Ingot Molds

[Chris C]

Just for fun, to start a conversation: What do you use to cast ingots? I've got a Lyman ingot tray that casts 4 1# ingots. But I know others have other ideas. What's yours? Just curious how ingenious our members are.

[waltherboy4040]

Lee ingot mold, bunch of aluminum mini muffin pans, gonna try lodge corn bread pans next.

[too many things]

the lyman/lee stack the best and work so why change a good idea

[Chris C]

Because inventive minds are never satisfied. :D

[lightman]

I usually smelt with 6 of the Lyman style molds. A couple of Lyman, an Ohaus, a Saeco, and a couple of others. I recently sold a couple of cornbread molds. They cast fine but did not stack so well. If I didn't have these I would make a few out of 1 or 1-1/2 inch channel probably about as long as a small flat rate box.

[Nick Quick]

I bought 2 six cavities muffin pans from the dollar store for 1$/piece and they are working absolutely great as ingots.

[CastingFool]

I have an aluminum ingot mold that makes 1 lb ingots. I made the pattern (which I still have) and had the guys in metal casting class pour me a mold. Should have had them make me 3 or 4. Would have loved to take the class, but it was never offered at the right time. Then I have a Lee ingot mold. My nephew made me one out of angle iron which makes triangular ingots about 7" long.

[DerekP Houston]

I just have a 12 hole muffin pan and a lee ingot mold. Anything range scrap/mixed lead gets made into pucks, once i've added tin I use the lee ingot molds. Suppose I could probably buy a few more if someone were to make a new batch of "cast boolit" logo'd ones.

[Chris C]

Hey, that would be cool, wouldn't it?

[ammohead]

I use a couple of cast iron bread loaf pans from Lodge that I bought at Sportsmans Warehouse for big batches. They end up weighing about 30 lbs depending on how you fill them. They stack real nice.

[JASON4X4]

I started with muffin pans now have about 15 mini loaf pans from Walmart that I fill 1/4 to 1/2 way stack great and still fit in the pot. I usually run about 400 lbs at a time

[osteodoc08]

Lee and Lyman mold for small ingots. I use mini loaf pans that weigh in about 8# each and stack pretty good.

[Chris C]

Never thought about loaf and mini-loaf pans. Good idea. Inventive minds.;-)

[blikseme300]

I use a couple of cast iron bread loaf pans from Lodge that I bought at Sportsmans Warehouse for big batches. They end up weighing about 30 lbs depending on how you fill them. They stack real nice.

I must throw this out into this thread: Larger ingots will be a problem if your smelting setup is too small to accommodate these. Stick to the 1 & 1/2lb ingot molds if your intent is to feed the typical 10-20lb electric units.

I use Lee ingot molds as well as self-made ones that leave me with 5lb bricks that stack nicely into surplus 50cal ammo cans.

As an aside I use a sharpie to mark every ingot as to what it is as guessing what you have in hand is not so good.

[Walter Laich]

Lee/Lyman to start
then
got into the Cast Boolist custom mold buy for two of them.

[Mk42gunner]

Being frugal (that sounds so much better than cheap), I started using muffin tins. They didn't last too long, trying to get a stuck ingot out of them pretty much destroys them.

I now use home made angle iron ingot molds. BruceB recommended 10½" length so they would stack inside a .50 cal ammo can. I don't store them in a can, so the length on mine vary from ~8-10½".

Anything from 1½-2" angle, cut at slight angle for draft, welded on the outside. I usually make them in gangs of three to five like this-- VVVVV. Very tough and long lasting. They live outside so the rust seems to help them release better.

My driveway isn't very level, so I don't bother making pretty ingots as long as the alloy is clean.

Robert

[ammohead]

I must throw this out into this thread: Larger ingots will be a problem if your smelting setup is too small to accommodate these. Stick to the 1 & 1/2lb ingot molds if your intent is to feed the typical 10-20lb electric units.

I use Lee ingot molds as well as self-made ones that leave me with 5lb bricks that stack nicely into surplus 50cal ammo cans.

As an aside I use a sharpie to mark every ingot as to what it is as guessing what you have in hand is not so good.

I have nearly 4000 lbs of pure lead and alloys. When I need a batch of alloy I use one of the loaf ingots of pure and then add corn cob ingots of tin, monotype etc. I batch up alloy in a cast iron dutch oven and the loaf ingots fit just fine. That much lead in 1 lbs ingots is impractical. Takes too long and if it has to be moved the loaf ingots are a better choice. I stamp each one with it's weight after weighing on an old postal scale.

I figured that the smaller ingot choices were being covered well by other posters.

[Chris C]

Being frugal (that sounds so much better than cheap), I started using muffin tins. They didn't last too long, trying to get a stuck ingot out of them pretty much destroys them.

I now use home made angle iron ingot molds. BruceB recommended 10½" length so they would stack inside a .50 cal ammo can. I don't store them in a can, so the length on mine vary from ~8-10½".

Anything from 1½-2" angle, cut at slight angle for draft, welded on the outside. I usually make them in gangs of three to five like this-- VVVVV. Very tough and long lasting. They live outside so the rust seems to help them release better.

My driveway isn't very level, so I don't bother making pretty ingots as long as the alloy is clean.

Robert

I've seen those somewhere here on the forum. Pretty slick idea. Looks like they'd really stack nice.


I have nearly 4000 lbs of pure lead and alloys. When I need a batch of alloy I use one of the loaf ingots of pure and then add corn cob ingots of tin, monotype etc. I batch up alloy in a cast iron dutch oven and the loaf ingots fit just fine. That much lead in 1 lbs ingots is impractical. Takes too long and if it has to be moved the loaf ingots are a better choice. I stamp each one with it's weight after weighing on an old postal scale.

I figured that the smaller ingot choices were being covered well by other posters.

WOW! "4000#"? I can't even wrap my mind around that much lead. My little wife thinks my "stash" of 250# is a lifetime supply of lead. :D Makes it hard to convince her I need more.

[mac60]

168541

I got it at the flea market. I think I paid $30.00 for it. It's cast iron and about 3/8" thick.

[ncbearman]

168541

I got it at the flea market. I think I paid $30.00 for it. It's cast iron and about 3/8" thick.

Those are nice. I like there are 9 cavities.

[Chris C]

168541

I got it at the flea market. I think I paid $30.00 for it. It's cast iron and about 3/8" thick.

Interesting. Never seen anything quite like that before. Can't help but wonder what it's original purpose was.

[ncbearman]

Interesting. Never seen anything quite like that before. Can't help but wonder what it's original purpose was.

perfect shape for CORNBREAD!!!

[gwpercle]

Wilton , one piece , aluminum , mini muffin pans .
Not steel , not coated . Wilton makes aluminum pans in three sizes, mini , regular and large. Lead doesn't stick to them.
As far as I can find, only Wilton makes an all aluminum, one piece pan. And you wont find them in the regular baking section, you have to find the special birthday cake baking section...most of the time regular big box stores don't carry them but they can be ordered from Wilton.
I use the mini size because they fit easily in my pot.
Gary

[mac60]

Interesting. Never seen anything quite like that before. Can't help but wonder what it's original purpose was.

Manufactured for and intended as an ingot mould. I saw 2 of them on ebay a while back - they sold for well over $250.00 for the pair.

ncbearman - I heard that before. My wife makes a lot of cornbread - if she had to lift this thing every time she made cornbread she'd be fit to be tied.

[DerekP Houston]

WOW! "4000#"? I can't even wrap my mind around that much lead. My little wife thinks my "stash" of 250# is a lifetime supply of lead. :D Makes it hard to convince her I need more.

Come on now, 1000# is just a start ;). The trick is finding a place to store it so you don't have to carry it back and forth a ton.

[Bullwolf]

I'll often use an old rusted mini muffin pan, instead of the Lyman Ingot mould for my smaller hand pot ingots.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_187904f3b0de87c371.jpg http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_187904f3b0ec2500c9.jpg



They work great for small batches when I cast with my electric ladle. They are kind of cute too!





- Bullwolf

[ammohead]

I've seen those somewhere here on the forum. Pretty slick idea. Looks like they'd really stack nice.



WOW! "4000#"? I can't even wrap my mind around that much lead. My little wife thinks my "stash" of 250# is a lifetime supply of lead. :D Makes it hard to convince her I need more.


Chris,

Not sure I started out wanting that much, but it was there in a almost unlimited quantity, as close to pure as you can get and only $.27 per pound. It became a habit. Unlike precious metals it is unlikely to ever be worth less than I paid for it. There is no record of my buying it. And i can make damn good use of what I don't eventually sell. And it is a form of wealth albeit small that you can hold in your hand that will always have some barter value no matter what happens to this messed up world we live in.

[Chris C]

Dang! $.27/lb. You're pullin' my leg aren't you? I have to pay $1.50 for pure lead.

[ammohead]

Nope. I asked them what they wanted and they said let's call the salvage people and see what they will give for it and we will sell it to you for that price. And the salvage people quoted $.27 per pound. Salvage prices for buying are a lot lower than selling. Market is like $.75 but normally you can't ever buy it for that, but my employer only wanted what they would get somewhere else and when you sell lead to a salvage company it is way less than market.

[Chris C]

Pardon me while I envy you your source. I'd give my eye teeth for even a thousand pounds...........especially at that price.

[Nick Quick]

I can't find any issue to the 1$ muffin pans from the dollar store. Not a single issue whatsoever. Cast smelted WW, wait 3 minutes, turn the pan upside down and here I have 6 good looking alloy muffins. And kept doing it over and over again.
I couldn't find anything cheaper than 1 buck.

[jmar254]

This is my favorite
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=118868&d=1413059727&thumb=1http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=118869&d=1413059759&thumb=1

[Nick Quick]

Where did you get that? Oh my, that's so cool.

[jmar254]

Thrift store a hand full of years ago.

[Mk42gunner]

I nominate jmar254 for the best looking ingot award.

Robert

[DerekP Houston]

I nominate jmar254 for the best looking ingot award.

Robert

Yeah but can you imagine trying to stack those things? I like the loaf pan idea for bulk storage but I would end up melting them back down via propane to get them in my pot.

[Ural Driver]

Does anyone have one of these? Says it will throw a 2.5 lb ingot. How do they perform?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/40-oz-Cast-Iron-Loaf-Bar-Ingot-Mold-W-Handle-Melting-Gold-Silver-Copper-Scrap-/380702042949?hash=item58a39c2b45:g:7WIAAOxyiN9SUA1 i

[triggerhappy243]

my ingot mold is apiece of 3 inch c-channel with caps on each end. poured full to the top is 22 pounds, poured 1/2 inch thick is 14 pounds. this will fit in a lee drip-o-matic.

[jmar254]

I toss them in a 5 gallon bucket with the normal Lyman bars I have. They come in handy as voodoo dolls, stick'um in the pot head 1st as it's cooling down.

[warf73]

I use the Lyman ingot molds, bought 5 when they were on sale 7 or 8 years ago.

168829

Wish I had 4000# this is part of the stash of WW's, still have a few 50# WW plates that need melted down some day. I really need to do a melt mom bought a 5.56 ammo can full of mixed shot for $5 at a garage sale last summer. It should harden up my alloy if needed. Uncle brought over a 75lb brick of lino type(so they said) from an old print shop that auctioned off there stuff a few months ago. Wish he would have bought more but it cost me $10 to buy it off him.

[jimkim]

I use a muffin pan or, believe it or not, empty salmon cans. I noticed one day they are tapered, and they fit my Lyman furnace perfectly.

Sent from my VS880 using Tapatalk

[Sasquatch-1]

I picked up a couple of these pans a while back at Bed Bath and Beyond on clearance. I also have some wooden crate that casino poker chips were shipped in to stack the final product. I have two completely filled holding about 400 pounds each and another couple hundred pounds casting stock. It's neat having LEAD TWINKIES.

Check yard sales and flee markets. You should be able to pick up aluminum muffin pans for about a quarter to $.50. And you may find something neat.

Oh yeah, while looking for the pans make sure you keep your eyes peeled for cheap pewter.

168832

[DocSavage]

I have molds from Lyman,Saeco,RCBS,Lee and NOE. I also have 2 cast iron frying pan types that are divided like pie wedges.

[mold maker]

168541

I got it at the flea market. I think I paid $30.00 for it. It's cast iron and about 3/8" thick.

I got one like that on EvilBay for $18. and it was cast uneven. On one end the bottom was 1/4" thick and the other was about 7/16. This made it extremely heavy and useless. It had voids in the casting that mechanically held the lead ingots fast. The seller didn't want it back, but refunded my money. I still have it as a reminder of foolish times.

[robg]

Started with a piece of angle iron with the ends welded up ,then my wife bought me a Lee ingot mold ,she's a good un .

[mac60]

I got one like that on EvilBay for $18. and it was cast uneven. On one end the bottom was 1/4" thick and the other was about 7/16. This made it extremely heavy and useless. It had voids in the casting that mechanically held the lead ingots fast. The seller didn't want it back, but refunded my money. I still have it as a reminder of foolish times.

That's a bummer. Mine is a uniform 3/8" and drops a good ingot. I wish I had 2 or 3 more just like it.

[Echo]

I have lots of 4-cavity ingot molds, and I've painted some w/Hi-Temp paint to preclude rusting. For base metal, WW & pure Pb, I use a muffin tin. For WW+2%Sn, I use angle-iron molds. For Pure Pb, I use empty coke-cans. For initial smelt of WW+Monotype 7/1 +1% Sn, I flood 4-cavity molds to make 5-lb ingots, that break apart easily for putting into the furnace. For pistol lead I use 50/50 that alloy and Pb, with another 1% Sn, and cast them individually in 4-cavity molds. I've toyed with the idea of casting different alloys into different make 4-gang molds, but haven't done that - yet...

[Mal Paso]

2 inch x 1/8" Angle Iron just over 7" long and the ends angled 7* for easy release. Sides 1 1/2" X 1/8" Steel Strap. Handles 1/4" Rod. Fully assembled face down, clamped and welded so no welds where lead touches. Does not need to be water tight, unless the ingot mold is really hot lead won't penetrate small cracks (or fill a tight radius). 5 pound ingots.

Thought I'd see another angle by now.:wink:

[Chris C]

Mal, I've seen a lot of angle iron molds in my day, but those have to be the nicest!

[03fatboy]

^^^^
That's what I was thinking,
Now I'm going to have to go put handles on mine.

[psychbiker]

I got a good deal on 3 iron corncob trays shipped. Think they do 6 each at around a 1lb. I scored eBay and finally got a them for under $10 each. Didn't have the time to borrow a welder and make some plus I need them small enough for a Lee 4 20.

[triggerhappy243]

If you use inch and a half angle iron instead of 2 inch, the ingots fit in a lee 4-20
sorry bout the caps, i need a new keyboard.

[Mal Paso]

If you use inch and a half angle iron instead of 2 inch, the ingots fit in a lee 4-20
sorry bout the caps, i need a new keyboard.

2 of those 2 inch angle iron ingots go vertically in my Lee 4-20 along with all the sprues to help stand them up, 3 will fit, 4 would but the valve. You can lean them too, they slide right in. 10 lbs + sprues is a full refill for my pot.


Mal, I've seen a lot of angle iron molds in my day, but those have to be the nicest!

Thanks! Most of the prototypes were made by other people on this forum. I looked at what others built and made the changes that suited me. It helps to have a place to start with things you don't build every day.

[Drew P]

I use stainless mini bread pan. It sucks to cool it but I dip it in water to speed things up. They will fit in a lee 4-20 but they take a lot of time to come back to temp. Next tool will be a hot plate for preheat.

i have considered milling my own ingot moulds out of solid aluminum bar but haven't mustered the desire quite yet.