Anybody still smelting in the summer heat?

[tengaugetx]

It was in the mid nineties here yesterday. I went to put something in the shop and ended up firing up the fish cooker and started smelting some range scrap I had. Wow, I should have know that was not a good idea. I was soaking wet by the time I got through with the first batch of about 50lbs. I think I will wait until fall before I fire that outfit up again.

[Nickle]

Different places, different seasons. I've lived in west Texas (El Paso). Winter would be rendering and casting time there. Up here, summer and fall are the times, as winter has lots of snow and cold.

[GlocksareGood]

I am just piling up. I have 4 - 5 gallon buckets of cows sorted out and 2 - 5gallon buckets of soww. I plan to have double that by this fall when the temperature falls.

[bangerjim]

Hig heat warning here for the SW USA today.

Just did 100# of COWW. I do it in the mornings when it is in the 80's. Humidity still very low...no monsoon yet.

Cast a couple hundred 200gn SWC's for my 45 yesterday aftrnoon when it was 106. No problems! Have an evap in front of the shop and a BIG shade tree overhead. Shop has full AC.

But it is a "dry heat"!!!!!!!!!!

bangerjim

[Iowa Fox]

I'll be doing a big smelt of several sorted 5 gal buckets in the next few days of dry forcast. I actually wait for summer heat as it sure takes a lot less gas. Its been raining or sudden showers out of no where here for the last two months. I just set up on the shady side of the barn and have at it, heck I'm already outside sweating anyhow.

[Markbo]

Man I waited too long! I got a couple 100lbs in ingots made over the winter and you know how it is... too many projects, not enough planning. Now I have 5 or 6 buckets of segregated lead wheel weights and it is way too hot to do any smelting now. Heck I don't even want to cook anything on the smoker! My car thermometer read 105° yesterday and it's going up.

[Beagle333]

I had planned on mixing up some tomorrow. It's going to be right at 90 here and loads of humidity, but I have a big fan out in the yard.

[Smoke4320]

I do about 50 Lbs a week .. 1 pot 1 evening is all I can stand in 85+ degrees

[PS Paul]

Been POURIN' here in the NW. Finally cleared up today. It's going to get up to the high '80's here by Monday, which is pretty hot for this part of the country.

Went bass fishing this morning and it was still cold from the low pressure front that just went through, but I still got 8 or 9 bass. Nothing big, just 1 to 2 pounders, but I'm smelting this afternoon and casting this evening since I have some time off from work

Shootin' on Monday at the club, away from the weekend monkeyshines, so the warm weather comin' and my plans will make for a terrific weekend.

Of course, there are the other ten months of raining and "about to rain" we get to contend with, so it ain't all peaches and cream, you know?

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

Over 100 every day here in Albuquerque. No smelting planned until Christmas.

[el34]

REAL COLD beer helps with your core temperature. Or so I've heard.

[Alan in Vermont]

Different places, different seasons. Up here, summer and fall are the times, as winter has lots of snow and cold.

If I was lucky enough to make it work I would love to render ore in either March or October. Last big session was last November, luckily I had a spell of decent weather.

I had big plans to mine the 25 yd berm this year. It was drying out nicely by early May but the range was too wet to run equipment across, think really small tractor with a loader to haul the ore back to the parking area. It was just getting dry there when the rains started, record rainfall for May and looks like close to record again this month. I could hand carry the ore to the firing line, move the benches enough to ease the tractor through to carry it the last 200' back to the car but that's a lot of wasted time. In addition to that the berm has been staying too wet to sift the good material out of the sand. I was up there yesterday and tried wet sifting it. It works, if a bit slow. Plenty of standing water so it's easy to fill a bucket half full of water, put everything in sifter and dunk/swish it in the bucket to get the sand off. Let the bucket sit a few minutes, pour the water off and throw the sand back on the berm.

Lots of extra labor doing it that way but I have to get it out before we start improvements to the range that will destroy that vein of ore. I can probably pull 1,000 lbs out of there fairly rapidly and I hate to lose it. Only potential bright spot is that all the fill material we have stockpiled on site will also need a bunch of drying time before we start moving it into place. I don't see any way to build berms with material that is the consistency of bread dough.

If I can get it out it will get rendered into ingots just about immediately.

[detox]

Smelting 50 lbs would be no problem early in the morning, but smelting 250 lbs is a different story. The bigger the pot the more heat it puts out.

[khmer6]

It was nice until today. Over 110 and suppose to be 118 Saturday. I have a couple hundred pounds of clean ingots. I should be good till September

[BoolitBill]

Hey Nickle, 105 here in El Paso yesterday. I don't go shooting much less smelting until the temp goes into the 90s.

[bigfelipe]

I don't see an issue with smelting. Doesn't require the attention of casting. For casting I'll be doing it inside with the AC on and an exhaust hood...

[btroj]

I did a bunch of range scrap last weekend. Netted 225 pounds of ingots.

I dont let heat stop me from smelting when the buckets get full.....

[singleshot]

You bet! Stuff melts faster. Just did 120lbs of wheel weights into ingots.

[9.3X62AL]

You bet! Stuff melts faster. Just did 120lbs of wheel weights into ingots.

True that! 112* here today, it would have saved Coleman fuel to run a smelt op on a day like today. I opted for the swimming pool, though.

[Sweetpea]

113 here today.

I NEED to do a big smelt shortly.

I have been waiting on my new ingot molds.

When they get in, I think I will have to start EARLY in the morning!

Brandon