Made two ingot molds

[Patrick L]

Let me say right up front, you are probably way ahead just buying Lee ingot molds. BUT, being a school teacher I am on vacation, so I figured I'd try this just to see if I could do it. I could. Here it is







The mold is made primarily from aluminum angle, screws, and threaded rod. I wanted to use aluminum because it releases lead so well and is light. Steel or iron would no doubt work and be cheaper. If I had the capability to weld I'd probably go that route.

Anyhow, aluminum angle was cut 5" long, mainly because that length will fit nicely into a .50 caliber ammo can. The ends were sanded to a slight draft, just a few degrees, to allow the ingots to drop easy. A 3-56 screw is threaded into the bottom "V" of the angle, and two steel pins are set into holes towards the top and set in JB Weld. JB is also used to seal the angles to the end plates, although this was probably not necessary since the parts were dry fit very tightly. I realize the JB won't really hold this together, nor will those pins and tiny 3-56 screws. They all serve mainly to locate things and keep them from spinning. The three 1/4-20 rods really hold the whole works together, the center one also serving as the handle shaft.

I smelted some range scrap down yesterday and they worked great





There is a learning curve. I learned that, like boolit molds, a cold ingot mold will produce wrinkled, ugly ingots. In the future I'll preheat them. The JB Weld is starting to "bake" already, but like I said the 1/4-20 rods really bear the brunt. The ingots weigh about twice as much as my mini muffin ones.

All in all, it was a great learning experience. I have about $20 into the aluminum for the two molds, so like I said I could have just bought two Lee ingot molds for the same $$. If I had had this stuff just laying around as scrap it would have only cost me time. I would like to find something a bit larger, maybe some channel? I'd also like to try steel or iron, but that will have till wait till I can weld. We casters are a resourceful bunch!

[olaf455]

Looks quite nice to me.. Well done.

[D Crockett]

Patrick L you did a nice job I make the same kind of mould out of angle . you do not have to pre heat the ingot mould to keep the wrinkles out of the ingot I wuold bet money that your casting pot will care less if it has wrinkles in the ingot he he he . if you can find someone that weilds auluminum you would have a very good set of moulds for life . and if by chance you do find someone to weild them make shure they weild on the out side of them D Crockett

[1Shirt]

Looks Good to me!
1Shirt!

[mdi]

I made one similar a while back. Aluminum angle with alum. side plates bolted together. Worked fair to good, but the nuts would work loose after a few pours. I even loktit-ed them, used nylon lock nuts, and peened the bolts too. Expansion from heat was the prob, but I'm sure it can be overcome. I just got lazy...

[dsbock]

I made one similar a while back. Aluminum angle with alum. side plates bolted together. Worked fair to good, but the nuts would work loose after a few pours. I even loktit-ed them, used nylon lock nuts, and peened the bolts too. Expansion from heat was the prob, but I'm sure it can be overcome. I just got lazy...

First off. Patrick, that is a great idea for an ingot mold. I've got some aluminum angle left over from another project. Now I know what to use it for.

One thing I found that keeps nuts from backing off comes from the aircraft industry.

Put everything together. Crank the nuts down as tight as you need them.
Locate a point on the bolt just past the nut and mark it with a Sharpie.
Disassemble and put the nut back on the bolt (going past the mark)
Drill a hole no greater than 1/3 bolt shaft thickness at your mark.
Re-assemble and use a cotter pin to keep the nut from backing off.

David

[500Smith]

Good job Patrick! Very clean construction.

[MGySgt]

Looks great - made me think, a number of years ago I bought some rods to 'weld' aluminum at the state fair - The guy selling them 'welded' a hole up in a soda can. Just not sure if the melt point is high enough to hold.

I am going to try it!

[Mk42gunner]

Looks like they work well.

I never worried about having pretty ingots; I figured that all I was trying to do was get clean alloy in a usable form, and it was going to get remelted in the casting pot anyway.

Robert

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

It is always neat to see someone here make something that does its job well, without welding or the need for a full service machine shop.

congrats...

Rich
Sua Sponte

[trooperdan]

That is a terrific idea! Never can have too many ingot moulds!

[bumpo628]

They look really good to me.
An old bed frame is a cheap source of steel angle, btw.

[MGySgt]

Yes bed rails are a great source of angle iron. Problem for most of us is you need 2 things to make ingot moulds from them.

A way to cut them in equal lenghts (metal chop saw or band saw)
A way to weld them.

A lot of us don't have or have access to either.

The OP's use of aluminum angle makes it a lot easier for us average Joe's to coble up some good ignot moulds.

Great job Patrick L!

[Texantothecore]

An elegant solution with Home Depot as your sole supplier. Nice. Thanks for the info on your new creation.

[Master Chief]

I made the same mold using angle iron that we just welded together.
Dang ingots are heavy though !!

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Yep,

Good idea!

I have one made of angle iron that one of my boys made years back. The welds inside are evident in the ingots, but don't seem to keep them from falling out.

And, I like the long ingots much better the the round, "muffin" type, as it gives me something to hang on to while lowering them into my lead pot.

Sure wish I had a Tig welder, as that would be the cat's meow to make these aluminum ingot molds.

Good job Patrick and don't worry about a few wrinkles. They will be gone shortly after the ingot hits the lead pot.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[canyon-ghost]

Being a welder, I have access to steel and a mig table. I built mine out of angle iron with the sides of angle iron for handles. Then, I discovered some C channel that was 1&1/2" tall and cut it for 3x6 bricks.

I like your aluminum though, must be a lot lighter and faster to use.