calling all bullet casters ! treating cast iron ?

[leroyd92]

i have several cast iron things i use for melting lead. what can i use to treat the cupcake molds (cast iron) and the pot so it doesnt rust.


ill admit, the otherday i coated the outside of the mold and pot lid with cheapy candle wax and it looks great.

i lost my mind and also coated the inside of the mold (where ill be dropping molten lead in ) and think i made a huge mistake.... i can always remove it but i wanted to see what others say first.

 

[leroyd92]

oh, and the treating was to prevent rust btw. no other reason

 

[FastGame]

At one time I cast a bunch of .44/45-70 and I would use the bore butter-wonder lube for black powder guns. It worked great and never messed up the castings.

Think back in the old days of Davy Crockett and all pioneers, they used bacon grease or lanolin for most things gun wise.

 

[FastGame]

This is a nice place if you want to get serious about everything http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php

 

[Kira]

Hello, My uncle kept a heavily oiled rag in his pot and an oiled bullet in his mold. Kira

 

[AlaskaMike]

I don't know that rust in the pot or ingot mold (muffin tin) is a problem like it would be in your bullet molds. A little bit of surface rust aids in release, so it would probably actually be beneficial in the muffin tin.

When you mention your pot, are you talking about a relatively large pot which you use to melt down wheel weights and other sources of raw lead which you then cast ingots from? Or are you talking about a smaller pot that you cast bullets directly from?

In the first case I wouldn't care at all about surface rust. In the second case, you want it as clean as possible, so a light wipe of oil on the inside surface is probably a good idea.

My $.02 anyway. FastGame is 100% right about the Castboolits site.

Mike

 

[leroyd92]

hello!

i was reffering to the pot i use to process bulk lead like weights or scrap.

i guess its not a big deal, but i just hated the rust that formed after a sprinkle a few months back...

 

[ironman_gq]

wax in the pot shouldn't cause any issues with the lead, I know a few guys who use paraffin as a fluxing agent when processing reclaimed lead for casting. It just helps pull all the crud to the surface where it can be skimmed off.