Sitting here thinking

[Freightman]

about a economical way to smelt range scrape, propane is not economical and also is not waste. So there is a hardwood pallet maker that throws away the ends of the boards across town and he will let you haul it off if you want. The pieces are about 2x3x3/4" thick so not real big. So I thought if I took a old grill bottom and put some air ducts in it and made a place to sit my dutch oven cast iron pot down in the coals it would serve as a economical smelter with free fuel.
What do you think?

[home in oz]

It looks like a hot idea to me.

Free is always good!

[Freightman]

Plus the fact the wood smells better than the smoke off straight scrap!

[runfiverun]

should work okay.
i have thought about getting a 35 gallon drum and cutting it length wise then drilling holes in the top putting it on a stand set at an angle ,and building a hot roaring fire and letting the lead run out the end into some smaller metal buckets which i could then sit upside down in my dutch oven to re-melt and clean the alloy.
i just wanted to burn off the gunk, and separate the clips.

[chickenstripe]

I smelt all of my lead with pine log fires. Just because I want to get rid of the wood, and I won't use it in the woodburner. I have about 3cord from trees that have come down. It does a great job.

I just use refractory brick to support the dutch oven, right next to the fire.

It should work even better with a bit more thought.

[madcaster]

i have a friend who adds used motor oil to his wood,gets a bit more on the heat!

[Freightman]

I smelt all of my lead with pine log fires. Just because I want to get rid of the wood, and I won't use it in the woodburner. I have about 3cord from trees that have come down. It does a great job.

I just use refractory brick to support the dutch oven, right next to the fire.

It should work even better with a bit more thought.
I was given a 1/2 cord of pine and found out I will not use it any longer for my stove, it builds creosote to fast. I have good luck with old big Pi** elms as that is about all we have here and they are slowly but surely dieing.
Thinks to all of you for the suggestions and the "brick" one is something I didn't think of.

[madman]

I have one set up that I have a semi truck brake drum turned up side down and the bottom or the large bell is supported by fire brick to get it off the ground. I buried a 2 in pipe under the ground and it comes up in the middle of the brake drum with a 90 deg elbow and I attached a small blower to the other end and when the fire gets going I turn on the blower and it feeds allot of 02 to the fire. you can forge steel with it and it will melt aluminum in a big hurry. Lead of any kind is no match for it.

[JDFuchs]

I came across this a while ago http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/ Its a great sight for learning how to do larger casting projects. With lead melting a lot lower then aluminum so i'm sure you could take one of the designs enlarge it to your pot and be quite happy.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[sqlbullet]

i have a friend who adds used motor oil to his wood,gets a bit more on the heat!

I add used motor oil with a little sawdust to the melt when I have about 30 lbs, then a bunch of lead (30-40lbs) and flame it. Flux and speed melting together.

[Bert2368]

If you've got plenty of chunks of pallet off cuts, you might consider making and smelting with charcoal. It's the ORIGINAL industrial fuel. Good for fluxing, forging steel, reducing scrap Iron for casting, making black powder too... Don't even bother with the commercial briquets, they're too expensive and full of additives.

[Freightman]

Well if I weren't so lazy I can get 10,000# a week out there but that is a full time job I only use the hardwood there is about 1/4 hardwood and 3/4 white wood.
I am sure that I can make charcoal with it but I think I will pass right now on the black powder, might get there but not now.
WOW! you can learn a lot here and I had rather play and experiment than go to the range, but you have to go to the range to experiment What a vicious circle!

[briang]

If you mix saw dust with a bit of used motor oil and blow it into the fire it will act similar to an oil burner. I use an old blower from a dust collector to blow it into my burn barrel. I hang a steel pot inside and am able to melt copper easily but I have to watch I don't melt the barrel or pot. Just the burn barrel itself will melt aluminum and lead with no problem. I just need to work out a bottom pour spout system for it.

[Dale53]

We cleaned out our indoor range every year or two and used a fifty gallon drum with holes punched in the bottom sides. We used scrap wood and hung a large cast iron pot with a very strong bail supported by a large iron rod that bridged the top of the barrel. It was no trick at all to smelt a couple of thousand pounds of range scrap in a day.

This was a team effort. There were probably near a dozen bodies to carry and wheel the scrap to the barrel, then others to dip the molten product into large ingot moulds.

Dale53

[JSnover]

www.artfulbodgermetalcasting.com

Someone on another thread mentioned using old water heaters. The link takes you to a website where you can get a pretty good book filled with plans and specs.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Thanks for the links, I have Boo Coo wood, other fuels cost to much here in the far North, I have been at this for a long time, it is always interesting to see other ideas.
Keep the home fires burning...

[04heritage]

Never really thought of it. The Co I work for has and unlimited supply of oak scrap. Gonna have to try this one. Thanks