first smelting of WW

[sgt.mike]

.sorry for ever posting

[HORNET]

Congratulations on your first steps on a slippery slope. On your questions:
a. DO NOT USE the Aluminum pans for production!! I would recommend that they be retired from lead processing of any kind. The melting point of some lead alloys is entirely too close to the melting point of the lead ant the aluminum loses most of it's strength at those temperatures. You could end up with a pan full of molten lead going everywhere that you don't want it to go. Haunt the thrift stores, yard sales, etc and find some cast iron,steel, or stainless steel cookware to use.
b. The camp stove should have plenty of heating capacity for casting. I've cast a lot of boolits using an old Coleman gas stove. Repeatability of the temperature settings might be a little tricky and you might want to look into getting a thermometer, which will still be handy if you go to an electric pot.
The addiction begins...

[docone31]

If you want a really clean melt, use vegetable oil.
Also, with the pans, start deep and small. Use a stainless spoon to remove the clips, I use tweezers, and scrape the bottom of the pot as you melt. Any resudue will stick to the bottom. As the residue layer buids up, it gets harder to melt.
You can do it on a small stove. Just keep the wind from blowing directly on the heat, put some kind of shield to block the wind.
The one mistake I made, was to not mark my melts. I now have ingots that I have no clue what they are. If I had marked them first, it would not be an issue. Even if I had just made some scratches.
Hope that helps.
Good luck.

[David2011]

Sgt. Mike,

Welcome to the forum and "Congrats!" on your first smelting but definitely heed the advice above. I hope that wasn't an old WWII style mess kit. Those things are worth a lot these days. Harbor Freight has a Dutch Oven in cast iron that's widely used for smelting. They go on sale regularly.

David

[bumpo628]

You should never pick up a pot of molten lead. A pot of lead is not the same as a pot of water. Your brain will try to handle the pot as though it were, but you could easily spill or dump the entire contents and there's no way to stop it. Or your handle could break off.

It is much safer to remove the clips from the melt and ladle the lead into the ingot molds. Also, ditch the aluminum pots since they may work fine for a while until one day when the bottom slumps and you have a pot full of molten lead leaking all over. Always preheat your ladle and spoon before submerging them in the lead.

You should be able to find a stainless steel 5-qt pot at a thrift store any day of the week for a couple bucks. While you're there, pick up a stainless slotted spoon and a ladle. Keep an eye out for cast iron pots since they show up from time to time.

The camp stove worked for smelting, so it should work fine for casting.

[sqlbullet]

As has been mentioned, ditch the aluminum pots. That is a high risk failure just waiting to happen. Cast iron is generally found cheap and works great.

Also, handling a shallow pan with liquid lead in it is NOT a best practice. Again a high risk activity. Not to say many of us didn't do it the first go. I know I did. Wisdom, as they say, is learning from my mistake, we as experience is learning from your own mistakes. Be wise!

If your heat source melted the lead for refining it will be fine for casting. I generally find I need more heat in the "smelt" stage than the cast stage.

[rainy191]

a friend of mine made me a large capacity steel pot with handels out of pipe. i use a serving spoon with holes in it to remove the clips.
i flux at the same time using the cheapest powdered dish soap. i use a 2 burner camp cok stove. it works but the stock regulater i have goes through alot of propane. i usually get 2 smeltings from a 5 gallon bottle.