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Thread: Anyone Use A Cast Iron PanFor Casting Boolits ?

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
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    New Market, Iowa
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    1,466
    I use a cast iron skillet on an electric hotplate for melting range scrap. I bought the skillet specifically for that purpose. It has never been used for food, and never will.

  2. #22
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    58
    I have used a cast iron Dutch oven to melt lead for about 20 years. It works great for this purpose. After melting lead and mixing in tin and antimony I pour it into muffin pans to make ingots that fit into my Lee 20lb. pot. Best wishes in the new year!

  3. #23
    Boolit Master Jim22's Avatar
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    Oct 2020
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    Eastern Washington
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    I have been sing a Lodge cast iron skillet for smelting. A Lee bottom pour for casting. The skillet really doesn't hold enough alloy. I 'spect I will find either an old propane tank or an old freon tank come spring to make a larger smelting pot. The freon tanks look like they are about half as big as a 20# propane tank but would hold maybe 3-4 times as much as the skillet. Anyone have any advice?

    Jim

  4. #24
    Boolit Master
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    Feb 2019
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim22 View Post
    I have been sing a Lodge cast iron skillet for smelting. A Lee bottom pour for casting. The skillet really doesn't hold enough alloy. I 'spect I will find either an old propane tank or an old freon tank come spring to make a larger smelting pot. The freon tanks look like they are about half as big as a 20# propane tank but would hold maybe 3-4 times as much as the skillet. Anyone have any advice?

    Jim
    Freon tanks are made of much thinner material than propane tanks. I have a Freon tank that was already somewhat compromised, so I used it for target practice. .357 magnums penetrated it quite easily.

  5. #25
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    Click image for larger version. 

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    Still use this today. Cast iron pot, propane burner, bottom pour ladle. Hard to beat once you get the hang of it.

    DG

  6. #26
    Boolit Grand Master

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    England,Ar
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    7,687
    I have a medium size Dutch oven that Grandpa used for smelting. I still use it for small batches like blending scrap solder. I guess I need to get my die grinder out and write not for food or something on it.

  7. #27
    Boolit Bub BucketBack's Avatar
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    Jan 2013
    Location
    West Michigan
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    42
    I have a secondhand 8" that I think will be reserved for casting stuff.

  8. #28
    Boolit Buddy

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    Mar 2021
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    Redwood City, CA
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    Quote Originally Posted by lightman View Post
    I have a medium size Dutch oven that Grandpa used for smelting. I still use it for small batches like blending scrap solder. I guess I need to get my die grinder out and write not for food or something on it.
    I think that’s a great idea.

  9. #29
    Boolit Master Sasquatch-1's Avatar
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    Jan 2012
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    Martinsburg, WV
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim22 View Post
    I have been sing a Lodge cast iron skillet for smelting. A Lee bottom pour for casting. The skillet really doesn't hold enough alloy. I 'spect I will find either an old propane tank or an old freon tank come spring to make a larger smelting pot. The freon tanks look like they are about half as big as a 20# propane tank but would hold maybe 3-4 times as much as the skillet. Anyone have any advice?

    Jim
    I have used an 8 or 10 qt SS stock pot, a cut down freon tank and a cast iron Dutch oven. Out of all of these I find the Dutch oven the easiest and fastest.

    I know a lot of people use them, but to me, frying pans have never been an option.
    A vote for anyone other then the conservative candidates is a vote for the liberal candidates.

  10. #30
    Boolit Grand Master
    rockrat's Avatar
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    Aug 2005
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    I have a 12 qt. dutch oven that I use to blend alloys. I have some cast iron pieces that I use as ingot molds

  11. #31
    Boolit Master WRideout's Avatar
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    Oct 2009
    Location
    Butler, PA
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    2,605
    I used a 2 quart cast iron pot with handle for molding boolits and smelting wheelweights on top of an electric hot plate. Oddly enough it cracked on the side when I tried to force in a too-big piece of lead, but I have never bothered to fix it because the surface tension of molten lead is so high it never leaks out the crack.

    I was still using the 2 quart pot for smelting up until a couple of months ago. Then I converted an empty bottle that was formerly filled with carpet glue ( I never knew such a thing existed until I found two of these.) I cut the cylinder in half, and used one for the fire pit, one for the melting vessel. Works great, fueled with scrap wood.

    Wayne
    What doesn't kill you makes you stronger - or else it gives you a bad rash.
    Venison is free-range, organic, non-GMO and gluten-free

  12. #32
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    Quote Originally Posted by BucketBack View Post
    I was told to get my secondhand cast pan tested for lead, since it used to be common to use cast pans for casting.
    It sounds like you bought a second-hand pan, want to use it for cooking, but want to test it for previous lead exposure? Not that many people reload, much less cast their own bullets, so lacking any evidence of industrial use it's likely ok. I don't know what a lead test would cost but combined with the cost of a used pan - I'd just get a new one and eliminate the history worry.

  13. #33
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Posts
    2,659
    I’m a wimp. A cast iron frying pan is heavy, and heavier when filled with an inch or two of molten lead. If I needed to lift it, twisting, sloshing and spillage would be hard for me to control with a one handed grip on the handle.

    A cast iron Dutch oven or pot with two handles or a bail and deep enough that the weight of the melt is well below the lifting points would be easier to lift and control, has capacity over a shallow pan, and probably allows more efficient ladle filling.

    But if you don’t need to lift them full of lead, and can put up with or get around their limitations, they serve the purpose.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check