383
05-05-2013, 08:13 AM
A week or so ago I tried my first smelting of some isotope lead I had acquired. I used a 4.5qt cast iron dutch oven I had along with a turkey fryer I bought off CL. My cheapo ingot molds were some individual muffin cups I got at the local thrift store.
I had also purchased some kitchen utensils that were on clearance at the local restaurant supply store along with a Rowell #2 ladle and Tel Tru thermo from Amazon. There was a bag of pine pet bedding in the garage that I knew from research here would serve nicely for fluxing.
My first smelting, which was aborted early due to Lesson #1 (see below), consisted of 50lbs of these:
69545
I continued working on them for my second. Yesterday, my third session involved making ingots from two of these:69546
Lesson #1: Don't use tin plated muffin cups for ingot molds, especially if they're your only available molds. Hot lead solders itself to them and won't come out leaving you with nowhere else to pour! I had to actually put them into the pot for the second smelt to melt the lead out of them. Heating them with a torch and whacking with a mallet was completely ineffective at removing the ingots.
Lesson #2: Donated steel muffin pans that I blasted the teflon coating off of work just fine. The ingots did not stick to the bare steel.
Lesson #3: I'm glad I got the #2 ladle instead of the #1, but wish I'd gotten a larger one. The #2 requires a couple pours per ingot, especially if you use it as designed.
Lesson #4: Leather gloves may protect you from splatter, haven't tested that yet, but when they get hot from handling hot ingots, they retain and transfer heat very well! Did the hot glove removal dance.
Lesson #5: When your turkey fryer burner works just fine for the first two smelts, but only throws a yellow, too rich flame upon lighting for your third attempt, it's not necessarily a problem with your regulator. Disassemble your burner and inspect for spider webs.* Yes, that's correct. After removal of web and reassembly, my blue flame special was back.
Lesson #6: My perforated portioning spoon works a treat for scraping the bottom and corners of the pot during the fluxing process, plus its flat edge is great for skimming off the dross.
69551
Lesson #7: This site and *Google are your friend.
Lesson #8: Smelting seems like it could be addicting.
I had also purchased some kitchen utensils that were on clearance at the local restaurant supply store along with a Rowell #2 ladle and Tel Tru thermo from Amazon. There was a bag of pine pet bedding in the garage that I knew from research here would serve nicely for fluxing.
My first smelting, which was aborted early due to Lesson #1 (see below), consisted of 50lbs of these:
69545
I continued working on them for my second. Yesterday, my third session involved making ingots from two of these:69546
Lesson #1: Don't use tin plated muffin cups for ingot molds, especially if they're your only available molds. Hot lead solders itself to them and won't come out leaving you with nowhere else to pour! I had to actually put them into the pot for the second smelt to melt the lead out of them. Heating them with a torch and whacking with a mallet was completely ineffective at removing the ingots.
Lesson #2: Donated steel muffin pans that I blasted the teflon coating off of work just fine. The ingots did not stick to the bare steel.
Lesson #3: I'm glad I got the #2 ladle instead of the #1, but wish I'd gotten a larger one. The #2 requires a couple pours per ingot, especially if you use it as designed.
Lesson #4: Leather gloves may protect you from splatter, haven't tested that yet, but when they get hot from handling hot ingots, they retain and transfer heat very well! Did the hot glove removal dance.
Lesson #5: When your turkey fryer burner works just fine for the first two smelts, but only throws a yellow, too rich flame upon lighting for your third attempt, it's not necessarily a problem with your regulator. Disassemble your burner and inspect for spider webs.* Yes, that's correct. After removal of web and reassembly, my blue flame special was back.
Lesson #6: My perforated portioning spoon works a treat for scraping the bottom and corners of the pot during the fluxing process, plus its flat edge is great for skimming off the dross.
69551
Lesson #7: This site and *Google are your friend.
Lesson #8: Smelting seems like it could be addicting.