Which pot for smelting

[koehlerrk]

I'm trying to figure out which pot is better for smelting over a turkey-fryer burner, a cast-iron dutch oven, or a stainless stock pot? I'm looking to process wheel-weights, range scrap, and whatever else I find and turn it into nice ingots for my electric pot. I figure my max load will be about a hundred pounds of melt, so something in the 12 quart range for a pot should be big enough, and yes, I've reinforced my burner and supports, I have no problem standing on it and letting my 240 pounds sit there... it's plenty strong.

I've heard about the horrors of having a cast pot break if you hit it, or from expansion/contraction cycles, but a stainless pot can have a copper or aluminum base that can cause it's own headaches. So, for you smelters, if you had to start over, which pot would you get?

[jmort]

I think cut propane tanks are good choice. If you don't want to do you own, D Crockett will send you one for $50.00 delivered. You can get tank, remove valve, fill with water/soap, rinse out, remove all propane, and use 4 1/2" cut-off wheel and you are good to go. There are some recent threads and photos.

[AlaskanGuy]

Dutch oven is my thing... I wrote up a thread doing range scrap today with a dutch oven in lead and alloy forum.

Here is the link.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?219043-For-noob-s-A-basic-lead-ingot-setup-for-Range-bullet-scrap

[country gent]

I cast from a 6 quart Dutch oven on a turkey frier base with a weed burner for heat source. I do it all with this set up right now. I have no problems with 100lbs plus of alloy in the pot. I am considering a propane tank cut of short ( about 2-3" above bottm radious) for a casting pot. I also have a 35 lb pot for short batches of test alloys. I perfer the bigger pots and larger batches for consistency. I am also thinking the larger dia shallower pot described above would make fluxing easier. My only complaint with the dutch oven cooking pot is the flat bottom and the amount of lead "left" in it when laddle casting.

[retread]

I really like my propane bottle pot. The outfits around here won't sell out dated tanks so I bought one from D Crocket. Well worth the price and delivery was quick!

[Airman Basic]

Use a cast iron pot with lid over a wood fire. Only do this twice a year during wintertime. Works, and can't really justify the cost of a propane rig for such limited use. For emergency small batch smelting use, got an old Lee 20 lb ladle casting electric pot somebody gave me.

[dikman]

One thing I found when using my cut-down propane tank - if you make it too low on the sides be careful when stirring the molten lead when fluxing etc. As it starts swirling around it can quite easily come up over the sides!! Can be a bit scary! I think the smooth curved bottom section helps it "pick up speed".

[shadowcaster]

I think the cats meow is a steel piece of pipe or rim with some plate steel welded to the bottom. It is simple, stronger that any of the pots mentioned above, it will last a lifetime, will be custom to your needs and you will be able to add a bottom pour feature to it later. It's very easy to do.

Shad

[Sasquatch-1]

Alternative to the propane tank is a freon tank. These are disposable and an AC mechanic will probably give you an empty. Also you do not have the dangers associated with cutting a propane tank in half. Down size is that it does not have the base ring like the propane tank and holds less. If you weld you could cut a ring from the top section and weld it to the bottom. I also clamp a c-clamp to the rim for stability when pouring the last bit of lead from the pot.

[Kylongrifle]

I use a old cast iron cooker that I just happen to find..It holds about 50 pounds Id say..Over a turkey cooker or open fire.

[John Allen]

I use a big stainless pot I got from Home Goods it works great.

[dikman]

Shad, you're quite right about a big piece of steel pipe with a bottom plate welded on. (I made a small version to try melting brass in my forge - it worked, but I couldn't think of any use for it once I'd melted it!). The propane tank, however, cost me nothing, whereas a decent piece of pipe will probably cost $$.

[koehlerrk]

Some great ideas, and I have an old freon tank in the garage... was going to add fittings and make a compressed-air bottle from it, never got to it, and have since bought a nice air compressor, so it's irrelevant. Yeah... that has potential. For the record, I have a grinder with cut-off wheels, and a neighbor with a mig welder. Yes, this may be fun...

OK, take my freon tank, cut it about 2/3 of the way up, then again just below the radius where it forms the top. Take the small piece, put it on the bottom and weld it in. Do I make this "skirt" support the tank, or not? I'll have to test-fit my burner and support, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to make some modifications, in that case, resting the pot on it's base sounds better to me and only using the skirt to keep the heat in. Does that sounds reasonable?

This is going to be for bulk-smelting, something I'll only fire up once or twice a year, to make ingots for my electric pot. I read here on a thread that a gallon of lead is between 90-100 pounds, so if it holds 2 or 2-1/2 gallons when full, that should cook down to right about a gallon or so of lead plus a bunch of stuff to skim off.

Also, I'm thinking I might want to add some good handles to this pot. I like good handles, especially on things that get hot. And I better get some angle iron to make some ingot molds too.

[Sasquatch-1]

I cut mine off just above the welded seam. Filled to the top with range scrap will yield between 30 and 40 pounds of ingots.

As for the skirt, you may want to have that as the base of the pot. The bottom of the Freon tank is rounded with little nubs to set on when charging what ever you are charging. The skirt will give you a more stable base and direct more of the heat to the bottom of the pot. I do not have handles on mine mainly because I don't weld and know no one near by who does.

Try making a lid out of the very top of the tank. The valve in the tank I have was plastic and easily drilled out so that smoke and steam can vent through it.

Good luck and have fun.



OK, take my freon tank, cut it about 2/3 of the way up, then again just below the radius where it forms the top. Take the small piece, put it on the bottom and weld it in. Do I make this "skirt" support the tank, or not? I'll have to test-fit my burner and support, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to make some modifications, in that case, resting the pot on it's base sounds better to me and only using the skirt to keep the heat in. Does that sounds reasonable?

This is going to be for bulk-smelting, something I'll only fire up once or twice a year, to make ingots for my electric pot. I read here on a thread that a gallon of lead is between 90-100 pounds, so if it holds 2 or 2-1/2 gallons when full, that should cook down to right about a gallon or so of lead plus a bunch of stuff to skim off.

Also, I'm thinking I might want to add some good handles to this pot. I like good handles, especially on things that get hot. And I better get some angle iron to make some ingot molds too.

[bobthenailer]

IMO a cast iron dutch oven with a lid , I drilled a small hole in the lid and insert a automotive type thermoter through the hole and into the melt to regulate temp .

[shadowcaster]

Shad, you're quite right about a big piece of steel pipe with a bottom plate welded on. (I made a small version to try melting brass in my forge - it worked, but I couldn't think of any use for it once I'd melted it!). The propane tank, however, cost me nothing, whereas a decent piece of pipe will probably cost $$.

Being a scrounge I tend to frequent the scrap yard fairly regular. The rim I used was free and the plate steel was under 5 dollars. The bottom pour feature that I added to it was a few bucks more, was well worth any cost and made pouring ingots a pleasure. No more ladling for me! My only other investment was some time, which you are going to have on any pot that you make. In the end I have a simple, safe, efficient way to make ingots, up to 400 pounds at a time.

Shad

[silverbear]

This question is directed to Shadowcaster. What diameter and thickness of steel for bottom and sides would you consider ideal?
Thanks, Silverbear

[WILCO]

I'm trying to figure out which pot is better....

Cast iron dutch oven from Harbor Freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-inch-cast-iron-dutch-oven-44705.html

Life is too short. Keep it simple.

[shadowcaster]

This question is directed to Shadowcaster. What diameter and thickness of steel for bottom and sides would you consider ideal?
Thanks, Silverbear

It's all going to depend on how big you want to make your pot. My pot is 17 inches in diameter, the sides are approx 3/16 inch thick and the bottom plate is 5/16 inch thick. I carried a tape measure with me while scrounging so I could check the pieces to see if they would work. A smaller pot could have thinner sides and bottom.

Here is the link to my whole set up.. I hope this helps.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?146065-New-bottom-pour-smelting-pot!&highlight=bottom+pour+smelting+pot

Shad