Cast my First Ingots Ever Today

[sapper_eng]

I decided to melt down some of my coww's today. I didn't know how much smoke it was going to make, or how long it was going to take so I did a small batch of around 20 - 25 pounds. The last thing I wanted to do was tick off my neighbors with a bunch of stinking toxic smoke. Here are the results!

One thing I was wondering about, in the photos you can see where the lead was on the bottom of the muffin tin I used as a mold. They are all bubbly. Is that normal or did I do something wrong?

http://i.imgur.com/1ShOezE.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Clkc14m.jpg

[osteodoc08]

Completely normal, nice appearing ingots for the first time around. The bubbling is from off gassing of the coating on the non stick. If you want really purty, pick up some Lyman ingot forms and preheat them before dumping in the molten lead.

I'd try to keep a more uniform fill amount too.

Other than that, good job and keep up the good work.

[dikman]

They look good to me. Doesn't really matter what they look like as you're going to re-melt them anyway. Be warned, you're now on a long and slippery slope - you'll be constantly looking for more stuff to melt into lovely little ingots!

It's addictive..........:cbpour:

[sapper_eng]

Thanks for the info guys. I have a steady supply. Two big oil drums full of weights that I can go grab from whenever they are open at $0.50 a pound (they also let me sort them and seperate the lead from the zinc). apparently they go through 2 - 3 barrels a month. I guess I've lucked out.

[ghh3rd]

Yes, you lucked out as far as having access to lead. I know how you are feeling right now - pretty excited. It's just the start of a lot of fun, an addiction as it's called around here. It doesn't matter how the ingots look, they're ready to dump into the pot whenever you need them.

I always say I'm going to make my ingots all the same size, but wind up with a variety of sizes, and lots of them are tilted since I keep the ingot molds on wet rags and they tend to tilt.

The only reason that I can figure to keep them all the same weight are to make it easier to add tin without having to weigh them in order to calculate, but no big deal if they're not.

Have fun, and pay attention to what everyone says about watching out for the tinsel fairy.

Randy

[Mr_Pig777]

Snap. I lost my ingot casting virginity yesterday. Used the muffin baking pan as well lol

[Mr_Pig777]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/13/bemunuhu.jpg

[jabo52521]

Nice. Too late to save you now. Welcome to our addiction.

[sapper_eng]

Well I cast another 40 pounds of ingots today. Cops showe up at my house. Luckily not because of what I was doing but because they were looking for someone who lived in the area. Damn near gave me a heart attack. I was thinking someone called in a complain't about the smell. They left after they asked if I knew or had seen the guy. Turned out he gave them a fake address. I went back to smelting. Lol. The last of the batch will be done tomorrow.

[hickfu]

If you want to get nice ingots without the bubbles on the bottom, take a torch and heat up the lead in each muffin tin one at a time so it pulls back from the sides and it will also get rid of the bubbles. I have done well over 2000 lbs of muffins and my first ones looked just like that..

Doc

[RogerDat]

I found that as I used the muffin tins the non-stick seemed to bubble less each run, probably cooked off whatever was gassing off from the heat. Always on the look out now for muffin tins at yard sales. Mini muffins tins are nice because the make a 1/2 lb. ingot. As opposed to the 1 1/2 lb. one that the larger ones make.

Took me awhile to get my ladling skills to yield a consistent amount and smooth top for each ingot. Found it worked better to go back to the pot for a full ladle rather than have to go back to get more to finish an ingot.

Like a miser with gold your stack of ingots is money in the bank, and future fun at the range.

[lwknight]

Put your ingot molds on the fire to burn off all the non sticky and those bubblies will go away.

[ghh3rd]

The Teflon fumes can make you feel ill, although I hear it's only temporary.

[Cloudwraith]

The Teflon fumes can make you feel ill, although I hear it's only temporary.

Definitely don't have any birds around (pet or otherwise) as PTFE fumes are toxic to them and can cause death.

[ssnow]

As mentioned, once you burn off the coating the problem will be resolved. You can burn it off initially to avoid the issue altogether, or you can simply keep using them and the molten lead eventually will do the job for you. Each new batch will get a little better each time, until it is finally gone and you have no more craters from the gas pockets.

[novalty]

Nice job on the melt. It's true what they say it is an addicting hobby. I just melted down the last of the 900lbs of wheel weights and boat ballast that I had--wanted to get the garage cleaned up you know. Now I'm disappointed I don't have any more to melt down, have to get back to scrounging for more again.