Where do you store it all?

[t_dickinson]

Where and how do you store all your metal? Got pics? I want to get an idea so I don't have to move it all later.


And I thank you.

[plainsman456]

Right now I have my lead stored in a 80 ft x 200 ft barn on a shelf.
The load became so heavy I have about 600 lbs stored on a 55 gallon drum till I gat the shelf reinforced.

[Tom R]

In the basement.

[bslim]

In my garage. Of course it's so full of equipment, lead storage etc. I haven't parked a vehicle in it for the past 15 years.

[bumpo628]

I store it in 5 gallon buckets in my garage - ingots or raw.
You can still move a 200 lb bucket on a concrete floor.

[454PB]

Be careful moving 5 gallon plastic buckets full of lead. The plastic tends to get brittle over time, and the wire handles rip off at the worst time.

I keep a lot of mine in those 30 gallon metal grease containers. I can move them around with a hand cart.

[Von Gruff]

I keep all mine in nail boxes. They are about 14in long x 8 1/2 inches wide and 6 in deep. They are just on heavy enough when full, stack well and are solid enough to stand the strain.

Von Gruff.

[BSkerj]

I keep mine in the old time 6 gallon metal milk cases in ingot form. I have a couple of 4 wheel dollies that I use when I need to move them around. The cases fit perfect in them. I have 3- 55 gallon drums full of raw WW stored in my barn that I hope to soon smelt into ingots.

[Ohio Rusty]

I don't have alot, but what I do have, I store in plastic coffee cans. Each can will hold 20 to 25 pounds of WW's, are stackable, and ewasily fit on a bottom shelf of a cabinet in the garage. They are easily moved if necesssary. The finished ingots can be stored in the same coffee cans.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[Defcon-One]

In the garage, just need a small space along one wall.

I don't store very much in raw wheel weights. When I can find them, I smelt them as soon as possible and cast them into 5 lbs. ingots. I mark each ingot with the type of lead and a lot number, just in case I have issues later. I'll know which lot might be the problem.

I store 12 ingots (60 lbs.) in custom made wooden cases that stack neatly and are easy to move. Once a case is full it gets a label and the top is screwed on.

I bought my ingot mold from RayinNH on this site. Great item, works great. His ladle & skimmer are great too! At 5 pounds per ingot you can empty the the large smelting pot fast and have nice clean lead in big, easy to store, ingots.


Stacked cases:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/178454dae3d52651ab.jpg

Two 5 lb. bars on a case:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/178454dae3d5c21142.jpg

12 bars in a case (60 lbs.):
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/178454dae3d670b2ed.jpg


Bars are in three layers of four. Every other bar is inverted so that they fit together tighly. Lids just screw on. The thick dowel handles are inset and screwed as well as glued. These are easy to lift and carry, they stack well and don't take up much room. The stack of eight cases shown holds 480 lbs. of lead.

I can move everything out to a new location in minutes, if I ever have to.

[canyon-ghost]

In the reloading room, in 5 pound stackable ingots. I make the molds at work on the welding table. Looks something like this:
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx228/3rdshooter/contenders/Zincweights005.jpg

Ron

[Digger]

corner of the man cave is getting lower ...
31627
who say's you can't use muffin pans ?
31628

[white eagle]

some very neat and ingenious ideas
unfortunately I store most of mine in a berm behind
my target board the rest I leave in pails underneath the
casting bench
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v730/kempobb/abc3.jpg

[imashooter2]

I store it in 5 gallon buckets in my garage - ingots or raw.
You can still move a 200 lb bucket on a concrete floor.

My method as well.

[bumpo628]

corner of the man cave is getting lower ...
31627
who say's you can't use muffin pans ?
31628

Mother of all creatures great and small!
How much weight is that? :holysheep
It looks like an even ton.

[imashooter2]

Mother of all creatures great and small!
How much weight is that? :holysheep
It looks like an even ton.

My guess is closer to 3100 pounds...

[Defcon-One]

Mother of all creatures great and small!
How much weight is that? :holysheep
It looks like an even ton.

I agree with imashooter2. My guess was 3,192 pounds! Based on the squares being 2 pounds each.

What do we win if we get it right?

[bumpo628]

I agree with imashooter2. My guess was 3,192 pounds! Based on the squares being 2 pounds each.

What do we win if we get it right?

You're probably right about the 2 lb ingots. For some reason, I was thinking 1 lb.
So, make my estimate 4000 lbs.

[evan price]

I put the ingots in kitty litter buckets. They stack well but you have to keep them out of sunlight or the plastic degrades. They get stacked under the bench in the garage. I'm thinking about putting them in the crawl space. Buckets of WW are stuck on the back of an old trailer behind the garage until smelted.

[t_dickinson]

I don't have alot, but what I do have, I store in plastic coffee cans. Each can will hold 20 to 25 pounds of WW's, are stackable, and ewasily fit on a bottom shelf of a cabinet in the garage. They are easily moved if necesssary. The finished ingots can be stored in the same coffee cans.
Ohio Rusty ><>



Rusty, I love your avatar!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

For lack of a better location,
they are in my front screen porch.
I re-use the MFRB and put a layer of 1/4' scrap plywood in the bottom
and stack about 50 one pound ingots in them.
Jon
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/100_1642.jpg

[t_dickinson]

Reminds me it's about time for fishin!

[Love Life]

Digger- Are those the mini loaf pans they sell at walmart?

[468]

Under the stairs in the garage/man cave...only abt. 300lbs of cupcakes there. Larger stash hidden near bunker and arsenal.

[fredj338]

Fortuantely, a lot of lead can be stored in a small space. I smelt into ingots & just store them on the garage floor in the 3-5gal buckets. More are stored, stacked on heavy duty shelving, along the garage wall. If I had mor than 2000#, I would even store it outside on a pallet covered w/ a tarp. Just make sure they are dry before adding to a hot pot.

[Digger]

Hey there Love life ! ... the muffin pans in the picture I picked up at Target a while back , they are a Teflon coated thin steel pan .... back when I started , tried out the round muffin versions but didn't like the space they took up.
The square ones weigh the same as the round ones about 2 lbs. or slightly less .... took a small propane torch at first to burn the finish before I started and they have worked fine ever since as the two in the picture have done everything you see ....
Just have to be careful as you use them to not dent them to much , when full I set the pan on end and just let it fall over on it's face then slip the handle of my spoon under the edge and the ingots usually fall right out if not just a tap on the side rail does the rest.
Obviously I like the size and being square the fit and stack rather nice , as you can see when a milk crate is on it's side you get seven rows across , four deep and eleven tall , if you are careful you can get one more row on top , twelve tall but no room for fingers !
as a result it's between 308 or 336 to a crate ( what an anchor ! ouch ! )
Plus the 2 lb ingot works out to be nice size adding to a pot preheated , Lee 20 lbs or the old Seaco 10 lb I have.
They come out to 2 lbs or a little less depends on your pour , how careful you are ..... for me , just right .

and yes gentle men you are pretty close on some of your guess work ..... about 2,700 lbs in the pic's
The two bottom and middle right are ww's ... full to capacity , conservatively just over 1,800 lbs .
The middle left is range lead and the top right is pure lead of stick on ... the top left is just over 65 lbs of 60/40 solder in one and 1/2 lb ingots and a few pounds of 20/1 range lead ,tin ..... as for right now I am shooting the range stuff only to be conservative ( and still scrouŋging .....:roll: ... and always will be )

digger

[Ole]

I have some stored on shelves in my indoor patio (about 40%) and the rest is in a foot locker in a closet.

The stuff on shelves is mostly in USPS Priority boxes. 80# max per box. They will hold more than that, but my shelving unit wouldn't like it if I stacked it any deeper.

[Cherokee]

Store in my basement and barn, in ingots.

[Firebricker]

In the garage, just need a small space along one wall.

I don't store very much in raw wheel weights. When I can find them, I smelt them as soon as possible and cast them into 5 lbs. ingots. I mark each ingot with the type of lead and a lot number, just in case I have issues later. I'll know which lot might be the problem.

I store 12 ingots (60 lbs.) in custom made wooden cases that stack neatly and are easy to move. Once a case is full it gets a label and the top is screwed on.

I bought my ingot mold from RayinNH on this site. Great item, works great. His ladle & skimmer are great too! At 5 pounds per ingot you can empty the the large smelting pot fast and have nice clean lead in big, easy to store, ingots.


Stacked cases:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/178454dae3d52651ab.jpg

Two 5 lb. bars on a case:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/178454dae3d5c21142.jpg

12 bars in a case (60 lbs.):
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/178454dae3d670b2ed.jpg


Bars are in three layers of four. Every other bar is inverted so that they fit together tighly. Lids just screw on. The thick dowel handles are inset and screwed as well as glued. These are easy to lift and carry, they stack well and don't take up much room. The stack of eight cases shown holds 480 lbs. of lead.

I can move everything out to a new location in minutes, if I ever have to.

Defcon, I like your storage crates very nice and well thought out. Like some of the other guys I'm still scootin five gallon buckets on the floor. FB

[captaint]

My one and two pound ingots live on the bottom shelf on the loading bench. The shelf is 2 x 6's and I had to stick a short piece underneath for support. The ingots are in those milk delivery plastic boxes. I get about 350 lbs in each one, if I stack them carefully. After smelting, I should have about 750 lbs right now. Time to start casting and taking some out.... enjoy Mike

[Tom W.]

I have a lot in my component cabinet on the bottom shelf, a lot more in the shed out back, and a goodly amount under the back stairs waiting to be turned into ingots...

[geargnasher]

For my "working stash" I built crates out of some scrap plywood with 2x6 bottoms, they fit the Blammer's Castboolit ingots perfectly, two rows of ten. Three layers of ingots makes almost 60 pounds per crate, about as much as I want to lift. My 1-lb angle-iron ingots fit perfectly, too.

My plan was to drill two 1/2" holes in each end near the top and install 1/2" Nylon rope handles made by knotting one end inside the box, threading through a 4" piece of 1/2" PVC pipe, through the other hole and knotting that inside the box again. Some things never get finished around here :roll:

The rest are hidden in raw form in an undisclosed location......in stacks of 3-gallon buckets.

Gear

[zuke]

I cast mine into 4 lb LEE big ingot's.Their sitting on a 2x4 by the back fence stacked about 4-6 high and 15 feet long.
The rest are stacked the same way at a friend's farm.

[Defcon-One]

Firebricker:

Thanks for the compliment. I put a lot of thought into them. Glad somebody noticed.

My goal was to have really solid boxes to store my SHTF lead. The stuff that I want to save for If/When I can't get any more Wheel Weights. My concerns were:

1.) Weight not over 60 pounds so that I could move them easily.

2.) Durable enough to move without damaging them and a well secured and removable top.

3.) Large, balanced handles so that I could control them well. With two, I can carry it against my thighs and spread the load over both legs and shoulders. (Bad back, don't want it to get any worse!)

4.) Easy to make with stuff that I have.

For long term storage, I thought the 5-pound bars were the Ideal size. Any bigger and they get hard to manage, besides these will fit on end in most pots.

I know that these boxes are a little overboard but I had fun and the material was all scrap. They work great for me.

Take Care,

DC-1

[*Paladin*]

My stuff is simply in stacked muffin ingots. I have a space under a shelf in the garage, and there they are stacked. I only have 1400 lbs or so, so I'm small time compared to you guys... :mrgreen:

[merlin101]

I keep some in the basement stairway on a ledge (aprox400 lbs) and I have about 600lbs working for me in the form of wheel weights on my tractor.

[imashooter2]

I keep some in the basement stairway on a ledge (aprox400 lbs) and I have about 600lbs working for me in the form of wheel weights on my tractor.

Is that on the tires or in a ballast box?

[casterofboolits]

I store my lead "muffins" made in cast iron muffin pans (1 kilo/2.2 pounds) in metal five gallon buckets. About 250 pounds per bucket. I try to fill three buckets per smelting session.

I have about 40 five gal plastic buckets with at least 100 to 125 pounds of indoor range lead in the casting shack. There is also a stack of water pipe about four feet high, four foot in diameter waiting to be cut into lengths for smelting.

And a heavy duty two wheel dolly to move the buckets. The front room of the casting shack is 24' by 36' and has two large exhaust hoods for casting and smelting.

[midnight]

Range lead, wheelweights & other dirty lead is in 5gal pails in the shed. When it gets cleaned up & cast into muffins they go in 3lb coffee cans. Lids are labeled with Lot #, source, and hardness. Then they go in the basement near the fume hood for casting into bullets. Neighbors save coffee cans for me. I see they started making coffee cans out of cardboard. May have to go to the plastic cans when the supply of metal ones dries up.

Bob

[bumpo628]

Range lead, wheelweights & other dirty lead is in 5gal pails in the shed. When it gets cleaned up & cast into muffins they go in 3lb coffee cans. Lids are labeled with Lot #, source, and hardness. Then they go in the basement near the fume hood for casting into bullets. Neighbors save coffee cans for me. I see they started making coffee cans out of cardboard. May have to go to the plastic cans when the supply of metal ones dries up.

Bob

FYI, Costco still sells coffee in metal cans.

[ahhbach]

Found a bunch of old milk crates being tossed they hold about 500 lbs maybe more. I hope and pray I never have to move them.

[Huntducks]

a few years back I closed my 25yr plumbing Bus. out of my shop I had years of broken out lead joints lead pipe traps you name it I also stored buckets of WW there so rather then me move it I had a couple of my labors take it to my house I had a ton of 5gal buckets to store it in, I told my two guys take it and set the 5gal buckets next to the blue barrels the two meat heads dumped them in the 55gal barrels at least they kept them sorted but what a PIA to get anything out the barrels they weight so much you can't even tip them over.

[bobthenailer]

5 gallon buckets , 30 gallon barrels , used 5 QT motor oil containers , cut a opening just below the base of the the spout and drop in the ingots , holds approx 60 pounds and has a handel for easy moving !

[MGySgt]

Just moved - right now most of my WW is out side - have about 2500 lbs stacked behind what is going to be my new Casting shed, 6 buckets of WW (2 of stickon) and another 1000 lbs in my open bed trailer. I temporarily stored another 900 lbs of WW and 700 LBS of pure along with about 40 lbs of 90% plus tin in a new garden shed.

It will be a little while until I get it all stored where it is going to be stored semi permanet.

[Bullet Caster]

No wonder I can't find any lead...you guys have it all. CB

[OBIII]

For my "working stash" I built crates out of some scrap plywood with 2x6 bottoms, they fit the Blammer's Castboolit ingots perfectly, two rows of ten. Three layers of ingots makes almost 60 pounds per crate, about as much as I want to lift. My 1-lb angle-iron ingots fit perfectly, too.

My plan was to drill two 1/2" holes in each end near the top and install 1/2" Nylon rope handles made by knotting one end inside the box, threading through a 4" piece of 1/2" PVC pipe, through the other hole and knotting that inside the box again. Some things never get finished around here :roll:

The rest are hidden in raw form in an undisclosed location......in stacks of 3-gallon buckets.

Gear

+1 on this idea. I have a small bottom pour pot, so the larger ingots don't work for me. I usually cast my ingots in a Lee mold using the center sections, 1/2 lb, and store them in boxes like this. If made to the correct dimensions, it will fit into a flat rate box exactly, should you ever want to sell and ship some. :smile:
I also attach 1x1 handles to the sides, for easy movement, boxes weigh 50-60 pounds. Handles are easily removed for shipping, and they stack well. :p

[sqlbullet]

Mine gets cast into 1lb Lyman ingots and then packed in boxes from xpedx. Each box holds 40 ingots and actually ends up weighing 41lbs average.

These get stacked under my casting bench. Half of the underside is drawers, the other half lead storage + a welder. I can fit about 3000 lbs when it is at capacity.

[Iowa Fox]

I have a pallet of smelted ww ingots in the shop. I'm going to start storing future smelted ww ingots outside in 5 gal buckets with the snap on lids with the rubber oring. Tin, pure lead, mono, lino, and babbit ingots are in 5 gal buckets with lids in the shop.

[plmitch]

5 gal buckets for the loose ww and milk crates for the ingots

[gabe123]

I really like that a couple of you mark the ingots with a lot number, very organized.

[zomby woof]

I keep mine in 5 gallon pails, labeled. I separate each smelted lot with cardboard.

[hiram1]

in the barn so as not to get wet in 5 lb ingots

[Cherokee]

Processed lead in Lyman 1# ingots are stacked in the basement cornor under the grinder bench and on some 2x12 shelving, rest is stored in a barn along with the unprocessed.

[mold maker]

700+ lbs in milk crates of like alloy. You do have to plan where you want them to stay. The milk crates will contain them, but can't be moved. I have been in the process of moving for the past year. Everything smelted during that time is in place, but I'm having a problem moving a 50 year collection from the old house. I guess it will get done a bucket full at a time, until I get the crates down to a movable weight.
The new place has a cemented crawl space, that is dry and excellent storage.
I am beginning to question how much more I need. At 70 I'm shooting less, :cry: and if I have this much trouble moving it, do I still need more? It is a life time addiction, that is hard to change.:confused:
I have recently traded some for powder and primers.

[mtgrs737]

I have almost two tons stored on recycled wooden pallets in my shop so I can move them around with a pallet jack or forktruck. An old picture of some 1 lb. ingots on pallets is in my avatar.