My new home built ingot maker

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Finally got around to building my meltin' pot the last couple days.

Man is this a lot nicer than pouring ingots with a ladle!

Finished unit, the block and tube down front is to hold the ingot mold while pouring
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1079622A.jpg

Heat shield to help hold the heat in the pot, cut from a metal 5 gal bucket
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1079623B.jpg

Inside "chimney" to funnel heat out so the pour spout stays warm
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1079627F.jpg

continued:

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Outside of pot showing pour spout, and exterior heat shield to help keep it warm
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1079624C.jpg

Valve & handle assembly, weight on top so it doesn't float up (wasn't sure if needed, but steel floats right :smile:)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1079625D.jpg

Ingot mold pre-heater :mrgreen:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1079628G.jpg

Works very well, had a few drips form the spout early on, but as I used it, it seated in and quit.
Total investment including turkey fryer 52 bucks.
Yeah, I'm a piker and a scrounger :bigsmyl2:

[rbertalotto]

Damn! That is nice........I gotta build me something like this.

[The Amateur]

Over achiever...

[plmitch]

very nice!

[tomme boy]

Looks good. Where is the rest of the SBC?

[zuke]

Great looking!

[jmsj]

Jim,
Your smelter looks great.
Glad everything worked out.
Good luck, jmsj

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I got to sort out the rest of the bucket of wheel weights and giver a real work out, I only pored 12 ingots today, to try it out. So far, I'm pleased.
Thanks for the kind words,

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Where is the rest of the SBC?

In the race car :redneck:

[arjacobson]

Great work.. If I keep up my smelting setup the way it is my right arm is gonna be twice the size of my left.. Those 2lb ladles get heavy QUICK...:groner:

[doctorggg]

Jim,

I admire your work.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Those 2lb ladles get heavy QUICK...:groner:

The ladle I've been using to pour ingots held 4 pounds+
I knows whats you means!

[Reverend Recoil]

Why should an ingot mold be pre-heated? What does it matter if the ingots are wrinkled?

[jmsj]

The only reason I can think of to preheat an ingot mold is to make sure there is no moisture in the mold
jmsj

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

^^^^ what he said^^^^
:mrgreen:

my casting are is in a lean too, everything gets warmed up before lead touches it,
especially this time of year with wild temp swings, rain, snow, wind etc.
Tinsel fairy be dammed!