wood or coal casting

[joseywales76]

any of you guys casting over wood or coal fires, if so could you post pics and process of how you cast, thanks

[waksupi]

Hi Josey. No pictures, but I have done it. If you do a search, there was a recent topic, on casting using buffalo chips, where it got pretty well covered. There may have been a few pictures, but don't remember for sure.

[RayinNH]

I've used coal as well when I hand poured all boolits, now I use a bottom pour pot. The process is no different than say a Coleman stove as a heat source. I do however continue to use coal for smelting. My smithing forge does a great job of this task and it's indoors as well with a great drawing chimney to take away the smoke. :-D I've never used buffalo chips however, so can't help you there...Ray

[Dale53]

When I was "but a lad" I used my grand mother's wood burning cook stove to cast bullets. Lyman sold an adapter plate that replaced one of the stove lids that would accommodate Lyman's lead pot. It worked quite well. Of course, that is no longer available. The individual removal lids on most wood stoves were pretty much the same size, as I remember, and use of the adapter allowed the lead pot to "hang down" inside the stove closer to the flame. Good set up, really. There are still heating stoves that have a similar "lid" and I suppose there are thousands of the old Lyman cast iron pots and adapters floating around somewhere...

FWIW
Dale53

[shooter575]

I had a home set up for that used a bell end cut off of a 18" water main pipe that stood on a old tractor hub.Hub hole had a pipe that had a blower for blast air. I used a way to big blower and melted right through a cast iron pot.I made a new one out of 3/8 wall 6" pipe with welded plate bottom.I used this to smelt Al.mostly old pistons for some sand castings. With lead if you using coal a old hair drier on low should get all they you need for lead.Be ready to turn off if the temp gets too high.I would not attempt this now without a some way to measure temp.
Do a google on backyard blacksmithing.Lots of links to home forge ideas.Lots of junk can be made to work. Just remember you do not need iron forging 2,000 temps. Also what you use must be SOLID. Potfull of lead is damm heavy.