How do you get the lead from the dutch oven to the ingots?

[Reddot]

I will be using a cast iron dutch oven to separate the wheat from the chaff but there is one problem that I can't seem to work out. After you have sifted all the junk out of the lead how do you get the lead from the dutch oven to the ingot molds? Do you use a ladle or what? I don't think that you would be pouring from the dutch oven would you?

[docone31]

When I first started doing it, I used a steel soup ladle. Actually worked our fairly well.
One scoop, one ingot.
Sometimes, I just let it freeze in the ladle itself.
One scoop, one ingot.
I got a couple and it got real fast.

[Willbird]

I use a stainless steel ladle, Gordons foods service has a good selection of very robust ones....some of the flimsier ones you might have around will give you lead shoes if you try to use them.

[Reddot]

Thanks guys. I was having trouble finding a bottom feed dutch oven.

[carpetman]

Reddot---I have an old Ideal cast iron pot that is small. It is small enough that I can pick it up with pliers and pour into the ingot. A duth oven would be way too heavy for that. There are ladles, with large capacity--often called plumbers ladle. Maybe Joe is getting out of plumbing and into politics has one he no longer uses???

[high standard 40]

A soup ladle works for me. As mentioned above, get a good one that's not flimsey
and of a size big enough to fill the ingot mold.

[jforwel]

I bought a #3 Rowell ladle from the antimonyman, member of this forum, and it works great for the Lyman ingots. It usually takes me two scoops to fill the ingot mould so all four ingots are connected, about five pounds.

Since I only have two ingot moulds I have to wait a while before dumping them and refilling. I will be looking for a muffin pan and hopefully one ladle full will equal one muffin. That should speed things up; but I do like the way the Lyman ingots stack on one another for garage corner storage.

[missionary5155]

Greetings Reddot..
Years ago I came across some cast iron ladles at a yard sale. They reminded me of the same ladle types I remembered casters using when I was much younger. Each one holds about 3 pounds of lead and have around foot long handles... all one piece. Yard sales are great places to come up with everyday casting / smelting equipement . Mike
God Bless you.

[Sprue]

Here are some pics. I ususally use the one of the far left. I think its the equvalent of a Rowell #3. It will fill a six cav mold easily.

Bottom pour Dutch Oven eh?


http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh266/spilihp_2007/LadlesandCastIronPots.jpg

[Old Ironsights]

I use an RCBS Lead Pot & pair of offset pliers to dip & pour.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=523105

http://www.midwayusa.com/midwayusa/staticpages/highres/523105.jpg

It will hold up to 10# on its own, but used as a dipper I can scoop & pour about 6# at a time.

[AZ-Stew]

Don't try to pour from a standard (10-12" diameter) Dutch oven! They aren't well balanced and they hold 50-60 pounds of alloy when about half full. Drop it or have it tilt unexpectedly and you'll be up to your ankles in 800 degree lead. Not a pleasant prospect.

I picked up a ladle in the kitchen department at Wally-World that works fine. The handle is rivited onto the bowl. I had my dowbts about it at first, but it's held up well and shows no signs of separating. It's robust enough that it doesn't bend when full of alloy, so it should last for a while. One dip fills about half a Lyman ingot mould.

Regards,

Stew

[madcaster]

Thanks guys. I was having trouble finding a bottom feed dutch oven.


Here's an ideal I stole pictures off of somewheres on the Internet...

[Ugly Dwarf]

Don't try to pour from a standard (10-12" diameter) Dutch oven! They aren't well balanced and they hold 50-60 pounds of alloy when about half full. Drop it or have it tilt unexpectedly and you'll be up to your ankles in 800 degree lead. Not a pleasant prospect.


I agree it's sub optimal. However, if your DO has a tab on the back like the RCBS pot pictured (mine does), you can use a pair of vise grips to give solid control of the pot while you're pouring. You may still run into problems if your DO doesn't have a pour spout like the RCBS has (mine doesn't) and I'll agree that a 2/3 full 6 qt DO get's heavy.

I just received my Rowell #2 ladle and plan to use that for filling muffin tins going forward. I don't think it will fill them completely, but it should at least give me consistant weight ingots.

Dwarf

[dakotashooter2]

Caution: Beware of soup ladles with plastic handles. (don't ask how I know!!)

[azrednek]

Redot I got a large all metal restaurant type ladle from a Goodwill thrift store. Think I paid a quarter for it. Goodwill or other charity thrift stores are a good place to find old but heavy cast iron pots.

[osage]

I used a soup ladle until I found a cast iron ladle in a junk shop. A pair of channel lock pliers are used to pick up the dutch oven when I want to drain it.

[snaggdit]

I don't know if I am being unsafe or not. My WW melt pot is not cast iron, it is an old smaller cast aluminum pressure cooker bottom. I use it on a turkey fryer and when it is melted and I skim off the junk, I grab the handle and pour it into ingots. A half a pan weighs around 10 pounds, easy enough to control. I found it at the local thift store, think I paid a whole dollar (it was missing the lid).

[testhop]

snaggdit
dont trust aluminum thay will let go at the worst time (dont ask)
you can lways get a cast iron pot at one of the goodwill or salvastion armyand any used
stores

[montana_charlie]

I have seen it written almost every day, but I have never seen a cast iron kitchen pot of any kind...at any of the three 'thrift' stores (Goodwill, Salvation Army, & St. Vincent de Paul) in Great Falls, Montana.
It may be that every cast iron cooking vessel in Cascade County is still being used...for COOKING.

CM

[Jjed]

I used an aluminum pot with my turkey cooker, walked away for a couple , when I came back the burner was full of lead and the pot had a two inch hole. Used a torch to clean the burner. Picked up a stainless steal pot at a junkyard, works much better

[mtgrs737]

I have a ladle I got off of ebay, it holds about 4 lbs. of metal and is made of thick steel. It is all I want to handle weight wise. I also have a cast iron ladle that I got from my dad but it only holds about 3lbs. of alloy. Both have pouring lips and do a good job of pouring into my six four ingot moulds. I also have a wire dipper used for dipping food out of deep fat fryers that works super good for removing the steel clips from the wheel weights I melt, I got it at Sportsmans Warehouse in the cooking department.

[snaggdit]

Wow, sounds like I have been lucky. I guess I better head back to the thrift store and find a new melting bucket! Thanks for the heads up!

[Goatlips]

I wouldn't trust the handles they put on Dutch ovens, mine came without one (how did the original come off?) so I twisted one out of baling wire. My back won't let me pick up a pot full of lead so I just use a junk shop ladle:

http://goatlipstips.cas-town.com/smelting.html

Goatlips

[Reddot]

When I got the first answer to this question I did the Homer Simpson "Doh". But looking at all the other answers I find a lot of good knowledge that has made me glad I asked the stupid question. Thanks guys.

[jawjaboy]

Or just build yer own stainless one. :drinks:


http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g194/jawjaboy/IM000495-1.jpg

[Leadforbrains]

I use a Rowel #3 ladle and it works really well. I use to use a stainless steel soup ladle from walmart to get in the game at first. I upgraded to the Rowel later on.

[alamogunr]

I realize my approach to smelting is not in the spirit of doing it on the cheap, but several years ago, shortly after Bill Ferguson started selling, I got a Rowell #5. I use it with a pot made from a 12" steel pipe section. The #5 is really a little too big but sure is nice when smelting 8-10 buckets of WW.

John

[Old Ironsights]

I have seen it written almost every day, but I have never seen a cast iron kitchen pot of any kind...at any of the three 'thrift' stores (Goodwill, Salvation Army, & St. Vincent de Paul) in Great Falls, Montana.
It may be that every cast iron cooking vessel in Cascade County is still being used...for COOKING.

CM
IMEX People who have Cast Iron cookware will give it up LAST...

[mtnman31]

I do my smelting on the cheap. Got a dutch oven for a pot. Made some ingot molds with angle iron from an old, cut-up bed frame and my ladle is a steel soup can bolted to a piece of electrical conduit. The can is a smaller one that had tomato paste in it, if I recall correctly. Works fine and the price was right. I used pliers to form a pour spout on the can. Heat is provided by a burner I recovered form an old natural gas water heater.
All ideas I gathered from fellow members here. All in all, I have maybe 30 bucks into the whole smelting setup. Most of that was for fittings for the natural gas supply line. I do need to make a better stand to put the pot onto. I am not a production level smelter, maybe a hundred pounds of wheel weights and I am good till next time.

[BeeMan]

A soup can and channellock pliers. Welding gloves to protect from the heat and spatter.

[Mtman314]

Well, I picked up a small cast frying pan at a thrift store. Plan to use that for both melting and pouring unless you guys think I shouldn't. I'm just checking around now about getting in a supply of lead. So I'm still in my yets. I do have a turkey fryer and a smoker along with my Three burner stove from the RV. Need to get the welding Gloves. Will the press tin muffin pans work okay or should I get cast iron ones? I do have my steel tips from the steel mills from back east, zipper boots just in case. LOL I keep in practice cooking on my wood stove. The other half just tells me I'm nuts and shakes her head but lets me cook on the wood stove. LOL, I still make her do the dishes. Charlie if you get to the Billings area let me know I'll show ya where to find cast iron in the thrift stores.

[Old Ironsights]

A frying pan/skillet will work, but because it is so shallow/large surface area the melt loses heat rapidly. Also, clearing Dross is harder since there really is no depth for it to float on.

I use my cast iron skillet to pre-heat/dry iffy-damp weights.

[HangFireW8]

I have seen it written almost every day, but I have never seen a cast iron kitchen pot of any kind...at any of the three 'thrift' stores (Goodwill, Salvation Army, & St. Vincent de Paul) in Great Falls, Montana.
It may be that every cast iron cooking vessel in Cascade County is still being used...for COOKING.


That's because the folks in Montana still have common sense.

Unused used iron cookware is much easier to find here in the East. I gave a nice set as a wedding present to a deeply appreciative groom. A year later I had dinner over at their house and the bride was prattling on and on about her shiny new non-stick pots and pans. My buddy looked bashful and I didn't let on (there was still a free meal to be eaten) but I still wonder who lucked out on that deal.

-HF

[lead Foot]

Can someone show me what a turkey cooker looks like. We call a Dutch oven a camp oven ( no it's not a gay pot HA HA ) here. The bush Turkeys here are a bit tough you have to cook them with a brick when the the brick is tender the the turkey is right to eat.
lead Foot
[smilie=l::drinks:

[Dale53]

I bought a couple of Rowell ladles from Bill Ferguson (The Antimony Man).

I use a large Dutch Oven for smelting along with my Turkey Cooker. I use a Rowell #3 ladle for making the ingots. That is plenty heavy enough for me over a days work.

I have a number of Lyman, RCBS, and Saeco ingot moulds along with a Lee. In addition, I have a couple of home made ingot moulds that handle 3, 3lb ingots:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/QIngotmoulds031.jpg

Dale53

[Goatlips]

Leadfoot, here's my turkey fryer stove. Just a propane burner with sturdy legs, that some folks sit a pot full of oil on to boil a bird in. I never tried cooking anything but lead. :mrgreen:

Goatlips

[lead Foot]

Thanks Mr Goatlips.
lead Foot

[Mtman314]

The deep fried bird is excellent also. LOL, well I scored this weekend I also found a small castiron pot complete with lid. must have been used for making biscuits. it isn't more than 2 quarts.

Went to speak to a old rancher and really scored when I mentioned I was looking for lead and asked where I should look. He gave me about 1/4 of a five gallon bucket of lead pipe and another 1/4 bucket of ww

out here the Billings area recyclers charge 40 cents a lb for lead.

[Dale53]

I consider $.40 lb for scrap lead to be a good price, these days. I have been lucky and typically have been able to find ww's by scrounging. I have had some nice friends, also (just remember, you have to be a friend to have a friend.)

Dale53

[rigmarol]

Thrift store or Walmart look for something like this:
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r104/rigmarol/Casting%20pix/DSCN3820.jpg

Add in a good thick welder's glove or even a simple oven mitt. One dip equals about a pound and a half or so.

[ghh3rd]

I was fortunate to have three ladles that my father passed on from his sinker pouring days. The larger one holds about 4 lbs of lead, just right to fill a Lee 3 lb mold. It has a nice long handle and I let it bob around on top of the lead in between ingot casts.

Then the mold gets set on a wet towel about 4 thickness thick, and steam pours out everywhere and the ingots are ready to drop promptly.

My only frustration with all three ladles is that they are all right handed, and I am not! How much extra effort would it have been to put a lip on both sides of the ladle :???:

Randy

[docone31]

Being a Lefty myself, I learned to do it Goofy Handed. I even prefer Goofy Handed bolt guns.
I reach over the reciever to work the bolt. Got so used to doing that, that Left Handed Actions are clumsy to me.