Last of the cowws

[Seeker]

Been putting it, off but I finally got around to smelting what cowws I'd accumulated, before winter really set in. I tossed in a bunch of BLL ed boolits that I didn't like and ended up with about 75 lbs of ingots. I only had one Lee ingot mold, so I had my wife pick up a cheap teflon coated mini-muffin pan to try out. It worked really well and the ingots popped right out. I was impressed. I also got the casting bench all cleaned up and organized. Makes me want to do some casting.

[dilly]

Getting a work area cleaned up is a good feeling.

[lightman]

I need to smelt the weights that I have scrounged, but it will wait until hunting season is over. I have been cleaning out my shop, and I'm really looking forward to working in a clean area again!

[Retumbo]

Still processing all my pure, solder and pewter. then there is the half full 55 gallon barrel of COWW


:veryconfu:groner:

[LongRangeAir]

A little scary as teflon puts out toxic gasses @ over 500f.

[Seeker]

A little scary as teflon puts out toxic gasses @ over 500f.

So I've heard. I was outside of course...nice cross wind blowing. I didn't even notice the odor of the allox burning
off of the bullets. I didn't know what to expect from the muffin pan as I had read that Teflon coated wouldn't work well. ( toxic fumes, Teflon flaking, ect ) I kept the melt right at 650 deg. and it worked as well as the alum. Lee ingot mold. Teflon still in tact. The pan still looks new . Different results for different users I guess.

[Markbo]

If that's the last of it you might want to start getting more WWs. ;)

[Tenbender]

I have 3 buckets and 2 more to go pickup. I will melt them down this winter. Should be all I will ever need with the 7 or 800 lb. I have now. I'm building a new casting / reloading room. Will put up photo's when complete. Will have heat and air maybe cable TV ? Coffee pot of coarse .

[Beagle333]

I have 3 buckets and 2 more to go pickup. I will melt them down this winter. Should be all I will ever need with the 7 or 800 lb. I have now. I'm building a new casting / reloading room. Will put up photo's when complete. Will have heat and air maybe cable TV ? Coffee pot of coarse .

Pool table under the big TV!;-)

[Nose Dive]

Gee... put a 'lock and chain' on your woman! I only get the "kitchen Scrap" for my muffin pans! New ones go to the little woman...i get...well you know the answer...

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good... Kindly pick two.

[lightman]

Waiting on an ingot mold to cool is a real bottleneck in most smelting operations. I run 7 of the Lyman style molds that I bought for cheap at a gun show several years ago. If I did not have these, I would make several from small channel. Some use angle with good results, while others use kitchen ware. Whatever your choice, you need several.

[Sagebrush7]

Seeker, i use cast iron cornbread pans wedge shaped and long ones that look like a half stick of corn. My old diving weight mold for ten pound belt weights works good also. Smash it with a big hammer and it will fit in a ten pound pot. The Lyman molds are good for mixing up special size ingots for blending.




So I've heard. I was outside of course...nice cross wind blowing. I didn't even notice the odor of the allox burning
off of the bullets. I didn't know what to expect from the muffin pan as I had read that Teflon coated wouldn't work well. ( toxic fumes, Teflon flaking, ect ) I kept the melt right at 650 deg. and it worked as well as the alum. Lee ingot mold. Teflon still in tact. The pan still looks new . Different results for different users I guess.

[RogerDat]

The used Teflon pans will have crud in them that has to be cooked off to avoid it off gassing from the hot lead and blowing bubbles. New I don't know. Have yet to find new at Salvation Army or garage/estate sales.

Bread loaf pans are the best all around in my opinion for useful and price point and availability. Bullets are easy to get out from the pan when set next to the press, they stack full or empty, make good bulk ingot molds for stacking and storing lead. Never have to pay more than $2 and that is rare most are between 25 cents and 1 dollar. Their little brothers muffin tins can also be useful but don't stack or move as easily as 12 - 16 lb. bread loaf pan slabs.

I use angle iron ingots for the bulk of my "finished" ingots. But do like and use the bread loaf pans a fair amount. Especially for scrap. Set up 8 of them and can pour around 125# in one shot and then cross mix the slabs when making smaller ingots to get a consistent alloy mix. I have noticed some variability in COWW's so I think it would help there to balance the lead out so one avoids having harder and softer batches of small finished ingots going into casting pot.