Bad Joo Joo. I think???

[geargnasher]

Oxides only form on the surface, where the oxygen is, and the tin oxidizes faster than lead.
[snip]
Now that you've tried 'fluxing with fire' you see how you turn scum into ash.
I don't call it dross because I think of dross as an undesirable substance.
Scum contains clean metal that I want back, and 'fire' will do it.

BTW, even 600 degrees is hot enough to 'reduce' in.

CM

Excellent points CM, and it bears highlighting. I meant to mention that, but forgot. All metals that oxidize when heated have an ideal reduction temperature, IIRC iron's is about 300* above melt point, I don't know what 20:1's is but I'm sure it's not as high as 775*. I would think the cooler the better.

It's a common misconception that tin floats on lead since the RATE of oxidation of tin is higher at casting temps than that of lead. Due to this rate, the tin exits the alloy as oxide scum before anything else in the alloy does, so tin is depleted more quickly since tin OXIDE floats on the melt's surface. The higher oxidation rate of tin is due to the fact that it's melting point is so much lower than that of lead. As we know, the higher the temp, the higher the oxidation rate with boolit metal. Tin has a melt point nearly 200* lower than lead (I forget exactly at the moment) and is much more reactive than lead of antimony at casting temps. This also explains why antimony is the last component to oxidize out.

Lead and tin are fully miscible, meaning they form a true solution and do not gravity segregate after being melted together. (sorry for the misspellings, I'm in a hurry)

Gear

[lwknight]

Gary , the 20:1 will soften with age. I think it might take a couple years but 20:1 will become almost dead soft. Thats what makes antimony so important. The great thing about using the 2-6-92 is that you will see age hardening to about 15 bhn it will remain stable for many years after the initial age hardening.

[blackthorn]

Onondaga---I was replying to a previous poster's question and so, I was neither agreeing or disagreeing with what you posted, I was simply reiterating the meaning of the two words. My “knowledge” came from something I read somewhere, (and saved) likely from a dictionary, as I seem to recall having asked that question of myself before.

As to the Blackthorn “Shillelagh”,----I believe that is an object made from the wood of the Blackthorn tree, used in a judicious manner to administer attitude adjustments to various forms of pond scum!----No??? (perhaps you use it to cut sprue?)

Have a great day!!

[onondaga]

That is a creative description of the Blackthorn “Shillelagh”. I'm half Irish and half Sicilian, my parents were both first generation to America. My Shillelagh was my great uncle Mickey's from my mother's side and he carried it the whole length of the Erie Canal as he worked building the Canal. He walked with a bit of a gimp in his old age and used the Blackthorn as a walking aid, but he surely bashed some noggins with it. When he left Ireland all weapons were outlawed for the Irish by England. Men began carrying short Blackthorn billy club type weapons that were quickly outlawed by length although the longer Shillelagh was still legal to carry and became very popular for self protection of the oppressed. Shillelagh are generally lumpy ugly crooked things, and the wood of the Blackthorn tree is much harder than Maple or Hickory and the like. The sharp cut lumps on Blackthorn where the sharp spines were removed with an angled knife cut are very plentiful on a proper Shillelagh and serve to keep it from slipping away to an attackers hands. My uncle Mickey fled Ireland as a wanted man for bludgeoning a tax collector for the crown of England with the Shillelagh sitting next to me . The Blackthorn tree is similar to the American Hawthorn but the Blackthorn has many many more thorns.

Now if you go to Ireland to purchase a Shillelagh, you will notice that tourists usually get the straight ones with only a few lumps because the ones that are crooked with a hundred sharp lumps like my great uncle left me are quite expensive now.

Gary

[Mk42gunner]

It isn't impractical to make silver bullets, just slow. ...

I am editing in a safety thing - on the bench against the granite tile on the side toward the person casting was a strip of 1 X 4 wood fastened edge down as a shield for metal splatter. I burned a few spots into it but never got hurt. I wore a big leather apron too. I was so little at 5, I worked standing on a stool at the bench. Reaching into the oven with tongs to grab a hot ring with all that heat coming out was scary till I got confident and could get the oven opened and closed really fast. Grampa was never more than a foot away every time and spent long hours explaining and demonstrating every minute detail because I wanted to learn how to cast. I miss him dearly. That all started very innocently one day when Gramma wasn't home and he needed somebody to sprinkle the flux and then grab the torch so he could pick up the potato.

Gary

And I bet Gramma wasn't very happy about it when she found out...

I really don't think I want to try doing potato casting, it sounds like it would be more fun than I really need at this point in life.

Seriously, I have learned a lot from this thread. The term "flux" as it is appllied to bullet alloy has never really made sense to me; coming from a background of plumbing and AC&R repair, fluxing is what you do to clean copper so you can solder or braze two pipes together.

Robert

[RobS]

My Plain Base 45 Checkmaker from member PatMarlin should be here in a couple weeks. When I have checks made I'm betting the BHN will have gotten to 17ish that will be fine. Just what I wanted to try some higher pressure loads and bring my accuracy sweet spot from 1610 fps up to a 1900 or 2000 fps for a little more range and flatter trajectory.
Gary.

Yes, I'm waiting for my PB 45 checkmaker as well and can't wait to run my favorite 300 and 340 grain PB designs out at GC pressure/velocities.

[Echo]

Making a person feel foolish, or slightly offended, will often get his attention when 'false kindness' won't.
CM

This old shrink must point out that neither you, nor I, can make someone else feel foolish. We might say, or act, some way to invite that person to feel foolish, or he might interpret it that way, but HE's the one that makes himself feel foolish. A concise, straight-forward explanation is just that. and a mature person will perceive it that way. Our emotions belong to us - no one else can make us feel some way. We do it to ourselves.

[geargnasher]

This old shrink must point out that neither you, nor I, can make someone else feel foolish. We might say, or act, some way to invite that person to feel foolish, or he might interpret it that way, but HE's the one that makes himself feel foolish. A concise, straight-forward explanation is just that. and a mature person will perceive it that way. Our emotions belong to us - no one else can make us feel some way. We do it to ourselves.

God forbid you go around telling people about personal accountability, they'll get together and pass legislation forbidding you mention it, since it violates their "rights" to blame the rest of society for their problems, and then they'll start taxing food to pay for all the public programs that will be needed to help them cope with the emotional damage you've brought on by advocating emotional maturity. Then you'll get sued into next century by class-action lawyers, but it's ok because Procotor and Gamble will come out with some new shade of neon for a new pill targeting reality-inflicted people, many of which will sue the company for some rare side effect. Heck, maybe it'll stimulate the economy.

Gear