Melting Lead

[trapper44shooter]

I have 3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights that were given to me BUT I am wondering if I should invest in the stand & the propane to melt them down with I have another fellas that is supposed to bring me some he called :"SHEET LEAD" about how much is one of those Propane the kind that are used on out door grills cost .Let me know what you fellas think

[ioon44]

First thing to check is how much of the WW in your bucket are lead, there is a lot of steel and zinc WW.

[Froogal]

First, test those wheel weights with a side cutter. If you can cut them, they are lead. If you cannot cut them, get rid of them. Next, get an electric hotplate and a 6 inch or 8 inch cast iron skillet. That set up will easily melt down those lead wheel weights.

[Dapaki]

I have been using a smallish cast iron pot sitting right on a coleman single burner camping stove (remove the grate) and like others say, use dikes to test the weights and melt away! I test the ingots for hardness using a very old drop hammer style tester (it's not anywhere near as accurate as the LEE one but its a good ballpark) and stamp them with the findings (after 30 days) and 'alloy' the cast with a mix of them.

[Chad5005]

those wheel weights want work with your cap and ball,its to hard,the sheet lead will work good though

[kmw1954]

I render down with a 1800W electric hot plate and a SS sauce pan. Slow but it works for small batches. I just today finished a 65# bucket of indoor range scrap.

If you can find them stick on wheel weights are almost pure lead. If we were neighbors I'd swap with you.

[Mal Paso]

$48.21 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think it's 50,000 btu, works for me.

[Winger Ed.]

Any of the big box stores have those Cajun fryers that run on propane for about $50.

I've done hundreds of pounds in the 20 pound Lead pot.
Ya gotta clean it afterwards by digging around the sides & bottom with a big flat screwdriver, but its no big deal.

For the sheet Lead, I'll chop it up into bite size pieces, and fold it over, hammer it flat-- over & over.
Do that a few times and you'll have a rolled up thing that will fit in the pot.

[Cast_outlaw]

There is always the makeing do with what you have got on hand approach. if you got a torch, some bricks, and some sort of steel/cast iron pot, you can probably do it. it’s not that much to do, I just finished prosessing down 1 7/8, 55gallon drums of ww, with not much more than that.

[44magLeo]

On the sheet lead, If there are any seams, cut them out and keep separate. The seams are soldered. The solder has tin in it.
Most any heat source will melt lead. Any old cook pot or saucepan that is NOT aluminum. Aluminum gets weaker when hot. It can get weak enough the weight of the lead can burst the pan.
Cast iron is good Stainless steel is good. An old all steel coffee can will work.
A quart pan can hold about 20 lbs. So whatever you pan/pot holds in quarts, multiply by 20 gives you an idea of how much your pot/pan can hold.
Do you have a BBQ grill with a side burner? with a bit of bracing under it that can melt your lead.
The electric hot plate as a heat source is a good idea. Find an older one at a garage sale or thrift store. New ones have safety gizmo's that protect people from getting it too hot. Old ones don't
Even after you get your Lee pot you still have uses for the hot plate, prewarming the molds is a common use.
Using it to clean WW's is another. Cleaning your lead in another pot keeps crud out of your casting pot. The cleaner you keep your casting pot the better it works.
Those of us that clean WW's or other scrounged lead in large quantities use the turkey cooker burner and cut off propane tank. Some like a cast iron Dutch Oven for this. Any large pot will work well. If you only get small amounts, then the hot plate is fine.
Shopping the garage/ yard sales Is a good place to find old pots and pans. Muffin tins make good ingot molds. Cast iron corn bread pans can make unique ingots. Some make corn on the cob looking ingots. Some look like fish. Others triangles like slices of pie.
Just look around. not hard to find things to use for cheap.
Leo

[Springfield]

Look on Craigslist for an old turkey fryer, and get a heavy duty stainless pot from Goodwill. You can do ingots on a very small scale but it just takes so much time. Unless you have lots more time than money, then just use an old Coleman stove from Goodwill. Much better and faster than a hotplate. And cutting up all that sheet in to bite size pieces will get old real fast, better to melt larger pieces.

[kmw1954]

More, bigger, is deffenately better only not everyone has access to large amounts of material at one time so we less fortunate are left to doing smaller batches. Yes it is a pain and yes the batches are not as consistent but what is one to do?

[lightman]

More, bigger, is deffenately better only not everyone has access to large amounts of material at one time so we less fortunate are left to doing smaller batches. Yes it is a pain and yes the batches are not as consistent but what is one to do?

It sounds like you are doing ok with what you have to work with. If you remain persistent you will eventually find lead. Its still out there. Networking works. Ask your friends, coworkers, neighbors and family members to be on watch for you. Hit the tire stores and scrap yards.

Those of us that can score lead don't mean to rub it in with those who are less fortunate. And I've said this before too! Big scores = big work!

[kmw1954]

Yes Sir and as I recently realized, it doesn't take long to go thru 100# when casting and shooting 225gr. 45acp bullets!

[Ateam]

It sounds like you are doing ok with what you have to work with. If you remain persistent you will eventually find lead. Its still out there. Networking works. Ask your friends, coworkers, neighbors and family members to be on watch for you. Hit the tire stores and scrap yards.

Those of us that can score lead don't mean to rub it in with those who are less fortunate. And I've said this before too! Big scores = big work!

Networking! So true. I stopped in my local tire/auto shop that saves ww for me yesterday, I had not heard from them in more than 6 months and usually they call me sooner than that. Anyway I went in for an alignment on the f150 and asked about the ww buckets. He said they were about half full, and that they sure dont fill up as fast when you put only the lead ones in there! Ha, I guess i must have mentioned I sort them when i get them home, and he thought he would save me the trouble. Can you believe that? Goes to show what networking and spending your money at small mom and pop operations will get you!

[richhodg66]

I use a wood fire for rendering down scrap lead, but I live out in the middle of the woods with no neighbors for at least half a mile and an unlimited supply of fire wood. It works, though.

[country gent]

Another option for heat is a weed burner most are big btus and burn propane. Mine will melt 125 lbs to casting temp in about 20 mins. I believe mine is 500,000 btus. I only use a small portion of its capacity. Think I gave $19.00 for it at harbor freight. And another $10.00 for the fittings I used to modify it to 90*. A cast Iron or steel pot and a stand of some sort and you are good to go

[Dragonheart]

More, bigger, is deffenately better only not everyone has access to large amounts of material at one time so we less fortunate are left to doing smaller batches. Yes it is a pain and yes the batches are not as consistent but what is one to do?

Bigger is better from the standpoint of having a consistent mix.

My smelting pot is an out of date propane tank with the top cut off. You can find these out of date tanks for free and simply cut the top off. Sheet Metal can be welded, riveted or bolted to the outside to make a skirt to hold the heat in. A 20# tank easily melts down 200+ pounds of ingots in a single cook. Lots of sources for lead and all the scraps can be put into the pot and melted down when you get enough to make it worthwhile and all your ingots are the same mix.

[gwpercle]

When you aren't using it to melt lead you can use the burner and stand to fry a turkey , have a crawfish boil , boil up shrimp or boil crabs . Also useful to have a big fish fry, a large skillet makes frying fish easy . I've also used mine to cook a nice big pot of gumbo for a family gathering .
The wife appreciates me cooking things outside the kitchen ... less clean up and less fried fish smells .
Lots of things you can use a Cajun Cooker propane rig for besides melting a pot of lead .
Look at it as a cooking investment ... go beyond the BBQ grill !
Gary

[gundownunder]

If you don't plan to make a habit out of it, I'd go with a wood fire and an old pot from the local goodwill store. When I was a teenager I used to use a wood fire and a recycled baked bean tin to make a bulk supply of fishing sinkers to sell. When I started casting my own bullets I started with a 2 burner Coleman camp stove and a 2 qt pot from goodwill. For the past 10 years I've been using a single ring propane burner and a 2 qt cast iron pot to cast for myself and several other people for competitive shooting.