water cooling ingots

[TaylorTN]

I am using stainless steel condiment cups for my ingots. They're 4/$1 at Walmart and have held up well for 3 smeltings.

They take a long time to solidify enough to flip the lead out. I am thinking about putting all the cups in a large steel tray and filling them with a ladle, then slowly adding water to the tray to speed cooling. After they harden, pull cups out and dump lead, then empty tray and start over. This would also work with muffin pans.

I KNOW MOLTEN LEAD AND WATER DON'T MIX WELL....... that's whay I'm thinking of putting the ingots in one end of the tray and adding water to the other.....

OK, feel free to add you $0.02 or criticism.....Just looking for feedback on an idea.

TM

[ironhat]

I'd try air cooling first, TM. Set up a fan to wash the ingots with a continuous flow of moving air. It's a no-mess and pretty effective cooling solution. Think of some internal combustion engines which have been effectively cooled, especially the Beetle. Post back how that works out if you decide to give it a trial run.

[jawjaboy]

I would'nt that if that were me. Buy more cups.

[stubshaft]

Could you possibly put the cups on a wet towel?

[Westwindmike]

Would you post a pic of the cups you are using?
How much do the ingots weigh?

[Maximilian225]

If you have a large enough piece of flat steel set them on it. It will act as a big heat sink. I set my ingot molds on lead that has already cooled to room temp. Best heat sink there is.

-Max

[leadman]

Fan works good, even here in Phoenix in the summer.

[monadnock#5]

Your plan will work fine for cooling your ingots quickly, it's your moulds that will suffer though. The temperature differential will warp them out of shape pretty quickly me thinks. Try it on two or three of them. You would do well to have two or three new replacements on hand before conducting the experiment though.

[DGV]

four for a buck? buy 20 and speed things up!

[cheese1566]

I wish our Walmart still carried them...

[alor_swe]

When I cast ingots I always water cool them to speed up the process.
Just wait until the surface of the ingot have solidified (about 2-3 minutes for my 4 lb mold) then dump the ingot in a bucket of water (just the ingot not the mold, grab the mold with a pair of pliers and tap it against the bucket). You'll get a little splash of water when the ingot hits the surface and it will fizzle for a bit but that's it.

[hammerhead357]

I have cooled my ingot moulds by spraying water on to the bottom of the mould. That is the side away from the lead. I spray them after the ingot is dumped and before refilling with lead. You have to be careful not to cool them too much or when you pour more lead into them you will get a visit from the tinsel fairy. I use old lino ingot moulds so I can't say what the results would be to your moulds.
I like to use a heat sink and a big fan much better though. This method cools the ingot and the mould at the same time and has worked better for me.....Wes

[Springfield]

You just need to have enough moulds so that by the time the new batch of lead is melted the ingots are cool enough to dump. I have 12 cornbread muffin tins, can pour about 75 lbs at a time.

[smokemjoe]

Water and Lead DONT mix.

[redneckdan]

For bulk storage I use banana bread pans, they make 35lb ingots. To cool these humm-dingers I put the pan in a pool of water about 2-3" deep, the pan walls are about 5" high. I pour the lead into the pans and put the pot ladle back into the pot. By the time I set the ladle down the ingots are cool enough to flip out onto the grass....still hot enough to scorch the grass though....

[softpoint]

I have a single RCBS ingot mold. It doesn't have a handle, just a tab on one side. I fill the cavities with melt, carefully pick up the mold with a pair of channelock pliers so as not to spill and slowly submerge in a bucket of water. Done it this way for many years,with the same old RCBS mold, without ill effects. Iv'e processed about 300 lbs. of alloy in a day using this method, with just this one mold

[ept000]

I always put my ingot molds on a very wet towel to speed things up. It works great. I keep the pot on one side of me, and a wet towel on a table on the other side.

[DanM]

Yep, I water cool my Lee ingot molds. Just dip the hot mold in an old dog bowl and the ingot gets solid right away. I wear a glove to avoid the hot water splash. Really speeds the process up, and no effect on the molds.

[Nora]

Putting molten lead into water isn't the concern. The worst that will happen is a lot quick steam. The problem lyes in adding the water to the lead. If it sits on the top it will almost instantly turn to steam and be gone. HOWEVER if that water would go below the surface then turn to steam it will do it with enough violent force that you will have an instant tinsel shower with the hot lead being stuck to anything and everything in the area. That would be VERY bad!

Nora

[rbuck351]

I use a cookie sheet with water in it. Set my lee ingot mold in it and pour into the mold. They cool real fast. I have spilled a little lead in the water from time to time but all that happens is a little steam. Been doing this for about 30years with good results.