1st smelt test

[Lugnutz]

Ok guys, after the game today I'm gonna go try my hand at smelting.

I found a coleman camp stove that I forgot I had ( never been used by me ).
I found a sturdy pot. Dug around in the kitchen and found 2 inserts for a poached egg pan to make ingots( never use that thing for cookin anyhow ).
Had to buy a ladle ( wife protested to me using our only one in the kitchen ).
I picked up a box of crayons for fiddy cent at the local dollar store for purifying.

My lucky day the camp stove I've had maybe 3 years and it has fuel in it!!!!
And it fired up!!

I'll get back with ya all on this test later.

[Lugnutz]

Well they don't look like ww anymore!!! Not the prettiest either, my pot was pretty dirty even after I washed it. I did not use the poached egg molds as I planned. I cut the top off of 6 beer cans ( 16 oz ) and filled them between a quarter and a third full. When cool enuff to handle I peeled the cans off.

Last check they were still pretty warm with gloves, when they cool I'll weigh em up and find out what I ended up with.

It was a great learning experience. Green crayons do interesting things to a brand new ladle by the way!! :castmine:

[Lugnutz]

well I got 14lbs 7 3/4 oz of beer can shaped ingots !!!!

[imashooter2]

I've done a lot of scrap on my yard sale Coleman. Cast more than a bullet or two from it as well. A fine servicable rig and very inexpensive. If you step up to a larger melt, you'll be better off finding some muffin tins for ingots.

Congrats for getting into the game!

[Lugnutz]

I looked for muffin pans today but local dollar store was a bust. So I used some of my old beer cans with the tops cut off. Worked good and you can just peel it off later !!!

Working on a larger pot. Something more sturdy.

[kodiak1]

Lugnutz I like the beer cans to. I fill them full as I have a big pot that I remelt them in for the final product.
Ken.

[Lugnutz]

WOOOO HOOOOOO Kodiak aint it great to be rednecks??!!! Glad to know I aint the only one to use all them empties for something productive.

[drinks]

Lug;
If no one has mentioned it, do not use any aluminum containers to melt lead and wws, the melting point of lead alloys and aluminum are too close together and it is really easy to have a boot full of molten alloy when the bottom drops out of the aluminum pan when you pick it up.

[Lugnutz]

Drinks, yup Woody let me in on that one. But thanks for mentioning it again so anyone else that might be new here won't end up with a lead boot.

[Bad Water Bill]

lLUGNUTZ-here is my receipt. 1 Coleman single burner stove (purchased 1967 and still going), 1 3# coffee can pour spout on top edge. Fill with wheel weights (small ones on bottom. After about 20 min skim of clips, grab back of can with vice grips and pour.That simple. Did 210# last week BAD WATER BILL

[imashooter2]

lLUGNUTZ-here is my receipt. 1 Coleman single burner stove (purchased 1967 and still going), 1 3# coffee can pour spout on top edge. Fill with wheel weights (small ones on bottom. After about 20 min skim of clips, grab back of can with vice grips and pour.That simple. Did 210# last week BAD WATER BILL

Be careful with that can... a split on the seam could ruin your day.

[threett1]

Yup, I'm sure old Lug has plenty of those can ingots laying around.:drinks:

[Goatlips]

The case for muffin pans

Lessee... in my state there's a 10 cent deposit on beer cans, that you have to cut up, use once and peel off of an ingot too large to fit an electric pot. So it would cost me $1.20 each time I made a dozen.

I find 12 hole muffin tins at garage sales for around a buck apiece, or you can buy new ones for maybe $4.00. Let steel ones rust a bit and lead won't stick to them, or use mold release. Most importantly, they can be used over and over. Here's mine:

http://goatlipstips.cas-town.com/smelting3.html

But I gotta admit, it's more fun drinking beer than eating muffins. :drinks:

Goatlips

[trooperdan]

Goatlips, your state gives ten cents per empty beer can? Now just where would that be? I want to go into the beer can exporting business! :)

[Lugnutz]

AMEN !!!!


Beer cans around here are just beer cans, but you can recycle them used for molds or not.

The beer can ingots should fit into an electric smelt pot that holds 10 lbs or so.

But never fear I have my wife on the look out for garage sales for muffin pans mini bread loaves and such.

Now where was I? Oh yeah gettin more beer cans emptied to put in my reserve pile!!

[Goatlips]

Trooperdan, I'm mostly in Michigan where anything that fizzes requires a dime deposit, then you lug them back to a grocery store and stick them one by one into a filthy machine that reads the upc code and prints out a credit slip. I'm all for clean roadsides but I hate laws like this, or anything that punishes everybody for the transgressions of a few litterers. BTW, there were a couple guys from New York that were importing outstate beer cans and redeeming them here; for their sins their old truck was impounded. :confused:

Now our roads are only littered with fast food bags, wine bottles, Evian water and iced tea containers. No muffin tins.

Goatlips