Back in bidness!

[a.squibload]

Cast a handful of 40s and 9s for swaging, first casting in a long time for me.
Mainly wanted to smelt some stickon WWs with my new setup.
Found that my propane tank pot (PPTP?) is a little too deep for casting.
Need longer handles on spoon and ladle.
Hard to get a rythm going.
Made wire hangers to keep the ladle and thermometer from dropping into the pot.
When the WWs all get melted the temp goes up, had to turn down the gas.
Fluxed with toilet ring wax and wood pellets, found a few steel WWs that didn't get sorted out.
When the lead level is low the pot loses heat faster.
Guess I could have cast first, then made ingots.
I'm just happy it all works!
Pics of my homemade pot, ingot molds, burner, etc.
Made the stand out of rebar.
Sprayed the muffin tins with salt water, left out for a few days, ingots dropped right out.
Angle iron ingots dropped out too, even with my crummy welds.
Lee molds worked OK, had some wrinkles, etc. due to operator error.
Will probably go back to small pot for casting, but PPTP is great for smelting,
holds a LOT of WWs.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_69sguoFlVzY/TYmPgq6dfBI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Y-XkTBUCr0U/DSCF0079.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_69sguoFlVzY/TYmPrLiejHI/AAAAAAAAAGg/PyN2I79k1bo/DSCF0082.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_69sguoFlVzY/TYmPw-A7KrI/AAAAAAAAAGk/LvWt5D1HbG4/DSCF0083.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_69sguoFlVzY/TYmP253vKWI/AAAAAAAAAGo/og4YYXPNo2c/DSCF0085.JPG

PS: I soaked the stickon WWs in mineral spirits to remove the tape,
works OK but they still stank.
Added some to the pot with the tape still on, didn't make much difference.
Think I'll skip that step, it's tedious and the mineral spirits ain't cheap.

[LaPoint]

a.squib- Is your PPTP made out of a 20 lb tank? It looks like a nice set-up.

[Doby45]

Looks like a standard tank that was cut in half and then a band was cut out of the top half and welded to the bottom of the bottom half to act as a stable platform. Of course with holes drilled in it too. :)

[a.squibload]

Thanks!
I'm not sure. It's the standard BBQ size, is that a 20?
Paid $1 for it with valve removed.
Filled it with water and cut with a cutoff disc in a hand grinder.
Grinder was plugged into a GFI extension just in case.
Got all the ideas from reading on CB.
Saved the top part for a lid, welded a few tabs on it to help it sit on the pot.

Found another use for the burner tonight...
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_69sguoFlVzY/TYr2VAGEVKI/AAAAAAAAAG0/8-LBrPjZLMo/burner88.JPG