WidenersLee PrecisionInline FabricationRepackbox
Reloading EverythingLoad DataMidSouth Shooters SupplyRotoMetals2
Titan Reloading
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 21 to 26 of 26

Thread: Smelting clay pigeons

  1. #21
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    1,520
    mjwcaster, Yeah, MORE HEAT! When youre smelting range scrap Heat is your friend! I was using a fish fryer (propane) from Walmart with a cast iron dutch oven on top, worked good, didn't cost much. Now it only gets used to mx up the alloys I cast with. I appreciate where you're at, I was there too! Lead wheelweights were outlawed here (NY) too, I have 2 scrapyards locally where I can buy relatively clean soft lead. I still have about 200 pounds of linotype and a 50 pound spool of 50-50 solder to alloy the lead with. At 3 parts lead to 1 part lino I'll have enough for awhile. At least until the liberals outlaw the possesion of lead! LOL!
    "We take a thousand moments for granted thinking there will be a thousand more to come. Each day, each breath, each beat of your heart is a gift. Live with love & joy, tomorrow is not promised to anyone......"

    unknown

  2. #22
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    NW Ohio, almost as N and W as you can be :-)
    Posts
    2,915
    I would think that ballistic sorting might work ?? Give the mixed material enough velocity that it’s mass will allow sorting lead from clay bits somehow

    Bill
    Both ends WHAT a player

  3. #23
    In Remembrance - Super Moderator & Official Cast Boolits Sketch Artist

    RP's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Nahunta NC
    Posts
    3,410
    A few tricks I have learned on my berm mining trips the first one that may be the most helpful for you is a leaf blower. Start at the bottom of the berm blowing working your way up the berm the lighter clay will be blown up the berm the heavy bullets will roll down the berm. Angles of the air flow also will help you may want to blow up and to the left or right. I have used this trick more then one time and its fast easy and work great for me.
    The 2 tip if you are able is a wood fire with a blower for your smelting you can use a 55 gal drum cut as needed hang you pot or build a rack for it to set on. Add wood scrape off a job site or fire wood I like the job site wood it burns easy its free and all ready cut under the pot it really take less then you think so start off small you can add if needed. You will need to have a steel pipe in the drum for the air to blow in at the bottom area and I would put it in at a angle so the air will swirl in the barrel. The leaf blower can be used for the forced air or a fan just has to be far enough away from the heat so its not damaged. If you do not have a blower this is a good reason to get one lol .
    When the lead is melted and your stir the pot add some old oil to the pot it will burst into flames stir it around while it burns I use a shovel for this or something with a long handle some of the bullets will spit lead since the added heat will burst the sealed ones and release the lead from the jackets better then anything else I have tried. I cut the air off while I am doing this the roaring fire will die down so your able to work. I then remove the jackets for sale to the scrap yard all nice and lead free then I flux wax sawdust or even the oil again will work. Cast your ingots the better you flux at this point the better off you will be at the casting pot.
    If your in a area that will allow you to smelt this way you have it made I live in a area that this is not a problem and I have done tons of lead this way so it depends on how much lead your getting.
    Reloading to save money I am sure the saving is going to start soon

  4. #24
    Boolit Grand Master

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    England,Ar
    Posts
    7,687
    I strongly suggest you go ahead and buy a good burner and buy or build a larger smelting pot. Sure, it cost money. But look at it as an investment. The equipment will last a lifetime and look at the labor that it would have saved you! Whether your raw lead is range scrap, wheel weights, roofing or plumbing lead you will profit from a bigger burner and pot. Just be advised, when you increase one part of your production you may have to increase other parts in order to see an increase in production. IE, a bigger pot and burner needs a bigger ladle and more ingot molds.

  5. #25
    Boolit Master
    triggerhappy243's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Albuquerque N.M.
    Posts
    2,145
    Quote Originally Posted by mjwcaster View Post
    My clubs berm is basically clay, rocks and broken clay pigeons with a little dirt mixed in.
    In the past I have hand picked the boolits from the berm.
    Last year I built a screened sifter to try and make things quicker.
    The first batch of scrap I brought home I still hand picked the boolits from.
    The second batch I brought home several hundred pounds of range scrap (dirt/clay, clay pigeons with some boolits mixed in).

    I washed the scrap, getting rid of most of the dirt.
    I wasn't even going to try smelting it until I get a propane burner, I just didn't feel comfortable using my coleman stove any more after seeing how much the grate softens and bends under that much heat and weight, even with some reinforcement.
    And I knew I needed more heat.

    But spring is here, I am tired of tripping over heavy buckets of scrap and while cleaning up I moved some T-posts. Hmm, those look like they could work as a heavy duty grate.
    A little while later I had 3 shortened T-post pieces sitting on my coleman stove, looking real heavy duty.

    Now I can't resist trying it out, so I fill up the gas tank and the cast iron pot. Just dumped the washed range scrap mix in, almost to the top.

    Too much range scrap, didn't help that it was a little windy. All I managed to do was make a smoky stuck together mess.

    It took 3 sessions the next day to render that mess down into lead ingots.

    Need more heat.
    this is my melting setup i use to melt my range scrap.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 0802161554_Burst01.jpg  

  6. #26
    Boolit Master


    David2011's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Baytown Texas
    Posts
    4,106
    Quote Originally Posted by sfcairborne View Post
    Go to Lowe’s or Home Depot for free sawdust, just got to ask if you can empty the shop vac they have attached to there wood cutting stand.
    That sawdust can have treated lumber in it which will release toxic smoke.
    Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

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