Coupla responses
Noel,
Unfortunately I use the same pot for smelting as I use for casting. I should knock off being such a tightwad. Anyway it is a Lee Production Pot. It is the second Production Pot I have owned in a total of about 35 years. The first one was given to a friend last year and still functioned perfectly. I guess I figured I could afford 55.00 after 34 years.
Hawg,
Precisely what I find. Unfortunately though, some manufacturers are starting to make stick-ons that are almost all steel. They are very easy to spot. They are not that common but, my guess is that they will become an increasing percentage of the total. The pile of ingots that I got which were right at BHN9 were 100% stick ons plus one battery post knuckle.
51 Colt,
Yep. The only reason I separate out the stick-ons is to have lead for round balls.
Hellgate,
Good idea. I was happy to see the percentage of unusable weights was lower in this batch than I previously observed. I am getting pretty good a separating these things by eye. I pull out all of the stick-ons. Then I pull out all of the clip-ons which are obviously high lead. Then I sort more carefully to eliminate the weights that I am certain will not melt.
I guess I have come to refer to the stick-ons as my "first smelt". The "second smelt" is all of the obvious clip-ons. These are always unpainted. The third and final smelt is all of the painted weights minus those which I know are too hard. The pot has to get hotter in the second smelt and hotter still in the final smelt. Of course, I empty the pot between smelts.