Storing Lead for long term

[Just Duke]

Here you go.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=36200

[cohutt]

Cohut......Interesting ingot moulds...care to elaborate??

wish I had a welder as I'd like to make something similar.

FN in MT

Got them from jawjaboy - pm him here, he might still have a few.

If he doesn't, you can make them out of about anything as long as it has a taper to it, don't cut square on the ends, 6 degrees off maybe and you'll drop ingots with ease. I think these are 4" channel iron. Pure ingots drop 7 lbs iirc. I got tired of pourinf smaller ingots and muffins, switched to these and have a couple hundred of the big ingots put back now.

[mtgrs737]

I cast them into 1 lb. or so ingots from RCBS or Lyman moulds then store them on a modified pallet so that I can move them with a pallet jack. At about 1500 lbs. they get pretty hard to pull around so I start a new pallet.

[Omega47]

Man, if only I coud find that much lead. Been asking around 3 weeks now and still only have 20 lbs or so. Like everyone says, persistance pays so I'll keep bugging people until they cave in

[jack19512]

What constitutes a good heat source? I originally tried that on my 1000 watt hot plate but it doesn't get hot enough to melt lead, just softens it into mush. So you're saying I should try one of the Coleman propane camping stoves? Any other suggestions?

I use a single burner hot plate that I purchased at Walmart and it works fine. I'm not sure why your hot plate doesn't work unless your pot is just too big for the hot plate.

I don't shoot as many boolits a month as some here so my set up works good for me. I keep a 5 gallon bucket of ingots ready for casting and don't smelt my wheel weights into ingots until I need them.

Here is all I use to smelt my wheel weights. I have enough ingots and cast boolits right now to last me a very long time. I admit it is slow, but I'm in no big hurry. Also, make sure whatever you melt your lead in will hold up to the heat.

[Pitmaster]

Got them from jawjaboy - pm him here, he might still have a few.

If he doesn't, you can make them out of about anything as long as it has a taper to it, don't cut square on the ends, 6 degrees off maybe and you'll drop ingots with ease. I think these are 4" channel iron. Pure ingots drop 7 lbs iirc. I got tired of pourinf smaller ingots and muffins, switched to these and have a couple hundred of the big ingots put back now.

Those are great ingot molds. I have 4 of them and may get a few more.

I store mine in my garage and shed in milk crates. I plan to stack crates. WW's will be one stack and pure another stack. I won't stack 2 different kinds of lead in the same stack.

[Just Duke]

Those are great ingot molds. I have 4 of them and may get a few more.

I store mine in my garage and shed in milk crates. I plan to stack crates. WW's will be one stack and pure another stack. I won't stack 2 different kinds of lead in the same stack.

That's a great avitar!!!

[LeadThrower]

... brought to us by my better half!

She looked over my shoulder as I'm reading this thread and instantly devised the following:

Assuming you have bare studs -- pull off the plaster if you don't -- nail plywood over the studs such that there's a gap about the size of your wrist from floor to reach height. Hopefully this is narrower than your ingots. Now, simply grab an ingot and lower it in. Continue until you've filled the gap between your studs with ingots. Great out-of-the-way storage, and a great shelter in case of nuclear attack or dirty bomb!

And I thought I married her for her looks!

[imashooter2]

That's a great avitar!!!

And even more so if you remember his old one...

[Pitmaster]

And even more so if you remember his old one...

Need a reminder?

[miestro_jerry]

I have make up some WW + alloy, Lyman #2 and Lino all in ingots. I have a lots of lead in pure form and in allys like wws stashed away. I need to make some bigger molds, because I have some tow motor counter weights to cut up and melt down.

Jerry

[zampilot]

Cohutt,
I like the $ symbols on your jug of Tin! Never hurts as a reminder to it's value!
I like "having" also.

[imashooter2]

Need a reminder?

No need... It's burned into my retinas.

[cohutt]

Cohutt,
I like the $ symbols on your jug of Tin! Never hurts as a reminder to it's value!
I like "having" also.

For my heirs benefit - never know what kind of unscrupulous lead and alloy scavengers might descend upon them should I experience a sudden exit from this world.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Call me a pessimistic if you want, but the cost of casting is going to go thru the roof shortly after the 1 July, 2011 federal ban on lead alloy in wheel weights. I have a six tire shop route I run every two weeks. I am averaging over 200lbs of WW a trip. Of course, a lot of them are the crappy zinc blend. Half of them are worth melting down. I want to have a couple tons of melted down 3lb ingots by the cut-off date.

Rich
8 days to Zimbabwe

[canebreaker]

Check your local scrap dealer. Last time I checked lead was .25 per lb.
I know it's up by now.
Plumbers lead: lead pipe, lead flashing are almost pure lead.
Solder: about a 50/50 mix of lead and tin. soft sticks but make hard bullets.
Wheels weights: if you find some that are dark gray, they are lead.
If they are silver, they are a mix.
Watch as some are zinc and steel.

I have a workshop made ladle, it will hold about 3 1/2 lbs of molten lead with wheel weight and battery lug connecting steel with it. Heat it with an oxy/acc rig at work. I pour it into a cornbread stick mold ( 7 sticks, alum. mold, cost .25 at carport sale). Each stick is about a pound.
I have a Lee 10-2 production pot that has 3 blocks of 1x board added to give more clearance with bottom spout. If I have a good day at work, I can pour up about 10 lbs of boolits. Lee 6 cav. 158gr. swc or Lyman 2 cav. 120 gr. rn.
After they are cooled, I put them in sandwich zip-lock bags, at home I add the liq. lux, flip the bag around to mix well and pour out on wax paper for a couple of days. While watching tv, I can swag a lot of boolits. I fill an 18 oz. plastic peanut butter jar, then pour into a baggy, and stack in a coffee can.

[Russ in WY]

Until Cohutt answers . Have seen these here before .Don't have the dimension on the steel, but is a length of channel cut at angle & matching larger size of angle. as I recall the weld was on the inside. Hope this helps. ingot weight was 7 lbs are close to that. Hope He can fill you in on details. Russ.