Propane stove suggestions.

[Bazoo]

I've got a lyman cast iron pot, now i need a stove to melt it. Anyone have a suggestion?

Im looking at maybe one of these http://www.amazon.com/Sportsman-SBCI...=propane+stove But im not sure without seeing it in person.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[centershot]

Well, it's a little one, 10x9x4", and only15000 btu. BUT, If you are not casting thousands of rounds per month, it'll probably work fine! I started out with a small cast iron pot and a single burner Coleman stove way back when. Didn't cast a lot at the time but it met my needs just fine. For just a few dollrs more, you can get a fish fryer from Wal-Mart:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/10-Quart-P...Fryer/19759610

I use this for smelting with a cast iron dutch oven on top, works great! I don't know what the BTU rating is but it melts 75 lbs. of wheelweights quick, it kinda' sounds like an F-111 taking off when you open it up all the way! Only reason I know that is 'cause I went to college at SUNY Plattsburgh, right across the Saranac River from the SAC base, those 111's went up every day at 0600, came off the runway then stood on their tails and climbed on full afterburners! Seems they wouldn't let them fly OVER the city, sooooo...............

[rancher1913]

just find a turkey cooker burner at a yard sale.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

A great many years ago, I used a single burner Coleman liquid gas stove and a cast iron pot about the size of the grill top to cast a great many musket balls for several years with reasonable ease and fast enough production to follow a full skirmish schedule of shoots. It was a perfect combination of stove and mould.

BvT

[Artful]

just find a turkey cooker burner at a yard sale.

I used my camping stove when first starting - two burner green coleman worked OK.

I have a Turkey cooker and it sucks propane on me. Used cast Iron Dutch oven for smelting.

[kentuckyshooter]

I cast and smelt on a 2 burner camp stove from the wally world. I think each burner is 1100 btu. Do your self a favor and splurge on the adaptor hose for a big tank for a grill. Thoese 1 pound bottles add up fast.

[Bazoo]

I have cast on a coleman stove before, and it was okay. I was using a lee production pot before I lost all my stuff in a house fire. Now im trying to figure out which way to go again. I dont like the idea of buying gas, but I like the idea of being off the grid.

[country gent]

Weed burners gas stoves turkey friers for gas burners work very good. Im casting from a cut off proppane tank pot with a weed burner for heat. I can melt 130 lbs of 20-1 alloy in 20 mins. Some electric hot plates may get hot enough also or the lee rcbs lyman wage electrics work very good also. Dont over look a simple wood or coal fire with the pot sitting in the coals. A few concrete blocks a steel grate and the pot. A shop vac set to blow to speed things up. The most basic of set ups. a row of concrete blocks and a steel grate to burn wood or coal on another row or 2 depending on hieght you need and a another grate then a row of blocks for a wind shield to hold heat. Fire bricks for a fire place or furnace work even better and give more control to hieght. There are many options to work with and consider

[Bazoo]

I've been thinking of doing a wood fire with concrete blocks. I've never done it before though so im unsure as to where to start. I know it wont be as fast as the production pot, but I dont want it to be super slow.

[waltherboy4040]

Look for a old propane bbq grill, the side burners are never used 9/10 times. Lift the grates out on the main burner, insert a aluminum turkey tray to catch lead drippings. Now you have a portable lead casting stand that can be left outside. I put a cinder block on one side so I don't have to worry about it tipping.

[warpspeed]

I cast and smelt on a 2 burner camp stove from the wally world. I think each burner is 1100 btu. Do your self a favor and splurge on the adaptor hose for a big tank for a grill. Thoese 1 pound bottles add up fast.

My exact set up for smelting, adapter hose and all.

My issue is that the dutch oven gets so heavy and the metal that holds the pot warps. So I put a couple of pieces of angle iron to hold the pot up.

[RogerDat]

You might want to search the forum on reinforcing camp stove. There are ways people have posted on making it so the stoves can take the weight of a pot of lead.

Smelting (making clean ingots from WW's or scrap) tends to go better with slightly different equipment than casting bullets. You probably won't want to use your good pot for smelting, or a big fish/turkey fryer burner for casting bullets. Small quantity amounts you can use the same heat source but you still would be smart to hit thrift store or garage sale for a stainless or cast iron pot just for making ingots. Keeps the garbage out of the pot you use for casting final bullets.

I use a Wal-mart fish fryer for both, cost $40 but have seen them since at garage sales for $10. Smelting in a cast iron dutch oven from Harbor Freight (20% off coupon brought price down to under $30) this handles more than 100# of lead at a time for melting WW's or mixing scrap and pouring ingots.

For bullets I use a small 1 qt cast iron pot or a 2 qt stainless pot resting on three 1/2 inch angle iron rods that I lay across the big fish fryer burner frame so it can handle the small pot. As mentioned it does waste propane to have a small pot on a big burner but turned down low it does work. I have a single burner Coleman fuel stove I used a couple of times it really struggled to handle plain lead in the garage once cold weather hits in the winter. That is the one advantage of running the big burner for casting bullets... warms up the garage a bit.

[Bazoo]

I have a propane tank im going to cut to use as a smelting pot. Im mostly asking about a heat source for the lyman pot for casting, but am not forgetting smelting either.

[StolzerandSons]

I've been using one of these for as long as I have been casting.

http://www.agrisupply.com/triple-bur...stove/p/48591/
An adjustabel regulator and hose and you are good to go. The extra burners are nice for putting a piece of plate steel over to warm molds on or it has enough length that if you have a long tank you can use it for bluing.

[Kylongrifle]

I've been thinking of doing a wood fire with concrete blocks. I've never done it before though so im unsure as to where to start. I know it wont be as fast as the production pot, but I dont want it to be super slow.

I did that for a long time..It will never let you down..just set two blocks close together..then a set of metal bars or grate that holds your pot..Build fire underneath..All there is to it..I still occasionally do that when smelting, especially in winter..

[Seeker]

I have the single burner exactly like that I bought from Amazon 1 year ago for $14 and change. I've smelted a ton of wheel weights with it and it works great.

[country gent]

If you can get the good dry hardwood up off the ground and a shop vac blowing in the fire it wont be slow at all. But as soon as you see moleten metal around the edges remove the shop vac or back it way off. You have the heat of a forge with the blower on the fire pit, but you will go thru wood at an alarming rate also.

[Bazoo]

I am thinking of trying some concrete blocks, arranged in a manner that an old car wheel will set on its edges, over the fire. And the pot on the wheel. It should support well, provided the bottom of the pot mates with the wheel well. Not sure if this will work, but its something im going to try to set up soon.

[DocSavage]

I use a 2 burner camp stove from Fire Chef,uses a 20 lb propane tank and melts WW with ease. I have a large cast iron pot to melt WW. Paid $80 for the stove and the nice thing is it's nice and sturdy. Using a Coleman stove gives me the horrors,have this picture of the grate giving way and molten lead going everywhere.

[Doggonekid]

I also started with a two burner Coleman camp stove and a small RCBS pot and a ladle. I bought a single burner Camp Chief at a pawn shop for $25. 60,000 BTU is enough for me to put a 14" Dutch oven on and melt batches of 100 LBS.