melting pot question

[rocktire]

I am new to this and haven't purchased anything yet. I have an small old cast pot that I plan to use. I was wondering if one of the old steel fry daddy's would work for melting wheel weights then could I use muffing pan for ingot mold. I am trying to be creative hear. Could someone with more experience give me some answers.

[imashooter2]

You have to remove the thermostat for the fryer to get hot enough to melt lead. I've never done it, but have seen several posts from those who have. Frankly, a yard sale Coleman stove seems a much better choice to me.

[rocktire]

I was planning to put the wheel weights directly in the fry daddy. then once I have clean lead in ingots I would use the small iron pot for molding the bullets. Didn't know if the lead would stick to the steel on the fry daddy or what. I also have a stainless steel pot that I could use to melt large quantities would that work.

[imashooter2]

Molten lead doesn't stick to anything. :)

The issue with the fry daddy is getting it hot enough to melt lead.

[chrisx1]

Welcome aboard Rocktire - glad to have you with us.

Creativity and getting things on the cheap are the name of the game. You can shoot a whole lot more on less money if you pay attention to some bargains.

That being said....after you get started with this hobby, it goes downhill from there. All you can think about is when you are going to get the next latest and greatest thingamajig.....

Then, your basement looks like this:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/th_DSC01974.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/?action=view&current=DSC01974.jpg)

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/th_DSC01972.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/?action=view&current=DSC01972.jpg)

I was just like you about 20 years ago - casting boolits out of a ladle in a wood stove.

To answer your question - pitch the fry daddy. Check out these smelting setups. (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=707)

You said the small pot you have is cast. Cast Iron?

P.S. - I was born and raised in Putnam County - we probably know some of the same people if you have been around Princeton for awhile.

[Russel Nash]

imashooter2 wrote:


Molten lead doesn't stick to anything.


hmmn... that's not entirely true...

molten lead has a tendecy to stick to exposed skin.

don't ask me how I know that.

[smilie=1:

That reloading shop is too clean and organized.

[rocktire]

thanks for the tips. I have been reloading for about 5 years now and love it. I load everything I shoot. I got started because I was trying to save money on my Prairie doggin trips. Now I am getting into pliking steel with a sharps .45-70 and I also love to shoot .38 and .45 cowboy loads so it just seems that I should be casting my own bullets. I shoot about 7-10,000 rounds of 12guage a year as well, so reloading is part of my daily chores if the boss will let me of course. I was raised in Spickard area on a family farm and now live in Princeton MO. I know a lot of people around Unionville area.

Now back to the important stuff. I have a piece of 10" pipe 1/4" thick so I think I will just weld a bottom on it and put it on my turkey fryer. Would that work?


Welcome aboard Rocktire - glad to have you with us.

Creativity and getting things on the cheap are the name of the game. You can shoot a whole lot more on less money if you pay attention to some bargains.

That being said....after you get started with this hobby, it goes downhill from there. All you can think about is when you are going to get the next latest and greatest thingamajig.....

Then, your basement looks like this:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/th_DSC01974.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/?action=view&current=DSC01974.jpg)

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/th_DSC01972.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/?action=view&current=DSC01972.jpg)

I was just like you about 20 years ago - casting boolits out of a ladle in a wood stove.

To answer your question - pitch the fry daddy. Check out these smelting setups. (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=707)

You said the small pot you have is cast. Cast Iron?

P.S. - I was born and raised in Putnam County - we probably know some of the same people if you have been around Princeton for awhile.

[imashooter2]

That would be near ideal, with the only improvements being larger diameter pipe.

[Pepe Ray]

Keep in mind that it's near impossible to get a flat bottomed pot empty by ladeling. Tipping a pot of melted lead is dangerous at best.
Think about it.
Pepe Ray

[jack19512]

molten lead has a tendecy to stick to exposed skin







That is a fact. :(

[Russel Nash]

Pepe Ray wrote:


Keep in mind that it's near impossible to get a flat bottomed pot empty by ladeling. Tipping a pot of melted lead is dangerous at best.
Think about it.


Yeah, I bought one of them thar fancy schmancy ladels (Rowel?) and with my cast iron dutch overn there is always a little bit of lead that I can't get to that stays in the dutch oven.

:(

I was thinking it would be neat to gingerly weld a pouring spout to the dutch oven, a lip, and also weld a steel tab with a hole drilled through that.

The metal tab would be on the side opposite of the pouring spout and at the base of the pot.

Just put a metal hook through the tab, lift up the whole she-bang by the "bail" and then pour the rest of the lead into an ingot mould.

[imashooter2]

I don't see the need to get that last bit of lead out of the pot. It speeds the next melt.

[rocktire]

I made my pot today. It is 12" pipe 3/8" thick I made it 8" deep with a top handle and a side handle. I heated the metal and pounded a pouring spout on it so that I can get the last bit of lead out if I want but I will probably just leave a little in the bottom. The only thing I have left to do is find a piece of plate to weld on for a bottom. All I had is a piece of 1" and that would have made it entirely too heavy. I think I will use 1/4" for the bottom and make a little hang over.

[Russel Nash]

Imashooter wrote:


I don't see the need to get that last bit of lead out of the pot. It speeds the next melt.

Now granted I don't have that much experience with that Rowel laddle but what I have noticed is that when the dutch oven gets real low and I try to scoop up some melt with that laddle, it seems like what dross or oxidation is left on top of the mix freezes up in the spigot of the laddle.

Maybe that's a good thing. I dunno...:confused:

Yeah, I'm not that interested in getting all the lead out either. It's just anal retentiveness on my part, so I don't leave a partial sliver of an ingot in the mould.

It seems like a lot of the lead I have, recovered bullets and wheelweights, is always wet, so I just pile in the WW's or RB's, put the lid on the dutch oven. Then I fire up the turkey fryer.

I can see all the steam and whatever other vapors coming out of the dutch oven.

I like never put more lead into the melt, because chances are it is wet.

What would be neat is to add some sort of drying shelf or pre-heating shelf to the dutch oven.

Then I could just momentarily take off the lid push in the now dry wheelweights, and then put the lid back on.

[Russel Nash]

I went to the lead weight calculator here:

http://www.maycoindustries.com/Calculators/geometry_xls.htm

A 12" diameter pipe ( radius = 6" ) filled with a 7" tall layer of molten lead, according to that calculator is 330 pounds.

I haven't been too impressed with construction of all the turkey fryers I have seen.

So be careful out there.

You'd hate to have a leg buckle on ya or have one corner sink into the mud then there goes 300 pounds of lead all over your backyard ... or you...:shock:

[rocktire]

I started another thread that asks this very question. How come everyone talks so much about having a really heavy tough pot but says nothing about how they beef up there turkey fryer. I have about 3 feet of that pipe left over so I plan to use it some way to build my own burner stand. Haven't made up my mind how I ma going to do it. When i get everything done I will post some pics.


I went to the lead weight calculator here:

http://www.maycoindustries.com/Calculators/geometry_xls.htm

A 12" diameter pipe ( radius = 6" ) filled with a 7" tall layer of molten lead, according to that calculator is 330 pounds.

I haven't been too impressed with construction of all the turkey fryers I have seen.

So be careful out there.

You'd hate to have a leg buckle on ya or have one corner sink into the mud then there goes 300 pounds of lead all over your backyard ... or you...:shock:

[runfiverun]

i use two pots, one melting and one pouring from.
i also have a piece of sheet metal i put on the ground and spread out a bucket of weights on.
gives me a last glance through them, and let the sun sit on them for a while before i take my shovel and put them into the pot, one shhhhhboom and you will know why.
if i want a big batch for consistency i pour each pot and put into a pile on a piece of sheet metal on a picnic table then take an ingot from each pile and put back into the pots to melt into one single alloy, easy enough to do 600 lbs in a day.

[imashooter2]

I started another thread that asks this very question. How come everyone talks so much about having a really heavy tough pot but says nothing about how they beef up there turkey fryer. I have about 3 feet of that pipe left over so I plan to use it some way to build my own burner stand. Haven't made up my mind how I ma going to do it. When i get everything done I will post some pics.

When I got my fryer, I stacked 300 pounds of lead on top of it and then leaned on that. It held just fine. Since my pot has a 200 pound capacity and a 150 ish working weight, I considered the fryer just fine as is.