Found some new ingot moulds at Wally World

[jdfoxinc]

I went to the local steel dealer and picked up a 3" channel reminant and a 2" angel rem . Cut the channel into 12" lengths with a 15 deg angle on the ends. Welded 4" of the angle to both ends and now have 5 15+ lb ingot molds. They fit my Lee 20 lb and my magma 40 lb pots.

[shootinfox2]

My version frpm Amazon with reenforcement for the weight.

[LenH]

The ones I have are made from 4" channel about 4" long. They were cut at an angle on the end (not enough by the way) and a piece if angle iron to close the end.

The guy that welded them for me used too much heat and the end drew in and now they are almost square. I work for a steel fabricator and found the stuff in the
scrap bin. the ingots weigh about 4.5 to 5 pounds ea. I had enough material to make two 2 ingot molds. Those stack real good.

I also found some bolt kegs that weren't bent all to hades and back, with lids an locking bands. These look like a 5 gallon metal bucket but a bit taller. They hold
about 7 gallons and I get about 150# of lead in them. I hated it when that started shipping bolts in plastic kegs.

[lightman]

I started off years ago smelting in a small or maybe a medium size dutch oven and a homemade heater made from a water heater burner and used a single Lyman ingot mold. I wanted bigger so I scrounged a larger pot and built a high pressure jet burner. A little later I found 6 or so Lyman style molds at a gun show for a dollar or two each. These are different brands but are all cast iron. If I didn't have those Lyman style molds I would build some from either angle iron or channel. I might even consider using aluminum. I would size them to fit a small flat rate box, just because.

I've used muffin tins and didn't really like the way they stacked. I also had a few of the corn cob/corn bread molds and didn't like the way they stacked either. I just finally migrated back to the Lyman type molds that I started out with.

[2011redrider]

I started with cheap Wal-Mart muffin tins and first pour was welded to the pan, had to peel them out like a sardine can. 2nd try, I had some graphite spray from Lowe's that said it was rated to 850 degrees. Worked great and ingots popped right out, but, as others have said they don't stack well.

Saw the rectangular mini loaf pan made by Wilton. Saw them on a you tube video by "Elvis Ammo" it a 8 cavity mold and yields about 3 lb each. I store them in square milk crates and stack 15 to the layer and 8 to 9 layers high (approx 400 lbs ) the pans come coated and did not stick at all.
https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Perfec...+mini+loaf+pan

[kevin c]

I have the Wilton 8 cavity mini loaf pans, but also have the same manufacturer's larger 4 cavity pans, which will cast close to a 10# ingot instead of the roughly 3# ingots with the smaller. Of course, the larger ingots won't fit into the casting pots I have, but I use them to store my salvage and scrap alloy prior to remelting and mixing of casting alloy, which are made into the smaller ingots.

If cast of consistent size, either size of loaf ingot (with a full pour, they look like Fort Knox style gold bricks) stored alternating up and down will make a compact and stable stack.

I burned out the non stick coating prior to the first use - while not harmful I just am not a fan of ingots that look like lead O-Cel-O sponges.

ETA: one drawback to the Wilton multi cavity loaf pans of either size is that they bend easily if poured full. Sure, they can be bent back, but it's hard to get all the cavities back to level, and that makes for uneven ingots that don't stack as well.

[MGySgt]

With the Wilton 8 cavity mold - put angle iron on all 4 sides - no more bending when full.

[shootinfox2]

See post #62 for pics of reenforcement.

[kevin c]

I dont have the skills to make those braces, but maybe I'll try anyway. They look like they do a good job.

[shootinfox2]

The braces are just 1/2 inch square stock runners and angle iron ends tack welded together. The loaf pan is screwed to the angle iron to prevent slipping. Not hard if you have a welder. The steel just keeps the pan from flexing while you dump the ingots.

[kevin c]

I really gotta learn how to weld...

[Walks]

Don't know why this popped up again. But I bought a Lodge "7 wedge" pan on sale at my local Ralph's
( kroeger ) Grocery store for $10.97 including tax. Maybe some of you should check your local Kroger Grocery.
Makes about a 2 1/2 lb triangle ingot. 7 at once. Blasted heavy to turn over.

[GregLaROCHE]

If you think they are a little to big, just don’t fill them all the way up to the top.

[kevin c]

I bought the same pan with the express purpose of making ingots. Never did use it. Gave it to my wife, and so far she hasn't used it either. We both ended up with other tools that suit us better.

[John Boy]

100 oz steel molds ...
https://www.makeyourowngoldbars.com/...lting-sterling

[Crash_Corrigan]

Back in '93 when I just started to cast my own boolits I used a Coleman Gas Camping Stove and a Lodge Cast Iron 5 qt kettle with a lid to melt my radiator shop sweepings and short pieces of solder. However I did not have any molds. Looking around I found that egg cartons would get the job done.

I would place the egg cartons on the bare dirt and carefully pour enough alloy into each compartment to almost fill it completely. I had collected probably 20 of these paper mache cartons so I just went ahead and filled all of them. After cooling for about 20 minutes I slipped a long steel spatula under each and dumped them on the ground. Now I had either 12 or 18 chunks of alloy and a scorched egg carton. I found that I could use each of these sacrificial egg cartons before they deteriorated into scorched refuse about 3 or 4 times. The burned out cartons then I fed to my worm farms and those quiet pets seemed to relish them.

The resulting chunks of alloy I stored in plastic ice cream tubs until needed. I then graduated to using Bass Pro Shops cast iron ash trays that were a small replica of a cast iron skillet with grooves (2) for your smokes. I bought 12 of them and found that they made dandy molds of my alloys. Once filled with molten alloy they cooled really fast on bare dirt. Usually within 5-7 minutes was enuf time for the tiny cast iron skillet to cool enuf and then I could dump the flat, round 2-3 lb ingot out and repeat. A friend made me a set of molds with angle iron which I have yet to use but I know it will work just fine.

[alamogunr]

About 15+ years ago, the wife and I were traveling to Yellowstone and points in between. Stopped at a Cabela's outlet store somewhere in Nebraska. While she shopped for clothes, I found these(http://tinyurl.com/y4vx9tqm) on a closeout table. I bought 5 of them for about $5 apiece. Filled full, the ingot weighs about 1 lb. The size is such that they fit well in boxes I made to store them in. As I have aged the boxes tend to stay in one place as they weigh about an even 100 lbs each. It is a convenient way to store ingots though.

These old muffin pans are well rusted and I have to be careful pouring the first fill because the rust can contain moisture.

[Winger Ed.]

What's rain?

In your case, it might work to just hang it on a tree, a little lower than waist high for awhile.

[WardT]

fill with water and a splash of vinegar

[David2011]

Buckshot, I know what you mean about those people who are easily dazzled by bright shiney things. Why is it, when a woman goes through the door of a store, they will come to a dead stop, creating a massive crash of people behind them? Can't they step to the side, out of the traffic flow?

It's one of those things that just can't be done.