Cloudpeak
10-21-2009, 10:20 AM
I melted a 5 gallon bucket of "berm lead" a few days ago and produced 133 lbs. of ingots. Mining the berm is a pain for an old creaky guy but, since I'm retired again, I've got plenty of time;) I generally get a 3# coffee can full every time I go to the outdoor range before I start getting back pain and the 5 gallon bucket represents a couple of summer's worth of "mining".
I used to wash the range scrap, dry and store until melting time. Big pain. On this batch, I decided to melt the dirty bullets. I'd spread a pile on the garage floor and move it around while blowing the dust, dirt, dirt clods and other debris out as best I could with an air compressor. I then scooped it up in a dust pan and poured it into a 8" diameter kitchen strainer. While the bullets trickled into the strainer, I directed the nozzle toward the "flow" to blow more dirt out. I then blew through the strainer as I moved the bullets around. I then poured the lead directly from the strainer into the cast iron pot. I poured the bullets with the strainer facing me so that the strainer would catch almost 100% of any splatter and this worked very well. (I do wear eye protection, as well.) I fluxed quite a bit and scraped the bottom and sides quite a bit, as well. The ingots came out about as clean as when I washed the scrap, I think.
I also melted into ingots the free, pure lead sheet I got a few months ago and ended up with 267 lbs. of ingots. I ended up with 400 lbs. of ingots. That should last me awhile:smile:
I used to wash the range scrap, dry and store until melting time. Big pain. On this batch, I decided to melt the dirty bullets. I'd spread a pile on the garage floor and move it around while blowing the dust, dirt, dirt clods and other debris out as best I could with an air compressor. I then scooped it up in a dust pan and poured it into a 8" diameter kitchen strainer. While the bullets trickled into the strainer, I directed the nozzle toward the "flow" to blow more dirt out. I then blew through the strainer as I moved the bullets around. I then poured the lead directly from the strainer into the cast iron pot. I poured the bullets with the strainer facing me so that the strainer would catch almost 100% of any splatter and this worked very well. (I do wear eye protection, as well.) I fluxed quite a bit and scraped the bottom and sides quite a bit, as well. The ingots came out about as clean as when I washed the scrap, I think.
I also melted into ingots the free, pure lead sheet I got a few months ago and ended up with 267 lbs. of ingots. I ended up with 400 lbs. of ingots. That should last me awhile:smile: