Ingot Moulds...

[Pete E]

Hi Folks,

I am just about to dip my toe into casting for my 9.3x62mm, and I thought for my first step, I would melt down my wheel weights into ingots..

I have read some of the various threads on ingot moulds, but the problem I have is that I am in the UK, and much of the stuff mentioned is not available at the same price point..

Ideally I would be looking for some cheap muffin tins in cast iron or alluminium, but those items are simply not easily available or "cheap" over here..

I suspect that many of the tin baking pans are actually pressed steel coated with a none stick coating...

What I do see quite cheaply these days is stainless steel cook ware that is cheap as chips? For instance, I can get super cheap stainless steel landles...I was thinking of cutting the handle short and just using them? I can also get stainless steel muffin tins fairly reasonable, although the are a bit on the thin side..

Any thoughts?

Regards,

Peter

[Salmon-boy]

Every time I go out to any shop, I'm looking around to see what I can use for ingot moulds at a reasonable price. Anything with suitable size, draft and sufficient quantity can catch my eye.

Lately there have been stainless condiment cups popping up.. They're good if you're not processing large quantities of ingots. Slightly larger are the small loaf pans that run 3x4x6 cm.

[Pete E]

Every time I go out to any shop, I'm looking around to see what I can use for ingot moulds at a reasonable price. Anything with suitable size, draft and sufficient quantity can catch my eye.

Lately there have been stainless condiment cups popping up.. They're good if you're not processing large quantities of ingots. Slightly larger are the small loaf pans that run 3x4x6 cm.

Thanks for that...I suspect those bread tins would be ideal for what I need..

So I take there should ne no issues with the lead "soldering" to the stainless? I

would think the polished surfaces on alot of these SS kitchen items would be a bonus making the ingots drop easily??

Regards,

Peter

[fredj338]

SS should work fine. I use a SS soup ladle for pouring ingots, nothing sticks to it. Small bread pans would be perfect, allowing you to fill them as full as you like to adjust ingot weight. I use some that are 3x5x3. Scrap steel shapes make great ingot molds if you know a welder. Here you can buy steel scrap by the pound cheap.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Lead will absolutely not stick to stainless steel....so whatever shape you can come up with will work fine. Another good option is cast iron....any baking item such as muffin pans, cookie molds or corn bread molds (usually in the shape of a corn cob)or bread stick pans will do the job. A muffin pan made out of stainless is good, but do avoid tin made or coated units as the lead will stick and you will have a job getting things unstuck. A good ingot mold can also be made out of a cast iron pipe cap; you have to get the threads cut/turned out at approximately a 5-7 degree angle and then bore or cut a threaded hole for a handle (can also be welded in place) with a wooden sleeve over the end of it to protect you from the heat. LLS

[geargnasher]

+1 on SS being an excellent choice for ingot moulds.

Here's a tip: See if you can find any of the little condiment cups that cooks use, or you might see on cooking shows. They will make fine little ingots that drop right out, just get a pair of tongs to handle them, since they have no handles.

Any steel muffin tin should work also, but if it has a non-stick coating you'll want to steer clear of the fumes from it when you pour your first few ingots, or try to burn the stuff off first. Tin-plated muffin pans will weld to your ingots, not good.

Gear

[bhn22]

Aluminum pop cans. Cut the tops off, wash them out & dry thoroughly! Set the can half on a board or other stable sacrificial surface, and pour in as much lead as you want. Let it cool for a few hours, then peel the aluminum can off your ingot. Sell the aluminum to a recycler. Make sure the ingot size you choose will fit in your pot, of course.

[Salmon-boy]

Another alternative are cupcake foils. Yes, you will have to find some way to support them when filling, but they are inexpensive. Now that I mention this, I'll have to try it!

I would suggest placing them in an aluminium cupcake pan or a sheetpan with sand placed around the foils..

A quick amazon search revealed another alternative: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Marvellous-Large-Dariol-Mould/dp/B001E4E5JS/ref=pd_sim_kh_4

[Dale53]

I have a number of brands of standard ingot moulds - Lyman, RCBS, Saeco, Lee (these have a couple of ½ lb ingots amongst the 1 lb ingots) which I use. However, to speed up the pour I use several welded up ingot moulds. I had a welder friend do these for me. They are made of 2" angle iron 6" long. Depending how full you wish the weight goes from 3-5 lbs. They work perfectly in my RCBS casting pots:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/QIngotmoulds031.jpg

It IS important to make these with a bit of "draft" (notice carefully that the "handles" are slightly tilted) to allow easy release of the ingot.

Dale53

[sav300]

+ 1 on Dales. Cheep and easy to make in several sizes.

[Pete E]

Thanks gents for all the advice and encouragement, and my apologies if I posted this in the wrong forum...

Looking around the site I can see it is a huge resource of information, idea's and experience...

Regards,

Peter

[D Crockett]

Peat E you have a pm and the ingot mould I was talking about look like the one Dale53 showes in his picture D Crockett

[MikeS]

Lately there have been stainless condiment cups popping up.. They're good if you're not processing large quantities of ingots. Slightly larger are the small loaf pans that run 3x4x6 cm.

When you say large quantities of ingots, are you referring to making larger ingots, or lots of little ones? For making lots of 1lb ingots, the condiment cups can't be beat! I have like 30 of them, and paid very little (I think it was less than a dollar for 5 of them). I use them when I'm melting WWs, but if I'm making Lyman #2 alloy, I use some Lee ingot moulds, and a couple of Cast Boolits ingot moulds. They're really nice, but make ingots soo pretty it's a shame to remelt them to use them! :) I'm actually about to get 2 more of the cast boolits ingot moulds, so I think I will use only them for Lyman #2, the Lee moulds for Lino, and the condiment cups for either WW's, or pure lead. I'm considering getting some Lyman ingot moulds to use for lino, and then use the Lee for pure, that way at a glance I can tell what an ingot is even if I forget to mark it.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I use a plane old pressed steel coated muffing pan but much of the coating was worn off , why the wife let me have it , they don't stick i was worried about it the first time and gave it a spray of wd40

i have been eyeballing a stack of mini bread pans at the goodwill store, but they want 1.99 for used mini bread pans they are nuts i won't go over 50 cents each they are only 2.50 new at the grocery

that and the muffin tin is doing me alright for now , and they sell 2 for 5 around the holidays for the cheap ones at walmart.

[mold maker]

Lately the GoodWill is pricing their free stuff at almost new retail price. Have we been giving them too much of our biz?

[Salmon-boy]

Mike S, 30 cups may help out, but processing 200lbs of lead in an afternoon is kinda tiresome in itself... I'd want to use the largest ingot that would fit in my pot.

I tend to never leave a pot full. I've also got a bunch of Stainless Coffee Scoops that I pour alloy into at the end of a session. They wind up about being about a pound. I find that tiring if I've got a 1/2 full pot!

[Dale53]

>>>I find that tiring if I've got a 1/2 full pot! <<<

Bingo!

Dale53

[tuckerdog]

found a couple of cast iron cornbread pans, got both for 1.50 and the ingots fit nice in 30 cal ammo cans also have a 3 cav mold that throws ingots at around 8lbs for straight ww it was given to me

[perimedik]

Stainless Muffin Tins (1 US dollar)
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff170/perimedik/100_4352.jpg
half filled makes about a pound
full space makes about a kilo (for you in the UK)

[fred2892]

Pete,
Please check your wheel weights are actually lead and not zinc or steel. In the UK (as in the rest of Europe) we have had a ban on lead wheel weights since 2005. It was surprising how fast the tyre yards scrap bin levels of lead wheel weghts reduced. A couple of years ago you could hope for at least 50% lead wheel weights in a scrap bucket. I finally gave up looking at the end of last year when a 35lb bucket produced a total of 5oz of lead. Wish i'd hoarded a lot more than i did.

[Pete E]

Pete,
Please check your wheel weights are actually lead and not zinc or steel. In the UK (as in the rest of Europe) we have had a ban on lead wheel weights since 2005. It was surprising how fast the tyre yards scrap bin levels of lead wheel weghts reduced. A couple of years ago you could hope for at least 50% lead wheel weights in a scrap bucket. I finally gave up looking at the end of last year when a 35lb bucket produced a total of 5oz of lead. Wish i'd hoarded a lot more than i did.

Thanks for the warning, I never knew that lead had been banned!

I scrounged these a few years ago knowing that at some point in the furture I'd like to try casting, and i would say that the are 95% lead...I remember picking out a few odd looking ones which seemed lighter than normal, but the rest are either standard wheel weights or the soft lead stick-on ones...

Its a bit of a bugger about the ban though, as I was depending on wheel weights as a source of cheap lead...Any other idea's for an alternative source?

Regards,

Peter

[10 ga]

Cheapest ingot mold is Aluminum beer cans. Cut the top off with a knife and pour a bout a 2" ingot. When cool use pliers to rip the Al off and you have an ingot. Mostly I use muffin pan molds now but I see where you don't have much access to them. Stainless is a good mold. I use small Stainless pots from yard sales etc and only pour about a 1/4" ingot, when cool dump it out and use a hatchet to cut it into 1/4 pieces. .02 EURO worth ?? ! ?? LOL. 10 ga

[fred2892]

Cheapest source of lead is your local ranges backstop. Unfortunately a lot of clubs have it written into the clubs constitution that any lead is not to be removed from the range except by a contractor. If thats the case for you then your only chance is a local scrap metal merchant. A good one is worth his weight in gold as he will also carry antimony, linotype etc.

As for ingot moulds, nip to your nearest poundland and buy bun tins or any other kind of small cake/muffin tin for that matter (I have an old eclair one somewhere hereabouts that produces very pretty ingots ahich are smack on a pound in weight). The deciding factor is if the ingot it produces will fit your lead pot. Non stick, stainless or tin will do. Dont worry, they wont stick. I would say a minimum of 5 are required for a smelt of about 100 lbs.
Good luck

[mstrausbough]

I use small muffin pans. It holds 12 ingots. Just the right size for the electric melter I got at Gander Mt on clearance. I do my bulk WW melting with a pot over propane camp stove then pour into muffin tin. Used the disp foil ones but did not like the results. the non stick one was only a few bucks at Wally world.