Coleman Stove

[vonfilm]

Would my Coleman 2 burner white gasoline camp stove work well to melt lead for casting?

[870TC]

It will work, little bit slow and the grate won't hold a heavy pot. The grate will start to bend when it gets real hot.

[imashooter2]

I've smelted and cast several hundred pounds off a Coleman stove over the years. My experience is that they work well up to a 2 quart pot before it starts taking too long to melt. I have melted 2 quarts on a stock grill more than once, but it would be prudent to add reinforcement as it was never intended for that weight or temperature.

[RKJ]

I used mine for awhile but it got too (for me) costly as I was going through 1 can of propane for about 100 lbs of clean lead. Somebody here talked about a 1000W hot plate at Walgreen's for $10.00 so I went and got one. It's a dandy, no muss no fuss. I use a SS pot from Goodwill ($2.00) a piece of plywood on top of my old saw-horses and I'm in business.

[bohokii]

iuse a skillet on my 425e and ive done thousands of bullets so far

i can cast about 500 before needing a refill but i only have a 2 cavity mold and go kind of slow

it generally takes about 15-20 minutes to melt 10 pounds of lead but mine is old and i have to use the dial to do a tip cleaning every now and then

not having to worry about tripping over a powercord is well worth it

[Elkins45]

I used mine for awhile but it got too (for me) costly as I was going through 1 can of propane for about 100 lbs of clean lead. Somebody here talked about a 1000W hot plate at Walgreen's for $10.00 so I went and got one. It's a dandy, no muss no fuss. I use a SS pot from Goodwill ($2.00) a piece of plywood on top of my old saw-horses and I'm in business.

Gas, not propane. I use straight unleaded with just the need to do an occasional cleaning. Have been using unleaded in Coleman gas appliances since the late 70's.

I'm very surprised a $10 electric hot plate would melt faster than a Coleman stove at full crank. I've been using a Coleman 425 as my melter almost exclusively since 1989. As others have mentioned, the biggest problem is that the grate isn't designed to hold that kind of weight. You'll need to do some hardware engineering to reinforce it to hold much more than 30-40 pounds.

[mike in co]

ye sit will work. it appears colaeman fuel has more btu that gas if you have a dual fual version.

you should be able to do 50-60 lbs at a time. use a fat fifty ammo can.

consider some foil or such arounfdthe edges to keep the heat on the can...

start with just a little in the can...once they are melted the others will melt well.

[mooman76]

I used a coleman for allot of years. If I remember right one tank which is like 1/4 can or so would do me a little over 100# of WWs. I used a heavy 2qt pot and yse the grill did warp some. I still use it camping. (after I clean the lead splatters off).

[littlejack]

Vonfilm:
The Colman is all I use anymore. I swithed to a propane hose and a 5 galllon tank. I had to add a few small bars in between the ones on the original grate. I use a two quart cast iron (made in China) pot and the Lyman ladle. It works great and heat up time is about 15 muinutes. By the time the lead is ready to cast, I have all of my other items ready for the casting session.
Jack

[Wayne Smith]

I must have an older one. My grate is 1/4" steel and hasn't sagged a bit in over 10 years of melting lead.