Smelting pot?

[moses]

Hey noobie question.
Why do most use cast iron pots for smelting?

Can you use a steel pot or Aluminum, how about those enamel painted pots, you know ones that are blue with white speckles?

[NuJudge]

Cast Iron is cheap. Aluminum is nearing it's melting temperature at the temperatures developed by heating mechanisms we use, and loses strength. Steel pots tend to be expensive.

I've never used one of the enameled steel ones, but I have no reason to believe it won't do fine.

CDD

[Wayne Smith]

I don't kno this, but I would guess one reason not to use steel is hot spots. Cast Iron spreads the heat well and minimizes hot spots. If you want to keep your melt under 600, for instance, having a hot spot over 720 would be a problem. I have no idea how much your temps may vary with steel, but I know cast evens this out.

[qajaq59]

how about those enamel painted pots, you know ones that are blue with white speckles? I use cast iron , but I've always wondered about the enamled ones? Does anyone know?

[moses]

I have one I might try it today

[qajaq59]

Just be careful. I seem to remember that stuff shattering like glass when we hit it with BB guns as kids. However I'd sure like to see how it works.

[moses]

Well just did a bucket of range lead with the enamel roasting pot and all went smoothly. I used the fish fryer burner and stand I bought at wally world yesterday.

The pots are $10-$13 at Walmart

[moses]

I did 3 full pots of wheel weights last night and the roasting pot did great and was faster than my buddy's cast iron pot.
No wear on the pot that I can see or tell.
The only down side is you can't really pour straight out of the pot.

[Matt_G]

The only down side is you can't really pour straight out of the pot.

You really should be using a ladle of some type to pour your ingots anyways.
Trying to manhandle large amounts of molten lead like that is just asking for trouble.

Nice to hear the enamel pot worked for you.
I've always wondered about that myself.

[JMtoolman]

Don't use aluminum pots for melting lead. Aluminum melts at 1100 and lead is around 750. The aluminum will amalgamate with lead at this temp, it takes a bit of time, but little by little it will eat a hole through the pot. I know from past experence! A twenty pound pot of lead leaking while you are trying to get it out of the house is not something that I want to repeate. It worked for several times of melting on the kitchen stove, but is very hard to clean up off of tile and the stove. The toolman

[qajaq59]

For years I worked with nitric and sulfuric acid, and now I treat molten lead the same careful way I did that nasty stuff.
Use the ladle. If God forbid, you do have an accident, it'll be with one pound of molten lead, instead of 30.

[snaggdit]

I started my "smelting" with an cast aluminum pressure cooker bottom from the thrift store and discovered on here that I should change to cast or steel. I went back to the thrift store and found an enameled steel stock pot. I have used this ever since on a turkey fryer and it works just great! I have had it hold 80# pounds and there is room for more. I agree that cast would distribute heat better, but I try to keep my heat low and watch as I add new handfulls of weights in and have never had any issues with missed zinc weights not floating and getting skimmed off in time. And best of all, the price was right. I think I paid a buck.

[moses]

First the pot is NOT aluminum (not sure why anyone thought it was) Second, I am not pouring from the pot, it is to big to safely handle and doesn't have a pour spout spot. Third, I do not smelt in the house but have a very nice spot just outside of my garage.

I have another friend who has been casting for 30 years and he pours from the pot but his cast iron pot like my other friends has a carry handle that moves over the pot (looks like a rainbow) and it has a metal nub/tit that is perfect for attaching a pair of channel locks so with gloves you hold the handle on top with one hand and the channel locks with the other hand and it is very manageable. He/we only do this after we have ladled out enough lead to be able to safely handle the pot.

The Roasting pot seems to get up to temp quicker than the Cast iron pot but doesn't hold the heat as well so I don't think there is a problem with it getting to hot. We hand sorted the WW's as we put them in the pot and found a few Zinc and one steel WW and culled them but as I was skimming the pot when the lead melted I found 3 more zinc ww's that were missed (because they were so dirty) floating on top with the steel clips, so too high a temp is not a problem.

On a side note I saw at the local Family dollar store which is a nationwide chain I think, a stainless steel 9 quart pot that would be good for smelting, it was only $9