Cooling an ingot mold

[Mike W1]

Never a problem till I built a propane tank kettle but now I can't cool the molds enough to keep up with a couple hundred pounds of hot lead. Have 4 of the Lyman rigs.

What works to keep them a little cooler?

[Tom W.]

Set them on a wet towel.. not sopping wet, though.

[too many things]

damp sand. on a screen you can move the sand around and when you take a break , wet it the water will run through fast and let the wet cool sand
as note if you use fine sand take old towel and put on screen . if you use pool sand not a problem

[ascast]

I use towels, add more water as needed ( read sopping mess) occasionally dunk in bucket of ice water. just be SURE they are not wet inside before you pour. if they are too hot to pick, they dry quicker. be sure they are dry inside

[Geezer in NH]

I set them on my garage cement floor and you can see them cool visibly FAST.

[frkelly74]

get some more ingot molds.

[osteodoc08]

What size ingots are you casting? I have small loaf pans and they form nice 8# ingots that slide into my lee pot. I can empty a large smelt in short order with them

[Lead Fred]

Concrete garage floor, its always cool

[Mk42gunner]

It has been a while since I cleaned the wild Wheel Weight, but a cold winter day seemed to do remarkably well at cooling ingots.

Failing that, more molds.

Robert

[lightman]

I run 6 or 7 of the Lyman style molds and my landing zone is a 1/2X6 inch steel plate about 60 inches long. It seems to make a pretty good heat sink. In 4 or 5 cycles they will begin to take longer to cool but by then the ole back don't mind the break.

[fecmech]

I realize this may be anathema to some here but I clamp a set of vise grips to my Lyman ingot mold and as soon as the lead solidifies I dunk it in a 5 gal bucket of water for a couple seconds. I then dump the ingots out, watch as the hot ingot mold quickly dries (takes seconds and you can see the damp spots)and refill with hot lead and repeat. I actually pour my ingot mold pretty close to full which makes for a 5 lb. single ingot which I break off individual ingots as needed. Much easier to stack.

[Ranger 7]

As above: Concrete floor works great. No cost, no maintenance, reusable and fast cooling time.

[bangerjim]

Sopping wet towels! I just dunk them in the swimming pool when they start drying out. Watch out for escaping steam. Cools very fast with no problems I have seen in many MANY hundreds of mold cools. I use Lyman, Lee, and RCBS molds.....lots of them.

[silverjay]

Aluminum plates under the ingot molds. Draws the heat out fast.

[Mike W1]

Maybe my problems not that they're too hot. Only 1 of the 4 seems to resist letting go of the ingots. I tried laying that one on a 1/2" aluminum plate that's on legs today and it didn't seem to help. Think I might go out and hit it with a wire brush and see if that makes any difference on the next session.

[osteodoc08]

Maybe my problems not that they're too hot. Only 1 of the 4 seems to resist letting go of the ingots. I tried laying that one on a 1/2" aluminum plate that's on legs today and it didn't seem to help. Think I might go out and hit it with a wire brush and see if that makes any difference on the next session.

If they're sticking, try preheating the mold with a propane torch. I'll have to do that from time to time with a cold mold

if they're resisting letting go, I'll turn over and pass the propane torch over it as well and it will release

this is using my Wally World mini loaf pans

[bangerjim]

Ingots of ANY alloy litterally fall out of my several Lyman, Lee, and RCBS molds. Just a slight tap on the cement if one hangs up frees it up easily. That is why I use dedicated commercial molds rather than surplus kitchen equipment for casting ingots. Threw away all my dozen or so muffin tins many many years ago.

[osteodoc08]

Ingots of ANY alloy litterally fall out of my several Lyman, Lee, and RCBS molds. Just a slight tap on the cement if one hangs up frees it up easily. That is why I use dedicated commercial molds rather than surplus kitchen equipment for casting ingots. Threw away all my dozen or so muffin tins many many years ago.

Sure, just rub it in you ingot stud you. [smilie=l:

[bangerjim]

Sure, just rub it in you ingot stud you. [smilie=l:


Well............ I do not spend money on:
boats
jet skis
snow skis
camping stuff
sports stuff
golf clubs
race cars
drinks in bars
women of the night

So why not spend it on my hobbies?!?!?!?! :bigsmyl2:

Many use kitchen utencils with great success. I just prefer not to use them.

And "you can't take it with you"! I have yet to see a casket with side pockets. HA....ha

banger

[TXGunNut]

I've found six ingot moulds (four Lyman, two NOE) and a few concrete pavers give the ingots time to cool. I don't try to smelt around here in the summer time, I'd need another dozen moulds, lol.

[Walter Laich]

I've found six ingot moulds (four Lyman, two NOE) and a few concrete pavers give the ingots time to cool. I don't try to smelt around here in the summer time, I'd need another dozen moulds, lol.
10-4 on summer casting sessions. that's what our 2 week winter is for

I'll chime in with concrete floors as good heatsinks

[Lance Boyle]

32'by50' concrete heat sink. It's all in the ratio.

[William Yanda]

Well............ I do not spend money on:
boats
jet skis
snow skis
camping stuff
sports stuff
golf clubs
race cars
drinks in bars
women of the night

So why not spend it on my hobbies?!?!?!?! :bigsmyl2:

Many use kitchen utencils with great success. I just prefer not to use them.

And "you can't take it with you"! I have yet to see a casket with side pockets. HA....ha

banger
Noticed you left out tobacco-is that significant?
Just askin'
Bill

[brassrat]

I use thrift store, kitchen bread pans or something that make 3lb-ers or so. I line up maybe 6 or 8 in a flat, short sided, tray and pour water in the pan from a gallon jug. It sounds angry but no problems so far.

[bangerjim]

Noticed you left out tobacco-is that significant?
Just askin'
Bill


I have never been addicted to the demon tobacco plant, so it did not even cross my mind.

banger

[SlowBurn]

I use thrift store, kitchen bread pans or something that make 3lb-ers or so. I line up maybe 6 or 8 in a flat, short sided, tray and pour water in the pan from a gallon jug. It sounds angry but no problems so far.

I do same, but with muffin tins in a tin serving tray - ladle in about 2 lbs lead in each pocket - then carefully flood the serving tray using the Mrs.'s plant watering spout - slide the tray full of boiling water away, tip out the lead muffins, dry and repeat

[country gent]

I made enough out of 2x2 angle I could pour 3-4 pound ingots and the first poured were in 4 ingot gangs would be cool well before the last was being poured. I could run 300 lbs of lead off dumping one and fill dump next and fill once all were filled. The angle iron ingot moulds were welded up on the outside then fine blasted with walnut hulls to give a fine smooth finish. My problem was getting all those ingots ID stamped before the next pot was ready to flux and start pouring. I used a 2 hand home made ladle that held enough to fill one gang in a full dip. The angle iron had large spaces between the vees and air circulation did fine. I would set them on a couple racks I had made that was basically 2 12" tall rails welded up from 1/4" X 1" flat stock these allowed alot of air circulation and hot air rising pulled cool air behind it to allow a vented spot under them. They cooled pretty well. I believe I had 10 of these made up. I would drop them on a garden wagon with a grated bottom. Allowed further cooling and made moving them around easier.

[Mica_Hiebert]

I've herd a ceramic tile works good as a heat sink but I've never tried it.

[MediumCore358]

Put your garden hose 20 ft away, walk over with the hot molds give them a 1-2 second shot of water, they will steam but remain hot enough to evaporate any water left over. Make sure handles stay tight!!

[rbuck351]

I set my molds in a cookie sheet full of water then fill the mold. They solidify real quick.

[Ed in North Texas]

10-4 on summer casting sessions. that's what our 2 week winter is for

I'll chime in with concrete floors as good heatsinks

Except this past winter didn't have many days where it wasn't raining (I cast outside. Maybe I should clean up the barn and cast there like I used to decades ago - before decades of stuff got stuffed in the barn?).

[bpatterson84]

+1 for having the cookie sheet full of water. I usually pour 60# of ingots at a time, and only have 1 Lyman mold. This is the only way to do it with reasonable quickness. Also....check your temperature, dialing down the flame quite a bit helps speed things up.

[Echo]

I use a cookie sheet with a towel, soaking wet, and can put 5 Lyman-type ingot molds on it. By the time I have topped off the 5th one (flooded, for 5 lb'er), the first one is ready to dump. Pick up (wearing cheap Costco leather gloves), bang on bench, repeat. Replace on towel, and cast about 4 more, and the dutch oven is empty.