the tinsel fairy- a cautionary note

[rockshooter]

I have been casting for about 30 years and tonight had my first visit from the Tinsel Fairy. When she arrived, she blew lead all over a garage bay, shorted out the Lyman bottom-pour pot by getting lead thru the vent holes on top of the heat controller, blowing a breaker. No damage to me- thanks to cotton clothing, gloves, eye protection and a brimmed hat. A real mess to clean up. What caused it?- I had read of folks using the free paint-stirrer sticks to stir/flux their pot. I have always just dipped a candle into the lead but decided to try something new. The new stirrer had been setting on a shelf in the garage over the winter and when I popped it into the lead, there was a loud pop and it was evident that the stick was not thoroughly dry. So, I'll just keep the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy. The lesson?- Just because it seems dry, it might not be. Use caution, protective clothing, eyegear!
Loren

[mauserand9mm]

Funny way of putting it but describes the outcome very well.

Are the paint stirrers made of timber by chance?

[Graybeard]

Plastic paint stir sticks will melt and wood will explode. Never put wood into the hot lead as wood ALWAYS has moisture of some extent in it.

My one such explosion came from the use of a flux powder sold for that purpose. I found out the hard way it is hydroscopic ie it attracts water. I threw that can away and warned folks for years not to use it. I've since forgotten the name of it. Since I've used nothing but wax as flux.

[nicholst55]

Plastic paint stir sticks will melt and wood will explode. Never put wood into the hot lead as wood ALWAYS has moisture of some extent in it.

My one such explosion came from the use of a flux powder sold for that purpose. I found out the hard way it is hydroscopic ie it attracts water. I threw that can away and warned folks for years not to use it. I've since forgotten the name of it. Since I've used nothing but wax as flux.

Marvelux is the likely culprit.  A lot of folks use wood - both sticks and sawdust, to flux their melt with.  Moisture isn't a concern unless it gets below the surface of the lead.  Sprinkling sawdust on top to help reduce oxidation is entirely safe; stirring with a stick could be problematic.  Perhaps one should place the stick on top of the pot for a while, so it can dry out before stirring with it.

[bagdadjoe]

I have a large cafeteria type (about 18"long) metal spoon I stir with and it will do the same thing if not put in slowly on the first stir and allowed to dry as it goes.  You can hear it sizzle as it goes in.  Interesting that it only took one time for me to figure that one out....
I use Marvelux but I crumble it into dust and sprinkle it on top when I'm melting ww and lino down to use, and use it very sparingly in my pot..again crumbling to dust and have not had problems.

[jhalcott]

When casting bearings in the steel mill ,we used a pine stick to stir the mix. It was stated that the stick would char at about 800 degrees. This was supposed to be the PROPER pour temperature for the Babbit alloy. I know it poured great at some what lower temps.It made very excellent bullets too. These were several hundred pound bearings. WOW!! I just thought  THAT was about 45 YEARS ago. I was into casting/reloading way before then!

[hornady]

A few years back I bought a can of the Marvelux, I cast a couple pots of bullets; let the pot cool about half full of alloy. A couple months later I got the Lee pot out, it looked like it had been soaking in salt water. I hate to throw anything out, so now I use the Marvelux in the Dutch oven for fluxing WW or range lead for ingots, but that stuff will never go back in my Lee pot again. Over the years I have used almost all the homegrown fluxes, from sawdust to motor oil. Now I just take a little bullet lube and drop it in the Lee, smokes more than the Marvelux, but a lot easier than cleaning the rust out of the pot.

[huntducks]

A few years back I bought a can of the Marvelux, I cast a couple pots of bullets; let the pot cool about half full of alloy. A couple months later I got the Lee pot out, it looked like it had been soaking in salt water. I hate to throw anything out, so now I use the Marvelux in the Dutch oven for fluxing WW or range lead for ingots, but that stuff will never go back in my Lee pot again. Over the years I have used almost all the homegrown fluxes, from sawdust to motor oil. Now I just take a little bullet lube and drop it in the Lee, smokes more than the Marvelux, but a lot easier than cleaning the rust out of the pot.

Same here or some bees wax