Which ingot shape?

[dilly]

These are the types of ingots I can make. Either will fit in my RCBS Pro Melt (the reason I'm too broke to buy a regular ingot mold). What do you guys think will be more convenient in the long run?

67840

[dbosman]

Either. Both if you increase your smelting.
Pack some up in a SFRB and offer to swap for an ingot mold. Someone will have an extra. Or buy one for you.

[Dusty Bannister]

I prefer the muffin mold because you can pour them as thick as you like. Thin for winter use to feed the pot without causeing a large drop in melt temp. Thick for quickly filling the pot at start up. I also like to stack the biscuits in one gallon paint cans for storage after blending. The wedge ingots would likely fit fine in a white 5 gallon bucket for bulk storage if you wanted to do that as well. Goodwill Stores and the like are great places to look for these items. Good luck. Dusty

[mrblue]

I like the muffin molds myself. Seem easier to store.

[shadowcaster]

I say use the wedge shape as your primary and the muffins as secondary. I have 4 of the cast iron wedge pans that I use in rotation when smelting. By the time my last one is filled, the 1st one is ready to dump out. They are hassle free when making the ingots, stack nice (alternate points in and out or in a circle in a bucket), weigh in at about 2 pounds each, and will fit most any casting pot. The only muffin pans I use are the mini cast iron muffin pans. Cast iron is hassle free and a pleasure to use. I find that regular muffin pans are a pain to deal with. Too many issues!

Shad

[runfiverun]

triangles stack better structurally and more densely.
I didn't vote.

[Horace]

Make them out of angle iron stock,they stack better

Horace

[Bigslug]

Well, if you had a cannon with the same bore diameter as your muffin tin. . .

Truthfully, round bugs me. Round plates, round glasses, round beer bottles - all wasting lots of space in square cabinets and square refrigerators. You'll be "storing" a lot of air between your round ingots.

[Bzcraig]

Okay I'll admit to having a sissy mold. Wife had a cast iron baking mold which baked little bears (dang that was painful to admit) that I was able to take over. They do stack okay but I wouldn't try to ship them without proper packing. But they make great ingots and it is a hearty mold.

[knifemaker]

I prefer the corncob type for cornbread that is easy to find in thrift stores. Ingots will fit easy into a 10 pound or 20 pound pot. I also use the muffin type also.

[DeanWinchester]

Obviously the answer is The one that fits in your lead pot best!

I like muffin shape best. My casting habits are such that I can cast continuously for about two muffins, toss two in my pot with some cedar shavings and go stretch my legs. Then I'm ready again.

[Glock Junkie]

Okay I'll admit to having a sissy mold. Wife had a cast iron baking mold which baked little bears (dang that was painful to admit) that I was able to take over. They do stack okay but I wouldn't try to ship them without proper packing. But they make great ingots and it is a hearty mold.

I want to see your lead Bears lol !

[Doc Highwall]

I skipped to the end of this. I have several shapes of ingots with the shape of the ingot letting me know what alloy/metal it is composed of. I have pure tin in one shape of small ingots as I try to use only small amounts for alloying. My round muffin ingots are wheel weights and the 8" are indoor 22 range lead just mostly lead. The pie shaped ones have been alloyed and marked with what they are, and they are the cleanest for going into the casting pot.

[fredj338]

I don;t think it really matters much. I use 3 diff molds to keep track of diff alloys: Lyman for pure, a larger iron mold for ww & a square one for range scrap.

[snuffy]

I pretty much use anything I can to make ingots. A buddy has a fab shop, he had some scrap channel iron. It casts a 5 pound ingot that still fits into a lee 20# pot. While the mass of that big ingot will take about ten minutes to melt, it'll bring the level back up in a hurry. Pre-heated on a hot plate, it takes a lot less time to melt.;

67857

That's it in the lower right corner of the above pic. Also seen there is one of the muffin tins I have. As well as one of the six Lyman 1# ingot molds, poured full across the top to yield 5# linked 1# ingots. I have another smaller muffin tin, it WAS teflon coated aluminum. When you're pouring from a big dutch oven smelter that's ¾ full, you'll be looking for more molds. If it's a new pour, the molds are all cold, so they freeze quickly. If you've already poured in them once, then they're hot, it takes a long time for them to cool enough to dump the ingots.

67858

As for which shape is best/better, which ever one that turns yer crank. AND which ones will fit in your pot. The ability to code your alloy by which shape it's cast in, is another factor..

67859

[boltaction308]

I like brick shape, easier to stack than either muffin or angle. I made my ingot mold out of 4inch U channel and made it long enough to approximate 15 pounds. This is a size and weight that is easy to pick up, not heavy but big enough that you can deal with a couple of hundred pounds of lead without the little RCBS 1 pounders scattering like confetti when the pile gets too tall.

The angled sides make it easy to dump out. I also angled the ends slightly

67867

[Mk42gunner]

Make them out of angle iron stock,they stack better

Horace

I agree with Horace.

I have actually broken the handle off of a wedge shaped cast iron pan while trying to get the second round of ingots out of it.

Robert

[snuffy]

67881

This is the above 3" channel mold made by my friend. The ends are tipped outward to aid in release of the ingot. it was on loan from him during the smelting of that range lead. I asked him to sell it to me, nope, then I asked if he would make another one, he said I'm too busy! (With a smirk on his face:-?:-| I may some day get my own, untill then, I'll have to borrow that one again.

67885

[Nose Dive]

I like long..6 feet.. 3 x 3 angle iron...Carbon steel...I stay away from galvanised... I have a BIG dipper and it will fill the angle in one pour. A two handed effort, yes... but have three of the angles cut and welded close at the ends... Once cooled...easy to tip over and drop out and store. When casting time comes... I pull out a hatchet,, wack them up to fit the pot... heat it up..pour it out.

Muffin tins help when blending alloys... Say alloying Lino and tin... This helps in blending later to be add to alloy pot for angel iron duty. I mix, alloy, cast and water drop to BRN of about 15 or so for my 'hot to hunt' 45 loads.... so...size ingots to suit purpose...

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, good. Kindly pick two.

[caseyboy]

Muffin tins for me. Fifty cents at the thrift shop.

[TCLouis]

1 1/2 X 1 1/2 X 1/8 angle iron about 4 inches long. Mine are actually about 8 inches long with a center divider. The cast close to 1 lb each.

Fit well in the pot for start up and stack with minimum of wasted space.

Stack is naturally stable.

[dilly]

Thanks for the input guys. I guess the answer was obvious, both!

For some reason I hadn't thought about different shapes for different alloys.

[Mk42gunner]

As previously stated, I like angle iron ingot molds. Since my normal alloy is wheelwieghts, I don't mark them.

When I get a significant amount of stick-on WW and other soft lead (enough to mess with smelting), I will mark them while they are still warm and fairly soft by using a wide bladed screwdriver to stamp a large P for pure(ish).

Letter and number stamps work, but mine are awful small to read at a glance; although I use them when I make a batch of lead-tin alloy like 20-1.

Robert

[cbrick]

For some reason I hadn't thought about different shapes for different alloys.

Bingo!

I had to read down to posts #13 & 14 to find the right answer. Instant recognition of your alloy by shape of the ingot, say COWW in one and SOWW in another.

Rick

[Green Lizzard]

alum corn bread pan 8 or 10 at a time 1.5lb ea

[Phoenix]

In an attempt to not seem like a shameful plug. This is what I use:
They stand up in the pot. 1 or two at a time. About 4 pounds each

6813368134

[Bzcraig]

I want to see your lead Bears lol !

Three bears seemed more appropriate than one.........

[Phoenix]

I can see the wife not wanting you to melt those down...

[Dale53]

i have a variety of moulds gathered over a period of many years. I use them all. My favorites were made for me by a good friend (a welder) of 2" angle iron:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/QIngotmoulds031.jpg (http://s269.photobucket.com/user/Dale53/media/QIngotmoulds031.jpg.html)

They are about 6" long and the ingots weigh between 3-5 lbs depending on how full I pour them.

[Bigslug]

The bears have inspired me!

Can we commission an ingot mold of Arnold Schwarzenegger giving a thumbs up?

Wicked Witch of the West? (Margaret Hamilton or Dianne Feinstein, take your pick)

Judge Doom?

Major Arnold Toht?

Frosty the Snowman?

Gollum? or The One Ring?

[Bzcraig]

The bears have inspired me!

Can we commission an ingot mold of Arnold Schwarzenegger giving a thumbs up?

Wicked Witch of the West? (Margaret Hamilton or Dianne Feinstein, take your pick)

Judge Doom?

Major Arnold Toht?

Frosty the Snowman?

Gollum? or The One Ring?

Ok, you got me to thinking......molds with Feinstein, Boxer and Brown, we mix them in the pot and as they melt......someone come up with the song to be playing in the background, I'm drawing a blank. I think this might be marketable. Sorry, will stop now before this becomes a hijacking.

[Doc Highwall]

Maybe something from The Wizard of OZ. Now we are thinking.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I pretty much use anything I can to make ingots. A buddy has a fab shop, he had some scrap channel iron. It casts a 5 pound ingot that still fits into a lee 20# pot. While the mass of that big ingot will take about ten minutes to melt, it'll bring the level back up in a hurry. Pre-heated on a hot plate, it takes a lot less time to melt.;

67857

That's it in the lower right corner of the above pic. Also seen there is one of the muffin tins I have. As well as one of the six Lyman 1# ingot molds, poured full across the top to yield 5# linked 1# ingots. I have another smaller muffin tin, it WAS teflon coated aluminum. When you're pouring from a big dutch oven smelter that's ¾ full, you'll be looking for more molds. If it's a new pour, the molds are all cold, so they freeze quickly. If you've already poured in them once, then they're hot, it takes a long time for them to cool enough to dump the ingots.

67858

As for which shape is best/better, which ever one that turns yer crank. AND which ones will fit in your pot. The ability to code your alloy by which shape it's cast in, is another factor..

67859
Man you are messy.[smilie=s:

[45-70 Chevroner]

Three bears seemed more appropriate than one.........
I'm with your wife on this one, those little guys are just to cute. Which one said thier's someone in my bed.

[Glock Junkie]

Three bears seemed more appropriate than one.........

They are too cute to melt down lol ! Good stuff !

[Bigslug]

Where's my brain??!!??

We also need a zeppelin ingot mold, so we can scream "OH THE HUMANITY!" while melting them down to the sound of "Whole lotta love"

[JSAND]

I purchased some angle iron moulds from a guy on here when I first started casting, they were solidly built but not put together very well, and I didn't like the way the ingots looked, since then I have used a variety of muffin pans as they are cheap to find at yard sales/flea markets. I like the way they stack and I have an abundance of five gallon buckets so I'm not to worried about the waisted air space. I particularly like the small sized muffins as they fit into my Lee melter perfectly and melt quickly. I have several cast iron muffin pans that are in between the small sized and regular sized aluminum pans, I use for pure lead. After seeing the bears, I will keep my eyes open when looking for more pans, I actually like the idea of using different figures for alloy type rather than size of muffin.

[victor3ranger]

I want some that look like corn on the cobb, or anything different.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I want some that look like corn on the cobb, or anything different.

I just bought a cast iron corn muffin thingie it makes 9 at a time. $8.00 at the local park and swap. My wife said hands off. Oh well :violin:

[JB LoCo-Oh]

Snuffy-is that a Superglide rear fender in the third picture in post #15.....mid 70's?

JB

[snuffy]

Snuffy-is that a Superglide rear fender in the third picture in post #15.....mid 70's?

JB

Ya mean that MC fender? I dunno, we did that smelting in front of my buddies garage, on his driveway. I know he had a Harley in that garage, I know nothing about Harley's ,could be! I'll ask him, IF I remember to..

[lesharris]

Condiment cups,stainless from Walmart.
Cheap, lead does not stick.
I use them by drilling out a scrap 1x4,then standing the cups upright.
Fill,cool,tip over,empty and repeat.

[alamogunr]

Cast iron muffin "tins" bought at Cabela's while on way to Yellowstone several years ago. They were on sale or close-out. Also several SAECO and RCBS ingot molds picked up on Ebay(also several years ago. I learned my lesson on them. Don't buy cast iron on line. They didn't have Flat Rate Boxes then.

[ku4hx]

Muffin tins, ingot molds, wedge molds, corn cakes ... whatever I had at the time and whatever was cheap that worked. The way I see it, the molds need to be cheap like a scrap lumber target holder. After all, you're still shooting "hot lead" at it, just at a lot lower velocity.

As far as storage, what I prefer is 2-3# rectangular ingots for ease of stacking, moving and melting. But about the only thing I can't stack well one way or another are spheres and that's basically a non problem.

I voted muffin because that's what I have now. I don't worry too much about stacking them, I just fill up 5 gallon buckets and never plan on moving one until it's [mostly] empty.

[s1120]

I prefer the corncob type for cornbread that is easy to find in thrift stores. Ingots will fit easy into a 10 pound or 20 pound pot. I also use the muffin type also.

Thats what I have. my dad used them for ever. they fit nicly in the pot .


Where's my brain??!!??

We also need a zeppelin ingot mold, so we can scream "OH THE HUMANITY!" while melting them down to the sound of "Whole lotta love"

LOL!!!!!!! I can so see it!!!!!

[.429]

the muffin ingots don't fit into my 10 pound Lee pot worth a durn. i like the 1 pound bricks

[detox]

This is 140 lbs of Lyman#2 cast using three RCBS ingot moulds. Ingots are very close to 1 pound each.

[Echo]

For me, muffin tin for WW & range scrap, angle iron for WW+2%Sn, Lymans flooded for 5# 7/1 WW/Mono+1%Sn.