Pre heating ingots.....

[tomf52]

Ther has been from time to time discussion here as to preheating ingots for the casting pot to speed up production. An idea which I don't remember seeing came to mind. With teir cheap availability at garage sales, why not use a toater oven set at 400 deg to preheat? I think it would be workable and convenient, no?

[Orygun]

Or stack them on a metal plate on an electric hot plate, or............

Personally, when I finish with a 20 lb. pot, I'm ready to take a short break whilst the new ingots melt. :drinks:

[HeavyMetal]

The only time I consider pre heating is casting during cold weather.

Once upon a time I left a bunch of ingots on the garage floor under a work bench. Started to cast on a cold wet (Calif?) day. after the pot got up to temp I fluxed and added an ingot from the pile. It started to sweat as soon as it hit the hot lead in the pot and I got the most unusual rumbling bubbling 6 inch gyser out the top of the pot!

Realizing it could have been a lot worse than it was interesting I found that a concrete garage floor (thats un heated) will be about 5 degrees cooler than ambiante air temp. I figure the floor was 30 to 32 degrees.

Since then I'm very careful where and when I pull ingots to put into the pot during casting in cold weather and have even gone as far as setting them on the dryer to warm up to room temp befiore I started casting!

[imashooter2]

Preheating 2 ingots on the rim of my Lee 20 I can cast continuously. I start the ingots preheating as soon as I take the mold off the top of the pot to start pouring. As soon as the pot level dips low enough to accommodate another ingot I slide one in and replace it on the rim. After that I alternate sides, sliding in the hottest ingot. Sometimes when the shed is under 30 degrees I have to slow down a bit to keep temperature constant, but not much.

[38 Super Auto]

I keep 1 and 2 lb. ingots on a hot plate and stage them into the melt to keep a fairly constant alloy level in the pot. This works better for me and gives me more predictable results. I run my pot full out to keep up with my Lee 6-cav. and the lead additions.

[hammerhead357]

When I am using 4.5 lb ingots instead of the big lino ingots and feeders I preheat the small ingots on the hot plate that I use to preheat the moulds. I have to use a welders glove to move them from the hot plate to the pot.
I much prefer to use the long lino mould ingots and the ingot feeders. While the ingots hang over the pots the ingots preheat from the heat rising from the pots....Wes

[NVcurmudgeon]

This will work only for the antediluvian crowd. I cast with a Coleman stove and keep four ingots on top of my inverted ingot mould near the fire. When it is time to flux, skim, and add metal I add the ingot closest to the flames and slide the other three closer, then add a cold ingot. to the rotation. I also add accumulated warm sprues at the same time. Yes, I know it's controversial, but it works for me to maintain my desired temperature.

[monadnock#5]

When you were in school, did you ever see the demonstration where the science teacher sets a block of ice on supports, and then lays a wire weighted on both ends over the block? After a while the the wire cuts through the block, the weights clatter on the floor, but the block is still solid.

Now try to imagine an ingot on a hotplate, solid on top, solid on the bottom, with coils from the hotplate running through the ingot. Don't ask me how I know this, but yes, it can be done. :(

I think 400 deg. is a little too warm, but whatever you do, don't set the ingots directly on the grid, set them in a pan. :drinks:

[AlaskaMike]

I love my $10 Wal-mart hot plate. I do set the ingots directly on the coils, but I never turn the hot plate up very high. I want the ingots warm enough to be uncomfortable to the touch. They don't need to be scalding hot--just warm enough not to drop the pot temp a huge amount when I dump them in. At the mild temp I heat the ingots to, they certainly drop the pot temp, but not nearly as much as if I put them in cold. For that, and also pre-heating my moulds, my hot plate was a wonderful addition to my casting gear.

Mike

[LAH]

On the 40 pound pots there's plenty of room to lay an 8 pounder so I don't use a hot plate or oven but there's no reason it wouldn't work...........Creeker

[MGySgt]

For the 1 pounders I keep on the top (back part) of my Lyman mag 20 - how do you say Channel Locks to pick them up?

Drew

[LAH]

For the 1 pounders I keep on the top (back part) of my Lyman mag 20 - how do you say Channel Locks to pick them up?

Drew

Yelp.........they be warm.........Creeker