cast iron for ingot mold?

[stevef]

Hello - getting into casting after reloading for years - the target by me has about a half dozen of these Lodge cornbread pans on closeout for $3.29 - i bought one & will probably actually use it to bake cornbread & similar - if these are good for ingots then I will go back & get a couple more - thought?

100239


thanks

Steve


edit - after looking at it closer i see the sides are vertical so maybe not so good - but cornbread is always tasty

[jsizemore]

As long as the ingots will fit in your casting pot...

[bangerjim]

I use commercial Lee, Lyman, RCBS rectangular molds only. They stack easily and do not fall over on your feet!

I leave the cookware to the kitchen help!

bangerjim

[N4AUD]

If they'll fit your pot, why not? I use this one, a 3 section rectangular server I got on sale at a Lodge outlet store- http://www.bigkitchen.com/product/Lodge-Logic-Cast-Iron-Divided-Rectangle-Serving-Dish-508918/Cookware-Specialty

[RacingRedGT]

I bought the muffin pans from Walmart. $3.82 each. 12 ingots per pan. Stack in a lee 20lb pot perfectly. And the ingots fall right out when they are ready.

[knobster]

I have a muffin tin and a small cast iron pot (about 4" diameter) that I use for all my ingot making. As long as the cast ingots fit into your bullet making furnace, go for it!

[Walter Laich]

know some folks use cornbread molds for their ingots. I've end been known to cobble together some wood for a make shift mold one time...wasn't very long lasting but did the job.

[AlaskanGuy]

Best thing to do is to actually MAKE some cornbread outta one, and then grab that chunck of cornbread before you get it all buttered up, and check to see how it fits in your Boolit Pot... if it fits, Grab some butter, butter the cornbread, and grab your keys and hit the road over to wall mart... Dont worry about the crumbs falling in your lap on the way over... Your a Boolit Caster.....

He He

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I like stackable shaped ingot...YMMV

[Hickok]

I prefer the ingot mold. I can then mix and blend a little easier, 3 ingots of this, 1 ingot of that, etc. Just seems easier with the "about" 1 pound ingots. I realize the weights of different alloys vary, but I think of the ingots as "about 1 pound", and it works for my calculations, which are based on the KISS principle.

Like JonB, I like the way the ingots stack up.

[just bill]

Hello - getting into casting after reloading for years - the target by me has about a half dozen of these Lodge cornbread pans on closeout for $3.29 - i bought one & will probably actually use it to bake cornbread & similar - if these are good for ingots then I will go back & get a couple more - thought?

100239



thanks

Steve


edit - after looking at it closer i see the sides are vertical so maybe not so good - but cornbread is always tasty

Steve,
I was watching a video of someone using x-ray lead foil and he was using a muffin pan and a corn bread pan and an ingot mold for his lead. Used a cast iron skillet to smelt with ,too.

FortuneCookie45LC

Bill

[bangerjim]

It will work.........especially with thin little pieces of lead like that and, given enough time and fuel (!!), with WW's and ingots. But why use kitchenware for something as kool as melting and casting lead for boolits!!!!!!! Being frugal is one thing, but cooking pans on a camping stove???? :-(

banger

[Mk42gunner]

I tried an old cast iron pan similar to that. I bought it at an auction for very little money. I broke the handle off trying to get the second filling of lead out of it. Maybe it was cracked in the first place, I don't know for sure.

With that experience behind me, I decided to stick with home made ingot molds. Scrap angle iron, a welder, and a bit of time, and my ingot molds do not break when dumped.

Robert

[Cloudwraith]

I use that exact pan for my ingots. I just started this hobby and I've done about 100lb of lead so far. Half full they are about 1lb so about 2lb for a full one. I do half fills. They are stack-able and fit in my Lee Pro 4-20 (although only a few at a time). They drop just fine. The only problem with cast iron is that once they heat up they take awhile for the ingots to cool. At the price you list though, buy several and rotate them.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/Pics/Ingots.jpg

[bangerjim]

You can set the pan on a soaking wet towel to cool it off faster. Do not pour water on it! A wet towel is what I use under all my commercial molds, both Al and CI. They cool off much faster and the CI does not crack

banger

[lightman]

I also prefer regular ingot molds to cookware, and I've used both. But, for that price, I would buy a half dozen, provided that they would fit in my casting pot. The picture looks like there is enough angle in the sides to make them dump. When you start melting several hundred pounds of lead at a time, the more molds the better. Lightman