Heating methods for smelting.

[Andrew Quigley]

Well I've been wondering which is best orat least how well each does. Been using a propane turkey burner but with the cost of gas going up I'm looking at other methods.
Now I'm good with with a cutting torch and welder so making sumthin ain't a problem. Was wondering if anybody uses wood or electric with smelting. Only do a couple of BIG batches a year but just curious what works best.

[jonk]

I've not used wood but if you had a good bonfire it should work fine. Might get some ash in the mix but that's not the end of the world.

[oneokie]

Use the search function to look for a threads about "Smelting" One poster used an electric range top for his heat source.

[hammerhead357]

For melting large amounts of lead I think electricity is to expensive at least here it would be. I think its best for the casting pots but not the smelting pot.
I suppose wood could be used if you could regulate the heat. By that I mean control the air intake in order to control the temperature to some extent.
I still think that propane is the best and most economical to use other than natural gas if you have access to that and since I don't anymore I don't know how the prices compare.....Wes

[exile]

I put my order in to Midway USA on Friday for casting equipment. I have some folks looking for a cast iron pot and coleman stove to do smelting in, but obviously cannot be sure they will find anything. My question is this, does anyone do their smelting in their casting pot? I would rather not do it that way, but may not have a choice for a while. I know this has been covered in other threads in different ways, but I would be interested in further opinions.

[kycrawler]

costs $14 here to get a 20 lb propane tank filled i have smelted 20 buckets of ww and range lead on 1 tank of propane gas that works out to less than a $1 per hundred lbs of ingots

wood works its hot and not nearly as convenient as a turkey fryer

[shooter575]

I have used home made charcoal and coal before in a blacksmith forge many years ago.I had the blower running and had a nice cast iron pot filled with 100 lb of lead.I turned away for a couple minutes and when I look back my pot was empty! I melted a nice 2" hole in that pot. Me thinks that was a bit too hot! [2800]
I did recover that lead after the fire was out a day or so later.This was before I knew about the health hazzards of overheated lead.
I use propane now. BTW some buddys used my mongo melter set up and melted 1200 lb of soft cable sheathing for 30 lb of propane using two burners in under 4 hr.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/shooter575/Picture450.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/shooter575/MVC-009F-1.jpg

[Johnch]

Years back I used wood , coal or charcoal depending on what I could scrounge up for free

I had a steel 5 gallon bucket to hold the fuel and supended a old cast iron pot over it
I got things working faster by blowing air in with a air compressor
Blowing in on a downward angle along the side
Sort of made a fire tornado in the bucket

As needed I would add wood ( normal fuel ) on top and the ash would fall out holes in the bottom
I knew I had it going good when the bucket glowed

OH BTW don't try this method over dry grass
I chared a good portion of dead grass the side yard

Thinking back
IMO it probely smelted faster with this set up than my current turkey fryer
But it was a lot more work

John

[fourarmed]

Here (I think) are a couple of pictures of a wood smelter I made from a piece of 12" pipe and some half-inch hot-rolled steel.

Edited to add, thanks to JSH for the pipe. He gave me two pieces, and I recently used the other piece to make a propane smelter. I welded the bottom 1" up inside the pipe in order to help hold the heat from the propane burner. It seems to work, as I recently smelted a bunch of lead pipe. From lighting the propane to stacking up the ingots was less than two hours.

[454PB]

It all depends on your needs. If you have a ton of wheel weights to melt down, propane fuel is probably the most cost effective. Where I live, natural gas is cheaper than propane, but not as convenient. If you have a bottle of propane lying around anyway, then it may as well be hooked up to a burner or turkey fryer. But....if none of the above applies, some other choices are available. Here is a link to a thread I wrote a while back:

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=10127&highlight=dollar+smelter

As to the cost of the heating fuel, it really is not a big factor for the guy that isn't doing tons of alloy. As you can see in the thread I wrote, the cost of melting down a couple of buckets of wheelweights is a few dollars worth of electricity. No propane bottles to fill and store, no carbon monoxide, and the heating element can be placed on a small shelf in the corner when not in use.