pot metal

[pantannojack]

I have aquired some wheel weigt balls flat on one side about 23 pounds each. tried to melt in cast iron fry pan 12". But could not get the lead hot enough because of the extra cooling area of the pan. I have the original aparatus ( Clayton & Lambert ) the balls were cast over, a gas fired melter but the cast pot was cracked. Question: May an aluminum quart sauce pan be strong enough to take the heat to SAFELY melt the lead?

[DLCTEX]

No! Aluminum has been known to fail and 23# of molten lead is scary. Use steel or cast iron.

[Gswain]

No! Aluminum has been known to fail and 23# of molten lead is scary. Use steel or cast iron.

This is absolutely true, but i'll elaborate on it. You do not want to use aluminum because of how it acts when it is heated to a very high temperature. Aluminum conducts heat very well, and distributes it within itself. Aluminum does not start to glow when it gets hot, it goes from solid to liquid very quickly. Consequently it is very easy to end up with an aluminum pot that will very suddenly fail and send molten lead everywhere.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

put a map or propane torch on it for top heat , speeds up a melt by a lot but don't use aluminum pots

[odoh]

+1 what pete said

[Harter66]

I used an AL pot for a while it will do exactly as stated and 20# makes a mell of a hess.

When I want/need to speed things up I use a propane torch also. Its good for getting my "winter" pan ingots down to size for the little electric "summer" pot.

[snuffy]

Aluminum melts at 1220 degree F. The problem is that the heat source underneath the al. pot is usually much hotter than that. If the alloy being melted can take that heat away from the bottom surface of the pot, it won't melt or begin to soften. IF the heat source can be kept under that temp, al. pots can work. BUT it would take forever to melt a load of lead.


pantannojack, sounds like your heat source is NOT up to the task of melting lead. You have to have a lot of BTU's to melt lead. How many depends on how big the pot is, and how much surface contact the lead has with the bottom of the pot.

[Gswain]

pantannojack, sounds like your heat source is NOT up to the task of melting lead. You have to have a lot of BTU's to melt lead. How many depends on how big the pot is, and how much surface contact the lead has with the bottom of the pot.

This is true, but a lack of BTUs can be overcome by using the heat you have more efficiently. For example, stacking bricks around your setup will greatly increase the amount of heat that gets used.