Smelting Pictures

Me and Biggin just finished smelting our last haul. Photobucket dumped all of my older pictures so I thought I would post some new ones.

This is my smelting pot sitting on my homemade burner. We dump the clips into the dutch oven and the metal can sitting on the floor.

https://i.imgur.com/0aR6QOl.jpg?2

This is Biggin standing beside the pot as the pine sawdust burns off.

https://i.imgur.com/4aIWX6P.jpg?1

This is the pouring zone with the ingot molds lined up on a piece of 1/2in steel plate used as a heat sink. We can do about 3 cycles before they get hot enough to cause us to pause.

https://i.imgur.com/wvVkAoA.jpg?1

This is the landing zone where the ingot molds get dumped. We line them up neatly to aid in counting them. We have had as many as 7 layers at a time.

https://i.imgur.com/h9azPRs.jpg?1

This is Biggin's cut of the finished product. This was not our total, just his part.

https://i.imgur.com/gF9NGHK.jpg?1

This set up is not much different than what many of you do. By my count, we processed about 5700# of lead over the last few weekends and produced nearly 2 30 gallon barrels of clips. We've tried to make it as user friendly as possible while minimizing the amount of turning, bending and stooping required and to reduce the number of steps that need to be taken.
The burner produces around 500,000 BTU's and the pot will hold about 400# of molten lead. Loading it to about 350# per batch leaves enough room in the pot to flux, scrape and stir. The ladle is a Rowell and the ingot molds are a mixture of Lyman style molds.

I have a ladle just like that one out in the garage, waiting to be used someday.

You'll like it.

For fun I asked My wife, Donna and she said "who cares"with a flip of her hand. After we talked she said it had to be alot. We talked and came up with the number 5460 total, so I am submitting 2730 as her number.

Girls can be that way! Mine did not get very excited either. At least not until we got finished. And that was mostly because she no longer had to fix lunch for 2 or 3 guys!

That's one serious set up there, lightman! All that propane back there just for your smelting and shop or for residential use as well (the 20 pounder I use looks puny by comparison)?

I would have enjoyed working on that project with ya!

That pallet oughta be a centerfold picture in Handloaders Magazine!

Kevin C, one of those is mine and the other belongs to Biggin. My Wife and I put up corn in the early summer and we also do a few crawfish boils so that 100 pounder is handy. I have a few 20's around too!

OS, I would have enjoyed that! Too bad we live so far apart!

My operation has evolved over the years from a 10# cast iron pot on a Coleman stove to what we use now. It works for us. If I could start over there are some things that I might do differently. Better, who knows? That pot was given to me by a friends Dad, almost like a Dad to me. I could build one from pipe and plate. If I had not found those ingot molds for sale very cheap I would have welded up several. The burner and stand are homemade. I would love to have a burner fired from natural gas that is quieter than my propane set up. But what I have works ok!

Wow! I knew I was small time. But that set up really puts it into perspective!

I hauled the two 30 gallon barrels of clips off yesterday. 628# counting the barrels, so about 580# of clips!