Best vessel for stove top lead melting?

[cas]

Don't be misled by the title. lol

I have a decent amount of ungainly lead saved up, toilet bends, large pipes, lead bricks. Stuff that would be a major pain to melt in my Lyman.

I have a wood stove that was intended to go in my house, but never will. So it sits in my shed taking up space.

I have a large supply of firewood that will also never get used.

I have a large plumbing ladle.

So the plan this fall/winter is to drag the stove out of the shed and use it to melt down the lead into ingots. What I DON'T have is something to do it in. I assumed my best bet would be to try to find a large old cast iron pot or dutch oven type thing at a yard sale or thrift store. But I was just wondering if there was some other option I was over looking in terms of a melting pot?

[ericandelaine1975]

Honestly for the price of a cast iron pot you can get a lee casting furnace.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181014/de38c5d5529135413af26dcfcf5466b1.jpg

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[Pine Baron]

Cut a 20lb. propane cylinder.

[Reddirt62]

Humm...a cheap SS stock pot from wally world will do just fine unless you are sold on cast iron...[emoji4]

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[country gent]

Any cast iron steel or stainless steel pot will work for this. If its a cook stove with covered heat areas a pot that fits in one will do good. If a wood tove for heating a small stand to hang the pot on in the stove will help a lot. A small stand to fit over the grate to sit the pot on just above or in the coals works good. You want the pot supported so as the wood coals burn down it dosnt spill over. Having it on a second heavy grate on separate legs will solve this issue.The plus to this is the fire and lead are enclosed making for an even efficient use of the heat. If its slow melting ad a smallblower under the wood grate to "boost" the heat

[Walks]

I had a buddy, who's stainless pot melted all over his COLEMAN Stove. And it was a quality AMERICAN MADE POT he'd had for 20yrs.

CAST IRON IS THE ONLY SAFE VESSEL FOR MELTING LEAD OVER A PROPANE FLAME.

Wood stove will take a long time to heat up and cool down. I WOULDN'T trust any thing but CAST IRON over that much heat.

[cas]

Honestly for the price of a cast iron pot you can get a lee casting furnace.

Honestly a 4" by 16" lead pipe isn't going to fit in a Lee pot. ;)

[ericandelaine1975]

Cut it off. A reciprocating saw will make quick work of that.
Honestly a 4" by 16" lead pipe isn't going to fit in a Lee pot. ;)

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[kevin c]

4" pipe in a 4" casting pot (I think the biggest Lee is 4") might be a tight fit unless cut lengthwise, and even then a second cut to make thin strips or short sections might be needed. Still, cutting may be worthwhile regardless of the size of the pot to avoid pipe obstructions and to get rid of some of the nasty stuff I've found inside lead pipe I've melted down. (BTW, I think Kilmer's Doc Holliday was one of the best roles he's done and the best Doc I've seen.)

Plain thin gauge steel is what my half propane tank scrap melting pot is made of. Is stainless a whole lot softer? I was planning on melting some bulky pewter items down using a SS stock pot. Granted, the temp is going to be a lot lower than for lead, and it's a hot plate electric element that I'll be using.

ETA: apologies for the thread drift.

[shootinfox2]

228855
Cut off propane tank is the easiest.

[cas]

Cut it off. A reciprocating saw will make quick work of that.

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You're really missing the point.

I'm trying NOT to do that. :D
No pounding, no cutting.

If I wanted to spend the day with the sawzall, I wouldn't make ingots, I would just cut it all up into pottable bits.

https://photos.imageevent.com/cas6969/shmisc/websize/12EC7161-01F5-40B7-9BF2-02F544D67C7A.jpeg

[kevin c]

Well, I used a harbor freight cast iron Dutch oven at first, and now use a cut propane tank pot (D Crockett did it for me, including a pour spout; knowing me, I probably would have blown myself up trying to cut the tank myself).

Most stuff fits in easily without cutting down, but I did have a fair amount of sheet lead and a bit of pipe that I cut down so it didn't stick out of the top of the pot to the point where it might overbalance the pot or risk having the leaning part fall out as the bottom section melt through. And as I mentioned above, that old 2" pipe was chock full of solids of an unknown nature that I decided I did not want to burn. I've also read here that it's worth considering cutting up lead pipe to avoid obstructed sections and trapped moisture in the melt that might result in a catastrophic visit from the tinsel fairy.

[lightman]

I would cut off an old propane tank. They are big enough for odd chunks of lead like plumbing traps and cable splice covers. I quickly got tired of cutting up odd chunks of lead just to make it fit into a small pot.

[country gent]

I cut off my tank after it was well purged by several soap water flushings with a hand hacksaw working around it. I wouldn't recommend a torch or grinder, I didn't even like the idea of electric motor close while doing it. I started with a cast Iron dutch oven and it was good for several years until I got in a hurry and opened the weed burner up with no preheat on the pot, at about 10 mins in I heard a "tink" and had lead running on the floor and in the burner. The bottom had cracked from the fast uneven expansion.

I prefer a steel pot Stainless will work but dosnt have as good a heat transfer as steel or cast iron does.

Using cast iron in your wood stove I would sit it in and fill it then light the fire and let the fires growing as the pre heat warm up, setting it cold into a fire with blower going already may be enough "extra" to cause problems. A hard wood fire with blower can melt steel.
When I smelted over open fire I used a bed of stoker coal coals. but that was a steel tank

[Loudy13]

Go with the garage sale cast iron pot or large pan if you can find it, the pan would probably fit your odd ball size pieces the best. it would hold less volume but may be easier with pipes and such.
Just my 2 cents.

Loudy

[Grmps]

I had a buddy, who's stainless pot melted all over his COLEMAN Stove. And it was a quality AMERICAN MADE POT he'd had for 20yrs.

CAST IRON IS THE ONLY SAFE VESSEL FOR MELTING LEAD OVER A PROPANE FLAME.

Wood stove will take a long time to heat up and cool down. I WOULDN'T trust anything but CAST IRON over that much heat.


IF you let the heat get high enough to melt steal you have a lot more to worry about than a melted pot. Lead releases fumes and becomes toxic before that will happen.


Cast Iron has on occasion broken (with a little common sense the odds are slim).

My first choice would be a heavy steel pot/container.

You need a way to read the temperature on top of the stove to avoid possible problems ( and know how to control them ) I've seen stovepipes glow red.

[St. Hogustine]

The last time I checked, my local scrapyard had oodles of steel/iron pots, cylinders, etc. that would work fine for this. Just drop by and see what they have.

[Dragonheart]

For processing my range scrap I use a cut down propane tank which can hold 200+ pounds.

I wouldn't recommend melting lead inside a shed unless you are wearing a respirator.
Many believe lead has to vaporize before it becomes a hazard and that is just not true. Once the lead melts there will be most likely other contaminates in the pot that will vaporize at a much lower temperature. Lead molecules can attach to these vapors and become airborne. If you want to take the risk OK, but for god's sake make sure there are no children or pets in the area as they can suffer permanent damage.

[samari46]

I have a dutch oven 8 quart capacity so roughly about 100 pounds or so of molten lead. This one I bought new years ago and is thick and heavy. Searched all over town for a place that sold them. Made in the USA but the Harbor Freight is most likely made in China. I'd do a comparison between USA and China. Think you would find a marked difference in weight and metal thickness. I use a wally world turkey fryer base that has been beefed up. Frank

[triggerhappy243]

this is my melter. 60 pounds per batch.

[Traffer]

I agree with the 20lb propane tank cut off. They are by far the most popular. Cheap and nice thick steel.

[rrob692326]

Cutt off co2 or oxygen cylinder works well and last forever. Top of cylinder makes a hell of a gong as it is like a tuning fork with a long-range sound that a buddest temple would envy.