Gatch, those are some nice looking ingot molds.
If you make more, cut a slight taper on the ends of the 50x50 angle pieces and wield on the back side of the mold. these thing help the ingot fall out better.
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Gatch, those are some nice looking ingot molds.
If you make more, cut a slight taper on the ends of the 50x50 angle pieces and wield on the back side of the mold. these thing help the ingot fall out better.
Yeah man I thought of that while I was tacking together the second one. I hit the sides of the first one a bit harder with the die grinder. Hopefully there's enough relief.. Proofs in the pudding I guess.Originally Posted by Conditor22
Agreed, very nice ingot moulds.
Evening booliteers
Had my first shot at melting down scrap today. Went pretty well overall. I had 30kg of wheel weights, separated out all the non lead before I started. It all went into a 9qt iron pot, took about 40 min to melt down. Surprisingly little smoke came from the pot, which is good because I live in suburbia... Candle wax in the form of those little 9hr tealight candles worked a treat. My ingot molds are pretty big so ladling out the lead was uneven. I think I'll make a bigger pouring ladle until the pot weight is low enough to just pick the whole thing up.
Something else that surprised me is the reduction in volume from scrap to ingot. I did the math beforehand to see if I had enough space in the ingots for 30kg of lead, and my sums told me if I filled each ingot fully to the brim it would only be 7 bars, which I was sceptical of. However in practise, once all the clips and slag came out, it didn't even fully fill 7 (of the 12 cavities). This tells me I can probably use 50kg (110lb) of scrap and still not be fully filled haaa.
I'll weld up a base for my gas ring to sit on, as the ply wood it was sitting on caught fire. Weld up a bigger ladle too. And an additional handle to help tip the cast iron pot. Also loaded up a few hundred more 9mm rounds on the dillon. Because why the hell not.
Heres a few pics
Last edited by Gatch; 02-24-2019 at 05:48 AM.
Welcome aboard, Gatch. I cruised this site for some time before starting to cast but wasn't half as prepared as you when I melted my first wheel weight. Get a cheap stainless stock pot, ladle, wooden spoon at WalMart or where ever not aluminum as others has said. I bought the cheapest stainless pot they had and as long as it's not run dry it will last. Mine is 3 or 4yrs old now and shows no sign of wear and is lighter than the iron pot your using but you seem to have it figured out quite well!
As for the base to set it on, do you use Hardie Plank Cement Board Siding down that way or have someone remodeling you know? Stop by the building site and get some scrap from the garbage container and put that down on top of the plywood. I have my entire bench covered with pieces from my home siding remodel and it works great. What would also work fine is a piece of cement board like they put under counters, sinks, bathtubs etc.
Those molds are first rate.
Last edited by jonp; 02-24-2019 at 07:44 AM.
I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled
Fiat Justitia, Ruat Caelum
Welcome Gatch as a fellow Ausy I can feel your pain at the cost of ammo. I would ask at my local tyre place if they have any wheel weight they wish to get rid of, if you don't mention the word sell you may get them for free. If you have to pay I would expect you to get 10 litre drum of weights for no more than $15 which I doubt you will be able to lift with ease, but do check it for steel weights which are common now, I would also pick out any zinc before you smelt, it is generally marked with a zn but any I am not sure of I check by trying to cut with side cutters. As others have said do not use aluminium pot it really ruins your day when a pot lets go and its flowing around your feet. I would also look at getting lead from the range berms if you can as that is free. I got some 400 kg at my last mine session at my range which only took me a couple hrs most of which was carting it to my vehicle. Regards Stephen
Ghee they want more than the price of gold for ww around here!
They can keep them.
A bottle of Lee mule snot thinned with a bit of shellite will lube thousands of rounds.
Roll around until coated and spill on to baking paper.
Pair of tweezers to pick up and seat on bases to dry over night and done.
I’d try with out sizing to try and avoid another step.
You are only shooting a pistol so there is no need for much ado about anything.
As long as they go about peeing distance and hit that huge black circle all is well.
yup you can do it cheaper
pot to smelt in 30 bucks
heat source to melt the lead 40 bucks (turkey fryer)
ingot mold or two 5 dollar muffin pan
lead casting pot 50 bucks if you go lee
mold 20-50 bucks If you go lee
alox 10 bucks or if you want to get fancy a lb of pc a shedds container and a used toaster oven maybe 50 total
a lee sizing die (not allways needed) 25 bucks
ww's. I can honestly say ive never paid for a single ww or even pure lead. I have paid for linotype though. Ive seen them sell for a buck a lb on here many times though already smelted. 40 lbs in a flat rate box is 40+15 bucks for a flat rate box. want it even cheaper. Buy a ladle and cast right out of your smelting pot skip the sizer and use alox its how I casted my first bullets. melted ww in a old kitchen pan on a coleman camp stove. Skimmed and fluxed and started making bullets.
If you want a good mold that will rain bullets take a look at MP molds. He's got some 8 cavity aluminum and 6 cavity brass molds for 9mm. The have no lube groove as they are made for PC or Hi-Tek. I've got this one https://mp-molds.com/e-shop/molds/so...brass-nlg-mold
AWESOME mold. It will empty my 25 lb RCBS pot real quick and make a big pile of boolits.
NRA Benefactor.
Hey thanks for that man. I didn't know about mp molds. That 8 cavity one looks the business, and miles cheaper than accurate molds one. Cheers for the heads up
Your cast iron pot has two holes in each handle. It is feasible to install a "U" bolt through each handle, above which add ~0.5 m of chain or cable to each side, and a tripod over the whole thing. "Build up" and fire proof the receiving mold foundation adjacent to the pot so that the tripod does not have to carry the total tipped weight, though for safety it should be much stronger than that. Adjusted properly, tipping the less than (say) 150 pound (68 kg) pot from the fire would be easier as the tripod supports the total weight and the "platform" of the heating element is the third point of rotation - the first two being the chain/cable attachment points.
When the pot is ready to be emptied, wear gloves and long sleeves, reduce the pot temperature (so you don't burn your arms in the heat), use vice grips on the "tab" handle of your pot, tip the pot toward the "stacked" and ready to receive mold, and pour slowly. No more dipping or dripping. These are concepts for your consideration.
My pot is 1/2 of a 25-gallon (95 liter) steel propane tank, with the maximum capacity of about 100 pounds (45 kg) of molten lead, and a welded "V" as a pour spout in the rim, which could also be just a pronounced "dent" in the steel rim. I do not believe your cast iron pot will tolerate such a dent or inclusion of a spout without breaking, so your pot may be "messy" when tipped - depending on how aggressively you pour. Some trial and error may be messy at first.
I added a 15" (375mm) piece of threaded rod at 90 degrees to the steel rim (something that may be possible with careful drilling on your pot) and 180 degrees from the pour spout, used a piece of metal tube for a spacer, a few washers, and made a 2 x 2 x 8" (50 x 50 x 200mm) wooden handle with a hole through it to receive the threaded rod. I compression bolted the wooden handle to the end of the threaded rod (against the washers and spacer). Now, I can easily tip the pot using the suspending chain and tripod, which serve well when the pot is melted and ready pour.
I used this same set up with a monorail overhead instead of a tripod and it worked great (not the setup as pictured below...for illustrative purposes only. Monorail has to be significantly stout - not electrical taped - and not suspended by a string). Actually, monorail was 3/8" (10mm) diameter eye hook (from a hammock) screwed 3" (75mm) into the 2" (50mm) side of a 2 x 6" x 6' (50 x 150mm x 2m), which worked great.
Third and small(er) chain is to balance the weight of the handle, not accounted for in the initial pot setup.
Last edited by Land Owner; 02-25-2019 at 09:55 AM.
If it was easy, anybody could do it.
You're welcome.
NRA Benefactor.
I can't help with your question about galvanized steel and zinc. I can say that those ingot molds look great. The handles will be a nice touch. Well done!
You may have seen the posts here, but just a reminder that HiTek is a popular coating option both here and out your way. AAMOF, it was invented and is manufactured in Australia. Ive heard that fortunecookie45lc didn't like it, but that's his personal opinion and experience and I wouldn't say it's universal.
I have been reading with great interest the hitek thread. It looks like an awesome product. Something that I have seen varying numbers on though is the thickness. Not having to size would be awesome.
Molds come in different sizes, and each mold will drop at a different size depending on the alloy you use.
HiTek will add .001 to .002 depending on how many coats you use and how thick you mix it.
I fall into the group of casters that prefers the assurance of uniform and even diameter by casting over the desired diameter and sizing afterwards. The HiTek is slick, and the sizing lube the company also sells works very well, so no excessive effort needed. Still, sizing is a chore, for sure.
The galv on the molds didn't seem to have a negative effect. The lead cools so quick that it doesn't heat the zinc enough to smoke it up.
Probably worth planning on sizing regardless then. One of those lee single stages presses mounted upside down seems to be the go ?
Push through Lee sizing kit is relatively low price and IF you purchase one in the size that works for your firearm it can really improve potential accuracy. Wife has a .38 caliber that is able to shoot approx. 20% tighter groups after PC and sized bullets were tried.
The other aspect of sizing is different alloys will cast to a slightly different size in the same mold. If one sizes after casting then the alloy change can be eliminated. I seem to recall different casting temperature can also impact final size. Might be hotter lead shrinks more when it cools or something along those lines. But again if the mold cast .359 and you have a .358 sizing die mostly you will be shooting the same size .358 bullets. Some might be softer, or harder due to changes in alloy but the size going down the barrel won't vary.
Consistent is good. Removing a variable (size) can be useful too when trying different molds or loads. I do sometimes just tumble lube in an Alox based lube (45/45/10 homemade) for some fast plinking bullets but if I'm going to bother to PC then I bother to feed through a push through sizer afterwards.
Anyway you have a lot of good information accumulated in your posts. Char-Gar has a nice additional tutorial. The angle iron bar ingots are great and what I prefer for the bulk of my lead. Plain and WW's end up in those for sure. You might keep an eye out for steel muffin tins at thrift store or boot/garage/yard sales. The round "pucks" they make can be a way to easily segregate other lead or lead alloys. I also take scrap solder and pour the tin only around a 1/4 inch or less deep (2 to 6 mm) to make "coins" of mixed solder I can use to add tin. By doing scrounged mixed solder larger batches I get one tested for tin percentage and know what the rest are. End up with a coffee can of 24% tin coins to "spend".Have hit in the 30% to 60% range also, luck of the hunt.
Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.
Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.
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