Solid ingot wait time

[MikeACP]

Could someone answer a couple of questions before I try this? How long does an ingot, (in either a Lyman bar mold or a muffin pan) need to sit before you empty out the ingots? Believe it or not the hardest part of equipment for me to find is a suitable pan. I've been to three thrift stores, Craiglist and Walmart. Jeesh

[*Paladin*]

I pour and let the ingots set up while I get the next batch of lead in the pot and once the ingots are frosted over, I take a pair of pliers and tap the top of each ingot to see if it's hard. If hard, I turn the muffin pan over and dump them out. If not, I wait another 5 minutes or so. I'd say 10-15 minutes total is how long they are in there before I dump them out on average.

[Ole]

Depends on how much you spray them down with the water from the hose.

:mrgreen:

[danielk]

I wouldn't worry too much about how long to let ingots cool. As long as you've waited a bit after the surface is no longer liquid you'll be fine. if you screw one up you can always melt it again when you're ready to cast boolits. Worry less on the ingots and more on the boolits since thats the truely functional area of our craft..

[miestro_jerry]

I would not recommend spraying hot lead with the hose.

My wait time is a little over 10 minutes, I set my molds on the concrete apron in front of my shop. Not sure how well that heat sinks, but that is what I do when casting my ingots.

Jerry

[MikeACP]

Nice set up. Thanks for the help everyone. I have another question that I havnt seen an answer for yet. It concerns boolits. How will they hold up after being cast. If I wanted to cast several hundred and used them over the next year or so, would they be ok? I mean would they harden more? And be more difficult to size and lube?

[geargnasher]

When I use steel moulds I mist them with water from the garden hose, flip them over (you'll know when to after a few tries) to dump the ingots, then set them back up for a refill. If you don't overdo it with the water quench the moulds will still be hot enough to boil the water right off so you don't get a visit from the Tinsel Faery on the next pour. This greatly speeds the process. I use aluminum moulds mostly and they cool the ingots very quickly. I don't spray them with water because I don't want them to crack.

Gear

[Ole]

Another way you can cool the ingot molds quicker is to wet an old Tshirt and toss if over the mold once the ingot cavities are full.

You just have to check the molds carefully to make sure they are 100% dry before you fill them again with hot lead.

[danielk]

Cast as many boolits as you'd like. They'll be fine to shoot over the next year.

[lwknight]

You can get the 3X5 bread pans just about anywhere for around 3-4 bucks for good ones.
They will hold up to 10 pounds. I cast a lot of 1-1/2 pounders for easy melt.
The 10 pounder will easily fit into a Lee #20 pot.
Even a 10 pounder will cool solid in 12-15 minutes with a fan blowing across it.

[badbob454]

pour in one breadpan to test it i didnt and they became one with the pan ..wouldnt hammer out ... now i use only lead ingot molds , cornbread molds 'cast iron 'or cupcake pans ..wait time is around 2-3 minutes with 1 lbs ingots and gets longer as the molds and day gets hotter

[runfiverun]

if they look solid dump them.
if they break put them in your casting pot.
i try to keep the ingot mold cool and getting the lead out helps.
filling another mold is usually plenty of time to let them set up.

[songdog53]

When they frost over i just turn up corn bread mold and dump them and let them air cool and repeat till have smelted all wheel weights. Some show some small cracks in them but they melt fine and pour good boolits. I do let them cool for while after get thru. Just remember if pick up hot one with bare hands it doesn't take long to look at it.

[lwknight]

You cannot use the tinned bread pans. Get the non stick. The non sticky will burn off eventually but still will not stick.

[MikeACP]

Ok, Thanks. Ive seen the non stick pans but thought they had to be cast.

[lwknight]

I go and burn the non sticky off on the burner because it makes really uglies if you don't. Maybe I'm just whacky but I like nice pretty ingots.

[sqlbullet]

I stole an old sheet pan from the kitchen along with a old hand towel. The towel gets folded to fit in the pan, and then soaked well with water. The ingot molds go on top the sopping wet towel.

I use two lyman 4 ingot molds and a 4 lb plumbers ladle. By the time I fill the second mold, the first is solid enough to dump. About every 50 lbs I have to add more water.

I used to wait until they were just solid on the outside and plunge them into a bucket of water, mold and all. Never had an issue with warping, but it took more time than my current method.