wow...now i understand

[quiknot]

seems it just takes a few knocks in the head with a lead pipe for me to get the idea....

we use an older pot and oven, like a coleman stove to heat the lead and get the impurities out and mold them into ingots....

then we can use the clean ingots to cast our bullets in a relatively warmer envirnoment.....

couple of questions tho....1)what type of old pot can be used?...does it have to be cast iron or the older type pots that have that speckled tecture to them (not use of the exact name for them)...something to withstand the heat ing process ...

2)when making the ingots, can a large sinker mold be used instead of the fancy ingot molds?

thanks for all your insight

[garandsrus]

quiknot,

A stainless steel or cast iron skillet/dutch oven can be used. Don't use aluminum as it can fail. I would think that the porcelain pot wouldn't be a good idea as it might get chipped when dumping wheel weights/lead into it. I don't think they are very heavy duty.

The ingot molds I use the most are muffin tins. You will want to find aluminum ones so that the lead doesn't stick. Other folks have used empty and DRY aluminum cans, etc. A large sinker mold would be fine.

Have fun!
John

[No_1]

You are on the right track. You can use almost any pot as long as it is not aluminum. Also keep in mind the device you are using for a heat source. You do not want to use a HUGE pot on the coleman stove because the is a possiblity it will collapse under the weight. Keep your eyes out for a used turkey fryer at the yard sales. You do not want the pot, you want the stand. They can be had cheap.

As far as ingot moulds are concerned, you can use the sinker mould. Some folks have found many odd things to use such as soda cans with the tops cut off, old cast iron cornbread molds and I have had good luck with muffin tins but some folks don't seem to have the luck I have had. Look at the goodwill store, second hand stores and don't forget the yard sales. When you are making ingots don't forget to flux big time. You can use almost anything organic. I use the crayons from resturants, left over candle stubs from the back of the toliet ;) and sometimes I buy candles when they go on the $1 sale at k-mart.

Last but not least (actually should always be first), remember safety. Always wear safety glasses, long pants (jeans), long sleeve shirt, leather shoes and leather gloves. Hot lead hurts.

Robert


seems it just takes a few knocks in the head with a lead pipe for me to get the idea....

we use an older pot and oven, like a coleman stove to heat the lead and get the impurities out and mold them into ingots....

then we can use the clean ingots to cast our bullets in a relatively warmer envirnoment.....

couple of questions tho....1)what type of old pot can be used?...does it have to be cast iron or the older type pots that have that speckled tecture to them (not use of the exact name for them)...something to withstand the heat ing process ...

2)when making the ingots, can a large sinker mold be used instead of the fancy ingot molds?

thanks for all your insight

[Bret4207]

Stonewear/porcelin/graniteware/enameld are the types of pots you're thinking of. And yes, they work OK. Darn near anything dry works for an ingot mould. As the others said-safety first! Then have fun.

[wills]

Regarding the virtues of rusty ingot molds.


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=2809&highlight=leave+rain

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=31181&postcount=7

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=31186&postcount=9

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=31388&postcount=14

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=6344&highlight=rusty+muffin

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=29467&postcount=20

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=2051&highlight=rusty+muffin

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=15158&postcount=10

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=1375&highlight=rusty+muffin

[Ricochet]

For fluxing big pots of scrap metal outdoors, making ingots, nothing beats old used motor oil.

[RU shooter]

I'm a fairly new guy here too , But what worked good for me as a smelting pot is a big stainless tea pot . it will hold 20lb.+ not much compaired to what some of these fella's are using but since I'm new smaller worked better I guess. after all the WW are melted and fluxed good I just poured right from the tea pot right into my muffin pan ! worked great! I would get about 9 muffins per melt................RU

[1Shirt]

Tpr. Brent, Stoneware/Porcelin are ceramic not metal (I am a potter), and should not be used for ingot molds as they are heat sensitive. The probability of getting one to hold moulton lead is slender unless they were about 600+ degrees, and then if it didn't crack or blow up would probably not be able to release it from vessel. Enamal ware/granite ware is metal and will work but not real well. I have used cheap muffin tins with 12 holes for a number of years. It gets bent up but is still servicable, and is faster than a 4-5 ingot mold from one of the reloading companies. That said, it is probably est to stick with cast iron.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[quiknot]

a few mentioned muffin pans for ingots...aren't they alittle large for ingots...must be about a few pounds each.....

[Cloudpeak]

I use my old Ohaus cast iron pot (4x2 1/2) that I used to use to cast with for a mold for my presnt, much bigger pot. Also use the muffin tins and old Lyman (with the backward "N") ingot mold. No waiting for stuff to cool down so I can pour more ingots:-D

Cloudpeak

[Nardoo]

I used to use a large 6oz pyramid fishing sinker mold for ingots and found them very satisfactory. Have since found some vintage cast aluminium muffin trays that make semi spherical ingots that fit well in my little Lee 10 lb pot. I store them loosely in 1 gallon cans.

Nardoo

[yodar]

makes 7 long skinny ingots suited excellently for standing on end in your POT

large top surface areas of solidified ingots will demonstrate the quality of your fluxing and cleaning, as dirt will appear as a grey streak on top of ingot. Time to melt and reflux

Happens all the time'

yodar

[Springfield]

I have decided that I like the cast Iron cornbread pans the best for making ingots. They cast 7 ingots compared to the regular 4 like the Lyman/RCBS/Saeco moulds,, the ingots fit in my pot nice standing on end, they don't get bent like muffin tins. They even stack nice when not in use. They put out nice 1 1/4 lb ingots. I probably have too many now, 12 of them, but I found a few good deals on e-bay and at garage sales. I can pour over 100 lbs at once now. My pot holds about 160 lbs of melted lead so it works out well. Pour 100 plus lbs of ingots, dump some more lead in the pot, go do something useful. By the time it is melted the ingots have cooled enough to dump. And they just fall out of the pans,no fighting them like muffin tins. I can do 8-900 lbs a day this way. Ah. life is good.

[Ricochet]

I bought several of those cast iron corn stick moulds for ingots and couldn't be happier with them. The corn shaped ingots are kind of interesting looking.

[dragonrider]

The last time I saw those cornbread molds I was a kid, gotta go to more yard sales I guess. I use two Lee ingots molds, fill one and put it down, fill the other and put it down, take the first one and place it on a wet sponge or towel, solidifies, drop them out fill it up again put it down and grab the other one and repeat. It's reasonably fast.

[Ricochet]

I bought my corn stick moulds new, in the kitchen section of one of the department stores in the Mall.