1" or larger EMT for ingots?

[clocker]

Thanks to a lot of reading on this forum and being too cheap to shoot large amounts of FMJ, I decided to try my hand at casting boolits :) Got a hundred pounds of range lead to start with and picked up a dutch oven that will fit my old turkey fryer.

Time to clean this lead up, but what to do for ingot molds? I have a lot of scrap 1" and 2" electrical conduit that seems like it would work. Just cut them into 6" to 1' segments and plug the ends. Will this work? Is there a reason other than stacking that people like to use bar shaped ingots?

Thanks for your advice.

[oneokie]

Problem # 1 Got a good plan on getting the ingots out of the EMT?

Problem # 2 Good way to contaminate your alloy with Zinc.

[clocker]

Problem # 1 Got a good plan on getting the ingots out of the EMT?

Was hoping that shrinkage would make that easy.


Problem # 2 Good way to contaminate your alloy with Zinc.

Good info on the Zinc. If it is just a small layer then wouldn't that melt out after one or two casts?

[LaPoint]

How hot do you have to get the EMT to burn the zinc out?

[Huntducks]

What a PIA just to get the lead out of the EMT, go spend a few bucks and buy some corn bread CI trays or muffin tins any 2nd hand store will have either or both CHEAP, why screw around with zink in your lead.

[mooman76]

Lots of things you can use from a thrift store/yardsale like Huntducks said. Aluminum muffin pans. I picked up a couple cast iron pans that have odd shapes but will make ingots. No steel coated pans, the ingots will stick. Soda cans work but remember liquid and lead melt is very bad and will explode.

[darkroommike]

Lead with tin will not significantly shrink so it will fill the molds. Else we could not make GOOD boolits. Now if you wanted to make molds with hinges, and could make them well enough that they were sprue free you might be on to something. Personally, if I couldn't buy or make molds I'd sandcast my ingots rather than mess with EMT.

[Mk42gunner]

Speaking as someone who has broken a castiron ingot mold; my vote is for scrap angle or channel iron.

Robert

[clocker]

Thanks guys for saving me the headaches. I found some rusted :) 2" and 1.5" angle in my scrap pile. Enough to make a 5 x 7" 2" angle mold and two 6 x 7" 1.5" angle molds. If I can find some c-channel I'll try a set of that too. I beveled the ends out 10 degrees like others have done to help the mold release.

Almost ready for the first smelting session tomorrow and looking forward to it!

[DLCTEX]

Leave light rust on the angle iron and it will help with release.

[clocker]

Yup DLCTEX. I picked up some more lead and ended up smelting almost 400 lbs last weekend. Rusted angle iron molds worked perfect. Most ingots released with no effort at all. Now just waiting on the Lee 4-20 pot to arrive :)