ingot molds

[William Yanda]

Haunting thrift stores, I've found some Nordicware items-cast aluminum in a couple of shapes that I thought might make good molds for ingots. When I got them home SWMBO noticed their nice condition. Put em on ebay for half the price of new ones and now I'm looking for ingot molds again. Guess I'll have to dry out some beverage cans. Those 20 ouncers look like they might be convenient for my 4-20.

[VHoward]

Just don't let SWMBO see the next ones you bring home. LOL.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

For quick and easy working ingot molds, stop by your nearest Walmart...go to the kitchen section and pick up a set of 4 stainless steel condiment cups for all of a whopping 88 cents. Lead won't stick to them....you fill them as full as you want and turn them over with a pair of pliers. They stack like poker chips and with 3-4 sets you can make all the ingots you want all day long. Total cost=$3.52. If you don't like the way they work then bring em back and WM will give you your $$ back. LLS

[VHoward]

That's a good idea, but the Walmart in North Bend Oregon does not carry those. I looked and asked.

[Mal Paso]

I've been to 4 Walmart's in 2 States and No Condiment Cups. I think it's a Myth!:bigsmyl2:

Maybe Condiments aren't allowed in California but surely Arizona would.

[SlimTim]

The myth has it's own web page:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Condiment-Cups/14964954

Someone posted a good idea he had, nailed around them to keep them in position. Another made recesses in a board for his.


SlimTim

[geargnasher]

Why not just drill a hole in the bottom and screw them to a piece of hardwood with dome-head, slot drive wood screws? Seems like it would make stability and dumping a cinch, and it would take many pours for the screws to burn out the wood around the threads.

Gear

[VHoward]

The myth has it's own web page:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Condiment-Cups/14964954

Someone posted a good idea he had, nailed around them to keep them in position. Another made recesses in a board for his.


SlimTim

That page says they are in stock in my local store, but I have never found them and nobody there knows what you are asking for. I should print that page out and take it with me.

[Mal Paso]

Boy! That's handy! There are 7 Walmarts within 30 miles that have no condiment cups.

I gave up and welded some nice Angle Iron molds but I still check every Walmart. So far I've only seen pictures of the elusive Condiment Cups.

[Certaindeaf]

Boy! That's handy! There are 7 Walmarts within 30 miles that have no condiment cups.

I gave up and welded some nice Angle Iron molds but I still check every Walmart. So far I've only seen pictures of the elusive Condiment Cups.

And nobody can find Lemishine. Perhaps ask some kind soul therin for direction.

[Longwood]

I can get the condiment cups and can fit a bunch of them in a small flat rate box.
I will pick some up and sell and ship them for cost to a few of those that want some but can not find them..
I also know where to get copper scour pads which I sometimes sell for cost, tax and shipping.


[Edit]
I could put several sets of the cups etc. in a medium size flat rate box, with a lot of cheap wood pellets also.
I sell wood pellets in a medium flat rate box, to those that can't find them, but want to try them for $1 a box plus shipping.
They are compressed so they store in a small space. Wet them and they swell to about 4 times the volume and after drying, they work extremely well for smelting and or casting.


[Edit]
I just now weighed a box. It weighs a little over 12 pounds. So what you get is about the equivalent to a 10 foot 2 x 4 that has been made into tiny chips then compressed into pellets.
They work great and that much should be enough for years and years worth of smelting and casting for the average shooter here.

[Cowboy T]

Why not just use a standard muffin pan? The ingots stack great and fit very nicely in a Pro 4-20 pot.

[Mal Paso]

I snagged a couple nice Steel, Made In USA, Muffin Pans for a great price in Walmart. They were Tinned and it took a whole bottle of Maap Gas to get the ingots out.

Forced me to build what I really wanted. The Ingots are almost 5 pounds and 7" Long. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37550&d=1321368276

[Sonnypie]

Order Up! DING!

Amazon has got them. (http://www.amazon.com/All-Purpose-Individual-Condiment-Commercial-Restaurant/dp/B000K9WTLO/ref=pd_sbs_k_1) < Click dis.<

[blademasterii]

I'm a marine welder/fabricator and as such have access to lots of different sizes of square, round and oval stock. I would have no problem fabbing something up if someone wants something specific. Not looking to start a product line, just helping ppl out.

[Bambeno]

Look in the pet isle, they have small water and food bowls made from stainless for about 75 cents each.

[blikseme300]

I snagged a couple nice Steel, Made In USA, Muffin Pans for a great price in Walmart. They were Tinned and it took a whole bottle of Maap Gas to get the ingots out.

Forced me to build what I really wanted. The Ingots are almost 5 pounds and 7" Long. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37550&d=1321368276

+1

Those are nice ingot molds. See, no need for Wally World.:kidding:

Bliksem

[a.squibload]

Those are nice Mal Paso.

I rusted my garage sale muffin pans but after some use they are
starting to stick, have lead smears (?) in the bottom.
Had to beat 'em last time. Maybe need a mold release of some kind?
Or toss 'em and make more from angle iron.
This time I'll weld on the OUTSIDE, make 'em purtier, or easier to use anyway.

Found a muffin pan for a dollar at a garage sale, looks like cast aluminum,
thicker than the steel ones.

[7of7]

That's a good idea, but the Walmart in North Bend Oregon does not carry those. I looked and asked.

Is there a Costco there?

[VHoward]

Is there a Costco there?

No. The closest Costco is about 100 miles away.

[Mal Paso]

Thanks!

If my shooting buddy can get away with Soda Cans I'm sure aluminum molds should be fine. I just wouldn't use an aluminum pot for smelting.

I assembled the angle iron upside down on a table and used a couple bar clamps to hold them together while I welded. Cost about $20 to make 3. 1/8 angle and strap to keep cost and cooling time down. 2' angle 1 1/2" Strap.I used a piece of 1" pipe for a jig to feed the angle iron into a 14" Makita Chop Saw to angle the ends. A little Hobart 125 wire feed welded them up.

I tell you though, If I'd found those condiment cups, that piece of angle iron would still be in one piece.

[gwpercle]

I use a mini- muffin pan made of plain aluminum , no sticking. When last in the store I looked for some more but only saw coated steel ones. I'm sure the plain uncoated aluminum pans must still be out there somewhere...they work so well as small ignot moulds . I will try and find some and post results of search.

gary

[Mal Paso]

Teflon is a marvelous invention. You can take a pan which should last a lifetime and turn it into something that needs to be replaced every few years.

[VHoward]

That's the real reason for those coatings. They don't make any mony if your not buying new pans all the time.

OH, and I finally found those stainless steel condiment cups at Wal Mart. They only had 6 sets left and I bought 4.

[pastor]

i went to our wal-mart and found some of these condiment cups!!!
i bought a bunch and then came home and made some ingots, thought i would include some pics, these condiment cups work great

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=717&pictureid=5212

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=717&pictureid=5211

and then after they were put to work

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=717&pictureid=5210

[VHoward]

I was able to get 700 grams of lead in one of these condiment cups from Wal Mart. 700 Grams = 24.7 ozs. So a little more than 1.5 Lbs each.

[JohnFM]

I think the plain old muffin pans are hard to beat.
I picked up one at Safeway the other day.
Stamped "Good Cook" and a golden brownish sorta colored teflon coating.
After I burned off all the coating it did a nicer job than any of the other ones I have.
I think next trip I'll pick up a couple more just for spares.

[wymanwinn]

cast iron mini muffin pans....6 minis each and the cast about a ±2.2lb "muffin"....have three 15gal carboys full...;)

[Combat Diver]

I was given a cast iron muffin pan shaped as ears of corn. Ingots fit into my Lee IV pot nicely :D


CD

[theperfessor]

Found five cast iron corn shaped cornbread molds at local flea market. IIRC I gave $30-$35 for the lot. Seven ingots per mold, ingots weigh about 1.5 lbs each, with all five I can ingotize fifty pounds per cycle.

If I hadn't found them I'm sure I would have welded some up from scrap.

[Mal Paso]

Found five cast iron corn shaped cornbread molds at local flea market. IIRC I gave $30-$35 for the lot. Seven ingots per mold, ingots weigh about 1.5 lbs each, with all five I can ingotize fifty pounds per cycle.

If I hadn't found them I'm sure I would have welded some up from scrap.

Yea but those corn bread molds are Styling!

[theperfessor]

Had a lead head hammer pour at school as a lab project yesterday. The kids got a big kick out the corn shaped ingots.

[mdi]

No. The closest Costco is about 100 miles away.
You have a Fred Myers near you in Coos Bay. I found usable a muffin pan at the Freddies in Brookings...