Yesterday I smelted Lead for the first time

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

thank you all for all the info I got here from my questions and from lurking through everyone elses questions. It made my first Smelt very successful.

130 lbs of soft lead ingots from Lead water pipe and lead packing from cast iron sewer pipe (I show only one of those rusty rings in a photo, but I did have 30 lbs of that rusty **** and amazingly very little dross after I fluxed with wax a couple of times.

I also did a small amount of wheelweights (30 lbs of ingots) til I ran out of sunlight and ambition. one thing with these, I was expecting the zinc ones to be shaped all the same, I figured I could easily sort them out prior to smelting...of course all you smelters already know, shape has nothing to do with them being Lead or Zinc. I took the advise to just throw everything into the pot and just keep an eye as to when all the lead was melted and scouped them out while the temp was low. I still have about 4 buckets of them to smelt...maybe next weekend.

I got that awesome smelting glove at a gunshow for $1, he had three, I should have bought them all, if I knew how good it worked, I could have PIFed them.
A friend borrowed me the Ladle and LEE ingot mold, both worked great.

I kept a 1/4" of Lead in the stainless pot, figuring that should extend the life of the pot during intial fireup due to intense heat. Am I thinking logical here, or does that not matter ?
Jon

[jsizemore]

Jon, I empty my pot cuz I tend to forget what's in there the next time I smelt. Along with that, I use a Sharpie to mark what each ingot is. WW for clip-on wheelweights, Pb for stick-on ww and lead pipe, etc. No guessing down the road. Congrats on the smelting. Looks good.

[454PB]

I'd recommend you remove the plastic or bakelight handle on your smelting pot. Sooner or later it's going to fail and give you a big surprise. It's better to use some channel locks on the metal.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

454PB,
you have a great point
I rarely used the handle, thought it seems solid,
I'd hate to have an issue the one time I would use.
thanks fo rthe advise.
Jon

[largecaliberman]

Just be safe and watch out for the tinsel fairy.

[Camach]

JonB - How did the colman camping stove work out for ya? How long did it take you to melt down the wheel weights? I'm new to casting, I have one of those stoves in my closet and it never even crossed my mind.

[Ben]

Better watch the weight that you're putting on the Coleman stove, it wasn't designed for the kind of weight that can be on it with a pot that size full of lead.

[Lead Fred]

"You have stepped into a larger world"

[Camach]

Better watch the weight that you're putting on the Coleman stove, it wasn't designed for the kind of weight that can be on it with a pot that size full of lead.

Good point. Best I keep it for camping and look into a turkey roaster/dutch oven for casting.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Camach,
the pot size is 4 quart.
with the burner on full, I'd fill it full of wheel weights.
they'd melt in about 20 minutes,
I'd scoup out the clips and zinkers, add more wheel weights.
they'd melt in about 10 minutes.
I'd turn the burner down, flux twice with wax, then
I'd ladle out about 25 lbs of lead into ingots,
leaving about 1/4" of molten Lead in the pot, then I'd start over.

so there was just over 25 lb's of lead in the pot, it was just over half full.
the coleman stove seemed to hold up OK
I've smelted a second time now...about 200 of WW ingots.

So the total some far was 230 lbs WW ingots and 130 LBs soft lead ingots.
total regular gasoline (not coleman fuel) used was 1.25 gallons.
seems cheaper then propane.
Jon

[a.squibload]

I always used a Coleman stove, plenty hot & seems sturdy enough. A freind
had a bottom-pour electric furnace, always leaked, got lead spatter on the
carpet, not appreciated by his missus. He shoulda been outside anyway for
the smoke.

[WHITETAIL]

Jonb, good pics!

[WHITETAIL]

Camach, Welcome to the forum!

[RKJ]

JonB - How did the colman camping stove work out for ya? How long did it take you to melt down the wheel weights? I'm new to casting, I have one of those stoves in my closet and it never even crossed my mind.

Camach, What I did was go to Goodwill/Salvation Army stores and scrounged some SS pots and cast iron ingot mold (corn bread). Someone here (I'm sorry I don't remember the person) mentioned Walgreen's has a 1000W hot plate for $10.00, I got that and my pots and smelted about 200 lbs in 3 hours. For ingots I used little SS condiment cups from Walmart (Another idea from someone here) 97 cents for 4 of them. They weigh approximately 1.2 lbs loaded to the top with WW. I have gotten a wealth of info from the folks here and very much appreciate it. Hope this helps.

[buck1]

a gallon of lead is close to 100#s!!

[frankenfab]

Weel, alls I can say is that ya dun dern good fer yer ferst time.

[a.squibload]

I'm gonna check Walgreen's for that hotplate, should run about 10¢ / hour or less
and won't run out of gas as in a campstove.

I need a lead thermometer, where's a good place to get one? I'm sure that would
help my "frosty" problem.

Then I'm gonna Leement and make a big pile of boolits.

[WHITETAIL]

Go to MID-WAY USA.

[Matt_G]

I need a lead thermometer, where's a good place to get one?

Check out the link below. Midway has 'em on sale right now.
Lyman Thermometer

[a.squibload]

I kept a 1/4" of Lead in the stainless pot, figuring that should extend the life of the pot during intial fireup due to intense heat. Am I thinking logical here, or does that not matter ?
Jon

I used to leave lead in the pot so I remember not to use that pot for a camping trip,
probably not a good pot to make stew in!