Tempil stick WTH?

[jlow]

mikecr, tell me about your lead dip method.
Out of all the methods I've studied, I liked that one the best...

I just melted a handful of large lead sinkers from Walmart into an inexpensive lead melting pot. I did spend a bit more(not much) for a thermocouple and indicator to set/watch the temp. This is cheap lead with a lot of impurities and melts ~500deg. I take it up to ~750deg.
This is on a table outdoors.
Before stress relieving I had dipped my cases into Mobil1(don't even try anything else) and let them drain leaving only a barely visible film on them. I pick a case by the rim while wearing a glove and slowly lower into lead and slowly raise it back out. Same rate all the way. Then I drop the case into a bucket of purple stuff degreaser to remove the oil. For new cases that I'm improving/reforming I dip the cases as far as mid-body over a period of ~30sec each.
For necks only, ~8-10sec seems a good rate.

Early in testing this process I used other/calibrated instruments borrowed from work to watch web/casehead temps and be sure they were not raised near 450deg. They never even reached 200deg, even at mid-body level dipping on short cases(br, WSSM, 223, etc). For necks only, no glove is needed.

There are other minor factors to account for, but this is basics of lead dipping.
It's received bad press from people who were never successful in actually doing it. That's all that is.
They failed because they didn't use Mobil1.

Can we 'anneal' as consistently with torches? I seriously doubt it.

It's an interesting method but in both cases, the key is to anneal the right area with the right temperature heat source for the right amount of time. I would wager that one could not tell the difference if it was done properly with your method or a good annealing machine. Hand annealing is a whole different matter.

Of course speed wise the annealing machine would be faster, easier to setup and have a faster through put. The annealing machine would also be likely to be more expensive up front.

 

[bow shot]

The thing that I like about the dip is that it is impossible to exceed the temperature of the medium, and the tempilaq could be used to indicate when "x" temperature reaches some spot between the area to be annealed, and the area to be left alone.

Spent the evening trying to get our (work's) Fluke IR thermometer to pick up the temperature of my brass as I heated it up and cooled it off. No deal. For some reason it will not register off the case, even if smoked over a candle. Very frustrating, its not the curvature or the reflectivity of the brass (the therm will pick off a ratchet extension just fine…).

 

[jlow]

The thing that I like about the dip is that it is impossible to exceed the temperature of the medium, and the tempilaq could be used to indicate when "x" temperature reaches some spot between the area to be annealed, and the area to be left alone.

Spent the evening trying to get our (work's) Fluke IR thermometer to pick up the temperature of my brass as I heated it up and cooled it off. No deal. For some reason it will not register off the case, even if smoked over a candle. Very frustrating, its not the curvature or the reflectivity of the brass (the therm will pick off a ratchet extension just fine…).

Agreed! It does appear to have potential advantages. It comes down to a personal choice and not necessarily a right or wrong choice.

Had similar non productive experience with the IR thermometer.

 

[bow shot]

mikecr, what are you using for a pot? Like a lee, or a dipper/burner? can you give me some detail on that, I think I'm gonna give it a whack...

 

[amlevin]

If you are going to "lead dip" and don't want lead sticking to the cases just coat the parts you don't want the lead to stick to with graphite. The inside of a fired case has enough carbon on it and the outside can be dusted by using a Q-Tip and some powdered graphite.

Lead has a habit of not sticking to "dirty" metals so don't dip-anneal your clean cases.



I think I'll just stick with my "hillbilly annealing machine" (cordless drill, torch, and deep socket). 8)

Not as impressive but I found that I ended up with a lot more money in my pocket when I stopped trying to impress others.

 

[bow shot]

Actually the hillbilly aspect of the dip is part of what I like, lol!!

 

[bow shot]

bumping … hope that mikecr will see.. PM'd ya Mike...

 

[mikecr]

I use a Lee melting pot + an Omega 450 AKT / type K thermocouple.
http://www.omega.com/pptst/450_HANDHELD.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-LEE-Lead-PRECISION-Melting-Pot-Furnace-Melter-110-volts-4-pounds-/360857619198?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5404ca4afe
There are less expensive thermometers from Omega & elsewhere that would work fine.

You could also build an automatic control for the pot really cheap, like this;
http://www.bersachat.com/forums/showthread.php?16742-PID-Temperature-Controller-for-Lee-Casting-Pot

 

[bow shot]

HA!! Beautiful, that's exactly the detail I was after.

Thanks mikecr!