smelting in the cold outdoors

[corvette8n]

I got up this morning and thought about smelting a bucket of ww, bit it was zero, and since I smelt in the shed with the door open I thought it might be too cold. I have a propane single burner and a cast iron pot. Ithink the burner is 100,00 btu's. Any tips for smelting in the cold?.

I should probably fix the snowblower instead seeing we are supposed to get 7 inches over the next two days.

[opentop]

Any tips for smelting in the cold?.

Several layers of clothes work. You can always fix the snow blower later.

[Pepe Ray]

You've absolutely GOT to have a shield around the burner and pot. The burner will hold it's own as long as you can contain the "chill factor". Cold air currents will shut you down PDQ.
Pepe Ray BTDTGTTS

[GLL]

Man, I hear you !

I was going to smelt Sunday but the temperature here is only going to be 82 degrees !
My girlfirend asked if she could help, but I told her that her thong bikini was not appropriate attire for smelting WW !

The winter here in Pasadena is brutal here this year !

Jerry

[870TC]

GLL, Pictures, man, pictures!. I don't understand all these complicated terms you use: Bikini?, Thong?, girlfriend that wants to help cast?. All way over my level of understanding

[Heavy lead]

Man, I hear you !

I was going to smelt Sunday but the temperature here is only going to be 82 degrees !
My girlfirend asked if she could help, but I told her that her thong bikini was not appropriate attire for smelting WW !

The winter here in Pasadena is brutal here this year !

Jerry

And you made time to post.

What a guy.

[Pioneer2]

I fired up the Lee pot 2 days back in -38F to make 120 whitefish jigs does that count? No Gore-Tex thong................................Harold

[montana_charlie]

My girlfirend asked if she could help, but I told her that her thong bikini was not appropriate attire for smelting WW !

Quite correct!
The magical qualities of thongs, newt eyes, and harvest moons should be reserved for occasions when nothing but pure lead is allowed in the pot.

My condolences on the harshness of your winter...
CM

[zampilot]

"I got up this morning and thought about smelting a bucket of ww, bit it was zero, and since I smelt in the shed with the door open I thought it might be too cold."
--And the problem is what? You're doing fine, even better if she'll hang out with you. Remember, the pot and mould will take about 30 minutes or so to get right, so, what you do with the other 28 minutes is....

[hydraulic]

I smelt indoors in the winter. I have a plumbers pot that holds about 10 lbs. My woodstove will melt WW's in about 20 minutes.

[hydraulic]

I need to make that picture bigger.

[Pioneer2]

Not worried about lead fumes? Ventilation? Harold

[randyrat]

Winter cold is a perfect time to smelt except you use a little more energy. So it's a good idea to surround your burner with a cover to direct the energy toward your pot more and protect it from the cold wind.
I used an old snowmobile suite, pack boots,safety glasses.... I like winter because the ingots cool quicker.
Yesterday i awoke to -10 deg, it got up to a balmy 10 above and smelted about 400lbs of pure lead and scrap. I also cast 7- 12lb downriggers for the big lake trout fishing and trading.

[94Doug]

....but when you turn the burner off, the lead left in the pot gets hard fast......

[mooman76]

Watch for condensation in the cold. Don't want a visit from the tencil fairy even though that would warm you up!

[montana_charlie]

Watch for condensation in the cold. Don't want a visit from the tencil fairy even though that would warm you up!

Cold air is dry air because it can't hold moisture like warm air.
Condensation (the kind you are talking about) occurs when a cold object comes in contact with warm (moisture-laden) air. If you have cold ingots, and are casting in a cold area, there is no danger of 'condensation' problems.

This is different from 'dew'.
When the local atmosphere gets cool enough to reach the dew point, moisture is squeezed out of the (formerly warm) air...and ends up coating everything.
But, you won't see much of that during cold weather.

CM

[mooman76]

Cold air is dry air because it can't hold moisture like warm air.
Condensation (the kind you are talking about) occurs when a cold object comes in contact with warm (moisture-laden) air. If you have cold ingots, and are casting in a cold area, there is no danger of 'condensation' problems.

This is different from 'dew'.
When the local atmosphere gets cool enough to reach the dew point, moisture is squeezed out of the (formerly warm) air...and ends up coating everything.
But, you won't see much of that during cold weather.

CM

You mean like when a shed starts to heat up and you have cold lead in there?

[montana_charlie]

You mean like when a shed starts to heat up and you have cold lead in there?

No...when the shed air starts to warm, it sucks in more moisture...taking it away from objects in the shed.

What I meant was like when you bring a cold rifle into a warm house.
The moisture in the warm air condenses on the cold steel...even inside of the action where you can't see it.

If your cold lead was laying in a cold shed, and you brought it into an (already warmed up) area, you could get the same thing.
Warming the shed and the lead at the same time won't cause it.
CM

[hydraulic]

The doors close on my wood stove and all the fumes, smoke, etc. go up the chimney.