I hate waiting for ingots to cool

[Springfield]

I really do. Get it all melted and then have to wait for ingots to cool enough to dump so I can pour the next batch. I think I finally got a handle on it, though.

67696

[BubbaJon]

LOL - I got tired of "muffin stacking" and sprang for a Lyman ingot mold. Then I discover that they take freakin forever to cool. I got a cookie sheet and placed water in it to water cool the mold and that worked great and did not harm the mold. I was able to smelt and cast 40 lbs in about an hour.

[BK7saum]

I have been pouring my ingots from a 100+lb bottom pour pot into RCBS ingot molds that I place on a folded towel. I dampen/wet the towel and the ingot solidifies rather quickly and I slide the mold place the next cavity under the spigot.

By placing the mold on the wet/damp towel, the increased heat transfer cools the ingots much faster that placing them on a dry surface such as wood or metal. Also the wet towel helps to avoid the tinsel fairy because the water is held by the towel and is much less likely to spray or splatter into other cavities of the ingot mold(s).

[fredj338]

I use a wet folded towel to put mold on after pouring. Speeds thins up a bit.

[Defcon-One]

I use a 4-up, 5 pound ingot mold that was purchased on this site. Well actually three of them per batch. So, I can pour 60 lbs. at a time. By the time I finish pouring the third mold, the first mold is set solid. A 5 lb. ingot is a nice size to store and use, too!

I have no patience for the little tiny 1 lb. ingots like from a RCBS or Lyman mold. I only use those molds for ingotizing Solder and Linotype scraps.

The corn bread molds give me the WILLIES. Too close to food for my lead pouring I guess. Besides, they are hard to store and stack.

[imashooter2]

After I get the last poured, the first is ready to dump and refill...

http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/serving600.jpg

[runfiverun]

I have a pile [12 or 14] of the one pound ingots molds and an 8 gang angle iron mold I welded up.
I start with the angle iron mold and by the time I fill the others I can fill it again.
by then the pot is low enough to re-fill it and start working on the other one.

[sqlbullet]

I run two lyman ingot molds in a cookie sheet on a towel soaked with water. My ladle holds just over 3lbs of lead. I pour every other ingot. By the time I finish the last ingot, the first mold is ready to dump, and then the second, no delay between the dumps.

Running two dutch ovens I can cast about 160 ingots an hour. After about 2.5 hours I catch up with the melt rate of the dutch ovens and that costs me about 20 minutes while I get melt ready to cast again. Then I am good for another 2.5 hour run.

I melted just over 600 lbs last Saturday morning this way.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'm a bit smaller in scale.
Mostly, I use two of the castboolits ingot molds.
I fill one and set it on a folded wet towel,
then fill the second one, then I dump the cooled one,
and put the second one on the wet towel (add water as necessary).

with my 1.5 lb ladle, one is always cooled by the time
the other is being poured.

I usually have about 50lbs of alloy melted in a batch.
I can usually get about 250 lbs smelting in a afternoon
on my coleman gasoline stove.

Not the big production some of you have, but it works for me.
Jon

[captaint]

I have 4 of the one pound X 4 ingot molds and 2 Cast Boolit ingot molds. Keep them on some soaked towels.. and I keep a little water nearby to keep soaking the towels. By the time I get the last mold filled, the first is ready to dump. I hate smelting. Have to do it soon, too... Mike

[fecmech]

I use one Lyman ingot mold and some aluminum cupcake tins. I pour the Lyman first and after I pour some cupcake molds the Lyman is solid but very hot. I dump the mold and ingots into a 5 gal bucket of water for a few seconds and then dump the ingots on the ground. You will see the water drying from the ingot mold and then pour another batch. Cooling the ingot mold this way does not invite the tinsel fairy as long as you watch to see it's dry before you pour a new batch and it dries in seconds. Using a 40 lb batch about half is Lyman ingots and half cupcakes. The water sucks the heat out of the mold and as long as the lead is not liquid going into the bucket there is no problem.