Alminum Pot ?

[nun2kute]

Besides the "Weld" issue (I cannot weld aluminum myself), is there any other reasons I haven't come up with yet to NOT use a cast aluminum pressure cooker pot from the scrap yard to make a home made lead smelter out of ? I'd like to make a bottom pour pot so I don't have to pick anything up to pour ingots for my boolit casting pot. Still trying to round up all the materials.

[jcwit]

It'll work just fine TILL the bottom unexpectly drops out sending hot molton lead all over everything encluding you and others close by!

In other words DON'T use aluminum!

[shredder]

Yep recipe for disaster. There might even be a story or two on this site about it happening. Stainless steel or cast iron is your friend.

[zomby woof]

Yep Disaster. Been using one for years. Still waiting. It could happen any day. Aluminum dutch oven.

[rancher1913]

like zomby woof said it will work but like the others have said if you let your temp get away from you it will be a disaster. me, myself, and I would error on the safe side and get a cast iron pot, there is a couple of threads about people adding a bottom pour to cast iron.

[Cowboy_Dan]

Depends on the thickness of the aluminium and the weight of the lead on it. I had a soup ladle with (unbeknownst to me) aluminium rivets holding the bowl to the handle. Worked fine for a while until it just seperated. Aluminium tends to soften at the temps we work at, and seems to also weaken over time at those temps. I would advise against aluminium, mostly because I have no way to calculate a failure point and make an informed decision.

[jcwit]

Simple question, how much do you value your skin??????????

[Catshooter]

Aluminum melts at 1,221 degrees. So, it depends on how you use the pot. And how you heat it.


Cat

[jcwit]

But it doesn't need to "melt" to lose strength!

How do you know when?

You don't!

Ever made note how long it takes to heal a large lead burn!

It ain't purty!

[country gent]

Loss of strength with heat is the big issue. Our mish metal at work ran around 1400* to the casting machines. A pressure cooker seldom gets over 220* in desighned usage. Taking it up 3+ times that and adding the weight of the lead to it may reach the release point much faster. This is why pot stands need to be so heavy so when hot the don't collapse under the weight.

[308Jeff]

https://youtu.be/0yZ6_DEgX9U?t=1m20s

It'll work, for a while.

I just wouldn't.

[nun2kute]

That was totally awesome. I had no idea Al. would melt so easily. It never occurred to me to look the melt temp. up, It was just so big and "clean" it called out to me to be re-used. But I think I will keep looking for some black pipe and flat plate to manufacture something up with. Maybe the bottom of a Propane cylinder or something will present itself at the scrap yard.

And Thank you all for the Giggles. I'd have to say, learning by someone else's mistakes is the best way to learn, and my skinn is pretty important. It keeps all the runny stuff where it belongs. And ya know, some of those screen names ... (mine is self explanatory) ... makes a guy wonder. just how many cats has that guy shot ? :kidding:

[JSnover]

It's not so much a question of melt temperature as how much heat we apply to get to that temp. If you're in a hurry to get it melted and you crank the burner too high you're asking for trouble. With steel or cast iron you'd have to work a lot harder to melt your pot.

[DerekP Houston]

An old propane tank with the top cut off would be much safer IMHO. Better safe than sorry when dealing with molten metals, the small burn on my coworkers arm took weeks to heal just from a splash.

[country gent]

Even cast iron can fail. I had a harbor freight cast iron dutch oven I used for years for casting. One nice morning (it was up to 40* had been in the 20s most of the night) I fired my pot up. Wanting the pot up to temp to sit around and keep me warm I pushed it harder than normal. About at the point the lead was showing some molten around the edges I heard a tink and lead was running out the bottom. The bottom had cracked due to to fast expansion.

[Catshooter]

About 17, give or take. Why do you ask? :) Just pulling your leg.


Cat

[juan916]

I had a aluminum one fail on the 3batch I was lucky that all it had felt was less thank 1 muffin worth