Hot Plate Casting - Fail

[rugerp89ipsc]

Okay, so I am trying to get started melting down my WWs and turning them into ingots; however, the 1500W hotplate I bought from Walgreens was only 750W a burner and just did not get hot enough.

I am not on a mission to get this rocking tonight and get to work. I have about a week till my molds get here, but I only have 2 more days off before work again. I was thinking of going to Academy tonight and picking up a Tfryer for $40 and a tank of propane and going that route; however, if anyone has any cheaper suggestions, I would sure be open to ideas.

The walmart near me only had 1 hot plate and it was nearly $40, so I am starting think this may just be the better route. Pics of the fail posted soon. It was so disappointing. I had a nice puddle of molten lead in the middle and a donut of solid lead around it. I was really getting excited about casting those WWs into ingots. . .

http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/798630/fullsize/050610-023.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/798625/fullsize/050610-026.jpg

[docone31]

I use the kitchen stove.
Just open the windows.
For the hotplate, get a small cast iron frying pan. I can only get 1/2 full on my cast iron pot. It is a small pot.
When I put it on the stove, I can melt the whole thing into it. From there I make ingots.
Not only do you need to have the BTUs, you have to watch the size of the melting container.

[Rock]

I really like the propane option and find that it works very well for me.

Wheel weights on the kitchen stove? Thats a recipe for divorce or a visit from the fire department!

[steg]

Harbor Freight and a few others offer a cheap single burner propane stove, I've been using that for the times that I ladel cast, othewise it's the production pot.......steg

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Make your ingots outside your home. That gets rid of most of the nasty involved. For all the screwing around with hotplates , You could have had a warranted Lee production pot.

[madsenshooter]

I'd go the propane route. You might find a fish fryer a bit less than a turkey fryer. Don't use the stove, the nasty smoke that comes from the paint on the WWs can't be good for you or anyone else in the house.

[Bkid]

Turkey fryer is the only way to go. Do not mix lead near food ,or where it is prepared. You do have welders gloves and a full face shield? Home depot has the gloves for 9.00 and the full face shield 13.00. Small price for a safe melt.

[sagacious]

I feel your pain, bro! You won't experience another let-down if you go with the turkey fryer/propane setup. That is arguably the best setup for melting scrap lead. Make sure you're wearing eye protection at all times when around molten lead.

Your hotplate will still work for preheating molds and preheating ingots, etc. That's often an important aspect of successful casting, so don't consider your hotplate a waste of cash just yet.

Good luck. :drinks:

[jmsj]

If you can afford the turkey fryer option, go that route. Be sure to double check the BTU rating some are lower than others. I looked at one that was rated at 56,000 BTU's, some are rated at 135,000 or more.
If the hotplate is your only option right now, try not putting to much in your pot and use a propane soldering torch to get your melt going and then cover the pot. I have the same hotplate and use it when I don't want to go through the trouble of firing up one of my other smelters or Lee bottom pour. Mostly I use 50 Pb/ 50 WW so when I want to cast pure lead slugs or just want to melt something I use the hotplate. In my homemade 6-7 pound pot, once the lead is liquid the hotplate gets hot enough to keep it liquid.
Hope this helps and good luck.jmsj

[khamill2000]

MMMM. Now I want fried turkey

[DIRT Farmer]

Turkey / fish fryers come with a pot around here, mine had a cast iron pot that would hold at least 100 lb of lead but was to useful to cook fish and burgu

[Fly]

I'm all about the turkey fryer.I already had one & it works great.And you
can always fry a turkey also.

They work good for shrimp boils also.Just don't use the same pot that
your WW go in.Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm:redneck:

[rugerp89ipsc]

Okay, turkey fryer is the only way to fly. I need some more practice perfecting my pour; however, I am roughly 3/4 through my current stash of WWs. Everything went super smooth, just wishing I had bought more molds or stolen some muffin pans from the wife.

Doing it all outside on the back porch for now.

pics shortly :D

Thanks for all the input. Walgreens took the hotplate back.

http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/798650/fullsize/050610-029.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/798658/fullsize/050610-031.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/798670/fullsize/050610-033.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/798689/fullsize/050610-037.jpg

[a.squibload]

I got the 1000W hotplate, single burner, haven't tried it yet BUT...
you guys reminded me, a couple years ago at the place I used to work the BBQ grill was
assaulted, someone broke it up to steal the housing. Aluminum?
Anyway I dragged home the remains including the regulator, burners, & hoses. Forgot all about it 'til I read this thread.
All I need to do is "hot glue" a frame out of angle iron. Maybe I'll take back the hotplate, 10 bucks is 10 bucks.

[rugerp89ipsc]

Well, worked great and I managed to melt down, flux and pour about 104 lbs give or take. I cannot thank everyone and all the great posts on here enough. I am just about going crazy while I wait for my molds to get here.

Hopefully this time next week I will be pouring 148 WC and 150 RN for my wheel guns.

So here's the current stash. working on deals to secure more Pb. :D

http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/798860/fullsize/051410-007.jpg
http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/798861/fullsize/051410-005.jpg

[Wayne Smith]

Now that's more like it! What will you be using to melt your lead to cast? If you don't have a bottom pour pot and can't afford a good one go garage saleing this weekend and look for a Coleman 2 burner camp stove. I use a propane one, it provides plenty of heat for two pots melted at once, one ww and one pure, for instance. I'm using cast-off 2 qt stainless steel kitchen pots to melt lead and cast from. As you probably noticed you have way too much heat coming off the turkey frier to be comfortable casting there.

[chris in va]

That pot is too big for the plate. I use a little 8" cast iron skillet and it melts decently enough.

[mroliver77]

I used and occasionally still use the bottom few inches from a heavy can for a pot on a hotplate. The cast conducts and lets go of the heat too well. I was warned repeatedly that "tin" cans would fail and let a flood of hot alloy run down my leg. Steel can has worked well for a long time. For straight linotype .22 casting I like to use the hotplate and a dipper to cast as I get better quality boolits and more consistent weight. A decent steel 1 or 2 quart sauce pan works very well for this and can be bought at a Goodwill store for a buck or two.
Jay

[ItZaLLgooD]

I had to take the hot plate apart and remove the mechanical stop from the thermostat. I use it for casting not smelting though. It will heat up 10-12 lbs and keep it a fairly consistent temp. with a small stainless container.

[mdi]

I sometimes use a coleman Single burner Propane Stove. The kind that uses the small cans for a base. It's strong enough to hold 30 to 40 lbs of lead in a 8" pot which is good for me. I've made up 60 to 80 lbs. of ingots from old WWs at a time which works well for for me (melt a pot full, nearly empty the pot, refill, and keep going 'till I'm through for the night. I've only got about 1,000 lbs of ingots done this way) . If I were to go mega-melting (100 lbs +) I'd use the turley fryer set-up.

[rugerp89ipsc]

Yep, I have a 4 20 on my midway wish list and a bday in the near future; however, for the moment, I think I am going to have to try casting off this setup. I would like to find something deeper and smaller in diameter to melt and cast with than the skillet my lovely wife donated for me; however, I don't want to start dropping a bunch of $ on parts to a set up I am not going to use for long. The heat coming off the fryer was not too bad with the gloves I am using (they go up to my elbows ), but i would like to be able to control the temp better.

I was going to order a lyman ladle with the molds and sizing die to help facilitate more accurate pouring. We'll see what happens, been a heck of a lot of fun/ trail and error so far. Fortunately, I kept the hot plate clean and was able to return it without issue for a full refund.

I am estimating I should be able to get around 5k out of this batch of lead, which will hopefully give me time to secure more sources for WWs.