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Thread: One home smelting production setup

  1. #81
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeadThrower View Post
    LPG. It's the burner from a King Kooker. I think I have a bookmark to orifice sizes for lpg vs natural gas burners, but if you have a hole dia recommendation (for the pilot burner holes and the restrictor orifice) I'd love to hear it.
    I usually just start with the smallest drill bit that I have and work up from there... I run natural gas for my burner though, so the pressure is a bit less... If I'm using the burner to heat up a cast iron grill plate for blackening some steaks when I'm away from home though, I use LPG with it... Unregulated LPG, so I have to be very careful with how much I open the LPG tank's valve, otherwise, I can get a 6 ft column of flame...

  2. #82
    Boolit Master jmsj's Avatar
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    LeadThrower,
    That is really cool.
    Have you thought about enclosing the bottom area a little and maybe shortening the spout a little? A short skirted area around the base will hold the heat a little better.
    I did that when I built my bottom pour smelter. Most of the pipe going to the nozzle is in the heated space and I have not had a problem with the nozzle freezing,just a thought. Really awesome design. jmsj

  3. #83
    Boolit Buddy LeadThrower's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jmsj View Post
    LeadThrower,
    Have you thought about enclosing the bottom area a little and maybe shortening the spout a little? A short skirted area around the base will hold the heat a little better.
    I did that when I built my bottom pour smelter. Most of the pipe going to the nozzle is in the heated space and I have not had a problem with the nozzle freezing,just a thought. Really awesome design. jmsj
    Shortening the nozzle is certainly on the "to do" list. I just grabbed a 4" pipe nipple thinking "that ought to do it..."

    Adding a skirt is a good idea, too. A little sheet metal would go a long way to keep heat on the nozzle. Coupled with a little pilot-like flame from underneath and I'd likely not need the torch, ever.

    Thanks for all the great ideas and feedback, gents!

  4. #84
    Boolit Buddy LeadThrower's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grumman581 View Post
    ... I can get a 6 ft column of flame...
    I see no problem with that!!

  5. #85
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeadThrower View Post
    I see no problem with that!!
    Unregulated LPG will give you about 175 psi. The tanks themselves are rated for 300 psi. I actually melted a cast aluminum gas grill that I had converted to unregulated LPG. It sure could sear the steaks well... Worked well until I had large blobs of molten aluminum hitting the ground and splashing on me... That's 1220F... Not too bad for a grill, I guess... Like I always say, "Anything worth engineering is worth over-engineering..."

  6. #86
    Boolit Buddy LeadThrower's Avatar
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    Modifications to "the cube"

    Well, I finally got around to making some necessary changes to the solenoid-actuated lead pot. Now it's fully functional and doesn't overheat. A single momentary push button fires the hold-in and pull-in coils, breaks the pull-in coil upon solenoid closure, and then breaks the hold-in when the button is released.

    I've attached a schematic of the starter solenoid. The original solenoid is on top and my modified solenoid is on the bottom. The hold-in coil is solid, the pull-in is dashed. B is the battery positive terminal, M is the motor terminal, and S is the solenoid switch terminal. The "fix" looks pretty rough, so I'll spare you the pictures. I drilled a hole dead center in the solenoid cap and put a Chicago binding post through it to accept a dowel. I used a wood dowel (1/8") dropped through it and attached a metal post at 90° to make the electrical contact shown in the schematic. When the solenoid fires the copper disk pushes up on the dowel (wood to avoid conduction) and breaks the contact at M. The hold-in coil stays energized until the button is released.

    Notice that I also ground down the motor terminal on the inside to avoid a dead short across the battery and motor terminals. That short across the solenoid is what allows current to flow to the starter motor and breaks the pull-in circuit when the solenoid is attached to a starter in a vehicle.

    I also drilled out the restrictions in the street elbows. They were 1/4" and now are about 13/32" and are close to the ID of the 1/4NPT pipe. The lead really flows now, but thankfully not so fast that it splashes or causes problems.

    I haven't added any burner under the pipe yet. It's just not worth the effort for me at this point. I only need to head the downspout once per casting session.

    Next mod will be some heat shroud, akin to jmsj's thoughts (thanks!) and the addition of a chimney to vent the fumes and smoke during heating. I use used motor oil as my reducing agent ("flux") and it's gnarly!

    [Thread hijack] BTW, starter problems are often simply the loss of electrical contact across the battery and motor terminals as they wear from use. If you hear click with no motor turning, simply pop apart your solenoid and inspect the terminals. Buy new posts, or add material by brazing. [/Thread hijack]
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Solenoid.jpg  
    Last edited by LeadThrower; 08-18-2010 at 12:27 AM.

  7. #87
    Boolit Mold
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    Great post, great website!

    I like the animal ingots, that's cool.



    Quote Originally Posted by Goatlips View Post
    I still use the basic Dutch Oven / Turkey Fryer burner, but add heat from the top with a propane weed burner. Here's my "Beginner's" site cleverly designed to rope more suckers into this casting madness:

    http://goatlipstips.cas-town.com/smelting.html

    No welding capabilities necessary, just a lot of garage sale muffin ingot molds (which fit my casting pots nicely).

    Goatlips

  8. #88
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    Hi All.

    I'm new to casting bullets, I've only cast a couple of hundred so far. I went and bought a 5 gallon container of used WWs from a local tire store today, paid $40.00 for what has to be well over 100lbs of stuff. I went to Home Depot, and bought an outdoor cooker (looks just like a turkey cooker, but with a smaller pot), and I was wondering, is there anything wrong with using the aluminium 10 quart pot that came with it? I notice that most people use a cast iron dutch oven, and I was just wondering if I could use the pot that came with this, for 2 reasons, 1 I'm cheap, and I've already paid for this pot, and 2 I was thinking that this pot is a lot lighter than a dutch oven would be, and after adding lots of lead it either, it's gotta weigh a bunch, and I wouldn't want the burner section to break! The one I bought is the Brinkmann Cooker Fryer model #815-4010 for anyone that's knows Home Depot's items. It also came with a strainer, and I know I can't use that, but I was kind of hoping I could use the pot itself. Any help would be appreciated.
    - MikeS

    Want to checkout my feedback? It's here:
    http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/...d.php?t=136410

  9. #89
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    Talking

    Aluminum pots are no good. Cast iron Dutch ovens or stainless steel are much better. I have an 11qt Dutch oven for melting into large ingots and a 8qt Dutch oven for alloying into smaller ingots for using in my LEE or Wage pots.

  10. #90
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    Aluminum weakens considerably at elevated temperatures. Aluminum pots, especially the thin el cheapo pots that come with outdoor cookers, can fail without warning leaving you standing in a puddle of molten metal. This is generally regarded as a bad thing.

    Iron or steel only for melting lead.

    Make sure you test that cooker with considerably more weight than you intend to melt on it too. Lead weighs almost 24 pounds per quart.

  11. #91
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    Having MELTED a cast aluminum BBQ grill and had molten aluminum dripping and splashing on me after I re-engineered it to use unregulated propane, I would HIGHLY recommend that you spend a couple extra bucks and get a cast iron or steel pot. Keep the aluminum cooker for frying or making gumbo and use the right tool for the job.

  12. #92
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    Quote Originally Posted by imashooter2 View Post
    Aluminum weakens considerably at elevated temperatures. Aluminum pots, especially the thin el cheapo pots that come with outdoor cookers, can fail without warning leaving you standing in a puddle of molten metal. This is generally regarded as a bad thing.

    Iron or steel only for melting lead.

    Make sure you test that cooker with considerably more weight than you intend to melt on it too. Lead weighs almost 24 pounds per quart.
    Thanks. I thought I remembered seeing that aluminium wasn't good, but didn't recall the reason. I have no desire to see if I can outrun molten lead/aluminium as I know that answer, and it would be that I would lose!

    The base can hold up to an 80 quart fryer, and says to never use a cooking vessel smaller than 12.5" in diameter, so what would be a good size dutch oven to get? Thanks again!
    - MikeS

    Want to checkout my feedback? It's here:
    http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/...d.php?t=136410

  13. #93
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    I use a Harbor Freight 12" Dutch Oven (six quart). It works just fine. I have smelted a couple of thousand pounds of scrap lead and wheel weights with my set up (Bass Pro Fish/Turkey Fryer and the HF Dutch oven).

    Dale53

  14. #94
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    Thanks for resurecting this thread! Good info.

  15. #95
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dale53 View Post
    I use a Harbor Freight 12" Dutch Oven (six quart). It works just fine. I have smelted a couple of thousand pounds of scrap lead and wheel weights with my set up (Bass Pro Fish/Turkey Fryer and the HF Dutch oven).
    Dale53
    That is truly a great store! I looked up Dutch Ovens online, and found that new they're pretty expensive! Then after seeing your post I checked out HF, and they had it online for $29.95. I went over to one of their local stores today, and they're having a big sale, I bought it for $24.95! While there I looked around, and I've been meaning to buy a digital caliper to replace my 50 year old venier caliper that I can hardly read the lines on anymore, and they had one there for $11.00! Yes, it's plastic, and probably won't last 1/5th as long as my old caliper, but for that kind of money I can afford to replace it even every 5 years if I need to.

    Also while there, I noticed an ultrasonic cleaner that looks suspiciously like the Lyman ultrasonic cleaner which sells for $135.00 and at HF it was only $80.00, so if/when I decide to get a cleaner, I'll get the cleaner from HF, then just buy the Lyman solutions for cleaning brass, or steel (to clean my handguns).

    If the store hadn't been so packed, and if my daughter wasn't sleeping out in the car, I would have spent more time, and probably all of my money at that store!
    - MikeS

    Want to checkout my feedback? It's here:
    http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/...d.php?t=136410

  16. #96
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    I bought one of the calipers to give to a friend on ebay that was sold in china.
    I think it came to around $9.00. I seem to remember payng $1.72 plus enough shipping to make it cost around $9.00 total. Made from stainless steel and it looks exactly like the one Home Depot sells for $38.00 but it did come without a case or box.
    I also bought a 1.5 liter ultrasonic cleaner on ebay for $66 with shipping, (cheapo one similar to the one Harbor Freight sells) and am amazed at how fast and well it work. I needed some 44 brass for an experiment that will destroy them so I took some that I had tried to tumble clean a while back but were so cruddy and stained by rat piss that I gave up on them. Two four minute cycles in 50/50 Greased Lightening (from Home Depot) and water and they looked like new brass. Simply amazing. I have a strong feeling my vibrator cleaner is now a dust collector.

  17. #97
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    MIkeS;
    Cast Iron Dutch Ovens work extremely well. However, you must NOT bang on it. There have been notable failures when someone habitually bangs on the pot with something metal. Crack-k-k, and there it goes. Take care of it and it will work for generations.

    Harbor Freight does have many good buys. Most of the tools are from China, so quality is not always what we would wish. However, for most of us, they are certainly "good enough" and AFFORDABLE.

    One of the lasting benefits of this forum is sharing ideas of "How" and "Where" - this is just another example.

    Dale53

  18. #98
    Boolit Buddy Jamesconn's Avatar
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    The link doesn't work for mentor some reason
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  19. #99
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    I love all of those pics! Downhome technology!!! To heck with high tech!!! You guys got it goin on!!

  20. #100
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dale53 View Post
    Cast Iron Dutch Ovens work extremely well. However, you must NOT bang on it. There have been notable failures when someone habitually bangs on the pot with something metal. Crack-k-k, and there it goes. Take care of it and it will work for generations.
    Given the choice, I would prefer to weld up my own pot out of some 1/2" wall thickness steel pipe and a bottom plate of the same (if not more) thickness. I'm still using a cast iron dutch oven for mine and it works well enough. Maybe I would like to be able to put a bit more wheel weights into the pot at one time, but having to add them in multiple stages is not too inconvenient for me given the amount of lead that I smelt.
    Live fast, die young, leave a cute widow...

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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"
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LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check