Large Lead Pot

[Marvin S]

Was needing a large pot to smelt a bunch of lead. Then I see several old 20lb propane grill bottles around, you know the kind with the old valve that they wont refill. Cut it in half or what ever size you like. Then you can put legs or handles on it. JUST BE SURE TO PURGE IT AND REMOVE THE VALVE BEFORE YOU CUT IT.

[madcaster]

This one COULD go in the "don't ask me how I know" category?[smilie=1:

[briang]

I used an old 5 gallon air tank for mine

[Marvin S]

One nice thing on the propane tank is that it has a foot already on it.

[afrance]

I made a bottom pour smelter out of one. Reinforced the angle iron legs with 3/4" rebar. I still have to get a stronger burner (mine is 15,000 btu) as the one I have can only do about 90 lbs at a time and I mounted it around the 1/2" spout and not enough heat is transferring so I am getting spout freeze. With a strong enough burner and good insulation I am guesstimating that I can do 250 - 300 lbs of WW at a time and that would be around 2/3rds full.

14206

[zuke]

Care to explain a bit more how you did the bottom pour working's?

[deltaenterprizes]

Put a wind shield around it,too much heat loss without it.

[Freebore]

I'd think that it would work good in a bed of wood coals provided you had good base stability to prevent tip over. It might be kind of hard to stand too close to on a Summer day but during cooler weather it might be good. For casting Ingots I would want to do the fast and cheap thing, then melt, flux, alloy, with the ingots later.

[Marvin S]

Good ideas guys. I'm not finished with mine yet.

[afrance]

Long post and sorry for pic quality I just have a cell phone camera. I found these steel bars at Home Depot in the concrete area in various sizes around $3 each. I welded two in a Tee fashion and the attached with two loops of rebar. I could have drilled holes or notches but at the time this idea popped in my head.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=14230&stc=1&d=1245416500

Then I welded two pieces of flat steel to the side of another steel rod and drilled a hole to put a finish nail through (I was out of cotter pins).

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=14231&stc=1&d=1245416500

As you have seen I put the tank upside down so I could use the already threaded valve opening. Inside the tank the downward pointing rod that goes to that valve opening was already pointed and so that point sits inside two steel washers that I welded over the 3/4" opening to keep the lead flow controllable. I also welded a finish nail to the tip of that rod (not shown) so that I can't pull it all the way out and dump 100 lbs of molten lead before I re-seat it.

Underneath I screwed in a 3/4" to 1/2" black pipe reducer, a short 1/2" pipe that nicely fit in the middle of my burner, the burner and then a 1/2" 45 degree elbow.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=14232&stc=1&d=1245416500

Originally I simply had a 5" long pipe that ran to a second 45 degree and poured with that, but it froze without help from a torch. Then I switched to the angle iron trough and it is freezing just below the burner. I am looking for a cheap second burner to help with that. I am actually considering charcoal briquettes in cheap dollar store grill.

I have a windscreen and that helped some and I also wrapped it in plain fiberglass batting wrapping aluminum foilaround to hold it and that got us to 120 lbs of WW before the burner lost the heat battle. I am now looking into furnace cement as an insulator but that will make it very heavy (it is around 30 lbs now).

Sheepdog and I found that once it starts pouring you are good if you have enough ingot molds, but if you have to wait for the ingots to cool and then dump them the spout cools and it freezes.

Like Marvin S said, purge it good and take the valve off.

[Marvin S]

Thinking about a burner for mine, maybe a small water heater burner? BTW I'm liking that pot some good ideas.

[afrance]

I guess a water heater burner would be fine if it was already setup or converted for propane. I am guessing those are fairly high on the btu's. The trick is not getting the melt too hot and contaminating it with zinc but hot enough for the amount you are ultimately working with.

[Marvin S]

I was thinking about one for a RV/Camper. Maybe one of the many R/V places we have would have some old ones around.

[TCLouis]

Like Freebore said, wood makes a great smelting operation heater. I thick coating of sawdust with more added during the process forms a carbon bed to seal the top and reduce oxidation may even do a little reduction.

I try to do at least 300 and more like 400 pounds in a batch and it sure does take care of the limbs and scrap wood from shop projects.

Imagine a funeral pyre with WWs and other lead products being sent to Pb Valhalla!

[briang]

That is very similar to mine, however mine is inside my burn barrel. I have more than enough fallen trees to run it for years, so I don't have to pay for fuel. However it is very difficult manage the heat, you really need someones help to feed the fire. I cover the melt with 6" of charcoal and ash, it reduces oxidation and separates any new weights from the melted until they melt and run down through. I'm sure my setup will melt any zinc weights that get thrown in there, but the batch size is so high I don't worry about the few that I may miss in the sort.

[Charlie Sometimes]

Can't tell- does your burner in the pictures have an open center that allows the pipe to pass through it? Or did you modify it?
All the ones I have aren't made like that, if it does.

[sheepdog]

Being there first hand to see Afrance's burner work its a beauty to see that much lead soup all nice and melted up. I have many an ingot from that project of his but its been a pain at times.

Keep in mind he started it as a test with no plans but his own ideas but if someone wants to build of fit I highly suggest refractory mix on the outside. Why? Well the heat loss is so bad a thin layer or fiberglass wrapped on the outside and stuffed on top is often the difference between lead going solid or not.

However if you have enough ingot moulds that they have time to cool or enough patience to water dip the moulds between fills then you can fill your tank, leave them to melt, and after a good fluxing you can pour hundreds of pounds of lead in a few minutes.

[afrance]

Charlie Sometimes,

Yes the one in the picture already had a hole that went around the pipe but was a low pressure burner. After working through several sessions, Sheepdog and I found that the spout would freeze. I have since switched to a higher BTU burner sitting just below the "trough" to cure that.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Why complicate things? Just spend the $59.99 at Cabela's for a Turkey Cooker. Sturdy 3-legged stand, 8qt dutch oven with lid, and a burner that will melt a 1gallon bucket of WW in 15 minutes with the lid on.

Rich

[Marvin S]

Why cast your own boolits?

[mold maker]

Why cast your own boolits?

Why do you shoot?

[Marvin S]

Why do you shoot?

This was a reply to the previous post. This category is named special projects, not what you can buy.

[Charlie Sometimes]

Half the fun is makin' something from nothing.
Waste of time?
Maybe, depends on your perspective.

Necessity is the mother of invention, but ingenuity is the MAC DADDY!

[roadwarrior307]

I am planning on using a cast iron pot and a fish fryer to melt some wheel weights. Will this work? Please let me know, I'm just starting to cast, and I'm trying to get the process right.

[masscaster]

Check these pics out,
masscaster

[Charlie Sometimes]

Then I see several old 20lb propane grill bottles around, you know the kind with the old valve that they wont refill.


By the way, you can exchange those out-of-date, old valve-type 20 lb. tanks at any place that sells BLUE RHINO or other similar brands of tanks- like Lowe's, Kroger, K-mart, hardware store, wherever. It just has to be a 20 lb. tank.
Anything over 20 lb. can be refilled at welding supply stores "for your torches"- valve don't matter.