"On da road again...................."

[Chris C]

Hot Dog! I'm gettin' ready to render my lead for the first time. A neighbor gave me a propane bottle which I cut and made into a rendering pot today. So I've got everything I need to start rendering all this lead I've accumulated. Only thing is we are experiencing a dangerous heat wave in my area right now. Don't think I want to stand over a large pot of molten lead after all the horror stories I've read on the forum. But at least I've got everything necessary to do the job. Bought 3 muffin pans that have 12 pockets and 5 mini-loaf pans that have 12, so I've got the ingot thing taken care of, I think. Going to use the muffin pans for pure lead and the mini-loaf for wheel weights to keep them separated. Just wish I had some other kind of ingot mold for my mixed lead. All I have is one Lyman ingot mold that makes 4 ingots at a time. Need about 10 or those, but $$ prohibits right now. Probably should make some of those "v" channel ingot molds I've seen here on the site.........only I have to pay someone to weld and welders like to make big bucks. Have my skimming ladle, stainless steel mesh ladle for pulling out wheel weight clips and my pouring ladle. I have a table to set all my molds on after pouring. Bought a brand new Jet turkey fryer and now I've got my pot. Ready and rearin' to go. Hot Dog!!!

[rancher1913]

layman ingot molds are not that expensive and three or four would keep up just fine, use a damp towel to cool mold and then and dump on a piece of wood to finish cooling the ingots. those mini muffin pans work good too.

[Chris C]

Maybe I could find someone getting out of the business of casting and wanting to sell their old ingot molds. I keep hoping to find a garage or yard sale that includes casting equipment..........but no luck so far. My thought is to have three different ingot shapes for easy identification.

[4719dave]

I use letter stamps to put info on ingots ...When I dump them on the wood its easy to stamp ..

[Mitch]

Sounds like you are ready.are yor muffin lans or anything you are going to use for a ingot mold coated with any non stick stuff if so the lead will stick to them.i tok mine out side I left it set for a few months to rust a bit.I have 400lbs of pure to alloy into 1 in 20 and it is to hot here for doing that right now.Might do a little in the morning one day soon. it sure is not work getting heat stroke over.I use stamps from harbor freight to make my ingots.I have seen someone selling some nice ingot mold on here from time to time.

[country gent]

The angle iron ingot mouls work good cut ends on a 10* angle so they release ingot quickly. I mde mine up from 2x2x8" angles 2" flat stock on one end and 2x2 angle on the other end, this gives a good flat to grip with pliers. I made 5 4 bar ingot mould each holds about 15 lbs of lead. I stamp Id on while still in mould as it helps hold the surfzce flat and steady. If done quickly you can push the stamps in by hand with no hammer LOL. A simple id iron could be made to do this similar to a branding iron. Heavy wire bent into designation used with a wood handle. Push in while still molten a little less than half the wire dia should leave a good deep ID.

[Chris C]

I'm way ahead of you guys. I've got a note on my list for tomorrow to buy stamps at Harbor Freight...........but thanks for mentioning it.

country gent, that's what I want to do............but like I said, I'm gonna pay an arm and a leg to have a local welder do his "magic". Thanks for the tip about stamping them while they are still in the mold.

Gettin' excited to get on with it. Been waiting for a long time, gathering lead from tire shops and auto dealers. Luckily, what I have the most of is pure lead. Just wish I could come into a stash of tin somehow.

[Yodogsandman]

Lee ingot molds are cheap but, a little small. I use those half round, 4" corn bread muffin pans made of cast iron and bought at a thrift shop.

I quickly mark my lead by stacking the ingots up on some cardboard and spray painting the ends different colors for different alloys. Like green paint is pure lead and red is COWW. Makes ingots quick to identify, too.

[OS OK]

"Got sawdust?"

[Chris C]

Yup, plenty of sawdust on hand.

[Chris C]

are yor muffin lans or anything you are going to use for a ingot mold coated with any non stick stuff if so the lead will stick to them.

As a matter of fact, they are! Being new to all of this I had no idea................I hadn't read anywhere that the non-stick material would stick to the lead. Dangit! Now I have to find new ingot molds.

[OS OK]

Yup, plenty of sawdust on hand.

That's good, sawdust makers are expensive!

[Murphy]

Chris,

I see you're a fellow Oklahoman. And yep, it's a might hot out there to be doing much of anything let alone smelt lead. I'm down in the far S.E. corner of the state (Idabel). Last Saturday morning I fired up the old turkey fryer to pour some sinkers for fishing. Everything I had on was soaked within an hour with sweat. Making ingots is limited only to ones imagination. I've used just about any and everything I can think of in the past. I've been casting for probably 30 years plus now. Over the years I've accumulated 3-4 Lyman or RCBS ingot molds, 5-6 cast iron cornbread muffin pans that make 6-7 sticks of cornbread, and baking tins. All will serve you just fine. The one thing that can get aggravating is to have a big pot of molten lead and too few molds to put it in. It take a few minutes before the ingot solidifies enough to dump and get ready for another pour. Look around thrift shops, garage sales, etc for the cast iron cornbread muffin makers. A good price is $10 bucks if you find one, grab it. Good luck when you finally get your first smelt going.

Murphy

[Chris C]

Ahhhhh...............another good Okie! Thanks, Murphy.

[Chris C]

Mitch, you had me worried about my "coated" muffin pan, (only had one) so I fired up my 20# pot and poured one of the muffin cavities. It came right out with no problems..............much to my relief. So I have 3 twelve cavity muffin pans and 5 twelve cavity mini-loaf pans to cast ingots. Sure hope that's enough to at least get started.

I made the standard propane tank pot. It has a 4" straight wall on the sides. Anyone have a rough idea how much lead that will hold?

[DerekP Houston]

Mitch, you had me worried about my "coated" muffin pan, (only had one) so I fired up my 20# pot and poured one of the muffin cavities. It came right out with no problems..............much to my relief. So I have 3 twelve cavity muffin pans and 5 twelve cavity mini-loaf pans to cast ingots. Sure hope that's enough to at least get started.

I made the standard propane tank pot. It has a 4" straight wall on the sides. Anyone have a rough idea how much lead that will hold?

You've got plenty, I still use a single 12 hole muffin pan. Just set it on a damp towel every now and then to cool off. Might take me a bit longer but it works.

I would fill it maybe 1/3 of the way up and see how sturdy it still is.

[Chris C]

Okay, thanks. Sure would hate to see a silver puddle in the dirt!

[mold maker]

We're taking for granted, you're just not mentioning the safety equipment.

[MrWolf]

I use cast iron corn bread moulds. Let the sit outside in the rain for some rust and they work great. Also have "real" ingot moulds and use the Harbor Freight stamps for marking.

[Chris C]

We're taking for granted, you're just not mentioning the safety equipment.

????????????