A smelting we will go....

[dikman]

I went to the scrap yard yesterday to get 100 kilos (220 lbs) of pure lead. (I previously advertised my range scrap ingots for sale or swap - for pure lead - and a nice chap bought the lot, all 380 kilos (838 lbs!) so I figured I'd better start rebuilding my supply). So I loaded 100 kilos, and thought I may as well get a bit more while I was there and ended up with just under 150 kilos (330 lbs). My little car couldn't fit much more in. There was quite an assortment - sheet, pipe, some nice bars, some rolls of lead and a bit of leadlight stuff.

So today I figured I'd better melt it down. I decided to get rid of some wood I had that had a lot of paint on it (so didn't want to use it in my wood fire) and use that to melt it. It worked ok, but it was a lot of trouble managing the fire and also gave off a lot of radiant heat (and smoke!!). I think I'll stick to burning coke in future, it has a much higher heat output and I don't need a big fire.

Anyhow, it's all done and only took me most of the day!! Ended up with 171 ingots, each weighing a bit over 1.6 lbs. (Doesn't seem like a lot to show for all that effort - my back is aching from standing up).
Some of the scrap was very dirty, mainly the plumbing pipe, I got a lot of grit and stuff off it. Next time I'll be a bit more selective in what I pick out.

This, by the way, is the first lead I've actually paid for (although as the range scrap I sold didn't cost me anything I suppose I shouldn't complain :bigsmyl2:).
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[Jr.]

Very nice!

Gonna take the girl out tomorrow for some shooting and range lead pick up. Too bad there's no scrap yards near me. :-(

[jsizemore]

That's one big smelting pot. I thought of cutting off the bottom of a 100 gallon propane tank but didn't want to build a stand or pay the gas bill to heat it. Your burner on wheels and coal/coke to heat is a great idea.

[Buck Neck It]

I thought that they would not let you guys play with fire down there (oh right, it is almost winter).

Nice pile.

[dikman]

The stand is a portable forge that I bought, with a small 56 lb. anvil, off a mate a long time ago. It originally had a hand-cranked blower on it but I changed it to a small hair dryer which gives more than enough heat for melting lead. Until now I didn't really have any use for the thing (I mainly wanted the anvil).
The pot is the top half of a 20 lb. propane tank (I'd already used the bottom half to make a slightly smaller pot). I welded up the valve hole, fitted a ring (cut off from the pot) around the base, a couple of handles and now have a pot that is almost indestructible. Holds about 100 lbs. of range scrap, piled right up, before melting.

Yep, fire bans have finished, we've had rain and it's safe to burn now :).

[jsizemore]

I figured the pot to be bigger then that compared to the wheelbarrow. Guess they're farther apart then they appear. I've got a pot that's the bottom 2' of a beer keg. I might have to try some fire brick and coal. Thanks for the ideas.

[62chevy]

The ingots look nice and shiny and you got to love those burn marks from the mold on the wood.

[williamwaco]

WOW that is a great setup.

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Dikman: Like that set up! Good lookin' stackable ingots too. Thanks for sharing.8-)

[dikman]

Yep, I really like the triangular ingots, easy to stack and stable when piled up!