Painted cast iron pot?

[Vulcan Bob]

Hi all, getting ready to smelt and have a question about my new cast iron pot. Got it from Buffalo Arms Co. and is a good looking pot, except it is painted inside and out with a thick black shiny paint. I would assume this paint has to go to avoid contaminating the mix. Best way to get rid of the paint I think would be burning it off. I live in town with no open fire rules so using charcoal briquettes perhaps? Any thoughts or ideas are very welcome!

[weasel 21]

I wouldnt think you have to do anything. BA is well known in the shooting community & I dont think they would have a product that you would have to modify.

[zuke]

Put some briquette's in the pot as well as under it and let'er burn!
But then again most if not all the paint will come off when you get up to lead melting temp.

[John Allen]

I got one also. I do not believe it is paint I think it is wax coating put on when hot to keep the pot from rusting. it will come off once you cook it.

[Vulcan Bob]

Thanks for the info folks! Hey John Allen, that's what I needed to know! If that's wax its sure a hard wax! I'll give it go soon, after reading some of the posts about painted WWs I just wanted to be sure I did not mess up a pot of lead. Weasel 21, I wasn't taking a shot at Buffalo Arms, I just included the name to identify just what I had, hopefully to get a response from someone like John Allen's helpful response.

[Vulcan Bob]

Hi all, well curiosity got the best of me so I took the pot out put some water in it and put it on the stove. After the water had been boiling for awhile I checked the finish and it was still hard as a rock and chipped and flaked like paint. So I'm going to fill it up with briquettes and cook it out good to remove any volatiles that may be in what I assume to be paint before I smelt any lead in it. Man I must have too much time on my hands to obsess about this sort of thing. Thanks again all!

[ACrowe25]

Great, let us know how it turns out. I was looking at the same one not too long ago.

[shadowcaster]

It shouldn't hurt anything. I would just fire it up! :-)

[RayinNH]

You could probably use a pressure washer to strip the finish...Ray