What is this pot made of?

[theTastyCat]

Well we should all be so lucky to have our moms on the lookout for casting stuff! My mom works at a thrift store with a bunch of other old retired ladies, and today she found a pot that might work for smelting. It's not huge, but I might use it and a hot plate for WW and ingot warming if not smelting. I just want to be sure it's okay to use - any idea what it's made of?

http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad145/thetastycat/pot1.jpg

Here's a closeup of the bottom - can't quite read what the mark in the middle says.

http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad145/thetastycat/pot2.jpg

Many thanks! This is the best forum on the net by FAR. :Luvcastboolits::2 drunk buddies:

[bumpo628]

From the look of the back of the handles, you can tell it is cast.
Could be aluminum or iron. Is it magnetic? If so, cast iron.

[Beagler]

if its not very heavy it might be Alum.

[Alvarez Kelly]

We had those when I was growing up. Magnalite I think. They are too light for melting lead... I'm almost sure they are aluminum.

[theTastyCat]

Yeah, it's pretty light. May send it back to the ol' thrift barn.

To the delight my Irish (and regrettably also French) heritage, casting has made me an even more frugal human being than before. Seeing all those pounds of WWs and thinking of the price of the equivalent load of storebought bullets appeals to my deepest self. Despite this, I think I'll break down and get a dutch oven from Harbor Freight tomorrow. I can justify it to my heritage by insisting that a larger pot will be more efficient, saving propane, and I just gotta have one of those $5 hot plates anyway. A visit from the Tinsel Fairy would waste far too much lead!

My girlfriend is a little scared - she's got several family members who just can't bear to part with anything, but I'm quite confident that she will NOT let me go that far :)

[Bret4207]

Ah, the shame of French heritage. Fear not mon ami, in researching my background I've discovered my ancestors moved about between Scotland, Ireland and the west coast of France regularly over hundreds of years. After all, they call it "Brittany" for a reason. The blood is so mixed that it's just best to accept we're all mutts. So buck up make the best of it laddie, read some Robby Burns and watch "The Quiet Man". You'll feel better. It could be worse ya know, you could be a liberal Democrat. Ah, the shame of that! (Picture Sylvester's son with the bag over his head...)

[mdi]

From what I can see, it looks like cast aluminum. I've see some pots of that same design in the scrap aluminum pile...

[Swede44mag]

I don't think a hot plate will get hot enough to melt lead. I had a friend that melted his on the gas kitchen stove.

[Doby45]

You can still keep it and use it to make lubes or other items that just need to be heated but not to the level of melting lead.

[mooman76]

Try a magnet on it. It looks like aluminum to me though.

[Suo Gan]

Its Guardian Ware, they are made of aluminum

[zuke]

Tell he to keep an eye out for a Stainless Steel pressure cooker.
If the pressure dial was"missing" or "damaged" you should get it cheaper.
Got mine for I think $1.00

[Bret4207]

I don't think a hot plate will get hot enough to melt lead. I had a friend that melted his on the gas kitchen stove.

Oh yeah it will. I've probably cast a couple three thousand boolits using an 1100 watt, $8.00 Walmart hot plate. It's worked great. Just make sure you get the open coil type and not the smooth surface type. Anything that turns red with heat is a lot hotter than lead.

[Longwood]

I have three of the flat plate hotplates. They don't get very hot and are nearly worthless. They barely get hot enough to hard boil some eggs. I use one under my sizer and it works OK for that. The coil type will melt lead with no problems. Be very sure the pot is not supported by the coils.
I use an old Coleman propane camp stove sometimes. Will melt 50 lbs with no trouble at all and it will do it in a hurry with one of those little camper bottles that cost about $2.50 each. Today I used a big 6 qt stainless pan on a turkey fryer that a friend loaned me for the week. I did a little over 67 ingots and filled my 20 lb bottom pour pot this morning, took about 2 1/2 hours but would have gone much faster if I had more ingot molds.

[theTastyCat]

LOL @ Brett!!!! Oustanding.

Well, I went to Beijing Freight today and got a for real dutch oven and some protective gear. Sadly, they were out of the famed $5 hot plates, so I hit a thrift shop and found a Wok for $10 - thought it might be OK for warming WWs and ingots before inserting into the mix - I guess I'll find out tomorrow if it's warming them enough to dissuade the Tinsel Hag...any way of telling if it warming enough to dry the lead beyond the obvious method?

[theTastyCat]

It is a powered Wok by the way...of course.

[MGySgt]

It would probably melt lead in the bottom, but not the sides. Only the bottom in a WOK gets real hot.

[59sharps]

Well we should all be so lucky to have our moms on the lookout for casting stuff! My mom works at a thrift store with a bunch of other old retired ladies, and today she found a pot that might work for smelting. It's not huge, but I might use it and a hot plate for WW and ingot warming if not smelting. I just want to be sure it's okay to use - any idea what it's made of?

http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad145/thetastycat/pot1.jpg

Here's a closeup of the bottom - can't quite read what the mark in the middle says.

http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad145/thetastycat/pot2.jpg

Many thanks! This is the best forum on the net by FAR. :Luvcastboolits::2 drunk buddies:

Cast Alum. I have the same pot:cbpour: