Figurin out some thangs, need a little hep

[wills]

Banana nut are probably bread pans, also known as loaf pans. Mom’s pans will probably make about a three pound alloy muffin. Wal*mart has some "Mini Loaf Pans" that might make good Ingot molds. I have not tried them as they have the same non stick surface, that was on a muffin pan I bought and I could not get the alloy out of that one. Others, however have reported success. It has also been suggested that rust is the secret to the ingots releasing. Try garage sale muffin pans. Also if you are really serious about your ingot molds: http://www.mifco.com/ingot.htm

[BruceB]

BruceB---Was your method of carrying 4---32 pounders at once juggling them? If so thats cheating you were really only carrying one at a time.

Heh...modesty forbids me from agreeing with the concept...

Actually, we had a 300-square-foot area of the mill floor surrounded by a low timber wall. Every few weeks, a BIG truck would arrive, back up to our "corral", and dump in a few thousand 6" balls. Us millmen installed a bit of a "shot rack" along the top of the low timber barricade, and on this we could place the balls to be carried up the steps. I'd take one in each hand and then somehow maneuver another one onto each wrist. Cradling them against the ol' bod, I'd then do the Zombie shuffle to the foot of the stairs and then walk up to the shot chute.

That cascade mill was 32 feet in diameter, wheel-shaped, and both the grinding balls and the ore were introduced through the center bearing area. The mill turned just fast enough that the centrifugal force carried everything in it up to a point well above the centerline, where gravity took over and the whole mess of rock and grinding balls would "cascade" down onto the lower part of the wheel structure. This continuous impacting process ground the ore to a floury dust which was sucked out the "other" side by monster fans into a duct system for further processing. Yep, it was LOUD!

[454PB]

I don't use a turkey fryer for smelting, but I crunched some numbers assuming that the pot is 10" in diameter and I come up with 32.17 pounds of pure lead per inch of depth. So if anyone was able (or foolish enough) to fill one 10 " deep, it would weigh 322 pounds.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

454PB,

And in that statement, you encapsulated exactly why I wanted to be darn cautious with how I approach this. I think I have found a totally safe solution though. My buddy has a set of olympic 45 pound weights. I'll borrow a couple hundred pounds of those and stack them on and get a reasonable idea about how much the turkey cooker can hold safely with no fire and no molten lead involved.

Thank you all,

Dave

[MGySgt]

Wal*mart has some "Mini Loaf Pans" that might make good Ingot molds.

I bought some of Wally World Mini Loaf pans. They create 8 ignots at 3 lbs each. They stack great and they are easy to handle.

I use 2 of them at a time. Fill one and let it cool while I am refilling the pot and dumping the other one. Then I slide it over and put the second one in place. Just keep going.

Yes they do (or did) have some type of non stck on them, but it has not caused any problems with them coming out after they harden.

Drew

[wills]

http://shopping.msn.com/specs/shp/?itemId=28937028

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

MGySgt and Wills,

Thank you for the information. I'll be going to Wally world tonight with the intention of buying two muffin pans and I'll check them out.

Regards,

Dave

[MGySgt]

The mini muffen tin I have are 2 rows of 4 for 8 ingots for about 24 lbs per pan. Mine work real good as long as you don't pick them up by one end with a pair of channel locks and move then 10 feet that way.

Just dump them on the same table and they stay straight!

Drew

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Well, I did my first smelt with the new equipment last night. The old lady came home late from her job and was worn slap out, so no trip to wally mart. I did learn enough that I know I want to change my smelting pot to a taller, skinnier version if'n I wanna use a soup ladle.

For you guys that use the turkey cooker burners as heart sources: Where do you set your hear initially and where do you turn it back to once the lead melts while you're cleaning out the steel clips, fluxing, then dipping and pouring into the molds?

I need a "maintain temperature" to cut back to in order to preserve propane gas while filling my molds. Hopefully one that'll keep it warm enough and minimize the lead "filming" on top.

Thanks again,

Dave

[Dale53]

Dave;
I think a really good dial type thermometer is a good idea. I have been using one for years. All dial thermometers are NOT created equal. Bill Ferguson has a dandy and the price is good for the quality:
http://www.theantimonyman.com/thermometry.htm

Bill is a "sure-nuff" metallurgist and I listen when he's "talkin' ". If you order somethng, have him send you any information that he has on casting, alloying, etc. Good man.

Dale53

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I thought so too Dale. I bought one from Bill a year and a half ago when I first started out trying to set up for casting. I am just getting back to it because we moved, then I decided to work for myself rather than for someone else and haven't had much time.

It's reassuring to know other folks think it is a good one. What's a good "maintain temperature" for my smelting once I've got the WW's cleaned of clips and fluxed so I can keep it in good shape while pouring into the molds?


Dave

[Dale53]

Dave;
The current thinking is to hold the melt to 650 degrees. That is below the melting level of zinc. I haven't yet had a zinc problem and, God willin', won't have in the future. Some of the guys on here have reported zinc wheelweights showing up with increasing frequency. I think it is just a thoughtful thing to do to protect yourself. In the meantime, you will save on the ever increasing price of Propane. At 650 degrees, anything floating can be assumed to be "junk" and can be skimmed off without danger of contaminating your main supply.

Dale53

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Dale,

Thanks for the response. I followed your advice and guess what turned up in my final pot of the evening? If you guessed a zinc weight, you got it. I definately missed it, but it definately looked "different" than all the other weights. Keeping the melt at 650 saved my pot. Otherwise, I'd be tossing the last pot.

Thank you for the advice everyone. I just finished smelting two 5 gallon buckets of wheel weights. Got a nice stack of triangular WW ingots ready to make into bullets now. After trying out the "dip" method with the smelting, I've decided I am definately getting a Lee 4-20 and some borax to cast with.

Regards,

Dave