Getting lead into a 20#pot

[psychodad]

I have a block of lead roughly the size of a SFRB. Any easy way to get it into my 20# pot? I've tried a band saw, not sure I'd live long enough to complete a cut. Wacked it a couple of times with an axe, not much happening there. Used a wide chisel in a 20 ton press, was afraid the chisel would fly out, hit me in the head and kill me. Any more ideas? Melting is an option but I don't have an easy way to accomplish that. Hate to invest money in something I'll never use again. I am wondering how hot a wood burning stove gets.

[country gent]

The easiest way is a big pot on a stand with hard wood or coal and smelt it down into smaller ingots, if it needs alloying this is the time to do it also. A big pot can be a plus for making batches of alloy or cleaning used lead getting it ready to cast.

A very nice smelting pot can be made from a out dated 25lb propane tank but use all the safety precautions when cutting it apart. A hardwood or coal fire with a blower will melt lead pretty quickly. THen a big ladle and ingot moulds to repour into a size you can use. When doing this you can alloy to what you want in a large batch before casting into ingots

[Froogal]

Sawzall with a course, combination wood/nails, etc. blade. I've used my smaller, jig saw to cut 5 pound ingots in half many times.

[Dusty Bannister]

If using a saw of any type, lubricate the blade with bees wax or candle wax and save the shavings to add to the pot. When selecting a large pot to use on a wood fire or turkey/fish fryer do NOT use aluminum. Aluminum will get weak as it gets hot and fail with dangerous results.

[psychodad]

Duh, forgot I have a Sawz-All. Wax sounds good for lube. Stand by.

[BLAHUT]

Big wood splitter works good...

[chuck40219]

Have to ask, what is a SFRB? May be simple but right now racking my brain, I come up with nothing.

chuck40219

[PJEagle]

It's a USPS Small Flat Rate Box for Priority Mail.

[psychodad]

Big wood splitter works good...

And I even have one. Boy, you guys are making me feel dumb now. In my defense, I did know where to come to get good ideas.

Thanks Guys

[Winger Ed.]

I'd use the wood splitter.

As with any project: Always use the largest power tool available.

[BLAHUT]

I'd use the wood splitter.

As with any project: Always use the largest power tool available.

Like my old granddad would always say; get a bigger hammer...

[Polymath]

I saw a guy on you tube cutting up boat keels with a chain saw for re-melting, had to watch for it to bind and jump though. I acquired some 1" flat stock 6 " wide and ended up using my Bolt Cutters to trim off strips that I could melt. I also used a tiger torch to melt large pieces into smaller ingots.

[Rapier]

I acquired several circular radar balance weights. They are about 250 lbs each in and arch shape. Ended up chopping them up with a fire axe. The axe head is heavy enough to put a lot of pressure on the axe cutting edge, with a full, over head, swing. A mall will work but the blade is narrow.

[ascast]

bigger pot over wood fire

[Sasquatch-1]

Have to ask, what is a SFRB? May be simple but right now racking my brain, I come up with nothing.

chuck40219

Heck, I thought he was talking about a San Francisco Running Back.

A piece the size you are talking about could be melted in an old SS or cast-iron frying pan and dumped directly into ingot molds.

You could also suspend it over the 20 lb. pot and use a propane torch and let it drip into the pot. many times, I have laid a normal size loaf pan ingot on the edge of my pot and melted the ends in.

[foesgth]

Big wood splitter works good...

I used one of these and it worked great!

[Teddy (punchie)]

Coleman stove or wood fire place in a metal bucket or old pot. Once melted use a muffin tin or lead ingot to make to usable sizes. Screw driver or chisel to stamp P, WW, L or R L

[psychodad]

Used a wood splitter. Had to climb over a bunch of junk in the garage to get to it. Not sure whether it split it or just ripped it into pieces. They're ugly and sharp but they'll fit in the pot now.

Thanks again for the ideas.

[Sig]

I use an air chisel on my super hard alloy I bought from Roto Metals to get smaller chunks.

[deltaenterprizes]

I use an air chisel on my super hard alloy I bought from Roto Metals to get smaller chunks.
Thanks for the suggestion!
I have a brick to cut up and that’s how I will do it!

[Land Owner]

...Melting is an option but I don't have an easy way to accomplish that. Hate to invest money in something I'll never use again...

Wrong thinking. There is no better motivator for purchasing "tools". You WILL use a "batch" melting process again and again and again for making ingot of lead, Tin, and WW alloys. Trying to "batch process" in your 20# pot is going to ruin your 20# pot. Think BIG - 100# batch big. Then pour the alloy into 3# ingots, which are easier to put into the pot.

https://i.postimg.cc/7ZdnfqYK/Lead-Melting-Pot-image-1-200x150.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/ZRhPxjN3/LEAD-200x162.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/tCgQpNc9/Metamorphasis_[200x150].jpg

[lightman]

Wrong thinking. There is no better motivator for purchasing "tools". You WILL use a "batch" melting process again and again and again for making ingot of lead, Tin, and WW alloys. Trying to "batch process" in your 20# pot is going to ruin your 20# pot. Think BIG - 100# batch big. Then pour the alloy into 3# ingots, which are easier to put into the pot.

I agree with big if you have the storage space. I went big (350-400#) nearly 50 years ago and I'm still using the same equipment. I do use 1# ingots though!

[fredj338]

The easy way is to melt it in something bigger & either make smaller ingots or ladle it directly into the 20#. WHy, Why people put up their scrap lead into frying pan size ingots is beyond me. I have a cast iron dutch oven that I put large pieces of alloy into.

[choctaw/creek]

The propane torch method is my go to for melting large chunks of lead for pouring into bar molds. It's fast, cheap and easy.

[Sig556r]

Hacksaw or any saw that generates chunks not dust

[kevin c]

I agree with Land Owner, lightman and fredj338, assuming you going to cast in volume.

Personally I made storage ingots of base stock lead in 200-240# batches in a propane tank pot, poured into ~10# ingots, all of which got a batch marking. Pewter and solder melted in separate batches were poured into Redneck Gold molds making ~1 1/2# ingots, along with 1 to 2 oz rounds done in mini cupcake tins. All batches get XRF analyzed (thanks, BNE!). Using known content ingots, then I mix up 200# batches of final casting alloy, again using the Redneck Gold molds (I tried 3# ingots made in mini loaf pans, but they wouldn’t balance well on the pot lip for preheating and it was a bit difficult to load several at a time into the pot (the long flat Redneck Gold bars comfortably span most of the circumference of the pot, and it’s much easier to put several side by side on end when starting with an empty pot. They melt faster too, compared to a pile of one pounders).

This works for me, since I mostly use one or two alloys to cast several thousand bullets at a go, and don’t mind committing my stock by making final alloy. In ingot form, both the base metal stock and casting alloys take up much less room.

[Jtarm]

Duh, forgot I have a Sawz-All. Wax sounds good for lube. Stand by.

Eye protection!!!!!!!

I haven’t tried it, but seems to me a cheap bow-style pruning saw would have about the right amount of pitch & set for cutting soft lead.

Of course it would probably dull quickly.

[gwpercle]

Have to ask, what is a SFRB? May be simple but right now racking my brain, I come up with nothing.

chuck40219

Thanks for asking that ... :drinks:
Gary

[Winger Ed.]

It's the 'Small Flat Rate Box' you get from the Post Office that you mail stuff in at a fixed price, not by weight.

[Walter Laich]

I used a chop saw with wax on blade every cut

probably ruined the blade but did get the block cut down to fit my pot