in a perfect world a smelting pot would be tall and narrow right?

[country gent]

With care cast iron is very good but heat it to fast and it can crack it dosnt take to expansion well. I fired my pot up one cold morning and being in a hurry opened the burner up higher and quicker than usual. about 10 mins in and I heard a tink and lead running on the floor the pot had cracked from to fast uneven expansion.

[blackthorn]

I cut my 20lb propane tank just below the top shoulder. My son is a welder so I had him form a pouring spout on one side. he also made a lid. He welded a large steel washer (one inch hole) on each side and these will allow me to pass a 3/4" steel bar through and support it on each end with jack-stands. this way I can suspend the pot slightly above the flame from my 3-ring burner and allow me to use vise-grips to tip the pot to pour. I can also dip from it. The depth allows me to fill the pot with wheel weights cold and easily skim off the scrap as the melt progresses. Works for me.

[gwpercle]

I have a couple of round cast pots. Makes getting the lead out and scraping the top easier.

My question is what is the advantage of the metal propane tank versus a cast pots. Seems like the cast would heat slower but retain the heat longer. Is one better than the other?

They are be free .
You can only refill them so many years after that the hardware store wont refill them and you get to buy a new one ....the old one ...it's your's , so make a melting pot !
My Grandma would "cut a switch" if she caught me using good cast iron for anything but cooking food !

[Gtek]

Sorry for the drift but "cut a switch" rattled me, have not heard that in fifty years. Mom was West By God Virginia, wait till your dad gets home was never in the equation.

[elmacgyver0]

They are be free .
You can only refill them so many years after that the hardware store wont refill them and you get to buy a new one ....the old one ...it's your's , so make a melting pot !
My Grandma would "cut a switch" if she caught me using good cast iron for anything but cooking food !

You can always take them to a store that takes an empty tank and gives you a full one.
They even take the ones with the old style valve.
That's what I do, recently upgraded 3 old style tanks and have one more once it is empty.

[kmw1954]

Not certain how much it will hold but I have an empty blue helium tank that will be getting cut in two. This one is about 9" in diameter and will be about 6/7" deep.

[elmacgyver0]

Not certain how much it will hold but I have an empty blue helium tank that will be getting cut in two. This one is about 9" in diameter and will be about 6/7" deep.

Should be about perfect unless you're casting for the county.

[William Yanda]

i agree but heating efficiently would be a problem

and it would be harder to stir

[Gunslinger1911]

12 (I think) qt dutch oven from Harbor Freight.
And I don't whack it with the ladle.
Something like 150 lbs capacity
Wide enough to stir / mix / flux well - deep enough to hold enough alloy to make the smelt worth it.
Usually 2-3 smelts in an afternoon (yes, a long afternoon !)

[Conditor22]

Imagine trying to stir and scrape the sides of a 4" wide X 8"tall pot. Then trying to get the last of the lead from the lower third.

Dutch oven is about the best compromise I've found. I haven't tried a repurposed LP tank. Seems that curved bottom and flat sides would be a problem fitting a stirring/scraping utensil to fit.

I'm gonna stick with my 10 quart dutch oven.

not a problem, these are the tools I use

[kmw1954]

Tonight while getting the charcoal grill going I was able to dig out the 4" angle grinder and cut my Helium tank in half Looks like it will work just fine and is at least 3X larger than what I was using. Now if it will melt 3X as much in 1/3 the total time I'll be as happy as a pig in mud.

[Conditor22]

kmw1954 IF you have a weilder, cut another ring out of the top section and weild it to the base for more stability. [weld 3" then bent out 3" (for flames/heat to go up the sides of the pot) do this all the way around {see my picture on the previous page of this thread}

[kmw1954]

Sadly I do not have a welder but I know what you have. I believe one of the guys I work with has a small welder.

[303Guy]

I was looking at a smaller gas bottle at the scrap metal dealer. I didn't ask for it because I know I have stainless steel pots I kept for the purpose. But I did get 5kg sheet lead for the price of 4! I have a BBQ gas burner that would be ideal for the gas bottle pot. I could have made it with its own legs. That curved bottom is ideal for scooping out. Oh well, I'll just make a pot stand.

Actually, I have a helium bottle of just the right size. Mmmm .... But my stainless pot is about right although not as deep as I would like. A deep pot is great for those longish pieces of lead to stand up in, not for the deep melt specifically. I've been dragging that old BBQ gas burner around for a number of years now. Time to put them together.

[fcvan]

The last time I did a big smelt I used a steel 3 lb coffee can on a propane cook stove. I had a cone shaped heat shroud that was wider at the bottom. I use a stainless ladle with a pair of vise grips. It made the long handle longer and two different metals did not transfer heat to the vise grip. Even so, long leather welding gloves (Harbor Freight) were used at all times. Flux used ground walnut (polishing media) and of course, out doors.

I have an old propane tank and several old helium tanks from birthdays while raising my girls. Propane tank will be a small BBQ, helium tanks will become auxiliary air tanks. Smelting pot will be a plumber's pot/burner given to me since my last big smelt.

A previous post mentioned a bottom pour spigot. Somewhere on here, I saw an example where a boolit trap, vertical snail type, collected lead at the bottom. The bottom, although removable, could also be fired up at the range/trap site, and the collected lead melted out. I think that looked like the bee's knees and can't wait to get the steel, weld up the trap, and smelt at the range site. I already have the welder and worked in the oilfields until I was old enough to go into law enforcement. I can't wait, so many retirement projects I wonder how I ever found time to work!

[Winger Ed.]

If I was going to get, or more nearly make one-- Conditioner22's is the pattern I'd use.

[44Blam]

In my opinion, short and fat is better than tall and narrow.

That's what she said...

[gwpercle]

Sorry for the drift but "cut a switch" rattled me, have not heard that in fifty years. Mom was West By God Virginia, wait till your dad gets home was never in the equation.

LIKE !
I would much prefer waiting until Dad got home . I don't know if Mom ever knew this (I never told her) but it hurt my Dad when he had to spank us ... He usually closed the door and gave me a long lecture (a few swats would have been less painful ) then he would hit the bed with his belt a couple times and I would holler so Mom would think he whooped me .... my old man was something else .
When Mom cut a switch... she inflicted some real pain on your legs !

[fredj338]

I understand the use of frying pans and what not because they are available, but wouldnt a tall narrow smelting pot make the separation of molten lead and everything else much more distinct and make it easier to skim off dross, dirt, etc..?

within reason of course...so lets say between an 8" dia 2" deep frying pan and a 4" diameter 8" deep cylindrical pot, the 4x8 would be superior for the actual smelting process right? (ignoring the practicality of heating it efficiently)

A welder friend of mine made several tall smelting pots with bottom pour spouts for pouring. They were 8" pipe I think, about 14" tall. The problem was getting the heat to the top of the melt. So he has since shortened them to about 9-10".

[DonHowe]

My smelting pot was custom made 35 years ago, 16" dia. X 8" deep. I do not recall why I chose those dimensions. I do recall calculating that full to the brim (never has been) it would hold nearly 500 lbs.