Ingotizing 17,000 pounds of wheel weights

[David2011]

This guy is building a 74 foot sailboat. He collected 17,000 pounds of wheel weights in 2009 and built a a wood fired pot to reduce the WW to ingots. He didn't sort anything, as is evidenced in the video where valve stems are burning off. His requirements are very different from ours so zinc in the mix won't hurt his outcome. He's very creative and every tool he makes is thought out very well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl-N-2Jgkr8

[lightman]

He has an interesting operation. His smelting pot is well thought out although I would probably not run the round bar all the way through the pot. I like that he is wearing enough clothing to protect himself. I sort of cringed when he got the water hose out though! All in all, a pretty good vid.

Now, I don't know about the vid that follows it. Shorts and low cut shoes??? Looks like an opportunity to suffer a serious burn!

My operation has evolved over the years to minimize as much stooping, turning and bending over as possible. I also like my ingots to be all of the same size and shape.

[David2011]

Having watched 4 years of the SV Seeker videos so far Doug (the boat builder) has, by his own admission, a different take on safety than many of us. He is very much in the 1950s for safety at times but at other times he observes current standards. His biggest failure IMO is to protect his lungs while grinding steel, aluminum, foam, fiberglass, epoxy with microballoons and wood products. I've seen him make MIG tacks without any sort of eye protection. OTOH, most everything he does is mechanically well thought out and I watch the series just to observe his limitless problem solving which is for the most part very high grade.

My brother has worked on light planes for about 40 years. He had a devastating infection and lung problems last year, not related to his profession. The doctors scrubbed his lungs and retrieved iron/steel, titanium and just about anything he had ever worked with that could become airborne. He started using respirators in the 90s and beyond so most of the foreign material accumulated more than 30 years ago.

[David2011]

He has an interesting operation. His smelting pot is well thought out although I would probably not run the round bar all the way through the pot.

I looked at a video that showed the assembly of the pot. It's thin steel; looks like a cut down propane tank. It would take a very heavy walled pot to support 1000 pounds of molten lead if the pipe didn't extend through the center of it. He modified the same pot to melt the ingots and pour the lead into the keels.