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Thread: How do you cast your scrap lead into ingots

  1. #41
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by technojock View Post
    I wonder if I could make them out of aluminum angle and use that low temp aluminum brazing rod to put them together? That way I'd have the advantage of the ingots not sticking to the mold. Also I could use a miter box to cut the aluminum angle since it will cut with a wood saw.

    Tony
    I would be curious to see how the aluminum angle works. It works well for molds. Personally I would TIG weld them but then again I am a welder and have a TIG welding machine.

  2. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by technojock View Post
    I wonder if I could make them out of aluminum angle and use that low temp aluminum brazing rod to put them together? That way I'd have the advantage of the ingots not sticking to the mold. Also I could use a miter box to cut the aluminum angle since it will cut with a wood saw.

    Tony
    Aluminum makes great ingot molds. But 750° liquidous on the brazing rods? That’s cutting it a little too close.
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  3. #43
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by technojock View Post
    I wonder if I could make them out of aluminum angle and use that low temp aluminum brazing rod to put them together? That way I'd have the advantage of the ingots not sticking to the mold. Also I could use a miter box to cut the aluminum angle since it will cut with a wood saw.

    Tony
    I'm not sure about the low temp. brazing rod? Might it melt & come apart or soften under the temps of molten lead?
    You might try that but I'd run an all-thread rod from one side to the other in at least two places. Don't forget the ends of the angle used for the ingots, don't cut them square, just a few degrees out of 90º should get them to release.
    My steel ingots don't stick to the lead...when they have cooled a few minutes I just flip them over and the ingots come right out.
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  4. #44
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    When AT&T split with New England T&T ordered by the court back in the 70's I went past the dumpsters at their garage every shift I worked. Got my AT&T Propane outfit that will hold 100 pounds to the top of the cast iron pot. I hold it to 3/4 from the top seem to get 95 1-pound ingots each melt.

    I also recovered many full and partial boxes of solder 7 unopened and heavy!!

    I have acumulated over the years 8 Lyman ingot molds and 3 Lees. I only fill the 1-pounders on the Lee's and Use the 1/2 pounders doing tin or pewter.

    I had to move over a full ton of lead in 1985 when we moved to NH Most was Lino. Bought or scrounged all at about $.10 a pound. The 70's were the days of scrapping!

  5. #45
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    Dutch oven, fish fryer. Then pour into lino pigs.

  6. #46
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    I’ve used those brazing type aluminum rods before and they worked well for small low stress projects. However, I wouldn’t trust them with molten lead. Your first couple of tries might work and later let loose when not expected.

    It would be interesting to know, if someone has any of those rods, to stick them into a pot of molten lead to see what happens.

  7. #47
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    I once made moulds for the scrap melt from mild steel round tubing cut down the middle, welded to angle iron.

    It was a lot of effort to make them, they took up a lot of space to store, and the longer they sat, the more rusty they became.

    I since tossed them all out, and now I use mini bread pans. Cheap to buy and stackable for storage. Half full gives a manageable brick.

    https://www.amazon.com/Nonstick-Baki.../dp/B08432DPQ2

    For smaller melters, steel muffin trays -

    https://www.amazon.com/far-Stainless...s%2C393&sr=8-5

  8. #48
    Boolit Master BNE's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kevin c View Post
    I’m coming to believe that the most important thing with any mold, especially a long, skinny one, is to pour on a perfectly level surface.

    I like my ingots purty…
    I unfortunately feel the same way. I’ve been known to pull out a level and make sure my molds are on a flat surface before I pour. I don’t think this condition is treatable.
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  9. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by technojock View Post
    I wonder if I could make them out of aluminum angle and use that low temp aluminum brazing rod to put them together? That way I'd have the advantage of the ingots not sticking to the mold. Also I could use a miter box to cut the aluminum angle since it will cut with a wood saw.

    Tony
    If you decide to try this, get a cheap cake pan from somewhere to put the molds in while pouring in case it fails.

    A while back there was someone here selling angle iron molds. I don't remember who but if you place a "wanted to buy" in S&S they may respond.

    Also, if you see an old bed frame in the trash, they have a lot of angle iron in them.
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  10. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by BNE View Post
    I unfortunately feel the same way. I’ve been known to pull out a level and make sure my molds are on a flat surface before I pour. I don’t think this condition is treatable.
    I am glad to hear I am not the only person that does that! Not only level but VERY level. Nothing worse than a stack of ingots that leans!!!!!

  11. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by BJung View Post
    Doesn't the BHN affect accuracy?
    Maybe, depends on the pressures you push them. Even pure lead does fine in target WC. With PC, alloy isnt as important but you still have to pay attention if pushing pressures hard. I get better accuracy from harder alloy at higher pressures.
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  12. #52
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    A member here on CB... Joe Leadslinger ...is the guy who makes the angle iron moulds...up in Oregon.
    He sent me mine and has made them for several others.
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  13. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by BNE View Post
    I unfortunately feel the same way. I’ve been known to pull out a level and make sure my molds are on a flat surface before I pour. I don’t think this condition is treatable.
    Like you, I prefer my ingots to be esthetically pleasing. Like Rickf1985, I want them to stack well. Honestly, I think the first matters to me more.

    I have a level function on my iPhone. It lies…

  14. #54
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    I tried the cupcake pan once and the lead wouldn't drop out. I ended up knocking out the cup and using a propane torch to melt the lead into my lead pot. Will a steel angle iron mold work or would the lead stick. Therefore, aluminum would be a better choice, yes?

  15. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by BJung View Post
    I tried the cupcake pan once and the lead wouldn't drop out. I ended up knocking out the cup and using a propane torch to melt the lead into my lead pot. Will a steel angle iron mold work or would the lead stick. Therefore, aluminum would be a better choice, yes?
    If the pan was steel, rust is your friend. I left mine outside for a couple months till it was good and rusty. The ingots fall right out.

  16. #56
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    Your stash probably looks stacked and pretty like Ft. Knox lol.

  17. #57
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    Quote Originally Posted by BJung View Post
    I tried the cupcake pan once and the lead wouldn't drop out. I ended up knocking out the cup and using a propane torch to melt the lead into my lead pot. Will a steel angle iron mold work or would the lead stick. Therefore, aluminum would be a better choice, yes?
    If it was an old cupcake pan, made of tin plated steel, I’ve read here that the ingot can actually fuse with the plating.

    If the pan, steel or aluminum, is dented on the sides, in or out, the ingot can bind in the cup.

    Rusty steel seems to release the ingots easily (the same seems true of aluminum). Nonstick coatings on steel will burn off, and will make for pocked ingot surfaces until they do. Have a care to avoid the fumes: from personal experience I can tell you they are very irritating.

  18. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by Leadsother View Post
    Your stash probably looks stacked and pretty like Ft. Knox lol.
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    240# per pile. ;^]

  19. #59
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    I like my ingots level too. I use molten lead like a water level. If it starts spilling out of one particular side, I make adjustments.

  20. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rickf1985 View Post
    I am glad to hear I am not the only person that does that! Not only level but VERY level. Nothing worse than a stack of ingots that leans!!!!!
    Should be able to rotate every other ingot to make the lean even, I would think.

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