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View Full Version : Smelting furnace design help



AllOutdoors.22
10-25-2015, 10:04 AM
Ok guys, hope I got this in the right forum. Anyway, when we were repairing my local range the officer in charge said to toss out all the broken 2x4 supports. As I was doing this I noticed they were spattered with lead shot and bullets of various kinds. It got me thinking about designing a smelting furnace where I could burn the 2x4's for melting my lead on top while collecting the lead withing the 2x4's? My idea was something like a 30 gal. drum and hammer the bottom into kind of a funnel shape with a hole in thw center then set a screen of some kind over it. Throw in the 2x4's and burn with smelting pot on top. In theory, the lead in the 2x4's should drop to the bottom and flow through the hole into a pot below? Any better ideas? TIA!!!

jmorris
10-25-2015, 10:17 AM
My Grandfather had a wrecking yard when my Father was young, he said they had burned cars then moved them and rake the lead into piles out of the dirt.

Should be pretty easy to get it out of the ash from a campfire.

AllOutdoors.22
10-25-2015, 10:20 AM
Maybe I'll try that first...not as much fun though...lol

runfiverun
10-25-2015, 11:59 AM
yeah too much effort.
just make a fire big enough to keep it burning and collect the lead from the bottom err top [lid] of the drum which you built the fire on.

Tazza
10-26-2015, 06:07 PM
I have done something close to this before. My dad got a boat keel, it was not solid lead though, it was a concrete core with lead around it. We lit a fire around it and when the fire went out, we could lift up the lead that was melted off. I then used a melting pot to clean it up and turn it into ingots.

country gent
10-26-2015, 06:22 PM
several ways to do this. find a fire place grate or similar, stack lengths of 2X4s in it and ignite put a shop vac with hose on blow blowing on it. This will increse temp and burn and decrease the time taken to burn down to ash. once burning good 2x4 lengths can be added as needed. burning downlead should melt and or drop out thru the grate wash ash away and lead should be there on the ground. Be carefull as the vac blowing on it will greatly increase the heat out put of the fire. Do this away from buildings and or trees or flamable objects.

Dragonheart
11-01-2015, 07:32 PM
Have any idea what's going to be in the fumes when the wood is burning? This sound like a good way to get lead poisoning.

Lead Inspector/Risk Assessor

Wayne Smith
11-03-2015, 09:55 AM
Have any idea what's going to be in the fumes when the wood is burning? This sound like a good way to get lead poisoning.

Lead Inspector/Risk Assessor

Do away with the vacuum and stay downwind. I'd be more concerned with the arsenic in the old pressure treated wood.

Dragonheart
11-03-2015, 11:09 AM
I wouldn't burn any old treated wood, whether I was downwind or not. What little lead you would get from burning just wouldn't be worth the risk. But if you decide to burn anyway then you need a properly fitted full face respirator with proper vapor cartridges (a gas mask) and realize all your clothing will be contaminated.

bajacoop
11-03-2015, 02:53 PM
It is not a vapor mask that you need for a lead it is a P100 or similar cartridge and half mask will be fine.

Dragonheart
11-03-2015, 03:30 PM
P100 is a vapor cartridge. Point is you need charcoal filtration because you are dealing with more than just lead. The big question is why? Risk doesn't equate to salvaging a few pounds of lead.

AllOutdoors.22
11-03-2015, 03:50 PM
These are not treated...just regular pine 2x4's. I think I'm gonna try just burning them on a grill grate and see how much lead I actually get...