Frustrated with zinc! Smelting help, please!

[jsizemore]

Your efficency will improve with experience and tweaking your setup. Increase your ingot molds and time will drop dramatically.

[ubetcha]

I might not have many posts but I do have to agree with all that has been said. Crank the heat. I use a rocket stove to melt my lead. Its free and really puts out the heat. Plus I just like that kinda stuff. If you lack the heat look into a small home built rocket stove from bricks using sticks from around the yard to fuel it. Good luck and please let us know (me) how it turns out.

Not to change the subject, but looked into rocket stoves since you had mentioned it. Very, Very interesting. One question though, how is the temp regulated?. Just by the amount of fuel added?. I can see the lead getting pretty hot using this and I don't what to burn off some tin

[famdoc2892]

You guessed it, the temp is regulated by the feeding of fuel to the fire. Rocket stoves have the advantage of improved combustion, only heating the end of the wood to be burned, so the amount of fuel fed into the chamber determines the vigor of the reaction and the heat passed up the chimney to the pot.

[fredj338]

If you are sorting, zinc in the mix should not be the issue. Maybe your just not getting enough heat going prior to fluxing?

[famdoc2892]

Agreed, that's what the previous posters suggested, and following their advice by adding a wind screen and a thick top layer of sawdust which is lit and allowed to burn paid big dividends in efficiency!

[lwknight]

By all means, get a casting thermometer. Would you let your teenager drive a car without a speedometer?
Same thing.