Jumping Frog
02-02-2009, 12:41 AM
Well, I lurked and read, and then lurked and read some more. Obsessed over getting zinc wheelweights melted in and ruining all my lead. Obsessed some more over what would happen if some of them had moisture in it.
Well, I guess this is one of those things in life that sounded more daunting ahead of time than it actually ended up being. We had good weather today, around 40F and sunny, so I took the opportunity to reduce a bunch of wheelweights to nice shiny lead ingots.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg126/Jumping_Frog/DSCF0217.jpg
I basically used a craigslist turkey fryer with propane tank, a stainless bowl from the thrift store, a $2 slotted spoon, a 25 year-old Wok ladle, a couple of thrift store muffin pans, a few leftover candles, and a Lyman thermometer.
The Lyman thermometer cost more than all the rest of the equipment combined.
I was so worried about zinc. Well, I found that the lead was completely liquid between 600-650 degrees. It was a snap to pull all the steel clips and other garbage that floated on the top out with the slotted spoon. The turkey fryer pot has now become my official smelting trash pot. You can see the number of weights that did not melt in the picture -- 5 total.
The end result: I estimate about 225 lbs of lead. Now it is time to start casting boolits!
Well, I guess this is one of those things in life that sounded more daunting ahead of time than it actually ended up being. We had good weather today, around 40F and sunny, so I took the opportunity to reduce a bunch of wheelweights to nice shiny lead ingots.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg126/Jumping_Frog/DSCF0217.jpg
I basically used a craigslist turkey fryer with propane tank, a stainless bowl from the thrift store, a $2 slotted spoon, a 25 year-old Wok ladle, a couple of thrift store muffin pans, a few leftover candles, and a Lyman thermometer.
The Lyman thermometer cost more than all the rest of the equipment combined.
I was so worried about zinc. Well, I found that the lead was completely liquid between 600-650 degrees. It was a snap to pull all the steel clips and other garbage that floated on the top out with the slotted spoon. The turkey fryer pot has now become my official smelting trash pot. You can see the number of weights that did not melt in the picture -- 5 total.
The end result: I estimate about 225 lbs of lead. Now it is time to start casting boolits!