Going to buy a 1lb ingot mold.

[letsmeltlead2693]

I am going to buy a 1lb ingot mold, as I do not feel like making my own. Should I buy a Lee, Lyman, or RCBS ingot mold? The Lee is cheapest, but has 2 1lb and 2 1/2 lb slots, but the Lyman and RCBS has 4 1lb slots. The RCBS is made of cast iron but has no handles. What should I buy? I want to make smaller lead ingots than the ones I have now.

[1bluehorse]

I have two Lee ingot molds all the slots on mine are the same. Approx 1lb. I also have a couple old cast iron muffin pans that are about the same, maybe a little less....they're ingot molds, what difference does it make??

[letsmeltlead2693]

I think cast iron will last much longer than aluminum molds and not have the troubles of sticking. Aluminum Lee ingot molds are cheaper so what will you recommend ally or cast iron?

[runfiverun]

i have tried all of them.
i like the lyman ones with the handles the best.
the rcbs are the most flexible for me they fit under a lee pot nicely, to catch the drips.
the triangle mold i made stacks the tightest together and is less prone to falling over.
anyways i use all of them.
and the cast boolits mold i got from the prototype run, which i use lightly and just for my soft/pure lead alloys.
whatever you use it's just gotta hold lead long enough for it to cool down so you can dump it out.

[letsmeltlead2693]

So I guess it will either be the Lyman or the RCBS. I will probably buy the Lyman since it has the handle as I do not want to mess with the vise grips and vise versa. No pun intended. The Lyman goes for about 26.96 or about 27.00 including shipping. I think that's what I will buy unless I get a really good reason not to.

[southpaw]

I have lee, lyman and the rcbs ones. I broke the handle off the lyman so now it looks like the rcbs ones. The lee ones the handles will not stay on the mold. The lyman did not seem to want to drop the lead out quite as easy as the others.

I use welders gloves for the most part when I am smelting. After the lead is hard I use my gloved had to dump the ingots out. Don't hold on too long the welders gloves will get HOT.

Just a quick search showed me that you can get 2 of the lee molds for ~$24, one rcbs or lyman for ~$21. I looked at grafs. http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/...ocess%22%3B%7D

I found that I needed quite a few molds. My pot will hold about 120 pounds of lead. I like to empty atleast half of it before adding more.

I would go with the lee and get a few more. Trust me it is alot easier to fill up a bunch of molds than wait for one to cool down and fill it again. Makes the smelting process go alot faster.

Jerry Jr.

[stubshaft]

I use the RCBS one with a vise grip handle.

[bumpo628]

I got a cast iron biscuit pan at a thrift store for about $5. I haven't used it yet, but I like the idea of lead hockey pucks all over the garage.
It looks like it will make ingots about 2 lbs each. The pan goes for about $30 at Bass Pro, but in terms of ingot weight per dollar it is a pretty good deal. The ingots will be the right size to put in my Lee Magnum melter too.

[Defcon-One]

The RCBS or an Old Lyman, made of cast iron. Then use pliers to flip out ingots.

[letsmeltlead2693]

So RCBS then? It is about $23 shipped. I have vise grips, heck we have 2 or 3 vise grips. We is my dad has the vise grips.

[Fishman]

I have the rcbs with vice grip handles and the Lyman aluminum with handle. Either works fine but I have found I can get three pours in the rcbs in the time I get two in the Lyman. The rcbs sheds heat quicker. I have been smelting quite a bit recently and the rcbs gets my vote for speed. Either works fine though. Once my two ingot moulds have heated up I pour the rest of the lead into an angle iron mould I made and refill the pot with cold wheel weights.

[Fishman]

I'll second the idea that more moulds is better. They heat up quickly and then casting ingots takes a lot longer

[D Crockett]

letsmeltlead I have a 4 cavity lyman with one of the cavity that has a hole in it you can have it just for the postage if you want it D Crockett

[idahoron]

I know you got your heart set on a ingot mould but aluminum muffin tins work and cost nothing at second hand stores. All you have to do to keep the lead from sticking is smoke them. I picked up a Cast iron egg poacher that will make 5 or 6 ingots at a time for 1.00 I also picked up a cast iron. You didn't want to spend any money on lead but your willing to spend 23.00 for just a ingot mould. One of the fun things about pouring lead for me is improvising. I save on everything but I am willing to pay for good soft lead, if I have to. Ron

[Walter Laich]

southpaw,

I used JB Weld to solve the problem of the loose handle. It seems to be holding even with the high temps of ingot making

[Huntducks]

I have number of ingots RCBS and the good old CI corn cob + I use some Alum chain link fence cross braces you can put a hole bunch on a peice of all thread rod with some nuts they hold about 1/2lb and work great with a 10-20 lb lee pot.

[Bill*]

I'd take D Crocketts generous offer and then buy a couple of Lees as you need them. They're cheaper and work just fine IMHO.

[Hardcast416taylor]

My ingot molds consist of 3 Lyman ingot molds (with vise grips) 1 LEE ingot mold with the 1 and 1/2 lb. slots and 2 small melting pots from RCBS and Lyman. I use a stainless steel 1 piece ladle from a school cafeteria sale for dipping the lead from my smelting pot to the various molds. I rotate the ingot molds, always having 1 cooling as I`m dumping another into a sheet cake pan that sits up off the bench by an inch or so to not scorch the bench top wood. The ladle holds 2 1/2 lb. of lead, I put 1 ladle full into each of the small melting pots to make larger 1 piece ingots and these fall out nicely.Robert

[Ole]

I'd save the $$ you were going to spend on ingot molds and put it towards a bullet mold.

Heck $23 buys a Lee 2 banger.

[canebreaker]

I got a cornbread stick mold that does great. $.50 at a carport sale. I get to pour up to 7 at a time. They weigh about a pound each. I can stick 4 of them in my lee 2-10 pot to start with.