Casting question

[bronko22000]

OK guys - I am going to start casting again. I am going to get an electric melting pot though first instead of the cast iron pot and coleman camping stove. I see Cabelas has the Lee IV with bottom pour on sale for $60. Its been a long time since I casted and I want to know:
How much and how often do you 'flux' the lead?
What do you use for flux (would bees wax work)?

[cayugad]

I use candle wax. When I have the lead good and hot, I throw a small chunk on top of the lead and it will light itself. After it burns out I use a skimmer I made and skim all the crud off the lead. I have to dip so it is very important that I skim the lead.

I will add more wax and skim when I see the crud forming or when I add more lead.

[bronko22000]

Thanks Dave. But will bees wax work? Do use regular candles. I can steal some from the wife's stash.
Hmmmm you may be on to something here. Maybe I can use one of her apple scented candles and have my balls (muzzleloader balls Semisane!) smell like apples. Then when the deer come in to sniff the end of the barrel, I might be able to hit it.

[Semisane]

I don't flux at all.

I use a little home made natural gas jet burner and iron pot. I get the lead good and hot and stir it with a small steel rod (a 12" piece about 3/16" diameter steel that I cut from some piece of junk or other with a 4" wood handle attached that I cut from an old broom stick). I suspect I get it hotter than an electric pot would, but really don't know because I've never used one.

Anyway, I stir it then skim the dross with a large aluminum spoon. After two or three stir & skim cycles the lead is as clean as it's ever going to get. Then I reduce the heat and let it cool down a bit before I begin casting.

EDIT/COMMENT ADDED: I seldom have more dross develop during the casting session.

[idahoron]

I cast large conicals. I don't like a bottom pour for the big stuff. When I went to a ladle the bullets gained weight by about 3 to 4 grains. That means the mould was not filling out as well as it needed to. The accuracy of the bullets also got better with the bullets filling out better. I tried to get the mould hotter and the lead hotter but I never got the fill out I wanted. What was happening was the nozzle would start to slowly plug. As it started to plug the lead was cooling down as it entered the mould. The bigger the bullet the farther it had to fall.
I have pin pointed the hardness I need for my bullets with my hardness tester. I add enough lead shot to bump it up just a pinch like from 5 BHN to 6 or close to 7 BHN. The tin in the mix helps to homogenize the mix and I don't need to flux at all when making bullets. I do that when I first make the ingots.
Lastly the bottom pour pots always drip. If it were me I would order a ladle pot in the 20 pound range. Ron

[bronko22000]

Ron, thanks for the info. I was looking at the pots too. I just thought the bottom pour would be more convenient. I was planning on casting .54 balls, .45 Maxiballs(230 gr) and 320 gr REALs.

[HEAD0001]

I agree with IdahoRon. I also do not like bottom pour pots. He hit upon the best reason. But there are others. I get consistently better bullets when poured with a ladle.

I have heard pros and cons about fluxing for years. All I know is this. I have tried all the above including sawdust. Then i started using Marvelux. No matter what I fluxed with. I then used Marvelux afterwards, and more filth came out of the lead.

To me consistency is KING in casting. My bullets are consistently better with Marvelux. So you will see a few containers of it on my bench.

The Lee pots are pretty good. But my favorite is the small Lyman pot. I think it is a 10# pot. I like the low profile of the small Lyman pot. A 10# pot is not real large. But I only cast for my own use. And I do not get in any hurry. I actually enjoy my time at the casting table. Tom.

[cayugad]

I don't like the bottom pour either. I purchased a turkey cooker years ago. It came with a stand and a Bunsen burner type set up. I wired an old stove grate onto the stand am I place that Lyman pot of mine there. I get that lead nice and hot, then dip with a Lyman dipper and pour my molds full.

A little trick.. when you pour your mold, leave a bubble of lead on the top of the pour hole. It keeps you from getting small holes in the base of the conical bullets you pour.

[bronko22000]

Thanks guys. Looks like you may have saved me some $$. I was going to buy the Lee IV - bottom pour pot. But I guess from what you all are saying, I may as well stick with my Coleman camp stove and my cast iron pot and ladle.