One guys exploration into casting bullets...

So I didn’t get as early of a start today but I did score two buckets of assorted wheel weight scrap.

funny story: I started off strong, was able to sort out the 2/3rds of the “pewter” I have bought from Savers. I then began to melt the quality pewter I had and got it to melt quickly and started to pour little coins into mini muffin tins. Then I went back for the second pour and the laddle was missing half the scoop. It had melted And I foolishly let the rest of it to melt into the pot. Now I am Laddleless and the molten mix is thicker like cottage cheese.

im now being driven by my GF to get a legit laddle from a Legit Restaurant supply store. I don’t know what was in that ladel but the nice shiny pewter I had going is now a grey cottage cheese. It still stirs so I’m not sure what’s up w that. unless I get some good replies in next half hour I’m Just going to set aside the pewter and move onto my range scrap.

good pewter:
View attachment 399653

Bad pewter (
View attachment 399654


I was able to get that to melt and get the glass bottom out Intact before any glass broke
View attachment 399656

dreaded RWP logo is very prominent on this piece, many others are not pressed so far in:
View attachment 399661
this is before the laddle melted into the mix:
View attachment 399659
I buy ladles for casting metal, online. Never thought of a restaurant supply.

Yeah man. Be careful with that RWP sh*t. If you already bought it, put it to good use, throw it at a liberal or something.

Maybe melt it separate to everything and cast some bullets from it, see how they shoot.
 
Worked til it was time for a headlamp. I think I did 65 lb of range scrap in bars.
C9EB66E3-0C21-4F78-AD5B-6D88401951A8.jpeg
I probably have 24 of the Redneck Gold bars poured as of the end of today’s session. I started with a pewter melt that hijacked my laddel. So off we went to Highland Restaurant Supply in Fall River. I scored two huge laddels and a wire mesh wonton scooper. EF264FED-7E42-490F-853C-A99D9E08E5C6.jpeg
I got a one piece ladel and in hindsight (if it can withstand the temps) the welded ones were stronger and I wish I had gotten one.
0FD54BF0-CE41-429D-A7B4-6E942FD4CF98.jpeg

that blue/purple hue appeared on the bottom of my laddel when I was done for the day:
A7BD606E-0990-45BB-8047-BC247455351B.jpeg

I have a bunch more to do tomorrow.
 
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so I have 12 bars poured of range scrap. I added a bunch of wheel weights and a few coins of the pewter. Now when I get ready to pour I’m getting a tan color that then turns purple and then blue. What’s happening here...

View attachment 399758View attachment 399760View attachment 399761
The hues are oxidation generally from running pot to hot the alloy will jump in temp as you laddle out your ignots.
You can flux it again as you bring it back down to temp.
You really only need to run your Alloy to just above molten melt temp.
Some aprox melt temps
Pewter - around 400’F depending on actual alloy
Clip on wheel wheights 560-600’F
Pure lead 600-650
I run my smelting pot around 700’

This plays into why I was saying I leave my sawdust flux on the melt until I get low. It keeps the alloy from contacting the air.

Some reading here

!
 
How do I use this air intake/choke to get most heat out of the gas I’m burning?
BDC7B28E-CA0A-46AC-9986-579B0228306A.jpeg


Oxidization and flashing sometimes had a varnish like coating like linseed oil or something.
Interesting. I just need to do a better job of staying away from the RWP pewter. It’s actually surprising because I found RWP on modern stuff as well as things that looked 40 years plus old.

This thread is about to take a slight turn...
these came from Solvinia today and I have been warned not to use them without properly seasoning them (wrong terminology but you get the point). One is aluminum (based on appearance) and the other is brass (based on appearance). The brass one came with pins and stuff to swap between hollow points and round nose. If you want me to get model numbers etc I can look them up.
81235297-ADE4-423A-8B32-4D032FB968A3.jpeg

Also, my propane supply might be depleted by end of tmwr and my existing tanks are too old to refill. Is this deal at Home Depot worth it:
8D941D72-C397-4BDA-B46E-54DE8AB99614.jpeg
 
Worked til it was time for a headlamp.
View attachment 399814
I probably have 24 of the Redneck Gold bars poured as of the end of today’s session. I started with a pewter melt that hijacked my laddel. So off we went to Highland Restaurant Supply in Fall River. I scored two huge laddels and a wire mesh wonton scooper. View attachment 399826


I got a one piece ladel and in hindsight (if it can withstand the temps) the welded ones were stronger and I wish I had gotten one.
View attachment 399833

that blue/purple hue appeared on the bottom of my laddel when I was done for the day:
View attachment 399825

I have a bunch more to do tomorrow.

Screw or hose clamp a old shovel handle or 1” dowels to the laddle handles it stiffens them up and keeps heat at bay
 
How do I use this air intake/choke to get most heat out of the gas I’m burning?
View attachment 399839



Interesting. I just need to do a better job of staying away from the RWP pewter. It’s actually surprising because I found RWP on modern stuff as well as things that looked 40 years plus old.

This thread is about to take a slight turn...
these came from Solvinia today and I have been warned not to use them without properly seasoning them (wrong terminology but you get the point). One is aluminum (based on appearance) and the other is brass (based on appearance). The brass one came with pins and stuff to swap between hollow points and round nose. If you want me to get model numbers etc I can look them up.
View attachment 399836

Also, my propane supply might be depleted by end of tmwr and my existing tanks are too old to refill. Is this deal at Home Depot worth it:
View attachment 399838
No clue how to adjust for the best fuel to air ratio.

Castboolits has some threads on seasoning a mould. Basically you want to oxidize them. Oh can do this by therms cycling them in the oven or by chemicals such as liver of sulfur for the brass.
Then the tin in your alloy won’t stick to the moulds. Think of it like a piece of copper pipe. If you don’t clean it with abrasives to nice shiny new metal you can’t solder it. That oxidation prevents soldering.
You want the same with your moulds.

A little birdie told me that if you go to wal mart or similar and swap the tanks out there they don’t check the dates.
If you don’t have any luck with that shoot me an email and I’ll give you a new tank. My buddy just gifted me 3 of them last week.
 
How do I use this air intake/choke to get most heat out of the gas I’m burning?
View attachment 399839



Interesting. I just need to do a better job of staying away from the RWP pewter. It’s actually surprising because I found RWP on modern stuff as well as things that looked 40 years plus old.

This thread is about to take a slight turn...
these came from Solvinia today and I have been warned not to use them without properly seasoning them (wrong terminology but you get the point). One is aluminum (based on appearance) and the other is brass (based on appearance). The brass one came with pins and stuff to swap between hollow points and round nose. If you want me to get model numbers etc I can look them up.
View attachment 399836

Also, my propane supply might be depleted by end of tmwr and my existing tanks are too old to refill. Is this deal at Home Depot worth it:
View attachment 399838
At those prices for the exchange you might want to buy a brand new tank or see if the kid will let you cherry pick the blue rhino tanks for the newest one.
i been looking for the 30# tank to go on sale somewhere.
Walmart near me was $16 for exchange. Which is not to bad. Every place around me charges $18 to charge a tank to 15# anyway. Except tractor supply but thats another 30 min away they light fill also but closer to full usually.
The air valve works like a choke just turn it and see the best blue flame you can get.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7sQ43rudHI&app=desktop

MP mold instructions
 
Mason once you figure out a newer tank don’t bother with blue rhino. They charge too much money and only give you 15#
Kenny’s Farm stand on route 6 in Fairhaven fills them to the max for $11.
Ken is the man! That’s where I get my Christmas trees. I noticed his $11 sign on my way home the other day.

If Ken rejects it I will probably cut open the old tank and make a second crucible so I can have a spare and possibly do two runs at the same time. And if you have a tank that still has a good date, I’d love to accept your offer!
 
Mason once you figure out a newer tank don’t bother with blue rhino. They charge too much money and only give you 15#
Kenny’s Farm stand on route 6 in Fairhaven fills them to the max for $11.
thats decent price, $2.40 g or so. Last trip to tractor supply i filled 3 tanks at $1.98/g
The last exchange I did was a last minute grab the tank is old and shitty but has a year left.
 
Ken is the man! That’s where I get my Christmas trees. I noticed his $11 sign on my way home the other day.

If Ken rejects it I will probably cut open the old tank and make a second crucible so I can have a spare and possibly do two runs at the same time. And if you have a tank that still has a good date, I’d love to accept your offer!
might pay to ask ken if he has a few tanks kicking around?
 
Tractor supply is listing new 20lb tanks $29. buying new gives you a solid 12yrs ----be sure to check the date on new tanks also.
HD has 30# tank for $60 , not to bad. I dont know anything about the different tank manufactures
 
So I did more range scrap today and a batch of wheel weights that I think might have gotten contaminated.
My thoughts on range scrap. The club has chicken wire that is fine enough to catch an intake 9mm jacket. and there is a ton of just dust in what I have. The people who volunteer to clean the range just want to get it done so we can start shooting again and that’s been me before, so I get the sentiment. So I feel like I should screen my range scrap w something slightly larger than window screen, to get the dust out before it’s mix in with molten lead.

I did a batch of wheel weights (WW) that my GF was so generous to help me sort. The results were very different from the range scrap. The WW melted down slower than I’d think and once melted the molten material was barely molten even though the flame was on high. Furthermore, with the range scrap all the lead flowed and dropped back to the center via gravity. The WW didn’t do that. See below photo. The second photo is of the molten material already hardening in the ladel mid pour. Is there a chance that I have accidentally allowed other metals into the mix that have higher melting temperature? That’s all i Could think of. It got to a point that I laddels half of the pot off into a bowl so I could try to get the material left in crucible to be hotter. It didn’t work. Ten minutes with the cover on and when I went to ladel, you see it was hardening up in the ladel. What’s going on?
Thanks again for all the help and encouragement. Final photo is the yield from two days.
AFE26267-591F-4BB8-93F5-31CEFC24B319.jpegE2D7C1CA-407E-4A02-AE20-FA04D81B63BB.jpeg


1142742E-3D7F-4B8D-84F9-18D09D3B8351.jpeg
Regarding seasoning the mp molds... could a toaster oven work or do I need to invest in a hot plate? Could my home oven work?

And to round it out, look who I got a call from:
FF634EDF-E6B9-445D-9FBE-4C85300FCBAB.png
 
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So I did more range scrap today and a batch of wheel weights that I think might have gotten contaminated.
My thoughts on range scrap. The club has chicken wire that is fine enough to catch an intake 9mm jacket. and there is a ton of just dust in what I have. The people who volunteer to clean the range just want to get it done so we can start shooting again and that’s been me before, so I get the sentiment. So I feel like I should screen my range scrap w something slightly larger than window screen, to get the dust out before it’s mix in with molten lead.

I did a batch of wheel weights (WW) that my GF was so generous to help me sort. The results were very different from the range scrap. The WW melted down slower than I’d think and once melted the molten material was barely molten even though the flame was on high. Furthermore, with the range scrap all the lead flowed and dropped back to the center via gravity. The WW didn’t do that. See below photo. The second photo is of the molten material already hardening in the ladel mid pour. Is there a chance that I have accidentally allowed other metals into the mix that have higher melting temperature? That’s all i Could think of. It got to a point that I laddels half of the pot off into a bowl so I could try to get the material left in crucible to be hotter. It didn’t work. Ten minutes with the cover on and when I went to ladel, you see it was hardening up in the ladel. What’s going on?
Thanks again for all the help and encouragement. Final photo is the yield from two days.
View attachment 400104View attachment 400108


View attachment 400110
Regarding seasoning the mp molds... could a toaster oven work or do I need to invest in a hot plate? Could my home oven work?

And to round it out, look who I got a call from:
View attachment 400154
I think you don’t have enough BTUs.
Especially with a cold windy day you can struggle to keep it molten.
Get some muriatic acid and drop it on the ingot. If there is zinc contamination it will foam up.
 
I think you don’t have enough BTUs.
Especially with a cold windy day you can struggle to keep it molten.
Get some muriatic acid and drop it on the ingot. If there is zinc contamination it will foam up.
IF there is zinc in it, is the whole batch trash? (She’s gonna kill me)
Does zinc look a certain way when melted?
 
IF there is zinc in it, is the whole batch trash? (She’s gonna kill me)
Does zinc look a certain way when melted?
Yeah basically.
It will look real clumpy and oatmeal like. However the fact that it was hardening in the ladle makes me think you didn’t have enough heat.
Did you have a thermometer to see what temp the melt was at?
 
Tractor supply is listing new 20lb tanks $29. buying new gives you a solid 12yrs ----be sure to check the date on new tanks also.
HD has 30# tank for $60 , not to bad. I dont know anything about the different tank manufactures
You get an extra 10lb of you buy two 20lbs for a total of $60.
 
So I did more range scrap today and a batch of wheel weights that I think might have gotten contaminated.
My thoughts on range scrap. The club has chicken wire that is fine enough to catch an intake 9mm jacket. and there is a ton of just dust in what I have. The people who volunteer to clean the range just want to get it done so we can start shooting again and that’s been me before, so I get the sentiment. So I feel like I should screen my range scrap w something slightly larger than window screen, to get the dust out before it’s mix in with molten lead.

I did a batch of wheel weights (WW) that my GF was so generous to help me sort. The results were very different from the range scrap. The WW melted down slower than I’d think and once melted the molten material was barely molten even though the flame was on high. Furthermore, with the range scrap all the lead flowed and dropped back to the center via gravity. The WW didn’t do that. See below photo. The second photo is of the molten material already hardening in the ladel mid pour. Is there a chance that I have accidentally allowed other metals into the mix that have higher melting temperature? That’s all i Could think of. It got to a point that I laddels half of the pot off into a bowl so I could try to get the material left in crucible to be hotter. It didn’t work. Ten minutes with the cover on and when I went to ladel, you see it was hardening up in the ladel. What’s going on?
Thanks again for all the help and encouragement. Final photo is the yield from two days.
View attachment 400104View attachment 400108


View attachment 400110
Regarding seasoning the mp molds... could a toaster oven work or do I need to invest in a hot plate? Could my home oven work?

And to round it out, look who I got a call from:
View attachment 400154
Bro, you are making me jealous with all the lead you are melting. I LOVE IT!!
 
Hey all you cool cats and kittens, it’s Jeff from the seminar. I haven’t melted anything since the seminar. But I have acquired molds and some lead. After I finish my honey dew list I’m going to start learning.
The propane tank thread gives some good ideas. That’s the next thing needed to be done.
Can’t wait to share my stories

I’m curious how well I did with a bucket of 60/40 solder from a yard sale for 6$
 

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Hey all you cool cats and kittens, it’s Jeff from the seminar. I haven’t melted anything since the seminar. But I have acquired molds and some lead. After I finish my honey dew list I’m going to start learning.
The propane tank thread gives some good ideas. That’s the next thing needed to be done.
Can’t wait to share my stories

I’m curious how well I did with a bucket of 60/40 solder from a yard sale for 6$
Geez now you’re just braggin!

You know if you need an old propane tank to cut apart I know where one is. Someone left one on my parents property over near where an old backhoe was. I think this Redneck used to use it as an air tank for the air horns on his big block Chevy pickup. Anyways he left it there and it’s been waiting to be turned into a smelting tank ever since.
You’re welcome to it.
 
IF there is zinc in it, is the whole batch trash? (She’s gonna kill me)
Does zinc look a certain way when melted?
I will say No. i have melted ALOT if wheel wheights and I have melted zinc into the mix , there has to be a good amount of zinc to really spoil the alloy.
When melting the wheel weights did you have alot of them floating on top?

I have also melted zinc wheel weights and casted bulletswith them. Dont bother trying it its not worth the effort.

Try again tomorrow with the wheel weights. Get a good full tank and make sure tour regulator is running right. My regulator is a touchy sob.
I have to open my tank just enough to get some gas flowing , light the burner then open up the tank valve more to get a good flame.
 
Yeah basically.
It will look real clumpy and oatmeal like. However the fact that it was hardening in the ladle makes me think you didn’t have enough heat.
Did you have a thermometer to see what temp the melt was at?
I didn’t have a thermometer. I’m waiting for one to arrive in two weeks.
Since they melt at different temps, can’t I get creative and separate them? I have about 30lb in this questionable batch. Like if I raise temp to 800 get all nice and liquified and then let the temp drop, I can strain the zinc as it hardens and the lead is still molten... wishful thinking perhaps...

This tool is how I dealt with screening the range scrap from molten lead once it was time to get the crap out and load a new batch.

anyone wanna lend me a high temp Thermometer til Halloween? How much luck will I have w a infrared laser thermometer pointed at outside of crucible?
90C42DD5-1D3D-4C35-B243-3199F05F423F.jpeg
 
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This is true,
Geez now you’re just braggin!

You know if you need an old propane tank to cut apart I know where one is. Someone left one on my parents property over near where an old backhoe was. I think this Redneck used to use it as an air tank for the air horns on his big block Chevy pickup. Anyways he left it there and it’s been waiting to be turned into a smelting tank ever since.
You’re welcome to it.
do you still have that old Lincoln tombstone? We can turn that up and just burn open that tank youknowhatimean
 
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