Need a Lead drain/valve to fill ingots from Cut Propane Smelting Pot

[oteroman]

Instead of pouring or dipping lead out of a big pot (cut propane tank) I want to hook up a valve/drain that will stand up to molten lead....
I have yet to discover how some are doing it...
Any ideas for me? Thanks in advance.

[Mike W1]

No answer for you though I've pondered the same thing. There's quite a bit of stuff to wade through to get anything useful but there are pictures on here I know. Try a search on propane tank or something on that order and you'll probably see some good ideas.

[catskinner]

Don't know if this will work for you or not. I built a bottom pour smelting pot using a 7" square box beam with a half inch plate welded on the bottom. In one corner I drilled a 3/8 inch hole and above and in line with the hole I welded two plates with 1/2 inch holes in each. Ground a point on a 1/2 inch rod and run that thru the holes. That valve rod closes the 3/8 hole in the bottom. Fabricated linkage and lever to raise and lower the valve rod. Welded a piece of 1 1/2 inch pipe to carry the lead stream out to the side to fill my ingot molds. I use a weed burner for heat.

[jcren]

Drill a taper seat, and roughly shap the end of a piece of all-thread to match then lap them like an old engine valve job.

[Dusty Bannister]

Did a search with "bottom pour smelting pot".

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/google.php?cx=partner-pub-6216953551359885%3A1942134700&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=bottom+pour+smelting+pot&sa.x=8&sa.y=12&siteurl=castboolits.gunloads.com%2Fforumdisplay.ph p%3F39-Casting-and-Reloading-Hand-Tools%2Fpage3&ref=castboolits.gunloads.com%2Fforumdisplay.php%3F 39-Casting-and-Reloading-Hand-Tools%2Fpage2&ss=5659j2316939j24

Surely you can get some ideas there.

[country gent]

Look at the valve in a electric pot they arnt all that complicated and duplicate it using the hole on the top of the propane cylinder (3/4 NPT)

[Drew P]

I made mine just like lee did on the 4-20. Drilled a hole in the bottom, sharpened a steel rod to plug it, and put a wood ball on the top to lift it up. Works fine. I also made a little chute that the lead runs down so it gets away from the hot flames of the pot.

[Dragonheart]

What I did was copy the bottom pour design of my RCBS Pro Melt Furnace. I welded a brass tapered pour spout at the bottom edge of the pot to allow my range scrap to be stirred. The downrod has a tapered end that fits into the spout so there are no leaks. I made the downrod by welding a piece of rod to a Harbor Freight tapered punch and used a Harbor Freight tapered drill to drill the taper to match in the spout. I melt down 200+ pounds of ingots in a pour.
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[oteroman]

Very helpful! Thanks