Wood Fired Smelter

[RP]

I use wood to smelt my lead with great results I do use a fan to boost the heat. I can smelt the range lead in record times and WWs are a dream. I smelted some WWs last weekend while the fire was up to heat I dumped a five gallon bucket in walked to the drink machine to get something to wet my whistle by the time I got back about 5 mins my lead was ready to be dumped. It will put a lot of heat to the pot fast. Found it to be a lot better then my other fuel sources.

[Spector]

I used an old hair dryer my wife had from the 1960's. The kind with the hose that attaches to the unit. I attached the hose to a pipe that is welded to the water heater forge. It's just the top cut off about one foot deep, turned upside down and welded to three legs. That small amount of air seemed to do fine for me. As others have said be sure to include a way shunt off excess air. I'll primarily be melting reclaimed shot with mine......Mike

[RP]

here is a picture of my set up you can see the fan on the end of the pipe with a oil injection system that I need to work on.
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This is how I use it by the way I have a crane to lift the pot in and out of the fire.
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[TheGrimReaper]

I like it!

[dudits]

i hair dryer will be sufficient airflow, i have used a few to build forges for steel working.
as far as zinc poisoning, that is some serious bad news. however if you insist on working with it, drink alot of milk.
before and after the process.
i would also advise to have 3-4 large fires and add the forced air to them. that should help burn out the zinc.
ALOT of people have died from zinc

[Gliden07]

If you elevated it and put vent holes on or near the bottom you might not need the forced air?? Looks awesome!!

[Freightman]

I use to work at a zinc smelter, after awhile started to have health problems. Went to the doctor he said you are allergic to zinc oxide, I said what am I going to do as that is my job? he said you have two choices, die, or quit, well I am still here. Zinc is very toxic find something else to use it isn't worth your health. IMHO

[Geppetto]

One option to remove the galvanizing (zinc) from the pressure tank would be to wash with some type of acid, such as muriatic (HCL). Obviously there are some considerations before you do this on a large scale. HCL isn't an acid to fool around with, PPE would be required. Also you should collect the acid and be sure its neutralized (buy a couple pounds of baking soda). You could also sand/bead blast the coating off.

Once you get a rip-roaring fire going, you don't want to be cooking off the zinc and breathing it. It can kill you if you get too much of a dose.

http://www.anvilfire.com/iForge/tuto...n=safety3/demo


The hill-billy option would be to get as big a fire going in there as you can and leave the area for a few hours. That however, could be pretty darn irresponsible (depending on your house/neighbors/prevailing winds).

[USMC87]

Locust wood is by far the hottest if you can find it. It even burns good green.

[uscra112]

Look into rocket stoves.

[Gliden07]

Look into rocket stoves.

These things are cool!!! I will build one at some point!!

[cat223]

OK, Guys. Thanks for all the ideas and advice. Here is the solution I ended up with. A $6.00 hair dryer from the thrift shop, and a piece of galvanized pipe that I had laying around. I just came in the house from smelting a batch and I am very pleased.







Yeah, smelting is hard work and that fan felt good. I'm pretty sure smelted lead should sell for about a million dollars a pound.

[cavalrymedic]

Looks great! Why aren't you sweaty and covered in soot? I usually end up looking like a chimney sweep.

[USMC87]

That's a fine looking set up .

[JSAND]

That is an outstanding setup. So many great ideas for future projects to be found on this site. Thank you for the detailed pictures. I like the idea of being able to smelt/cast without depending on propane. I'll add this to my to do list.

[7Acres]

Nice setup! Gave me some good ideas. Thanks for the post.