Newbie Smelting question

[David LaPell]

Hello all.
Ok, I'm looking to get into bullet casting, hoping to order a furnace and extra's this week. One question I have is if I want to smelt some wheel weights (I have a lead on a bunch because a friend of mine runs a tire / wheel shop). Can I use the same electric furnace that I get to smelt the wheel weights into ingots? I don't have alot of extra room, and I don't want to do anything inside with the stove since I have a little one always underfoot and there really isn't any place outside unless I build a fire, and I want to regulate the heat. My biggest issue would be making ingots but I found a small muffin tin that makes dollar size ingots which would be good if I didn't want to make alot at once.

[*Paladin*]

If you use your melter to smelt, you will introduce a lot of contaminants to your melter. It'll get dirty fast. WW's are pretty nasty at times. I especially wouldn't use the melter if it's a bottom pour design. The foreign material will cause the drain to drip on the pot. Most of us smelt/flux in a cast iron pot over a burner into ingot form, then run the clean lead through the melter.

[Cowboy T]

+1. I use a 5qt cast-iron Dutch Oven on a propane-powered fish fryer for the initial melt-down into "muffin ingots". Then the muffin ingots go into the electric downpour-spout pot for actual boolit casting.

[462]

It can be done. After each smelting session, completely drain the pot and thoroughly clean it. A brass wire wheel and a drill work well. Remove the rod and clean it, and make sure the spout is clean and free of any debris. Some members spray the inside of the empty pot with silicone, to help prevent rust.

Not everyone is able to afford the extra cost involved with having seperate smelting and casting setups. One pot can do both jobs, but it adds the extra step of a diligent cleaning.

[mdi]

Yep, can be done, but as 462 said, the pot should be cleaned afterward. Even if it's not a bottom pour, a lot of junk can be left behind (I know this for a fact), even if you can't see it...