smelting pot question ?

[120Rick]

I'm about to make myself a larger pot to melt all my scrap lead, and have two different 15 inch tanks to choose from. one is a stainless budweiser beer keg the other is a 1957 USMC propane tank being mild steel. both are the same outside diameter. plasma cutter doesn't care which one it cuts, but was wanting your thoughts on the stainless verses mild steel. I will be using a gas turkey cooker setup to heat with. also how high from bottom of tank would you suggest to go for volume. Both have a nice ring on the bottom with a few holes in it to help keep the flame under the pot. appreciate any info you may have.

[country gent]

Another thread has the math for how to figure wieght of a pot of lead. A pot with a radoused bottom is a big plus if ladling from it. I have a 25lb propane cylinder cut off around 2" above bottom radious corner and it holds just over 100 lbs this is my casting pot. You can always cut it tall and not fill it or cut shorter after seeing what you want for sure. Also keep in mind the stand has to be able to support the wieght of the pot filled. Also the more capacity the longer to melt with a given burner

[c1skout]

Every metal beer keg I've ever seen was aluminum, but granted I haven't seen them all.

[lightman]

I would go stainless if given the choice. Like others have said, just be sure that what it is.

[Cowboy_Dan]

Use a magnet to test whatever uou choose in case it is aluminium. Not all stainless alloys are magnetic, but no aluminium alloys I know of are.

[country gent]

While stainless may be magnetic It is normally much weaker than steel is. We did have some specil grades in the food industry that were magnetic though. Aluminum isnt magnetic and dosnt spark when touched to a grinding wheel. STainless sparks in a very light pattern. and is lightly magnetic if magnetic at all.

[mold maker]

SS is too valuable as a tank for other projects. The steel tank has very little even as scrap, but still makes a serviceable melting pot.

[Pipefitter]

Cut the top out of the beer keg ad sell it to a hombrewer of beer, you could probably get somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 for it.

[NavyVet1959]

Some kegs have a burst disc on the bottom dome of the keg. What will happen when that burst disc is heated? I would not like to have a container that size full of molten lead and then find out.

Unless there is something wrong with the keg (such that the liquor store will not accept it as a return), it's worth a lot more as deposit / swapping for a new keg than it would be to be used as a smelting pot. I would suggest that you use the propane tank and swap out the keg for a new one filled with beer. You're going to be needing the beer for the smelting anyway. :) If you already have a spare refrigerator, building a kegerator is VERY easy.

Many people use the 20 lb (aka 5 gallon) propane tanks (which are used on BBQ grills). Any of the propane tanks will be rated at 300 psi and if you need to weld to it, mild steel is easy since most of the things that you are going to want to weld to it are probably also going to be mild steel.

[Leslie Sapp]

SS is too valuable as a tank for other projects

+1 I have a grill I made from one 30 years ago that gets used about once a week. It sits out in the weather, usually with ashes in it, and looks just the same as the day I made it.