Smelting on a budget in cold weather?

[emorris]

If you use a camp stove that used the small (expensive) propane tanks you can get an adapter at harbor freight that you can use to refill these tanks. The best that i can remember is that it costed 10.00. they also carry a cast iron dutch oven for 20 bucks.

[268darts]

I use a propane tank hooked to one of those turkey fryier burners they sell at Academy. They also have lots of cast iron pans, pots, and even the corn bread moulds. I like the Stanless pot or pans best for smelting, and I find them at the dollar store. I also found some shallow teflon coated trays for moulds. They have 7 indentions about 3 x 4 x 3/8 deep. Those make excellent ingots. Occasionally, I pick a couple of large candles there that make great flux. I'm a tightwad and love cheap stuff that works.

[squid1230]

How do you clean the lead with sawdust - I have plenty of that in my dust collector.

The sawdust gets thrown in your melt - it's your flux. Keep your face away though, as it will ignite. Just stir it in well, scraping the sides of your pot and you are good-to-go!

it's what I use.

[Taylor]

yard sales and flea markets,you can almost always find something for casting,you just have to be resourceful.

[35isit]

I read on a forum here or elswhere about stainless condiment cups from walmart. 4 for .97 cents. I now have 45 of them. Each one ways a little over a pound. I simply dip them into the melt with a pair of pliers. I found a cast iron pot at a antique place for $20.00. It holds about 100lbs of melted lead.

[Lefty]

Make sure you have good ventilation and won't be breathing the smoke from the paint and coatings on the WW's. Also make sure you're working over a clean DRY floor...no ice or moisture as on a garage floor in the event of a spill. Be careful about dipping a cold utensil in a hot melt because there may be moisture trapped on it. Maybe you could trade your buddy a bucket of WW's for some already melted alloy and save the smelting for warmer weather.

I was smelting yesterday and letting my ingot molds cool on the garage floor. BAD IDEA! Garage floors are never completely dry during winter and an ingot mould apparently picks up moisture as it cools. Be very careful.

[Rem700]

I used one of the old style 20lb propane tanks and cut it off just below the weld seam to use as a melt pot. I then took and cut a ring from the top half of the tank to use as a wind screen around the burner.
I marked a line around the tank as a guide and then used a chop saw and rotated the tank following the line. A jig saw with a metal blade might work also but would probably be a little slower. I made do with what I had to work with.

[Ferdinand]

Well, I got 40 lbs of nearly pure lead from a casting buddy. With some tin, that should keep me busy until I have gathered my needed gear and the weather warms up. Thanks all, once again.

[jbelder]

BINGO

For a smelt pot, a stainless pot works fine. In fact, I'm getting better results (cleaner ingots) since I switched from cast iron. Lots of people do use iron with good results, but I could never get the sides and bottom scraped as clean. Maybe that's just me.

For ingot molds, lots of people use cupcake / muffin pans. The round ingots dont stack as nice as bars, but they melt just the same.

Just make sure you DON'T get aluminium. It has to be steel / iron.

A slotted spoon for skimming clips and a soup ladle for pouring ingots and your all set.

While your there, look for cheep candles. the wax makes a good flux.

I use aluminum muffin tins all the time they work great.

[deerslayer]

I used one of the old style 20lb propane tanks and cut it off just below the weld seam to use as a melt pot. I then took and cut a ring from the top half of the tank to use as a wind screen around the burner.
I marked a line around the tank as a guide and then used a chop saw and rotated the tank following the line. A jig saw with a metal blade might work also but would probably be a little slower. I made do with what I had to work with.

What a great idea I believe there is one of them laying in the old trashpile at the farm I will use it and save a buck. I knew if i kept my eyes open someone would have came up with a cheap alternative. Before everyone starts the safety chat I will remove the valve and turn it upside down for a while well before i cut. Great Idea though thank you!!

[Yance]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44705

Nice size, handles 60-70 lb easily on my turkey fryer burner.