pure lead it still needs to be fluxed as it does oxidize.
I store it in 5 gal PVC pails with a lid (harder to find with a lid)
Have Fun
JSC
Welcome to the insanity of pouring LOL!!!!! Glad to see your comment "With eye protection, long pants and sleeves, and gloves pour some sample runs w/o hooks."
Some store lead in their pots I personnally don't, the powder is just oxidization on the lead.
Don't be afraid of tire weights, in some molds it will pour fine others you'll need pure. 50 cents a pound for pure ingots is a GREAT price!!!! but again, if you can find free lead, old water pipe, roof flashing or your hospital re-does their xray lab (if you can get some of it) they replace the old lead shielding.
Now this has come up before about car batteries and lead, DON"T try it it's just not worth it. BUT!!!! if you want to yank the two terminals (if the battery has them) thats fine as their pure lead.
Have fun BE SAFE!!!!!!!!! and if you run into any problems or questions let us know and we'll help you out.
Fatman
'Prowler
$.50 a pound is a pretty decent price for pure lead - just don't go buy to much ( like some one I know did - like about 400# worth :( :( ) - until the the EPA thing in gets settled.
UG
Wow!! I have to ask you, what type of a spoon did you use to skim the slag off of your molten lead with?? I've got a couple of old tablespoons that I have been using for 30 years and have never had any part of either one of them melt. Lead melts at around 327 degrees which is way below what it would take to melt a regular old household spoon. Most steel will melt at a little over 1300 degrees.