Ingot Casting Question? Ingots larger than ladle?

[Muddy Creek Sam]

OK all,

I am going to do my first Smelting here shortly, Waiting on Cooker and Getting more Ingot molds. The Ladle I have is about 1lb of lead. When pouring ingots is it OK to pour multiple ladles into the mold or is it like boolits, all in one pour?

Thanks.

Sam :D

[c3d4b2]

I have the same issue, but have not had any problems with ingots. Normally there is enough lead in the ingot mould that is is still melted when the next ladle is added that it becomes a homogeneous ingot. On occasions when the lead has solidified, I will get a line where the meted lead was added, however the two halves stick together.

[lwknight]

I got a stainless ladel that holds about 2 pounds at W-mart for just a few bucks. I know that there are bigger ladels out there. Try goodwill and the likes. Keep your eyes peeled.
BTW: those crome plated copper ladels will work if you smoke then before casting so the mix does not stick and make spru bits.
It don't hurt anything to make several pours into ingot molds. If you do it pertly , it will mix anyway.
Boolit molds probably don't care either as long as each cavity is filled completely in 1 pour.

[montana_charlie]

When pouring ingots is it OK to pour multiple ladles into the mold or is it like boolits, all in one pour?
Ingot 'quality' is not an issue as it is with bullets. Multiple trips to the pot to fill the mould is just fine.

On your first pour, the ingot may solidfy so quickly it forms in two separate layers, but once the mould is hot you won't have any problem.
CM

[Edubya]

I decided long ago that the prettiness of the mold didn't matter on ingots! The purpose of ingots is to get similar alloy into a clean, manageable form and size that I could use in the casting pot. I like for mine to be nice looking, but I will accept less than a whole ingot or a fragmented one, "gitt'er done" is my philosophy for ingots now.
The largest quantity that I can smelt at one time to get the same alloy is the best. That means ingot casting takes me about four hours at a go. This happens to be about the same time that I can cast boolits too. When I start, I want to use the heat and energy that I have generated for as much as I can stand.
EW

[Echo]

"Flooding" and ingot mold - overporing the slots to meld them all together - generates a nice 5-lb block that will stack nicely, and is easily broken apart for feeding the pot...

[kelbro]

Why not just pour a ladle full? They should all be about 1#.

[fredj338]

Yep, you are remelting them anyway, doesn't matter. When using the 1# molds by Lyman, RCBS, etc. I do what Echo does, overfill so they stack as a unit. I use diff. molds for diff alloys & some are as large as 3#.