Muffin tins

[Freightman]

I needed some muffin tins so I went to Wal Mart and bought two of the coated ones and they worked great, lead slid right out except I smelted enough lead for 36 2# muffins not 24 so I went and got another. The difference it was silver and $0.75 cheaper took it home and used it, not good lead welded to it no way to get them out except melt them. The coating on the silver ones is something that will melt and hold the lead. So next trip picked up another of the dark coated ones so I do not have to wait to empty the pot as one is my limit per session. Thirty six 2# muffins is a good smelt.

[Cowboy T]

Sounds like the $0.75 cheaper one might've been coated with tin. If so, that would explain the stickiness.

[mooman76]

Yep! About every couple months someone new here is asking how to get the ingots out of tin muffin pans.

[grullaguy]

Today I was using a muffin tin that I bought for 50 cents at a second hand store. It has worked well until today. One ingot would just not release. I dumped all the other ingots and put the muffin tin over the burner for a while thinking that would soften the lead enough to get out. That didn't work, so I beat the offending cup out of the pan with a hammer and tossed it in my melting pot.
Hah! Take that cheap muffin pan!

[Longwood]

I have a Lee mold,a Saeco mold, muffin tins of three different types and sizes.
I like the little stainless steel condiment cups that I heard about here the best. They are real cheap and I like that they are almost as tall as they are wide. I put that to good use and fill them 1/2 full for my linotype and about 1/4 full for the tin solder ingots so I can tell them apart and add small amounts to my melt if it needs it.
I can put 24 on a small cookie sheet.
I used some to test small amounts of lube for consistency when I was making up my last batch. That, also worked very well.

[Ole]

Take a couple paper towels and wet them, toss them over your muffin pan after you pour your ingots.

They will cool a LOT faster and you can't get enough water into a paper towel to cause you any trouble. They dry very quickly.

Check your muffin pans for water droplets after dumping them just to be safe.

[Atakawow]

Dollar Tree has 6 cavity muffin pans made of steel for $1.00 each. I picked up 50 of them. Haven't tried them out yet but I figured steel gotta be a lot more durable and easier to work with than Wal-Mart aluminum.

Here is the link:

http://www.dollartree.com/catalog/search.cmd?form_state=searchForm&keyword=muffin+pan&x=0&y=0

[Shooter6br]

Going to my local Dollar Tree to get the muffin pans. Looked up store locator. Sounds like a good item:cbpour:

[Longwood]

Dollar Tree has 6 cavity muffin pans made of steel for $1.00 each. I picked up 50 of them. Haven't tried them out yet but I figured steel gotta be a lot more durable and easier to work with than Wal-Mart aluminum.

Here is the link:

http://www.dollartree.com/catalog/search.cmd?form_state=searchForm&keyword=muffin+pan&x=0&y=0

I tried those.
They will be at the recyclers soon.

[a.squibload]

Might have to get me some of those stainless cups.

I read here that rusted muffin pans release better.
Made salt water in a spray bottle and hosed down the pans I have,
garage sale items, 25¢ or so.
Let 'em sit for a few days then rinsed. They don't stick.
Maybe will do that again once in a while.

Have an aluminum muffin pan, 12 large cups, wants to bend in the middle
when full of lead. Otherwise works OK.

[grullaguy]

The rusty ones do release much better. I have a sand casting setup for aluminum and pour all of my leftover aluminum ingots into rusted muffin tins. I bought the mini muffin tins for my bullet casting so that I could mix more types of ingots into my 5 lb pot. The mini muffin tins might have to set out in the rain a few times.

[skeet1]

I got disenchanted with the regular muffin tin after I also had trouble with some not wanting to release. I went and bought two cast iron muffin pans and no longer have the problem. I think they were $12.00 each but to me it was worth it.

Ken

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Cast iron muffin pans or "gem pans " as they are called by collectors of cast iron will work very well for making ingots. Lead will not stick to them and will fall freely from them until the cow jumps over the moon. There are folks who insist on on using those muffin pans that are tin coated or made of steel because they are cheap and found in the dollar/thrift stores. Then problems arise with ingots refusing to fall out of them and the remedy is advocated to "rust" them and users have found some success by doing that. If you subscribe to that ritual and are happy with it then fine. You can save a lot of dancing around the ceremonial fire and worrying about the cost of what you need to make perfectly good ingots by simply wandering into a Walmart, going into the kitchen section and picking up a set of condiment cups. There are 4 to a set and they break the bank at an astounding 97 cents. For the staggering sum of $4.85 you can lug home 20 of them; they are made out of heavy gauge stainless steel and all 20 will stack like a small pile of poker chips. You can then have a wonderful time making ingots that neatly stack-20 at a time. All you need is a pair of pliers to turn them upside down to dump the ingots; nothing needs to be rusted and it can't and no lead will stick to stainless steel. How much you want the ingots to weigh depends on how full you want to fill the cups. Its as simple as all that. LLS

[Longwood]

You can save a lot of dancing around the ceremonial fire and worrying about the cost of what you need to make perfectly good ingots by simply wandering into a Walmart, going into the kitchen section and picking up a set of condiment cups. There are 4 to a set and they break the bank at an astounding 97 cents. For the staggering sum of $4.85 you can lug home 20 of them; LLS

Mine were only 88 cents for four at Walmart and that was about two months ago.

[Digger]

Had good luck with mine

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=31627&d=1303266454

who says you can't use muffin tins (borrowed my pics from another thread )

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=31628&d=1303266660

[a.squibload]

Square ones are no good.
Much too neat.

Nice lookin' pile ya got there!

[selmerfan]

My local Wal-Mart doesn't carry the SS condiment cups...only clear acrylics!

[milprileb]

Well, after buying all flavors of Walmart muffin tins and having zero success, having rusted them and still no success. I have gotten corn stick cast iron Lodge USA made molds for $11 at Walmart and not looked back.

[Digger]

Square ones are no good.
Much too neat.

Nice lookin' pile ya got there!

Thanks Squib , every time I go out to the shop there seems to be a little more of those pesky 2 pounders no matter what I do .....:shock:

[a.squibload]

Huh, maybe you've stumbled onto "ingot husbandry".
See if you can breed 'em with a little more tin!
(Years from now Digger says: "Yep, that ingot over there won a Blue Ribbon at the county fair...")

[Digger]

Huh, maybe you've stumbled onto "ingot husbandry".
See if you can breed 'em with a little more tin!



Yeah , think the sneaky little buggars are doing their own thing , the smaller stack of 1 pound 60/40 solder keeps getting smaller and the two pounders keep getting larger in count , go figure
...:roll:
Gonna have to keep a closer eye on things ........:bigsmyl2:

[XWrench3]

i buy the ones that are 50 cents at yard sales. it doesn't matter to me what kind of coating is on it. i just spray them with heavy duty silicone before i put the lead in. they do not stick at all.

[casterofboolits]

I have seven one pound Lyman, Saeco, RCBS and a Lee one pound ingot moulds, but use them mostly for tin/lino ingots. I do the bulk of my smelting using three cast iron muffin pans which make 2.2/2.4 pound ingots.

Cast iron is the best I've used so far.

[a.squibload]

i buy the ones that are 50 cents at yard sales. it doesn't matter to me what kind of coating is on it. i just spray them with heavy duty silicone before i put the lead in. they do not stick at all.

I have an old, old can of "record spray" for 78rpm phonograph records.
Found out it is mostly silicone. Good for zippers on the Jeep soft top.
Might try a little on ingot molds.

[41mag]

That didn't work, so I beat the offending cup out of the pan with a hammer and tossed it in my melting pot.
Hah! Take that cheap muffin pan!

BWAHHAAAA thats the same thing I said to mine as I beat the, well, it out of the sheet with the hammer.