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Originally Posted by leptar
Hi,
Just got done making a ton of sinkers... 2-16oz banks and 1-3oz egg... during the course of melting the lead sometimes tanned on us... other times it was just perfect silver color...
We ran into a problem with the bank sinkers larger then 8oz... lots of hollow spots... the molds were hot the ladle was hot... everything was perfect.. just when we cleaned the trim there was a hollow spot inside... The lead we used was old but unused water pipe and a bunch of trim from a buddies chimney(new)..
Never had a problem like that before... we were getting 5 bad to 1 good... we oiled the hinges with a needle dropper.. (motor oil)
Never noticed this before we have been pouring our own stuff now for like 10+ years...
Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else..
I poured the lead not to slow but never fast... I sometimes get a layered sinker in the begining...
any input / experience would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks
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Done a lot of molding for .75 Musket balls and smaller.
Generally speaking;
Hollow spots - supply more lead to the spue and keep melted til it's drawn in.
Wrinkles- mold / lead too cool, warm it a bit more (couldbe cooling in your laddle if you're pouring too slow or with a smallish ladle)
Crystalized look - lead being poured is too hot
A rule of thumb on good temps are usually gold / wheat colored on top. The silver color is good melted temps, however by the time it passes air going to/into the mold it's cooled just a bit too much to fill out preperly. Also the time spent in the laddle while pouring them large sinkers is loosing heat as well. By-the-way, your laddle capacity shouldbe at least 1 1/2 times your mold cavity's capacity to maintain heat, more is better.
The lead you're using never goes bad! And I'll tell you many front loader riflemen would be cursing you for using such prime musket fodder on sinkers.
If your supply is limited you could cut it 50% with wheel weights or line-o-type if it's readily available. difference wouldbe neglagible.
If you feel you'd like to flux your lead, Bee's Wax (from a local bee keeper) works perfectly. Personally, just skimming the top is satisfactory for me (and I've gotten particular about my balls/bullets weighing w/i 0.3 grains for match shooting).
Hope some of this can be of help?
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