Muffin Trays for Ingot Mold

[30yrcaster]

Found out my buddy has a turkey fryer we can use to smelt ingots. We got 4 RCBS/Lyman ingot molds but our 50# pot could handle more. Looked at Walmart at the 24 cnt muffin trays but all of them are non-stick. Will a non-stick tray contaminate the lead or cause any other problems? Is the 24 cnt trays the ones that produce the 1.1# ingots?

Thanks

[Bohica793]

My experience has been that you want non-stick and that no, it will not contaminate the ingot.

[Walter Laich]

the non-stick coating will burn off after awhile. This is not a problem either before or after the coating is gone.
some folks use corn bread molds (ones that look like corn cobs) but I think they cost more. Might check the cast iron section to see if they have something that would work if you decide not to get the muffin trays

[Old School Big Bore]

Be sure they are one-piece and not the separate cups crimped into a frame.

[Uncle Jimbo]

The only problem I can see is that once you fill the muffin tin it is way to heavy to move. When you try to pick it up to dump it, it will want to fold in the middle. Also it takes longer to cool down.
I have three six hole tins that works well. filling one, one is cooling, and the third getting dumped and will be ready to fill again. This way, when I start to pour the ingots I can just keep going. No wait time.

[dudel]

My problem with the muffin tins is that they didn't hold up to the weight of the lead. Granted they were cheap tins. The coating burned off after a few ingots. They didn't drop easily.

I went to cast iron corn muffin trays. They've worked find for the past couple of years. I added a wire bail to them to make them easier to handle. Theres a big difference in weight from corn muffins to lead ingots!

[Wayne Smith]

Do your first few pours outside with a breeze. The gasses of the burning of some nonstick substances contain a nerve gas.

[30yrcaster]

Thanks for all the info!!
We have 4 buckets of range lead. Each one I could barely lift to get into the car. I'd figure it must be about 100 lbs each, not sure. Looking to get it done the quickest way possible. Never done range lead before so it will be interesting how much good lead we end up with and if it's worth doing in the future. We'll be doing it outside once things warm up a bit.

[rockshooter]

I stuck a piece of 1/2' plywood under the muffin tins to keep them from bending in half when carrying. The heat chars the wood some but not seriously.
Loren

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Be careful with your temperatures. I would recommend something besides the non-stick muffin pans, as lead does have a tendency to get stuck in those and then you'll destroy the pans getting it out. Better to go to a yard sale or a flea market and pick up old, rusty muffins pans that need to be greased. You'll get much better results.

[RogerDat]

Wonder why the suggestion to avoid muffin tins with cups inserted and crimped in. I found a fairly heavy duty 6 cup one at a flea market and picked it up with smelting in mind. Only have done a couple of cups worth of solder in it so far but they worked pretty well.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Wonder why the suggestion to avoid muffin tins with cups inserted and crimped in. I found a fairly heavy duty 6 cup one at a flea market and picked it up with smelting in mind. Only have done a couple of cups worth of solder in it so far but they worked pretty well. You may have gotten lucky. But if you buy one like that at the store with the non-stick and your "muffins" get stuck, you'll find out why the recommendation to avoid.:brokenima

[mizzouri1]

well, i just did my first smelt with one rusty and two new nonstick muffin pans and they worked great. dropped ingots right out. they are flimsy and will bend easy. these will do until i come across something better.

[Idz]

A trick I've been using with my aluminum Lee ingot molds is to pour the mold and then just as it starts to harden move it to a tray and set it on a wet cotton rag. The steaming sucks out the heat and cools the mold rapidly without damage. Before I figured that out the mold would get so hot the handle would char and come loose. After several 100 pounds of ingots the molds are still in great shape. I don't know if the steel molds would work as well. There are some who get bent out of shape if you have water anywhere near molten lead but I've had no problem.

[RogerDat]

You may have gotten lucky. But if you buy one like that at the store with the non-stick and your "muffins" get stuck, you'll find out why the recommendation to avoid.

Thanks for the answer. This is an older one, pretty heavy aluminum and plain, not non-stick. I wanted to avoid non-stick, just seemed like that stuff would be a potential problem. Teflon surface not really designed to stand up to 700* lead. I may find that this one won't handle the weight. Did notice the heat really migrated to the rest of the pan fast. Pour two cups in the center and 30 seconds later you would not want to touch the ends without gloves

[freebullet]

Mmm...the smell of burning nonstick goes good with beers i hears.

[dragon813gt]

Non-stick isn't an issue if it's teflon coated. The ones that are shiny are tin coated. Tin and lead.....well it's called a solder joint. I use ones made by Wilton. Each ingot will weight close to 4.5#s if I fill them completely. I have done this and the pan holds up just fine. You guys must be using some junk pans of they're folding up on you. I only pour them to 3.5#s and these pans have done close to a ton at this point.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa39/dragon813gt/Firearms/Reloading/0dcc18ac.jpg

You want them rusted as it helps the release.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Good smelter setup you got there dragon. Only things I can see you don't have (In the pic) is a thermometer to keep your smelt under zinc melting temperatures and a large sheet of cheap, scrap plywood. Something off a shipping box for a wood working tool or something similar. Keeps the lead "splashes" from trashing your concrete.

Walmart didn't sell Wilton teflon coated stick ten years ago, at least not in this area. Glad to see the teflon aren't the issue, but it's easy to get fooled on what will stick and what will not.

[dragon813gt]

That's an old pic. No thermometer needed. I don't bother w/ wheel weights anymore. To much work for little gain. I bent up a sheet metal pan to go underneath everything. It's also just the carport. A few splashes of lead isn't going to hurt anything.

[Ramslammer]

G'Day
Muffin tins spayed with Lyman Moly spray are the go. We've been using 5 small muffin trays for years. They are probably for cupcakes or something but are approx 1 LB ingots and do 12 at a time.
Juddy

[Swede44mag]

I have used the Stainless Steel Sauce cups available at Sam’s 12 for $4-5 but mostly I cut the tops out of pop cans rinse out what is left turn upside down.
Make sure to let these dry or you WILL have a visit from the Tinsel Fairy
I bought some muffin pans at the local DAV but I had to tear off the metal from the lead to get them out.

[ShooterAZ]

I just spray the muffin tins with Frankfort arsenal mold release. I think it's just a graphite, but it works well. No sticking.

[gwpercle]

Wilton is the only company that makes Aluminum muffin pans, non-coated, just plain aluminum. You will not find them in the baking section a wally mart. Go to the special birthday cake and party section....that's where they live at wally mart . If you don't look there you will not find them.
They make 12 and 24 count mini-muffin pans, regular and jumbo muffin pans ALL IN STAMPED ALUMINUM non-coated. Go to Wilton's web site store, if wally mart doesn't carry exactly the one you want order them straight from Wilton. I have a 12 count mini-muffin and picked up a 24 count mini-muffin two weeks ago just because it was on the shelf. The alumn. pans work like an alumn. mould...no stick , no release agent needed! They just hide in a strange part of the store. I found them because my wife, who makes the kids birthday cakes, knew exactly where they hide them.

Gary

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Found out my buddy has a turkey fryer we can use to smelt ingots. We got 4 RCBS/Lyman ingot molds but our 50# pot could handle more. Looked at Walmart at the 24 cnt muffin trays but all of them are non-stick. Will a non-stick tray contaminate the lead or cause any other problems? Is the 24 cnt trays the ones that produce the 1.1# ingots?
Thanks

Personally, I'd skip the muffin tins, muffin ingots don't stack well or package for shipping well. Just think if you could get a ingot mold to make 2lb rectangular ingots that will fit tightly in a small flat rate box ? Ingots with the castboolits name in them ?
It sounds like he is making them again :)
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?182997-Cast-Boolits-Ingot-Mold&p=2707049&viewfull=1#post2707049

[Digger]

works for me !!
101252
101253

[tigweldit]

I've gotten my best "molds" at garage sales.

[Sekatoa]

Non-stick isn't an issue if it's teflon coated. The ones that are shiny are tin coated. Tin and lead.....well it's called a solder joint. I use ones made by Wilton. Each ingot will weight close to 4.5#s if I fill them completely. I have done this and the pan holds up just fine. You guys must be using some junk pans of they're folding up on you. I only pour them to 3.5#s and these pans have done close to a ton at this point.

I use those same Wilton molds, amount others, for larger jobs. They worked well. Mostly I like cast iron though. I've come to really like the corn molds, they can be found used cheaply if the seller doesn't think they folk artsy gold. They are not something you can usually go down to the store and just find when you need them though. They need to be watched for and accumulated.

I prefer the 1# ingot size or corn mold size for casting ingots or blended alloys. The Lee, RCBS or Lyman ones can be found at some LGS, or Cabelas. The Lee one fills up to quick though for smelting.

[Sekatoa]

I just spray the muffin tins with Frankfort arsenal mold release. I think it's just a graphite, but it works well. No sticking.

I use this on my ingot molds too. I had some and stopped using it on mold bullet molds, and put it to good use. Also prevents them from rusting.

[RogerDat]

Personally, I'd skip the muffin tins, muffin ingots don't stack well or package for shipping well..... By muffin tin did you mean cupcake style rather than the square ones? Round and tapered shape is not ideal in that regard. I'm using for "special" scrap such as tin, hard shot, etc. so the shape will give me a clue that these are special. Still looking for the what I will use to do bulk COWW ingots. But frankly they store in the buckets as well or better than they would on a shelf.

[Ed1]

I use the mini muffin trays. The smaller ingots works great for the Lee 10 lb pot

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

By muffin tin did you mean cupcake style rather than the square ones? Round and tapered shape is not ideal in that regard. I'm using for "special" scrap such as tin, hard shot, etc. so the shape will give me a clue that these are special. Still looking for the what I will use to do bulk COWW ingots. But frankly they store in the buckets as well or better than they would on a shelf.

that is my own opinion. everyone can do as they please.

I stack them on small "pallets" about 50 to 60 lbs. Then these pallets are stacked in various locations...below is one of my trash cans with over 600 lbs of COWW.

I use part of a 'used' USPS med flat rate box, with a pc of 1/4" plywood (scrap from a jobsite) in the bottom for support.

This makes moving them a little less daunting of a task. Yes I have some muffin and various shapes ingots that I've got from other members from trading and such. Yep they all melt the same in my Lee furnace...They are stored in 5 gallon buckets to the half full mark...it works, just not as space reducing as the pallets.

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/croppedandsizedI_zps2d5c9e30.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/croppedandsizedI_zps2d5c9e30.jpg.html)

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

You've got 400 lbs of lead and 4 ingot moulds? I've got about 400 lbs of rough lead in my garage and 1 ingot mould. Now I could use another ingot mould. But if I had 4 moulds... I guess I fail to see your problem. What's your hurry?

That's JMHO. Carry on.

[ACrowe25]

Non-stick isn't an issue if it's teflon coated. The ones that are shiny are tin coated. Tin and lead.....well it's called a solder joint. I use ones made by Wilton. Each ingot will weight close to 4.5#s if I fill them completely. I have done this and the pan holds up just fine. You guys must be using some junk pans of they're folding up on you. I only pour them to 3.5#s and these pans have done close to a ton at this point.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa39/dragon813gt/Firearms/Reloading/0dcc18ac.jpg

You want them rusted as it helps the release.

I use the same pans! I recommend them to anyone.

[dragon813gt]

I don't understand the "they don't stack well" position. They stack just fine.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa39/dragon813gt/Firearms/Reloading/F9FB0FE7-7815-4B9A-AEE5-490A95189832-4518-000001D9B2D2DC85.jpg

W/ the pan I use you can stagger the molds. One up, one down and they lock in place. It's not perfect but the stacks are completely stable. And how many people stack them out in the open w/ no support?

It really is a matter of opinion. But if you have a large quantity if lead the one pound ingots make for a long day. Even if you have multiple molds.

As far as mold release on an ingot mold. It's just throwing money away. Something is wrong if the lead is sticking. And using it as a rust preventative is just silly. You want the molds to have some rust on them. It insures that they will release. I intentionally filled mine up w/ water and left them outside for a day or two after burning off the coating. They've worked perfectly from the first pour.

[c1skout]

I use 6 hole cupcake pans because that's what I had. They were outside in my scrap pile stacked together so the one is rusty and the other is not. I gave the rusty one a coat of cheap gloss black spray paint and they both work the same, tip them on the side and the ingots fall out.

[waltherboy4040]

Found a 6 hole aluminum muffin pan that works well they just fall out. Only thing is it wants to bend sometimes and they dont stack well but it was cheap. Think I will just buy more lee molds for better stacking.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I don't understand the "they don't stack well" position. They stack just fine.
I am only responding because I was the only one commenting that Muffin ingots "they don't stack well". In my mind, cupcake or Muffin, are the same shape...Round. That is surely all me and my narrow upbringing...that's what my Mom made :) and I can even take this one step farther, until I joined this forum, I always wondered that the heck people used the corncob shaped cast iron pans for...because, on the rare occasion when my Mom made cornbread, it was always in a "medium" sized loaf pan and it was sliced like regular bread as was banana bread and Zucchini bread.

Your photo shows that your rectangular ingots stack quite well and before this thread, I have never seen a square Muffin or square muffin pan, but I haven't been looking for them either, because this bachelor isn't a baker :)

[gwpercle]

Those little rectangular ingots are made with Wilton's mini- loaf pans, 8 count. I wasn't aware stacking was an issue but the mini loafs sure do stack well. The Wilton mini-muffin pans are the ones I have been using for years , cheap- at wally mart , they worked well, I liked the size and I never gave the storage aspect any thought. Actually the mini-loaf pans seem to be better for stacking. I'm going to see if I can get a couple.....Thanks for posting photo of them.