Before I commission a friend to build one, does anyone have a source for smelters similar to the Satan's Little Smelter advertised here a while back?
TIA,
JB
BTW, Tim Asbury (Satan's Little Smelter, 3FG Fabrication & Design, St Maries, Idaho) fleeced me for $450. SORRY BASTARD!
"He's whittlin' on a piece of wood. I've got a feeling when he stops whittlin', somethin's gonna happen." - Cheyenne, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
"When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk." - Tuco, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Sorry to hear that you got ripped off. I was tempted by one of those but I wanted something quite a bit larger.
I don't know of anyone else in the business.
Did you find someone to build one? I'm also interested in getting one.
I use a 20# propane bottle cut off at the weld with a reciprocating saw. Holds 80# of lead, easy. Use a propane burner under it. Smelted a ton, no kidding, with it. Find them at yard sales, estate sales, etc. for 5 bucks or less.
One of my father's favorite statements: "If I say a chicken dips snuff, look under his wing for the snuffbox" How I was raised, who I am.
So what happened? Did you send him $450 and never get anything or your money?Originally Posted by autodidact
Dutch ovens or similar iron pots work well for many casters like myself, who is not a high volume smelter.
I’ve seen a lot of interesting ideas using propane tanks. The thought of building one has crossed my mind, but it hasn’t yet worked it’s way to the top of the project list. You will probably find a lot if you search the forum.
Last edited by GregLaROCHE; 01-08-2021 at 12:05 AM.
As mentioned a #20 propane cylinder works great and the top can be cut off with a $10 angle grinder from harbor Freight. The only downside is it really needs a skirt abound the tank to hold in the heat. A skirt will cut the melting time in half. My pot has smelted down several thousand pounds of range scrap since I built it. Actually, if I had know how well it would work and how long it would last I would have spent more time in the construction and made it look more presentable. I copied the RCBS Pro-Melt bottom pour design with a slight modification, so all my ingots are clean. i get well over 200 pounds of ingots from a single pour, only problem is having enough ingot molds, so I have a variety of aluminium muffin pans with everything from a cupcakes to Santa Claus along with the standard bars.
How about something like this. It will hold about #2000 at a time has a 2 sided 8 cavity bar molds about 22# ea a bar and the mold is water cooled The furnace is gas fired
Been using an old Dutch oven, but I have an old propane tank, might need to see about making one of these. I use wood fire.
If I could afford one of those I probably wouldn't bother to cast . LOLHow about something like this. It will hold about #2000 at a time has a 2 sided 8 cavity bar molds about 22# ea a bar and the mold is water cooled The furnace is gas fired
How do they keep the melt in that thing? It's sitting sideways.How about something like this. It will hold about #2000 at a time has a 2 sided 8 cavity bar molds about 22# ea a bar and the mold is water cooled The furnace is gas fired
NRA Benefactor.
IDK why my pcs always post sidewaysHow do they keep the melt in that thing? It's sitting sideways.
The peopane tanks work very good and can be set up like satans little smelter.with the wind screen and legs welded to the tank.A Harbor Fright weed burner will melt it fast. The tanks can be found for free at propane supply shops and around, you dont need a new one an out dated one is fine.( its cheaper to scrap them than re certify). Get 2 tanks if you really want to get fancy.
First thing is to pull the valves from the tanks ( it you get them at a propane supply ask if they can do this) and wash them out several times with dish soap and water. let set a few days. I get a roll of blue masking tape 2" wide. mark at desired height and carefully place a double wrap of tape around wrinkle free, this gives a straight cut line all around. Cut with a saw Jig saws or saws all with a fine tooth blade work well. Cut the top off the first one and the stand of off it. Its now useble as a tank.
The second tank cut at the start of the radius just inside, then down the side end to end. this will become the wind screen.
You will need 2 pieces of flat stock, 1/8 X 1/2 long enough to wrap around tank. optional but makes a nice touch and stiffens the open top and 1/8 X 2 the same length as the wind screen is tall.This will go in the side cut to increase dia so the pot sits in with room. for the next key stock is fine the size of the gap around the 2 tanks 6 to 8 pieces 1" long.
weld the 2: wide in the saw cut opening the tank up to fit in. Of you opt for the ring bend it around and weld with spots all around.
for the 3 legs use 3/8 x 2 or 3 long enough to get the pot to height On he top end cut a 15* X 6-8: ling off inside edge. this will give a bigger foot print on the pot making it more stable.Space these evenly around wind screen and weld full length on both sides. Some 1/4 x 1/2 cut to mach leg spacing and weld on 2" from feet as a brace from leg to leg. Really nice is to weld 3/8 x 1 1/2 pads under the feet and drill and tap a 3/8 x 16 hile with bolts so it can be leveled to any floor or surface. The stand is pretty much done
On the pot use you blue tape again one wrap around the top of pot with the bottom at where the wind screen ends. evenly space the key spacers around and weld in place. Set pot in wind screen and block up to height so tops of spacers are even with top of wind screen and weld. You now have the basic smelter.
With the weed burner unscrew the burner and use a 1/8" elbow with dope tighten so valve knob and elbow are lined up in same direction. pick up 1/8" nipple that put the burner 3"-4" below bottom of pot. a small 1/4" thick x 1" X 2" steel flat stock. clamp this to the up right nipple weld to nipple, a second piece of the 1/4" x 1" cut to length that centers the burner on the pipe weld this to the piece on the nipple then on the side of one leg. You can c-clamp this bar in place and experiment with burner heights for the best job.
I need to find someone to do the welding for me. I have an old tank that I've wanted to convert for years.
NRA Benefactor.
Thats smart using a wood fire to smelt. Free lead + free wood = totally free BULLETS
look at my avatar, Johnson furance I bought it for 250.00 brand new . it holds about 350 lbs, cost me about 250.00 to ship it to my house , its on casters I just row it out of garage , I have about 10 more 5 galon pales of WW`s and a few hundred LB`s of Lineotype to melt .then is up for sale. I do have enough lead to last the rest of my life.
Several years ago I saved up for a year to buy a 100# Satan's Little Smelter. When I tried to contact them I had problem with their email. I finally got thru and was told they would make one on custom special order. I was getting ready to send the money when I noticed their site was totally closed down with an error message. I decided not to send the payment for one and could not find one one the secondary market. I really wanted one to get a consistent brinell hardness for storing my several lead stocks. After another year of searching, I found a heavily used 80# Ballistic Cast pot on ebay. I also bought a Saeco hardness tester on ebay. It's great to have known values for casting and swaging in large lots. Good luck on your search.
Posting Permissions
| BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
| BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
| BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
| C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
| HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
| PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
| LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
| GC | Gas Check |
Reply With Quote
