Made ANOTHER ingot mold

[Patrick L]

You guys probably think I have too much time on my hands...

Anyhow, about a year ago I learned of the WalMart stainless condiment cups that they sell for 94 cents a four pack and how several of you use them for ingots. I bought a few packs, but haven't used them yet (I do larger smelts every few years so I don't have to as often.)

I was thinking the one problem with them would be you probably need to dump them with a gloved hand or something, so I came up with this
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Smelting/leadandingotmold007.jpg

It really is simplicity itself. I drilled a hole in the bottom of each cup, and drilled and tapped four 8/32 holes in a length of 1 x 3/16 inch mild steel. I also cut two short "legs" and drilled and tapped them too. They keep the whole thing from tipping when you fill the cups. I then put a bend in the steel, and drilled and tapped a hole for a 1/4 / 20 threaded rod. I screwed everything together with red loctite. I then just drilled a hole in a fat dowel and JB welded it to the rod to serve as a handle.

I had these screws. They are actually cabinet hardware screws. They have a very low, fat head.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Smelting/leadandingotmold006.jpg

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Smelting/leadandingotmold005.jpg

Whaddaya think?

[para45lda]

Let us know how they work. Looks like a good idea as long as the screws don't rust out on you.

[Sasquatch-1]

The only problem that I can think of is that the ingot may stick to the head of the screw and not want to release. You may want to figure out some way of smoothing the slots out of the screw head. Other then that It looks like a great idea.

[GP100man]

Looks like a good use for the spray mold release , but it`ll make ya ingots a tad smaller LOL!!

[Springfield]

I really doubt the ingots will stick to the screws, will just leave an impression of a bump with an X in the middle!

[Patrick L]

I'm hoping Springfield is right, but I was thinking exactly what GP100man said. I still have a few spray cans of Midway mold release, although I never use it on my molds anymore.

[bumpo628]

I like it.
Simple design and it looks good too. I may have copy that.

[Mooseman]

My OL said she would use it for serving multiple Condiments with a meal... HMMM

[clodhopper]

Looks good, sixteen of those stainless condiment cups sit near my casting area gathering dust for two years now.
Yup I have some screws like that, hope you dont sue for patent infringement!

[RP]

I like it if you put a few more rows on you have a cupcake design that is SS and a lot cheaper and more durable then one you could buy. To much time on your hands I do not think so go invent some more handy things that are cheap like reloadiing people like.

[Gliden07]

If you were worried about the screws you could use SS screws? Carriage bolts too but you would probably have to figure out a spacer to use?

[bumpo628]

Isn't rust on molds not really a bad thing?

[wtfooptimax200]

I made my condiment cup molds by screwing the cups to a piece of scrap lumber. The wood chars a bit and one set of them split through two of the screw holes but I can assure you that the ingots fall right out. These molds are some of the simplest, most effective that I've made. I have a bunch of angle iron ingots that work great, but they take much longer to build and don't really do any better job that the SS condiment cups.

I may be borrowing your handle design to eliminate my problems of wood splitting!

[GRid.1569]

I'm amazed by what you guys come up with... :-)

[EMC45]

Soot them up real good and I doubt they will stick. Go get some free paint sticks and light them up and just get the cups all smoky. Done deal.

[mdi]

It looks like the screw heads are brass. Will the lead "solder" to the brass screws?

[Patrick L]

Not brass. Gold colored, but definitely steel.

[Shiloh]

The only problem that I can think of is that the ingot may stick to the head of the screw and not want to release. You may want to figure out some way of smoothing the slots out of the screw head. Other then that It looks like a great idea.

Some cold blue should take care of that if there is a need at all.
I think that brass screw will oxidize after the first couple of ingots.

Shiloh

[Freightman]

Thanks! went out to the shop and sit my cups on an old piece of angle I had thrown in the scrap pile, put 13 on it now they will be more stable. Thanks

[Patrick L]

Well, I used it today for the first time and it worked great! No issues with the screws, ingots popped right out with a little "X" screw head indentation.

Now that I know they work I'll make a few more!

[Casting Timmy]

Loosk great...I like the idea

[UBER7MM]

Great idea. Wish I'd thought of it!

[maglvr]

Make a couple more with different type screw heads for different alloys, no more marking each ingot after they cool.
Just be sure to write the code down and tack it on the wall ;)

[ROGER4314]

That mold looks pretty good! The ingots would fit right in the melter.

I still have my old cast iron cornbread mold. I'd get tons of wheel weights and smelt them. After the metal was clean, I'd pour the lead into the cornbread mold so I ended up with lots of silver ears of corn!

Been buying lead from a guy who salvaged it from shooting range berms. He melts it into a big pan so when I get the ingots, they look like 12" x 1" thick muffins of about 33 pounds. We've been working the USPS delivery driver pretty hard!

Flash

[27judge]

heres my idea i took the one shown and used a piece of hardwood with steel washers on the bottom of the cup. This keeps the charing down.i used a pair of wood handels works good after filling just set down and the metal cools then tap sharply with a wooden mallet and out they come have 4 of them made up now thats 16 hunks of lead with a total cost of 4.06.tks for the idea ken

[XTR]

What do ingots from these cups weigh?

[27judge]

will try to get them weighed up tomorrow tks ken

[Sasquatch-1]

What do ingots from these cups weigh?

I have similar cups I bought at Sam's club. The ingots come in between 1 to 1.25 lbs if filled with the ones I have.

[Boneguru]

I saw it in the earlier posts but muffin tins work well too. This is a great idea maybe the carriage bolt is the way to go and not have an issue of grabbing or sticking. I would love to see some pics of process and ingots after casting.
Ray