Moving lead ingots - ideas? Staying organized?

[RogerDat]

Sharpie works and is fast. Yes it will fade eventually, not before OP has a chance to unload and organize in new home. Fade will be less so from the ingots in the middle of the pack not exposed if you mark the sides. Harder to read on a shelf than marking the ends.

Harbor Freight stamp set is certainly most effective long term however it stinks for providing detailed information. Works fine to L2 on some Lyman #2 alloy or WW or Pb for clip on wheel weights or plain. Not so good for 2.5/4/93.5 alloy or 6/2/92 alloy.

BTW - I always put Sn first, Sb second. Do the math to figure out the Pb remainder. So that 6/2 alloy is 6 Sn, 2 Sb casts great not super hard but hard enough for pistol and will spread on impact.

My advice for the move is use the sharpie to mark what it is. Stamping it all is a nice little cold weather project when you are not trying to pack for a move. Got enough tasks on your plate I'm sure.

Container will depend on ingot shapes and size. I like 5 gallon buckets. You don't have to cut wood round, it will be stronger if you do have it fit the bucket bottom but a square piece you can rip with a circular saw from a sheet of plywood, OSB or 3/4 board will prevent piercing the bottom of the bucket and should be sufficient. I find one can stack 50# of COWW's in 5 gallon buckets 3 or even 4 high without the wood but they don't have corners likely to pierce and are not going for a ride. The 4 high lift is a bit of work though. For storage right by the smelting I have gone 78# per bucket and 3 high.

If your ingots fit a USPS Med Flat Rate Box they are sturdy enough if well taped to handle 50-60 lbs. of lead. Easy to label too.

Any way you slice it 1,200 pounds in 50 lb. packages is 24 containers. Best if they be something you can move with a hand dolly carrying them all would be a mite of work.

[Mal Paso]

I'm partial to putting heavy stuff on wood pallets and moving the pallets with a forklift.

[alamogunr]

I cast all my ingots in iron muffin molds. Ingots are about 1-1¼ lbs. I store them in wood boxes that I made from salvaged boxes where I worked before retiring. The original boxes contained parts shipped from a company plant in Sweden. They were all the same size regardless of the parts they contained. When empty, they were thrown out. I had some of the shop guys save me a bunch. As they came to me, they were approx. 15" long, 7½" wide and about 8-9 inches deep. Obviously, they were too big to hold lead ingots.

I removed the wood handles on each end and cut the boxes into 2 equal size boxes about 4+ inches deep and put a new bottom on the upper cut-off. Put handles on the new, smaller boxes. Worked great when I was younger(<65, now 78). Each box holds right at 100 lbs of my ingots. I had to move about 15 of them a couple of weeks ago and let me tell you, I was very careful picking them up that I didn't damage my back. Move two boxes and rest.

One box contained salvaged solder ingots. These were all Lyman/RCBS/?? type ingots. Nested very well and the box was full. This one had to weigh at least 150 lbs. It stayed on the floor.

The point of this long winded post is to emphasize that you should carefully consider where you want to store your lead stash so it doesn't need to be moved(if possible). Or have a fork lift handy.

[Harter66]

I put most of mine in ammo cans 60-75# per can and stacked a row of cans across the front of the van box of a 12' retired UHaul and across the axles on trailers . A couple of big slugs and sheets in the bottom of truck beds and front seat floors .
400# in 2 trailers , 1200# in the retired UHaul , 300# ea in 2 trucks . Fortunately it was all reclaimed and free and in 13&14' I traded off 4-500# . I had a some already here that I had bought on vacation ....... Off track I brought about 2200# with me and left about 800# that's kind of replaced now .

[SciFiJim]

Did any of you guys do a longer distance move? How did that work?

I moved my lead stash from California to Texas and then back to California again. (don't ask, it was a family thing). I have my lead in buckets. They nest pretty well and can be loaded onto a hand truck. I put 70 lbs in each bucket. I made the move in both directions using rental moving trucks. The buckets were loaded first with the other heavy objects( fridge, piano, etc.) and other objects were loaded on top of them. I spread the weight out in the back of the truck as best I could. I have about 1500 lbs of lead. It was a chore to move, but looking over at the buckets always puts a smile on my face.

[Land Owner]

Wood pallets are prevalent and mostly free. Reclaim the wood to cut and make practically any rectangular or square shape and size to handle up to ~50#'s of lead ingots. Keeping 14 to 16 of the little 3 pound triangle shaped volumes nested together is all it takes. That and a sturdy hand truck.

Mark ingots with a slotted screwdriver. Make a Legend, say, 1 strike for pure lead, 2 strikes for WW's, 3 strikes for hard ball, etc. Whatever you decide, write it down so you don't forget.

[Gewehr-Guy]

Like Land Owner, I made some wood boxes out of scrap wood, that hold about 60#. Plywood lids are screwed on, and I put a note inside identifying what type of lead. The bottom of the box has 1x2 strips of wood screwed on, so when I stack them, I can get my fingers between the layers of boxes.

30 cal ammo cans are my preferred method of storage, but kind of expensive. As we all get older, our boxes should get smaller, unless you have a good, stout ,obedient wife to move your lead.

[Huskerguy]

I am accumulating some lead and have the same issues. I mark with a good sharpie, so far, after several years, I can read them all so far.

I have some milk crates, they stack nice but you can't fill them so the space is wasted.

Same with plastic buckets. I have several in places I know I won't need to move them stacked to the top with lids. Lots of wasted space, plastic gets brittle, handles break, not the best.

Others have said this. A buddy made some wooden boxes. I have Lyman ingots and also muffin pans. They both fit fine in a 7" wide, 4" tall, and 14 1/2" box outside dimensions. Bottom is 3/4, sides are 3/4 and ends are 1/4". I am 66, lift weights and these are very manageable. As said, find some old pallets, they work if you can find wide enough boards.

I also have some ammo cans full and they work well, easy to move and they stack nice. Getting harder to find and costly.

One thing I would do differently is have different molds for different lead. Stamping is a pain, hard to see, sharpie may fade. Lyman mold = range scrap, muffin = COWW, angle iron or whatever = soft lead. That is close enough for me. I don't get as scientific as many on here. I am not that smart. Oh and use screws to make the wood boxes.

[FISH4BUGS]

I was gifted some 2500 lbs of wheel weights by a friend that sold his tire shop.
I stored them in the barn at my girlfriend's house. When she had a chance to buy the house, I sold my condo and bought the house with her.
I am serious when I say one of the considerations for buying the house was not having to move all that lead.

[bedbugbilly]

I do like a lot of folks. I'm pretty "low tech" and don't do a lot of "alloying' but I mark my ingots with a wide black sharpie - PL = our led, RL = range lead, L = linotype, etc. I try and keep it in separate piles on the shelf but it can sometimes be a number of months between casting and if I depended on my memory to remember which pile was which without them being marked, it could end up with scratching my head. If you're worried about the sharpie markings wearing off, etc. - pick up a set of cheaper "letter stamps" and stamp the ingots with whatever initials work for you to mark them as to their content.

[David2011]

Last year I moved 2400 pounds of COWW, SOWW, ingots and type metals. They went mostly into NEW 5 gallon buckets plus a few odd containers. There were 48 buckets with 70 pounds each in them. I didn’t want to have to handle any more than that per bucket. They were loaded into the moving truck one layer deep, 8 wide x 4 deep with a sheet of plywood laid over them. Other things were set on the plywood. They rode 700 miles without incident.

[Bazoo]

For moving and labeling I say use 5 gallon buckets. Cut a disk to fit the top is a good idea, then just write what's in the bucket on the disk with a broad point sharpie.

[dragon813gt]

Harbor Freight stamp set is certainly most effective long term however it stinks for providing detailed information. Works fine to L2 on some Lyman #2 alloy or WW or Pb for clip on wheel weights or plain. Not so good for 2.5/4/93.5 alloy or 6/2/92 alloy.

I will disagree as I have well over a ton marked in detail.



It takes more than one stamp kit. But you simply tape the punches together, place a piece of wood on top and one hit marks the lead. It’s quicker than writing on every ingot and it won’t fade over time.

I store mine in foot lockers. Each one can hold around two tons. I have the equipment to lift them. If I didn’t I would build a third and use five gallon buckets to transfer. It’s how I fill them after pouring the ingots. I put about 60#s in each bucket and walk them to the lockers. One of them is up steps and I’d rather take more trips w/ lighter loads.





Everyone is going to have a unique situation. One of the reasons I use foot lockers is to lock them. Had a family member “relive” me of 95% of my stock due to a drug addiction. Moron sold it for $0.30 a pound. I didn’t notice until it was almost all gone since I had no idea it was going on. What sucks is that it was in the lockers, I just didn’t see the need to lock them. Lesson learned and now there are multiple locks to get to it.

[Rich/WIS]

I drink a LOT of coffee and use the plastic cans for storage, cast in mostly muffin tins and a few old SAECO ingot molds. A can will hold about 30# and I place a piece of paper with the alloy info inside the can and also mark the lid with the same info. Find they stack okay if not piled too high and at 30# or so are easier for me to handle. For what I cast a can has enough in it for at least 1K bullets. Used to store in old PO and other sturdy cardboard boxes, milk crates and 5 gal buckets (most of which broke) but slowly transferred it all to the plastic cans.

[RogerDat]

Oh I do stamp. I find it a PITA to but detailed information like 1.5 - 1.5 - 97. I do try to hit whole numbers mostly. And use simple codes to save stamping. Like L2 = Lyman #2, LT = Linotype, WW = COWW's, Pb = plain soft lead, HB = Hardball. Those actually cover most stuff I store. It is the odd ball stuff like soft for HB wadcutters or some alloys intended for expansion. Have a batch of 6/1.5/92.5 based on a friends grandfathers preferred competition pistol recipe.

I stamp a "batch letter" on bulk or odd stuff like 12# slabs of mixed printers foundry/mono Then write the alloy on the slabs. All the slabs marked for the entire batch would have to fade before I would not be able to identify the batch. I actually do a batch letter on all the stuff but on finished ingots it is an additional bit of data. On bulk slabs it is more important as it ties that batch of tested scrap together for later alloy use.

Actually if one has mixed ingot shapes it may be worth standardizing on a certain ingot mold to facilitate stamping and storing. Stamping every 2.5 pound ingot is a lot less work than stamping every 1 pound puck. Some cast to fit between wall joists in garage for storage right over the foundation. Or he small block molds that allow for plenty of easy to read room for stamping alloy.

Currently over 2 tons. I standardized my ingots on the Cast Bullet and Redneck Gold ingots. Or the bulk slabs for stuff waiting to be used to make an alloy. Mostly Pb in those slabs. Thanks to member BNE my stuff is tested, known alloy. That took a pretty significant time investment to do all the stamping and would be a major task to undertake when moving. Now when one is organizing after unpacking.... Be a good time to consider ingot form and stamping regime.

[remy3424]

Sounds like the good news is that the OP is down to 800 pounds! I used to mark just the boxes (cut-down USPS boxes), I now mark (Sharpie) the ingots also. Except for pure, those are in 1 pound Lyman ingots, there rest are in angle ingots.

[RogerDat]

Sounds like the good news is that the OP is down to 800 pounds! I used to mark just the boxes (cut-down USPS boxes), I now mark (Sharpie) the ingots also. Except for pure, those are in 1 pound Lyman ingots, there rest are in angle ingots.

I accumulated scrap, used the angle iron ingots and still have a fair amount of alloy in that form in boxes. When I decided to get organized and deal with the buckets of wheel weights, buckets of scrap and bread loaf pan slabs I went with pouring the alloys I made into the Cast Boolit ingots because they stack better. And I could be a tad more consistent.

Angle iron ingots work really well. Especially considering their price and volume of lead one can process for not much money invested in molds. It was just when I decide to make a push to clean up the 8 year accumulation of lead scrounging and turn it into actual inventory (have a spread sheet don't you know) I decide to buy molds that would make 2.5 pound ingots that were consistent and would stack without tapering the stack. Or boxing them. The Lee and Lyman molds were too expensive and frankly too small for storing final alloy.

Can you imagine pouring 400# of wheel weights in molds 4# to the mold? Much better to use something that allows about 10# to the mold like the Redneck Gold molds so you can pour with a two handed ladle and get it done Think the price is competitive with a Lee mold. I have one of those, not sure why anymore. First mold, guess I'm sentimental.

I feel for the guy who had family steal his inventory. That might be another advantage of the redneck gold or cast boolit molds. They are distinctive. Most scrap yards have security cameras in use. I worry about having the lead on shelves in garage because thieves might see it as an easy opportunity. 4000# even at 30 cents is some decent money for backing up to garage and loading up. Given some thought to a pickup tool box or construction gang box for tools that I can secure in place. I expect I could build the wood lockers cheaper but my garage is full of the tools one would need to open a locked box. Gang box for job site is designed to deter people with tools.

[Mal Paso]

Those 4 foot wide steel construction site boxes are a good deal at about $250 on sale. They have recesses for 2 padlocks and are available at Lowes or Home Depot.

[dragon813gt]

I feel for the guy who had family steal his inventory. That might be another advantage of the redneck gold or cast boolit molds. They are distinctive. Most scrap yards have security cameras in use.

It didn’t matter. By the time I found out they had already sold off all the lead. No security cameras were needed because I could give exact name and prove which lead was mine. All transactions are logged at the yard the family member took it to. It’s outside a small city w/ lots of low income housing. Needless to say theft is rampant and the yards wised up years ago.

[jrayborn]

I put about 150-200 pounds of ingots in each box.