Lead pot ?

[PDshooter]

What are you guys using to melt down your scrap lead in.(W/W) I was using a old stove pot intill the handle broke off sending 15lbs of moten lead all over my drive way! :-? I don't like to use the lee pot for old W/W first, I like to get them into manageble ingot bars first.

[XBT]

An old dutch oven works well for me.

[woody1]

My smelter is the bottom 2/3'rds or so of an old 5 gallon propane tank atop a propane turkey fryer heating unit. Do not attempt cutting the tank until you've removed the valve and filled it with water. You can then remove the water and cut the tank. Regards, Woody

[Bigscot]

I cleaned up a net of 200+ lbs of pd a couple of weeks a go using an old freon tank I had cut the to off of. I set it on a propane burner inside a section of large diameter pipe to keep it stabilized. Worked great. Freon tanks can be cut easily with a jig saw and a metal cutting blade.

Bigscot

[Willbird]

Dollar General has a 12 quart stainless steel stock pot for $8 that works great, it easily holds 70 lbs of range scrap, which then has the 30 lbs of jackets cleaned out of it when ,melted, and I can then add 60 lbs of WW, skim the 10 lbs of clips and end up with 100 lbs molten in there.

I have a 170,000 btu burner I got from morebeer.com, and their high pressure regulator, I made a stand to hold the burner.

I also bought a turkey fryer setup from Gander Mtn, has the same burner and regulator...the whole rig was 50.00 with 10% knocked off for buying the display model, I was afraid the aluminum pot would anneal and not be strong enough to safely hold 100 lbs of alloy, I didnt want lead shoes :-) so I will use a stock pot on that as well. I bought a set of (3) stockpots at walmart for $20.00 with the largest being 16 qt, the two smaller ones will go into the kitchen.

but the turkey fryer burner needs to go closer to the pot for melting lead...I have not gotten to that yet.

I have so far melted 500-600 lbs of WW or 50-50 range scrap/WW for each 20 lb bottle of LP.

Bill

[454PB]

I made mine out of a piece of 4" black pipe. I welded 3/8" steel plate on the bottom of a section about 6" long, then welded a handle made of 3/4" black pipe on the side, with a big loop for a handle. My plumbers pot gets so hot that that pipe handle isolates me from the heat, and the loop gives me leverage to twist the pot and fill my homemade ingots. I'd guess I'm melting about 25 pounds per batch, which is about all the molten lead I want to pick up at a time. I don't know how others pour 70 pound lots of molten lead, it would make me a little nervous.

[MARCORVET]

I am working on the bottom pour pot made from a cast iron dutch oven that was on the old board. got the fittings in the bottom, and the needle valve made, the seat lapped. Can,t seem to find the time to weld up the handle and pivots. Oh well, maybe this weekend if the Eagles can wait for thier repairs.

[imashooter2]

I use a 3 quart stainless steel cooking pot on a Coleman stove. I'd never try to lift the thing by the "handle" the factory put on. I ladle out my ingots.

[Willbird]

I should have said I use a stockpot ladle from Gordons Food Service, it moves about 4 lbs per glop, which is just right for the popover muffin pans I use for ingot molds.


Bill

[Quickdraw4u]

I have a heavy steel 2- burner camp stove, propane fired. I use two heavy 10- inch cast iron deep skillets (one has a steel bale handle, the other a standard cast- in handle) to smelt WW or lead. To make ingots, I use cornpone muffin pans. Works great!

[lightman]

Harbor Freight dutch ovens and cut off propane tanks are favorites with the members here. Some members that have the ways, means or skills fabricate a pot from large diameter pipe or structural steel. My pot was the valve cover from a railroad tank car, kind of like the valve cover on a large stationary propane tank, only much heavier. Stay away from anything aluminum as it can fail when its hot. Also, if you choose something made from cast iron, be careful to not hit it or bang on it. There is a member here that sells pots made from cut off propane tanks if you don't have the means to do it yourself.