How do you inventory your lead stash?

[bstone5]

Keep in plastic buckets, have over 20 buckets of cast lead in the garage each with the cast ingots made from the Lyman mold. Will use up the lead in about 10 years if I live that long. Have collected and smelted lead for a few years and now have enough for my life time. Use a lot of lead when the automated MasterbCaster is in operation. Keep several thousand powder coated bullets ready for reloading for my family.

[lightman]

55 gallon drums with the lids. Each drum is tagged. A drum will only contain one alloy type and each ingot is marked with a Sharpie. All are cast in muffin tins. Each drum holds about 2400lbs of ingots. Drums are set on scrap or reclaimed 4x4's spaced to allow air to circulate and slow rusting.

I would have expected them to weigh more than that. A milk crate holds around 700 # when the ingots are neatly stacked. The drums are a good idea though!

[jsizemore]

I would have expected them to weigh more than that. A milk crate holds around 700 # when the ingots are neatly stacked. The drums are a good idea though!

Mine were free. I bought enough lead from the scrapyard that they gave them to me. They're from DOT lane marking paint.

[mtgrs737]

I smelt and cast mine in 1 lb. ingots then stack them on wooden skids so I can move them around with a pallet mover. When the pallet gets hard to pull at around 3000 lbs. I start another one. Check my Avitar for a picture of some of my pallets.

[parkerhale1200]

I just stack mine under the floor.
Ready to use ingots are 10 pound ~16bhn water dropped!
Harder alloys in 5 pound ingots ~25-30bhn
Softer alloys in 5 pound ingots with a differend shape than the harder alloys.
Dead soft in round
Pure pewter 0,2 pound ingots.
Antimony lino etc into 0,5 pound ingots
Pure antimony, i whack with a hammer in a towel.
I write with a permanent marker on it, what is what, or what was what.
Stays on for years
So if want a harder alloy for the 44 or 308 i can just take what i must have.
Or softer for black powder.

For every ingot that i am poring, i poor a small ingot extra.
I let them air cool with the small one on the big one, for one week, then a bhn test and thats on the bar.
After that i stack them under the floor space.
I have approx 5000-5500 pound ready to use.

I use sand casting technique, and for the moulds i just use timber 4x2 2x2 1x2 and for tin i stack 35 (empty) beer cans upside down in a cradle, and poor a ladle into the bottom.
For every ingot is a small 1x1x1" cube extra, after checking/writing down they are back into the big pot.

@fatelk....get out of my basement, next time you will be casting, if i see you again

I dont know how to post pictures, or else i would done it, sorry or pm me how to do it.

Best regards

[Eddie Southgate]

Mine is just stacked where ever I unloaded it . Mostly in 5 gallon buckets of ingots , wheel weights , or range scrap . Lino pigs are stacked in the middle of the floor in the reloading shed . Soft lead is stacked on the carport . Hopefully another large chunk will eventually be found in my monster in law's sailboat that's still setting in her back yard cause I ain't had time to move it yet . A stack of Tin is in the living room cause I ain't moved it since I got this last batch . Have several of the blue recycle bins that the city of Madison Alabama donated for my use setting behind the shed with the downspout running rain water into it to remove as much dirt as it can from the range scrap they contain . Cuts my clean up time on that by a good bit .

No inventory .

Eddie

[lightman]

Thanks for the replys and ideas everyone. I was not only interested in how you kept up with your supply but also how you stored it. As long as I don't have to move it, my milk crates with tags seem to be about as efficient as any other method. I have also started stamping the ingots. One of the reasons for this thread is that I have a big smelt in my future.

[dragon813gt]

Starting to fill the foot locker back up. Once I get my profit sharing check in February I should have close to a ton in it. Pictured is around 500#s.

[RP]

I was marking mine but got lazy so I now cast my alloys in different ingot types or shapes I put one of each style on the shelf letting anyone know which is which. I keep the bulk in milk crates stored in my shop with a slap the other I store in the reloading casting area and just go get what I need when I need it.

[FISH4BUGS]

Mine are stored in 5 gallon buckets (raw ww's) and more 5 gallon buckets (linotype spacers and letters) and 6 linotype pigs under the casting bench @ about 25 lbs each. When taken from the buckets and stored on the bench, they are marked with a Sharpie as to W or L. I alloy "on the fly" at 5:1 ratio.
I tend to do everything manic sessions - I'll smelt for a number of sessions and get a bunch of ww's smelted into ingots. I use ingot moulds from Lyman and others scrounged up from this board and other places. I have enough ingot moulds to make about 24 ingots at a pouring, let them cool then dump them on the concrete on the driveway, then do another batch. I do the same for the linotype. I discovered the key to productivity on the smelting is to have a BUNCH of ingot moulds.
The smelted ingots get stored in 5 gallon buckets. I am so anal those buckets still have their snap on lids used. WW ingots on one side of the barn and linotype ingots on the other side. I mark the lids as to what is inside.
For quick access, I store 50 lbs or so of ww ingots right on the bench (taken from the 5 gallon buckets) and 50 lbs or so of lino ingots in ammo cans. I am running low on ww ingots but it will have to wait till spring to do more. I just did a run of some 4000 9mm bullets and 2000 H&G #51 38 bullets so that put a dent in the ingot stash...not to mention the stash of Magma lube. Thank God for the Star sizer!
I am one lucky guy. 8 years ago I had a friend sell his tire shop and called me and told me to take as many wheel weights as I wanted. I took some 2500 lbs. I never really counted but it was over 30 almost full 5 gallon buckets worth.
I have my lifetime supply. I am one happy camper and feel grateful for the friend that gave them to me. I am so grateful I sometimes will go gaze at my stash. I guess that brings a sense of contentment.

[lightman]

Mine are stored in 5 gallon buckets (raw ww's) and more 5 gallon buckets (linotype spacers and letters) and 6 linotype pigs under the casting bench @ about 25 lbs each. When taken from the buckets and stored on the bench, they are marked with a Sharpie as to W or L. I alloy "on the fly" at 5:1 ratio.
I tend to do everything manic sessions - I'll smelt for a number of sessions and get a bunch of ww's smelted into ingots. I use ingot moulds from Lyman and others scrounged up from this board and other places. I have enough ingot moulds to make about 24 ingots at a pouring, let them cool then dump them on the concrete on the driveway, then do another batch. I do the same for the linotype. I discovered the key to productivity on the smelting is to have a BUNCH of ingot moulds.
The smelted ingots get stored in 5 gallon buckets. I am so anal those buckets still have their snap on lids used. WW ingots on one side of the barn and linotype ingots on the other side. I mark the lids as to what is inside.
For quick access, I store 50 lbs or so of ww ingots right on the bench (taken from the 5 gallon buckets) and 50 lbs or so of lino ingots in ammo cans. I am running low on ww ingots but it will have to wait till spring to do more. I just did a run of some 4000 9mm bullets and 2000 H&G #51 38 bullets so that put a dent in the ingot stash...not to mention the stask of Magma lube. Thank God for the Star sizer!
I am one lucky guy. 8 years ago I had a friend sell his tire shop and called me and told me to take as many wheel weights as I wanted. I took some 2500 lbs. I never really counted but it was over 30 almost full 5 gallon buckets worth.
I have my lifetime supply. I am one happy camper and feel grateful for the friend that gave them to me. I am so grateful I sometimes will go gaze at my stash. I guess that brings a sense of contentment.

Not much different than me. I smelt in batches of 350-400# and usually do all that I have on hand during the same day or over a few days. In place of your buckets I use milk crates. I've had buckets split and fail. The milk crates may fail too, but seem to be holding up ok for now.

Now that the Holidays are nearly over, me and Biggin have 30 something buckets of sorted weights to melt down. We'll be watching the weather for a nice weekend or two. I'm somewhere between looking forward to it and dreading it.

[parkerhale1200]

anyone know how to do some brick laying?(:

[parkerhale1200]

Finally, i know how to get a picture.
Just like RP i was getting lazy and use differend sizes.
Here is mine:

For the softer ones that i not often shoot.



16-18 bhn range and ww


50 pound bar of pure pewter


To pour the pewter in the bottems of the cans, give a perfect ~0,2 pound disc

I hope this is of any help

[dragon813gt]

How do you the lead out of the sand. At a foundry they break the sand away. It won't speed up my production if I have to mold the sand each time. I like the idea, just find it impractical for my needs. Two mini loaf pans isn't enough when I'm trying to process 500# plus. I need to buy two more.

[parkerhale1200]

@ dragon813gt: yes you have to mold the sand every time again, and put some moister back into it.
Not make it wet.
I think, I am not the only one that has a mother that was saying to me: dont play the with mud, just stick to sand.

The temperature of lead is not high enough to let the sand stick together, what is more important:
The sand i use for ingots is w a y different then the sand that i use for other castings.
That other sand has some oil in it, to let you make finer detail, and w a y smaller grain.
So that sticks together, this sand for ingots just falls apart.
Anyway, you still have to let it cool down, till its hard enough to lift it out, with the use of some grips!!!still hot.
After I top up the pot, I take out the ingots, put them aside, put moister back into it, if needed, and set up again.
I takes no longer than 4-5 minutes.

You also have to fill up your pot and wait before you can start pouring again, but this is indoor small casting ingots.
About every two years we clean the range, and i do way more outside then inside.
Even more then 500, my "sand bucket" is a lot bigger and i can cast up to 25 ingots every time, 250 pounds.

My "vacation inside ingot casting" is every thing that I have accumulated/bought/trade the last year from the scrapheap.
It is really everything, if it contains pb/sb and or sn babbitt ect, just fun to experiment with it!
That way, why it suits me very well, every pot, max ~45 pounds clean, has its own smaller ingot for testing to bhn

My "workout, outside casting" is not so exiting, just range lead.
This suits my needs, and it works for me.
Just give it a try, it sounds to me you got the most of the stuff, buy a bag of playsand (50 pound)cost around here, 3 euro ~4 dollar.

I hope this was helpfull, best regards

[Rooster]

Such an awesome thread. I'm going to give the sand casting a try the next time I fire things up. Thanks everyone and especially PH1200!

[parkerhale1200]

I am glad to be of assistance, rooster.
But this is way off topic, MY mistake, sorry to all.
I will start a new thread on this,

[fcvan]

I look at my stash and always say "I need more!"

[parkerhale1200]

If you are interested, i have made a new thread on "sand casting" on this forum,
Casting & Reloading......Casting Equipment.

[kmrra]

mine is all boxed up in batches and marked, I use the Lead Alloy Calculator that is avaliable
here on this forum that way I can track it by alloy and weight