Propane grill?

[Acorn]

Is a propane grill capable of melting 50lb of lead?

[Delkal]

Is a propane grill capable of melting 50lb of lead?

No. And you will trash your grill. Propane turkey fryers will work and are great for alloying and preliminary melting but they are difficult to control the temp to cast with.

[CastingFool]

I use the side burner on my propane grill to render my lead, but I don't do 50 lbs at a time. My pot is a 30 lb. helium tank, cut in half.

[MrWolf]

Get yourself a turkey fryer and go to your local hardware/propane tank refilling place. They probably charge folks to leave tanks with the older style fill hookups. I got several of them for free from my local place back when and just emptied them and cut with a Sawzall. Cut it real easy. Can hold at least 150lbs of lead. Good luck.
Ron

[country gent]

Look at a propane weed burner and heavy pot on a turkey frier stand.Mine will melt 120 lbs in about 20 mins with out pushing it to hard.

[Bluefink4895]

I use the side burner on my propane grill to render my lead, but I don't do 50 lbs at a time. My pot is a 30 lb. helium tank, cut in half.

A friend of mine tried that...but got carried away with the weight. Flipped the grill over and almost set deck on fire. He had a hard time explaining that one to his wife.

[Rapier]

Propane is hotter than natural gas, first off. It also is, in a raw state, at a much higher pressure than natural gas is normally available at. For proper use you need a very heavy grill frame, to support the heavy cast iron pot and its contents. I use an early 1900s cast iron plumbers pot that holds 100 pounds of molten alloy, the single fish fryer burner melts alloy with ease. My cast iron pot itself weighs 20 pounds. The fish fryer frame is made of 3/4" welded solid steel rod.
The heat itself is not the trick, propane is plenty hot, the frame strength to hold the full pot is 100% of the deal. You must have the strength when red hot to hold the weight of the full pot, including the weight of the pot itself.

[lightman]

I"m going to say probably not. The thermometer on my gas grill only gets to about 500º. Plus the weight needs to be a consideration. Buy a turkey fryer and a cast iron dutch oven from Harbor Freight.And a few ingot molds from Lakehouse.

[country gent]

Going the weed burner and frier stand you need to be prepared to move lead. Your lyman or lee ingot mould at 1 lb ingots is going to slow you down
You will want longer handled tools to stay back from the heat. a bigger ladle, bigger ingot moulds and more of them.
I made my strainer scraper from a small shovel. cut some slits with a 4" grinder and reshaped the end.
the ladle was a 4" weld on pipe cap.
The ingot moulds were 1 1/2" angle iron. 4 ingots to a mould.
all the tools handles were 4' long 3/4" pipe.

The ingot moulds were 10" long.

Cut the angle 10* on each end 10" longI spaced mine 1/4" apart but they could be tight together.
A piece of 1/4" x 2" as long as the mould is wide makes one end a piece of 1 1/2" angle as long as the mould makes the other this gives a tab to get a hold of to dump them. Weld on the outside edges. the angle iron and angled ends allow the ingots to drop easily. These will stand on end in most pots. I made 4 of these and when all were filled the first was just about ready to dump.

The recommendation is while warm stamp each ingot with an ID it will drive in deeper when still warm and years from now you will know what it is. Do this while still in the mould holds the ingots solid and makes it easier.

Each of these ingots will weigh roughly 3 lbs. this will speed up the process a lot.

[gc45]

For many years I melted lead over propane. My setup was a 5 gallon tank with a single burner attachment that fit the nozzle and ordered from the co-op store. By placing an alumimum cooking pot on there I cast my bullets at the edge of our old barn with no issues and never used a thermomiter, just watched the melt turning down the tank volumne handle as needed. When your way out on the farm you improvise best you can.

[gns4me]

I just started smelting again. Using an older Coleman camp stove with liquid fuel (gasoline) and it works great. Only problem have is not overload the 8 qt SS sauce pan I smelt in The cover grate is starting to bow under to much weight (20 + #)

[Skipper]

Acorn, I use one of these:

325782

Amazon carries them...probably Harbor Freight, too.

[Jack Russel]

I use the same as Skipper. Works good,but I only do about 50# at a time.

[dverna]

Another vote for what Skipper posted. Lead is heavy.

One question for those with experience...Will a cement floor survive 100 lbs of molten lead dumped on it?

[Skipper]

Another vote for what Skipper posted. Lead is heavy.

One question for those with experience...Will a cement floor survive 100 lbs of molten lead dumped on it?

God help you if the floor is wet.

[DocSavage]

I use a cast iron pot that will do 25 lbs of lead and my stove is a 2 burner camp stove by Fire Chef. Can be used on a bench but has attachable legs for a stand alone set up. Fuel is a 20 lb propane tank. With the ingot molds I have I can melt 50 lbs of lead in 2 hours or less. I've seen the stove at Dick's Sporting for around $100 and each burner is 30,000 btu.

[Txcowboy52]

I use a propane fish cooker and it works great. Never weighed what I put in the cast iron pot I use but I would say it’s at least 50 pounds.

[GhostHawk]

I like the jet type fryer I bought for dripping lead shot. Have been planning on doing a big smelt on it for 4 years now. Just has not happened yet. I suspect the jet type puts out more BTU's than the round burner type. Something to think about as your comparing options.

[Froogal]

I use an electric hot plate with a 6" cast iron skillet. I never have more than a 3 pound coffee can of range scrap and the hot plate and skillet work quite well.

[max it]

No. And you will trash your grill. Propane turkey fryers will work and are great for alloying and preliminary melting but they are difficult to control the temp to cast with.

Roger that.
And keep lead far from food or cooking. I have a Bayou Gas Burner for lead, outdoors.
Much obliged, Max

[Bill M]

When I got into casting, I realized I needed something to render lead. My friend had a genuine plumbers furnace, which was great, but I looked around and decided i had enough scrap iron to build one. The frame is a piece of Jr Channel with legs welded to it, the burner is from an RV water heater. The pot itself is 6.5" pipe with 1/2" plate welded to the bottom, and round stock welded to the sides so it can pivot/pour. I don't let it fill all the way up, and generally get about 70# per pour, leaving some to get the next batch melting.
325828

[kevin c]

Bayou Classic Jet burner with the solid steel bar frame for me. Effortlessly holds my half 20# propane tank pot with 240-250# of alloy.

[Apple Man]

Acorn, I use one of these:

325782

Amazon carries them...probably Harbor Freight, too.

That burner is a good start but most of the heat just goes around the the pot. I have three pots, 60, 80 and 100#s and it took much longer than the old plumber's pot I have but alas it can no longer be filled anywhere due to no OPD device.

So I made a shield and lid to turn the 100,000 BTU burner into an oven and made a holder to heat the 10# cast iron pouring caldron to fill a commercial ignot maker that came out of a linotype shop. The lid on the oven has a threaded rod to pick it up and can be removed for storage.325836325837325838325839

[reedap1]

This is what I use. At 200,000 BTU it will melt anything. Heavy-duty construction but I never go above about 50 pounds.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071ZM8YVC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

[dr_rick]

There's a reason RCBS make as a small casting pot! Use a propane stove and the small pot and you'll crank out some really good ingots fast. Smaller size pot helps to spot contaminated lead and spoils less than a large pot if not caught in time.

[MrWolf]

That burner is a good start but most of the heat just goes around the the pot. I have three pots, 60, 80 and 100#s and it took much longer than the old plumber's pot I have but alas it can no longer be filled anywhere due to no OPD device.

So I made a shield and lid to turn the 100,000 BTU burner into an oven and made a holder to heat the 10# cast iron pouring caldron to fill a commercial ignot maker that came out of a linotype shop. The lid on the oven has a threaded rod to pick it up and can be removed for storage.325836325837325838325839

I used a HF welding blanket as a heat shield for my setup. Made a huge difference.

[SSGOldfart]

God help you if the floor is wet.

yep then you'll have to worry about the walls and roof if you survive the spill:groner:[smilie=b:

[gwpercle]

You want something like a Crawfish Boiling Rig ... 100,000 - 110,000 BTU Jet Burner and steel stand to hold a 100 quart pot , full of crawfish and water ...
forget turkey fryer ... Wimpy , wimpy , wimpy !
You want something like this ... Backyard Pro 100 quart Seafood Boiler and Steamer ... if you don't want the pot ... just buy the gas burner and stand ...
it will support 50 lbs of lead easy .
Gary

[Jellyroll]

Lots of good advice here. Thanks everyone!

[dtknowles]

For many years I melted lead over propane. My setup was a 5 gallon tank with a single burner attachment that fit the nozzle and ordered from the co-op store. By placing an alumimum cooking pot on there I cast my bullets at the edge of our old barn with no issues and never used a thermomiter, just watched the melt turning down the tank volumne handle as needed. When your way out on the farm you improvise best you can.

Are you melting lead in an aluminum pot? I guess since you have gotten away with it, it might be Ok, but I would caution others to use an iron or steel pot. Aluminum is a weak metal and is much weaker at elevated temperatures. The combination of high temperatures, a deep pot and thin aluminum can cause the molten lead to burst through the bottom of the pot. Better safe than sorry.

Tim

[gc45]

Appreciate the concern. Alum does have its limits but also a much higher melting point; lead melts at low temp and with small quantities works ok. I have two small pots in both alum and steel, they both work fine but yes, I know of the concerns with alum; many use then on their kitchen stoves and they get pretty hot there as well.

[dtknowles]

Appreciate the concern. Alum does have its limits but also a much higher melting point; lead melts at low temp and with small quantities works ok. I have two small pots in both alum and steel, they both work fine but yes, I know of the concerns with alum; many use then on their kitchen stoves and they get pretty hot there as well.

On the stove rarely is anything heavier (denser) than saltwater get heated in a pot. The pressure in the bottom of the pot is less than half a psi. Lead is more than 10 times heavier (denser) making more than 10 times the pressure in the bottom of the pot.

326982

1 MPa is 145 Psi. Lead melts at 375 deg. C and we often heat it hotter and the pot will be hotter still. I am not going to run the stress analysis. A big, tall thin walled pot full of molten lead will burst (not melt just fail structurally). A small shallow thicker walled pot, maybe not.

A note about stoves and burners. Electric burners provide good support for the bottom of the pan so there is less stress on the pan until you pick it up off the burner. Gas stoves or backyard burners do not provide as good support and actually point load the bottom of the pan causing stress concentrations.

I said no stress analysis but a 10" aluminum pot with 0.032" wall thickness with 50 pounds of molten lead, uniformly loaded (no stress concentrations) would be at the breaking point.

Tim