Using non-stick muffin trays

[xxclaro]

I smelted about 50 lbs of wheelweight into ingots today, but I couldn't find my stainless steel mufin cups,so I poured into a new non-stick muffin tray I got cheap. They came out looking really bubbly on the sides and bottom,though they did get smoother as I cast more battches. I'm wondering if maybe there was some oil or something on the pan that casued this,or if there's something wrong with my lead? I don't want to contaminate the rest of my lead if this stuff is bad. Anyone ever have this happen to them?

[d_striker]

Mine do this as well. The first batch has many cavities in the bottoms. They get better as they heat up.

It's a temperature thing, I'm guessing.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Hullo, the "non-stick" trays are Teflon coated, I imagine you will have some irregular ingots until this coating is burned away. It may also contaminate the alloy you are using to some extent, IMHO[smilie=1: :redneck:

[snuffy]

I've been using a couple of sixers that are teflon coated aluminum. I don't know if they were used to actually make muffins, BUT I have had no problems with nice smooth lead muffins, right from the start.

Cooking oil used to allow the muffins to fall free may be interfering with making smooth casts. I see no breaking down of the teflon after casting around 15 fills of the two tins.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4110011.JPG

You can see the top half of the two tins in this pic. The one being filled is steel, and a bit larger. That's a Rowell #3 ladle BTW.

[freddyp]

Just spray them with mold release or "Dry Graphite Film Lubricant" from Napa auto parts. Your ingots will come out perfect.

[R.Clem]

I bought one from wally-mart a couple months ago, did the same thing. Have poured about 250# through it since it was new, after the second trip through the 24 little guys I have really nice little ingots. Just keep pouring in to it, things will straighten out.

[Jumping Frog]

I smoked my muffin tins before I used them for the first time and the ingots have always been smooth and dropped easily.