Cast iron pot with small nick in floor...that OK?

[jrebs]

I am going to need to do some smelting and unfortunately there's a real drought around my area for cast iron pots unless you're going to buy a brand new one from a kitchen place for $80+. The sally anns and other types of places had nothing appropriate (all aluminum ****).

So I finally found an acquaintance who has a cast iron pot that would do the job for my smelting but he noted that it has a small 1-2mm deep nick in the floor of the pot. At the temperatures that I'll be running this pot at for a long period, is this nick something I should be concerned about or a non-issue for something as strong as cast iron?

[snuffy]

Cast iron has an unpredictable habit of cracking when it gets real hot. All it needs is some small defect to allow it to expand more in the area of that defect, that starts the crack. It could expand all the way across the bottom and up the side.

The ONLY way to know is to try it. But failure when it has lead in it would make a mess at best, or lead to burns at worst. If it passes a preheat test without cracking, you should be good to go.

I got a harbor freight dutch oven to smelt with. I put it on my turkey fryer, started to heat it, it only took 3 minutes ,,,---WHAM, it cracked all the way across the bottom, and up one side. I did not have any lead in it, so no harm done. HF replaced it, no questions asked. I kept the replacement for cooking, it works just fine for a lot of tasty meals.

A good friend had a dutch oven he had been using for lead melting for a long time. It still works just fine. One thing you do NOT do with cast is hit it with anything when hot! Even knocking crud off a ladle on the lip may cause it to crack.

[cbrick]

I don't know if it would crack from the chip but I do know that it is something I would worry about . . . A lot.

Rick

[jrebs]

Yeah, that's enough for me to pass it up. Thanks guys. I'll just have to keep looking or break down and buy a new one.

[D Crockett]

Jrebs I make pot for smelting lead in out of steel. at a very reasonable price the pot will hold well over 100 lbs. it has a poure spout on it so you can get all the lead out of it. I have been using this kind of pot for 15 years and have never had any problems with it. I have how ever had aul. pots fail on me and had a cast iron pot crack on me when I hit it with a laydel to nock out some junk in it. I was lucky both times and did not get hurt bad give me a pm if instersted in one and I also make ingot moulds if you need any D Crockett

[merlin101]

Can ya find a stainless pot at Sally Anns? I picked up a ss pot at Wally world a few years ago and used that for quite a bit of lead without a problem. Knowing how cheap I am it HAD to be CHEAP!

[jrebs]

I'd be willing to use SS but I haven't been able to find a pot with handles that looked really solid. I'd be concerned about using it to pour from. Although if I had a decent sized ladle it wouldn't be an issue since I could ladle out the ingots and by the time I'd need to pour the remnants, it wouldn't be that heavy any longer.

[Norbrat]

Although if I had a decent sized ladle it wouldn't be an issue since I could ladle out the ingots and by the time I'd need to pour the remnants, it wouldn't be that heavy any longer.

It is not a good idea to pick up any pot with a reasonable amount of melted lead in it! Absolutely ladle what you can out of it first.

I use an old S/S soup ladle to pour ingots. It doesn't need to be a proper lead pouring ladle.

[cbrick]

It is not a good idea to pick up any pot with a reasonable amount of melted lead in it! Absolutely ladle what you can out of it first.

Very wise advice even if the pot does have handles.

Rick

[RP]

I am lucky enough to be able to pick up stuff at the scrap yard. I like the SS it transfers heat faster then cast and no rust. I have used everything from SS kegs that have been cut in half to deli pans. Another place to pick up SS items is a hospital I have a few little trays that are well made and real handy in the shop. The SS pots are thinner then what I pick up and will crack or split with heavy use. One pan I have used for years and smelted tons of lead in using a shovel to stir it with finally got a small crack in it. Here is a pick of the same type I used for a ingot mold

[zuke]

I picked up an SS pressure cooker for $0.50 at a flea market.
The pressure gauge was missing .

[montana_charlie]

I am going to need to do some smelting and unfortunately there's a real drought around my area for cast iron pots unless you're going to buy a brand new one from a kitchen place for $80+.

Lodge castiron pot, online through Amazon ... thirty bucks and free shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-L8DOL3-P...+cast+iron+pot

CM

[Freightman]

There was a member that was selling smelting pots at what I thought was a good price 1/2 propane tank lot safer that a nicked CI pot.

[GARD72977]

As long as I was not picking up the pot I would use it. Just not on the kitchen stove!