lead temperarure

[JohnN]

What if any is the best temperature for lead when casting roundball?

[R.M.]

John, I've found that if you're pouring pure lead, a slightly higher temp helps, something in the 800 degree range. I've even approached 900 at times, but not on purpose. What also helps is a hot mold. With pure, heat is your friend.

[Bigsmoke]

I have also found that it depends a bit on the size of the ball, the larger it is, the warmer it should be.
I kind of shy away from casting when at all possible, so my expertise on the subject is pretty limited.

[Loyalist Dave]

Gee guys, I just heat up the lead until it melts, and pours easily from my ladle, and warm the mold until the balls come out unwrinkled..., if they get "frosted" I slow down a bit.  Never needed a temperature gauge, for casting.

LD

[JohnN]

But if a certain temperarure works better than another why not use it. I've been casting my own for quite awhile .I'm buying a thermometer to temper springs in a lead bath and figured if there is an "ideal" temp for casting ball I'd use it.

[Uncle Russ]

JohnN,
FWIW,.... RM offered some pretty good advise IMO.
Although pure lead has a relatively low melting point of around 621* F, it also cools rather quickly.

The reason RM, myself, and many others "run hot" or around that 800* F mark is to insure a complete fill of the mould, ie same, or near the same, weight roundball each time.
Many feel the right temperature of pure lead in round ball is just below "frosty", and for the smaller ball up to .54, the 800* seems to work fairly well.

The real heavy weights .58, .62, .69, and .72 is where "running hot" shines best, however your casting "rhythm" definitely comes into play with these because your mould will get so hot you can't get a decent "puddle" at the sprue, which results in the sprue tearing, or the ball itself will remain so hot, and soft, that the simple act of dropping it from the mould onto a wet towel will create an egg shape, or out-of-round ball.  
 
If there is a void in the ball you obviously can not see it and the  only way to find it is to weigh it...any variances in your weights indicates you are not getting a complete fill in the mould, but that is not all bad as long as that variance is not too great .

I have often fired .54 cal round ball with a weight variance as much as six or eight grains and the impact difference was hardly noticeable if at all....in fact, if you weigh a box of new store bought balls, you will find that same difference in them too.
The goal, of course, with a .54 cal is to cast a perfect 224gr ball each and every time.  

Casting is not Rocket Science.... I got along quite well without a Thermometer for many years...if I could melt it,  if it came out round, and if I could fit a patch around it and still get it down the bore, I could shoot it.

Is a thermometer an absolute necessity? I don't think so.

As with everything else in this hobby, YMMV
Still yet, for the past thirty or so years, I have never regretted owning one and I use it every time I cast, which is a lot when weather permits.
That little "temp control" on the pot is nothing more than a reference and nothing to depend on.

Uncle Russ...

[Gordon H.Kemp]

I"m one of the "many others" Russ spoke of . Once you get a feel for the right heat I think a thermometer is just not needed . For the use that you are going to buy it for thats a different story.
      I don"t know this , but have read that lead starts to vaporize at around 900 degrees  F. Thats when you are in danger from inhaleing the fumes ? but at that tempt the balls would be showing frosting .

[R.M.]

Gordon, this what I found at one site. How true, I couldn't tell you.

Lead:

Melting point 600.61 K,?327.46 °C,?621.43 °F
Boiling point 2022 K,?1749 °C,?3180 °F (at its boiling point is starts to emit vapors, which is your concern.)

[Gordon H.Kemp]

Thanks RM , I would doubt that my source of heat would ever reach that point . I would imagine your information is correct  .

[R.M.]

I've always doubted the theory about "Lead Vapors", but had never researched it. That was only one source, but good-nuff for me.

[Uncle Russ]

FWIW, I have always heard and read that with a "conventional" heat source, you can't get lead hot enough to emit lead vapors or fumes...lead fumes or vapors are not to be confused with smoke.

I have to say I have a unit from a Turkey Deep Fryer that is operated by a high volume / high pressure propane regulator, as opposed to your typical Camping, RV, Motor Home propane low volume / low pressure regulator that will melt the bottom out of a Cast Iron pot, if I allow that pot to run out of lead....does that unit emit vapors?
I don't know, but you can be sure I am very careful in using that unit as a heat source.

Using conventional heat sources, such as a Lee, Lyman, Herters, or RCBS smelting pot, I never worry about vapors or fumes with pure lead.
I also use a lot of wheel weights, and some of the "crap" you get in that stuff smokes and stinks like the devil, and I am just as careful with that...normally that type of smoke can be lit and quickly burned off with one of the long BBQ lighters, but be careful when you do it, you will most likely get a "flash".

Of course any topic on casting should always contain the standard safety precautions and I don't want to neglect that.
Good common sense use of your casting pot, to include eye protection, is a must....along with protective clothing such as a long sleeve shirt, leather gloves, and even good sound foot wear can go a long way in providing you hours of enjoyment in this hobby.

Water and other liquids is something you want to be very careful with around molten lead.
For different reasons, I do "water-drop" some projectiles to increase hardness, and I keep a wet towel on my bench to drop the projectiles on...this not only cools the projectile quickly, without burning anything, it also allows me to touch the bottom and sides of the mould to it occasionally to keep the temperature of the mould down, should my rhythm get too fast.
My rhythm, or casting pace, is determined by the sprue puddle. With a little practice it is very easy to tell when your mould is getting to hot.

The wet towel is harmless, actually it's very helpful, but a bucket of water can be downright dangerous unless it is behind and to the side of both you and the pot, where you have to make an effort to get to it if you are water dropping......

I imagine I am preaching to the choir with most of my remarks, but safety is always first and foremost, and I hope we all adhere to basic safety precautions when we are casting.

Uncle Russ...

[FlintSteel]

I've been buying balls for some time and just recently started casting my own balls again. I did it years ago using Lyman single cavity moulds in .440 and .745?. Had little to no problem with these.  Now I'm moulding balls in .490 in a double cavity lyman mould and finding that about a third of the balls have flaws. I really miss single cavity moulds.

Another thing is what is all the crud building up on the melted lead in the pot. When skimmed of it looks like shiney coal clinkers. What is in this stuff, I don't remember that happening when I used to mould? Is it re-meltable or should it be trashed?

[Dewey]

Just because molten lead is nowhere near it's boiling point does not mean you aren't getting lead vapors!

Consider that water boils at 212 degrees F, but can evaporate at room temperature.
The closer to the boiling point, the more vapors that are released.

So be cautious even at 800-900 F !