How much range scrap before you start making ingots

[talkglock]

Thank you lightman for the words of wisdom. I like taking pictures, so yes I will post some once I get going.

[snuffy]

That's my home casting set-up. A turkey fryer, propane, and scrap lead. The Lyman ingot molds produce nice 1 pound individual ingots or you can pour them level across the top to produce a 5 pound connected ingot. Steel muffin tins can also be used.



After the above batch was done, I realized the turkey fryer base was too weak to hold that much weight. That dutch oven was holding about 100 pounds, it was wiggly, You don't want,,--can't believe the mess that would make if it tipped over.



I at least doubled the uprights that hold the bottom of the pot ring and burner. Welded in 3 more pieces of ½ thick rods.

[talkglock]

Thank you for the reply, this kind of the setup I'm looking at doing. However, i am still at a cross road of either a turkey fryer like yours or go with the propane camp stove path. Again thank you for responding. Mark

[triggerhappy243]

go the turkey fryer burner.... if you can afford it. I use one. It gets the pot good and hot.... keeps it hot. I smelt in batches of 65 pounds per pot. that is a lot. Pot has a large surface area so all the crud that floats spreads out and easy to skim off.

[DerekP Houston]

I went with a heavy duty turkey fryer setup. You can get them cheap here after crawfish season, they go on clearance. Just open up the box and see how sturdy it is before you pick a brand.

[mold maker]

A heavy built turkey fryer is a sound investment, that won't have to be replaced. A camp stove will get overloaded and the wire grid will sag, making it useless.

[talkglock]

A heavy built turkey fryer is a sound investment, that won't have to be replaced. A camp stove will get overloaded and the wire grid will sag, making it useless.

I see one listed at AgraSupply for $40 (no link since I'm not sure if they are allowed, but you can google the below I'm sure if your interested in looking it up. Thinking that and a roughly 2 gallon dutch oven should be good enough for a one man operation who isn't in a hurry.
(Carolina Cooker® 12" Fryer Stand and Burner, 60 Lb. Capacity)

[talkglock]

Well got all the basic items today to star making ingots. Already melted to first 20 pounds of range scrap, got roughly 15 pounds of wedges. Will post pictures tomorrow at some point


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[DerekP Houston]

That fryer will work perfect if you rig up an external support for your lead melter. BTU loks solid, just worried about the "60lb capacity"

75% return for range scrap seems pretty good IMHO, don't forget you can sell the scrap jackets to the yard and trade for more lead.

[TXGunNut]

and if you do lift it to pour it into ingot molds make sure it's caught on video tape,,,, cause I wanna see that.

Ooops, does that mean I'm doing something wrong?

Seriously, though, 100 lbs is about my ideal smelting batch size. My shoulders and back get very tired during my normal 200+ lb batches. Larger batches probably produce a more consistent alloy but 100 will usually give you some consistency.
Gather your gear and fire that baby up!

[talkglock]

Ok so as posted late last week I got all my stuff to start melting down all the range scrap that I have picked up over the last couple weeks (roughly 350 pounds)

Run down on the equipment that I got includes the following:

Turkey Fryer Burner (Carolina Cooker brand) w/60 pound capacity $40.00
1 gallon Dutch Oven (Carolina Cooker brand) $20.00
2 scone/wedge frying pan (Carolina Cooker brand) $13.00/each
Misc spoons and the like $20.00 (couldn't find these items at the local goodwill type locations)

Pictures shows the 300 pounds I melted down Sunday. One big learning lesson was that I'm not doing this again when it is 95 degrees out with a 105 degree heat index, it was flat out brutal.

Of the 300 pounds I got about 60 pounds of dirt and copper jackets recovered for a total of 240 pounds of lead ingots.

[talkglock]

Couple more pictures:

[DerekP Houston]

LOL I think everyone learns that lesson about the heat outside when melting range scrap down the first time. Heck I run in and out of the house to keep myself cool while casting. Slow and steady gets the boolits made either way.

[gwpercle]

Not so much a how much, but three things have to happen at the same time : 1.) I have to have some free time , 2.) it's not 107 in the shade and 3.) it's not raining . For these three conditions to all coincide...in South Louisiana , it's like an alignment of the stars, it doesn't happen often.
But when it does happen that's when I do it.
Gary

[Andy]

I did my first session ever a few months ago in a dutch oven on a propane burner. Seemed like 40lb at a time (final yield in ingots) was all I could get into it even heaping. I did about 500lbs leisurely over a few days working off and on and probably wouldn't set up again until I had 200 lbs. If I was out of lead to cast with I wouldn't think twice before I did a 40lb session though.

[lightman]

Good Job! Looks like you are off to a good start! Enjoyed the pictures too.

[Storydude]

the thing to remember with smelting(not casting) is Bigger is better in regards to a burner. You REALLY need the BTU's to get range scrap to melt in a reasonable amount of time. the Dirt and **** all works as insulation.

[Echo]

Not so much a how much, but three things have to happen at the same time : 1.) I have to have some free time , 2.) it's not 107 in the shade and 3.) it's not raining . For these three conditions to all coincide...in South Louisiana , it's like an alignment of the stars, it doesn't happen often.
But when it does happen that's when I do it.
Gary

Good Grief, Gary - I didn't know Red Stick was in Southern Louisiana. I thought it was RedNeck country, not Coonie Country! (FIL was a red-headed Irish Coonie, from New Iberia...)