Need help on smelting

[shooterbob]

Ok I don't have an electric pot, but I do have a burner and pots to melt lead in and a 3 ft ladle from the 40's that hasn't been used. It holds about 3-4 lbs of lead. I was wondering about melting the lead with a propane burner. I have a fish fryer burner that I had a friend weld a sturdy base on. What's the best way to gauge temp on these and can you get too hot while smelting? I could use some help searching for related posts, as in what to search for....
Thanks
Stacy

[Zymurgy50]

Buy a thermometer. The only time you might get too hot when smelting is if you would have some zinc in the mix.
Pure lead melts around 650f, alloys will melt at a lower temp. Zinc will melt around 725-750f, so if you keep your melt below about 675f the chances of getting zinc in the mix are reduced.

[500MAG]

It all depends on what your melting. I have smelted without a thermometer but was smelting sorted items when I knew there was no zinc. Like Zymurgy said, the risk of zinc contamination can be reduced if you monitor your temp. Although, the best way to prevent it is to thoroughly sort what your smelting. There are theories that you burn off tin if it is too hot but that is debatable. There have been some experiment done that kind of debunks that.

[boho]

Sort your material with side cutters. If you can dent/cut it its good to melt. When things start getting liquid, turn down the heat. Flux with wax while its melting and sawdust after you skim the dross and you will do great. A little more wax and scrape and stir before you start ladling into ingots will help with oxidation. Long sleeves, glasses, staying upwind and boots without laces required. Careful its addictive!

[a.squibload]

Don't spend too much on a thermometer, I got one, it helps, but I hardly use it any more.
You'll want one that reads up to 1000°F so your lead temp is near the middle somewhere.
A long stem helps.
I got the one on this page that's on sale for about $22:
http://www.kck.com/tel-tru_grill_smoker_thermometer.html

I read on here somewhere that Tel-tru makes the ones sold with "shooting" name brands on 'em
but the name brands cost more.

[Oreo]

If you can reasonably assure there's no zinc in the pot then you really don't need to bother with temperature control during smelting. The heat is then only a problem because it accelerates oxidation which is easily mitigated by keeping a thick layer of saw dust on top of the melt.

[runfiverun]

we have a search function in the upper right corner.
not by your name just below that, it actually works now.
don't get caught up in the esoterics and junk you are just melting lead.
clean the gunk off the top, and then clean the alloy.
when that's done pour some ingots.

[Lead Bandit]

Ive had lots of experience. I have never used a thermometer. You can tell when its too cold. It wont cast. If its too hot the lead will start to burn. You will get the hang of it with time. Just takes a little practice.

[Blacktail 8541]

I have a 150,000 btu burner on my set up and do as has been mentioned above. Just let it melt and scrape off anything that floats when the pool turn molten. Have not had any problem yet. I started out by sorting everything and almost stopped casting because of it being such a pain. I constantly stir and remove clips when the pot is about 1/4 molten.