First Batch of Ingots

[38SPL]

Since nobody at home gives a rat's rear end, I just had to post that I smelted my first batch of wheel weights into ingots today. I had picked up 30 pounds of wheel weights from Ebay a while back and ended up with about 17 pounds of clip-on WW ingots and a little over two pounds of ingots from stick-ons.

I have to admit that I didn't expect so much smoke. I smelted in the garage with the door open and still had to put on a respirator. Hopefully it goes a little faster next time but it was below 30F in the garage with lots of wind.

The wife thinks I'm nuts but she gave me a Lyman ingot mold for Christmas. Now I have a nice, shiny stack of lead ready to go. Tomorrow I'll clean up the new Lee melting pot and start casting some real boolits. I guess I'm not just a lurker anymore!

56963

[btroj]

Tell her you haven't gotten to the nuts phase yet. Yet.

Give it a year or two, then you will be certifiable. Trust me. This from a guy with 30 years.......

[badbob454]

nice job , and welcome...... nice picture... bob

[Beau Cassidy]

That's a good start! We can't wait to see the finished product.

[jabo52521]

Welcome to the madness. You are among friends.

Joe

[Beagle333]

The wife thinks I'm nuts but she gave me a Lyman ingot mold for Christmas.
But that beats the heck out of a rotating tie rack! ;-) Nice stack of lead. Happy Casting! 8-)

[zuke]

And so your journey begin's!

[wrench]

Since nobody at home gives a rat's rear end

But we care. Deeply.

I always do my smelting outdoors, it does smoke and stink. Welcome to the madness:twisted:

[Huskerguy]

I had to chuckle as I read your post. I restarted casting a year or so ago and like everyone else, time is an issue. I just did some smelting in the garage over the holiday and it was very cold in Kansas as well. The smell was terrible for some reason but when I was done, I sure enjoyed seeing the stacks of ingots. Now I need to cast some bullets in the next couple of days. So brother, you are not alone in your quest and madness. There are more of us out there!

[h20fowl]

I just tell my wife that I'm making platinum bars so we car retire. She likes that idea, i only wish!

[Smitty's Retired]

Very Nice Start. Glad to have you join in with us. Be sure to check all the information in the stickies in all the catagories, and don't be afraid to ask. Lots of good folk here, with lots of experience and info. Again....welcome to our insanity.:cbpour:

[badboyparamedic]

I started about 6 months ago, welcome to the addiction

[Springfield]

For your birthday tell her you need a turkey fryer, and everybody else can get you a couple more ingot moulds!

[Ole]

There is something uniquely special about making something useful (boolits) out of what 99% of folks could consider junk (old tire weights).

Welcome to the hobby! :drinks:

[38SPL]

Thanks for all the encouragement and support. There's so much good info between the stickies and all the other posts that there almost isn't a reason to start a new thread!

I cast my first boolits today so I'll have to post that story over in Cast Boolits later.

[Gisli]

Just remember, Pics or it didn´t happen.

[HamGunner]

Lead, any hardness of lead, is a precious metal and it is increasing in value. Just remember to segregate each batch as to it's approx. hardness and it would be wise to permanently mark or stamp each ingot right now, so that later (maybe even years later when your memory has faded a bit as to what you really melted down) so that when you get that perfect bullet and load, you can repeat your results easily using the same alloy combinations. But I am still searching for that perfect bullet and load even after 40 years of casting/reloading. Actually, I did give up that search years ago and I am just as happy to see a decent group on paper with about any boolit that I cast myself. That is what it is all about.

[Pitchnit]

Nice pile and thanks for the incentive. It's been cold and windy here too. I've got a 5 gal pail of WW, would be something to do this weekend.

[bslim]

57383573845738557386I wish you all the best in your future efforts to obtain all of the lead you can get your hands on, because it is a habit forming disease. But, on the other hand, it surely can supply you with a lot of self satisfaction.

[on1wheel01]

Wow very very nice. I am trying to get my hands on as much lead as I can. So far free wheel weights, but most are wanting to charge now