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Thread: Coleman Stove

  1. #1
    Boolit Master ACC's Avatar
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    Coleman Stove

    Any one use a Coleman stove to melt alloy? I have about 100 pounds to melt before I can mix. Any better ideas?

    ACC

  2. #2
    Boolit Master redhawk0's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ACC View Post
    Any one use a Coleman stove to melt alloy? I have about 100 pounds to melt before I can mix. Any better ideas?

    ACC
    It depends on whether you will melt large batches again in the future. You can do 100 lbs (10-15 at a time) on a coleman stove and a cast iron skillet/pot. But it would be better if you had a larger pot and turkey burner. Larger than 10-15 lbs could start getting unstable on the wide grid burner grill on the stove. It wasn't made for that much weight.

    There are quite a few here that either started on a coleman stove...or still use it with small batches.

    redhawk

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  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy


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    Yup, the big burner of a 2 burner stove, several hundreds of pounds of wheel weights.
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  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    I have about 100 pounds to melt before I can mix. Any better ideas?
    Cast iron pot and 30,000 BTU weed torch from Harbor Freight
    Regards
    John

  5. #5
    Boolit Bub
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    I use one often to do range scrap. It does 60-80 lbs. MAX at a time, as long as its on a secure table or block wall. something solid.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master ACC's Avatar
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    I have about 70 pounds of pure lead that I need to melt.

    ACC

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    The short answer is that the Coleman will do the job, but it will take a few runs to do the amount you're proposing. For some, that's all they'll ever need, capacity wise. Others start there, but eventually use/process/sell quantities much larger than that, and need to scale up accordingly.

    Try it out, and see where casting goes for you. Gear up if and when necessary.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master nueces5's Avatar
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    a friend of this forum has sent me a spare part to continue using my coleman 508 to melt the lead
    It is a simple solution, since the smells remain outside the home

  9. #9
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    The 508 is a small single burner stove with a fairly weak pot holder, be careful.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by ACC View Post
    I have about 70 pounds of pure lead that I need to melt.

    ACC
    "Coleman Stove" encompasses a lot of different stoves. If you're talking about the ubiquitous "suitcase" stove (of which Coleman made many different models); the answer is - Yes it will work but you need to keep the batches small.
    The suitcase stoves are economical to operate but the grate will not hold a huge amount of weight, particularly when it's hot. You can reinforce the grate or simply keep the weight to an acceptable amount. Use a little common sense and you'll be fine.

    If this is a one-time job of 100 pounds total and you have a Coleman suitcase stove, then I would say, "go for it". It will require a few batches but it is entirely practical to get it done with that stove.
    If you intend to melt 100 lbs. on a regular basis, you might want to step up your game.

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master fredj338's Avatar
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    It depends on how much heat your Coleman puts out but smaller ones, nope.
    EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
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  12. #12
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    Before I moved up to an electric pot, I used an "El-cheapo" Coleman 533 that I got on sale. That is a single burner camp stove and with the little RCBS cast iron pot, I was able to cast with a ladle. So it's possible. However, the OP is dealing with 100 pounds of lead, so that would not be a good solution for him.

    The "suitcase" Coleman stoves put out a little more heat and the grate is significantly stronger than the grate on a single burner but even those grates are not the best when dealing with heavy pots of lead.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    This setup gives me 20 lbs of cleaned range scrap per hour.

    I fill her up,cover and go away to do other things for 45 min, then come back,skim jackets,flux,pour "cakes". Repeat.

    Easy to get 100 lbs a day.


  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    I smelted a couple ton with Coleman stove. Took me a good month working 7 days a week.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    I started out on a Coleman two burner white gas stove. It was one of the older ones made out of heavy gauge sheet metal. I used an old cast iron skillet, and then a dutch oven.

    It works, but it will not stand up long term IMHO. To a certain extent this depends on your volume. I process about 4000-6000 lbs a year these days, but a decade ago I was melting that much a quarter. If I was only melting 100 lbs of wheel weights a quarter, I probably never would have upgraded. But when I was melting 2000 lbs a month, a different solution was needed.
    My isotope lead page: http://fellingfamily.net/isolead/

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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