Does an electric smelting pot exist?

[fatelvis]

I have a Lee bottom pour pot for my casting, but I was wondering if anybody knows of a large melting pot that holds a lot of alloy that is heated electrically, to use strictly for smelting? I have a bunch of wws and would like to use my PID set at 650* to help weed out the zincers.Thanks!

[blikseme300]

Large commercial units are expensive so when I had the same need as you have made my own. The unit seen here http://bliksemseplek.com/boolits.html is my casting setup. The first unit I built is cruder and I use it for rendering scrap alloy such as WW's using a PID set at 700*. The spout aperture I opened up to 1/8" for filling ingot molds. Currently working on a 4,000W unit that will have a 120lb capacity. The total cost of materials is less than $100.

[kenn]

I have a Lee bottom pour pot for my casting, but I was wondering if anybody knows of a large melting pot that holds a lot of alloy that is heated electrically, to use strictly for smelting? I have a bunch of wws and would like to use my PID set at 650* to help weed out the zincers.Thanks!

I was looking for one everywhere as well and saw a number of home made jobs but don't really have time or patience to make my own smelter. I gave up and bought a Lee Magnum. It holds 20lbs (supposedly) but the mouth is quite small (4") so getting a big ladle in there will be interesting. If you find one, PLEASE come back here and post it up as I'd be interested in going a bit bigger (big enough to dip a mold directly in like I've seem many do on Youtube with a fryer-based cast iron pot).

[jmort]

You could use the Lee Precision Magnum Melter as suggested, I like mine but have never used it for smelting. There is also Waage which is more expensive, but they do make larger units. They also make an off-catalog unit for casting which would work. Small smelting batches regardless.

[Idz]

Biggest problem with electric is the heat output. A 4 kw element is equivalent to a 13600 btu/hr burner. A turkey fryer burner puts out an equivalent 12 kw. For folks in a hurry a gas burner is the way to go. A 100 amp home service can provide 22 kw max.

[montana_charlie]

This page at McMaster-Carr has some big pots (up to 12 quarts) in the lower half of the page.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#melting-pots/=s6wu4l

[blikseme300]

Biggest problem with electric is the heat output. A 4 kw element is equivalent to a 13600 btu/hr burner. A turkey fryer burner puts out an equivalent 12 kw. For folks in a hurry a gas burner is the way to go. A 100 amp home service can provide 22 kw max.

The advantage of the electrical unit is that we can control the temperature and not melt the pesky zinc WW's.

[Bucking the Tiger]

Magma Engineering and BallistaCast both make large electric, commercial grade pots for bullet casting( bottom pour). Waage makes a variety of sizes in commercial grade smelting pots that are dip pots.

[ReloaderFred]

You're probably looking for this: http://www.magmaengineering.com/products/cast-master/

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Idz]

There's no reason you can't hook up a temperature controller to a gas fired pot. Most people don't because its so easy to throttle the gas. If you want to get industrial fancy you would use a proportional gas valve tied to the temperature control.

[ncbearman]

It sounds like he wants something like this. Smelting from raw material in large capacity. This is nice set up.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...r-smelting-pot!

[bangerjim]

The advantage of the electrical unit is that we can control the temperature and not melt the pesky zinc WW's.

Considering the cost of M/C pots on their site, a good sorting job by YOU is the best way!

I have discovered thru testing up to 5% Zn will not harm your batch, just need a bit more Sn for fill-out and weight will be a tad lower. This story of "I had to throw my whole pot out because I had one zinc weight in there" is total BS.

And you can always take Zn out with copper sulfate or sulfur!

But..............YOU can sort MUCH better than 5%!

Stick with the Lee 20# standard pot (non-bottom pour).

banger

[blikseme300]

Considering the cost of M/C pots on their site, a good sorting job by YOU is the best way!

I have discovered thru testing up to 5% Zn will not harm your batch, just need a bit more Sn for fill-out and weight will be a tad lower. This story of "I had to throw my whole pot out because I had one zinc weight in there" is total BS.

And you can always take Zn out with copper sulfate or sulfur!

But..............YOU can sort MUCH better than 5%!

Stick with the Lee 20# standard pot (non-bottom pour).

banger

I agree that some Zn won't harm the alloy much but I like the way I can skip sorting through WW's to cull the non-Pb ones. I have mostly given up on WW's for alloy as most are either small or non-Pb. Maybe once a year I'll have enough gifted to me to bother with rendering.

Yes, the cost of large commercial melting units is prohibitive and this is why I built my own.

[shadowcaster]

When it comes to smelting/rendering scrap lead, especially in large batches... a propane burner, a thermometer, and a large cast iron or heavy welded steel pot is really hard to beat. The investment is really not that much, and the performance speaks for itself.

Shad

[b52fizzle]

There's no reason you can't hook up a temperature controller to a gas fired pot. Most people don't because its so easy to throttle the gas. If you want to get industrial fancy you would use a proportional gas valve tied to the temperature control.

How would one go about doing this?

[rondog]

Just how hot do you have to get it to melt zinc weights? I've only smelted down a 5 gal bucket full of ww's, but the zinc ones just floated to the top when the lead melted. I was afraid I got it too hot, but I think I just barely got it hot enough to melt the ww's cleanly.

[ncbearman]

Just how hot do you have to get it to melt zinc weights? I've only smelted down a 5 gal bucket full of ww's, but the zinc ones just floated to the top when the lead melted. I was afraid I got it too hot, but I think I just barely got it hot enough to melt the ww's cleanly.

Lead is 621 and zinc is 787 (degrees for you metric folks) so there is quite a bit of difference.

[bangerjim]

How would one go about doing this?

VERY CAREFULLY! I would not attempt it. Most gas controls are on-off like your furnace or water heater. The do NOT throttle proportionally at all! A throttling valve set-up would run a tidy sum. I sell them.....I know! You need either 120vac, air, or some other source of power to run the valve motor/actuator.

Not really feasible for a simple lead pot. I will be more than happy to sell you the industrial grade controls equipment to do it!

banger

[bangerjim]

I agree that some Zn won't harm the alloy much but I like the way I can skip sorting through WW's to cull the non-Pb ones. I have mostly given up on WW's for alloy as most are either small or non-Pb. Maybe once a year I'll have enough gifted to me to bother with rendering.

Yes, the cost of large commercial melting units is prohibitive and this is why I built my own.

I too have totally quit using COWW's, as they are getting too hard to find, have too many Fe and Zn ones in there, and are not worth the work to haul them home, sort them, and melt them. I make all my alloys from scratch now.

You will not fine me crawling around parking lots looking for the odd WW or two! Lead ain't THAT scarce yet!

bangerjim

[fatelvis]

The advantage of the electrical unit is that we can control the temperature and not melt the pesky zinc WW's.

That is exactly why I want electric. Now is the price of the furnace going to offset buying pure alloys until wheelweights become extinct? THAT is the question! LOL