Cutting large lead chunks down

inkd · Jan 29, 2019

Brickman301 said:
I use old cast iron corn bread pans. My ingots look like ears of corn. We keep the turkey fryers elevated, as well as the table, that the ingot molds are placed on, to try and minimize how much we have to bend over. The worst part is that my forearms hurt for a day or so, from using the lead ladle to pore the lead in the ingot molds.

I'm going to try that elevating the pot and ingot idea. I have a bunc of landscape pavers that may do the trick. That bending over kills me. Especially since I am usually working with wheel weights or reclaimed range lead, I do a lot of skimming.

Thanks for the tip!!

Brickman301 · Jan 29, 2019

inkd said:
I'm going to try that elevating the pot and ingot idea. I have a bunc of landscape pavers that may do the trick. That bending over kills me. Especially since I am usually working with wheel weights or reclaimed range lead, I do a lot of skimming.

Thanks for the tip!!

Yeah, this lead I put into ingots, is super clean, so I don’t have to do a lot of skimming. That saves a lot of time. I only melt down wheel weights for my own personal use, and it definitely takes longer, and is a lot dirtier of a job. Actually if you have an old pickup truck, I found that setting the ingot molds right on the tailgate is about the perfect height for me.

Brickman301 · Jan 29, 2019

Here is a small pile of the ingots, I’ve made using the corn bead pans. I like the size or these ingots, they are about 1 1/4 pounds each, and fit into most pots easily. I can’t figure out how to post videos. I have short videos of us using our setup.

IMG]//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190129/e21ef0023a596ad764a1b05b607759d2.png[/IMG]

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Brickman301 · Jan 29, 2019

Brickman301 said:
Here is a small pile of the ingots, I’ve made using the corn bead pans. I like the size or these ingots, they are about 1 1/4 pounds each, and fit into most pots easily. I can’t figure out how to post videos. I have short videos of us using our setup.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

John from MD · Jan 29, 2019

Brickman301 said:
I use old cast iron corn bread pans. My ingots look like ears of corn. We keep the turkey fryers elevated, as well as the table, that the ingot molds are placed on, to try and minimize how much we have to bend over. The worst part is that my forearms hurt for a day or so, from using the lead ladle to pore the lead in the ingot molds.

Hey brickman, can't you thread the side of those tanks to put a valve in it? I would think a bronze washerless valve or a ball valve would make your work easier.

Brickman301 · Jan 29, 2019

John from MD said:
Hey brickman, can't you thread the side of those tanks to put a valve in it? I would think a bronze washerless valve or a ball valve would make your work easier.

Yeah I’ve thought about doing that, and still might in the future. I’ve been a little scared to do it, as if it was to fail, I’d have a big dangerous mess on my hands. My pots hold over 200 pounds, I guess I could try it with a smaller amount in it, for a test run.

John from MD · Jan 29, 2019

Couldn't hurt and may save you some work.

LaddyBoy · Jan 30, 2019

I have used a blue wrench / torch melting the large lead sheets and chunks while outside into smaller lead bar molds.

Melnic · Feb 2, 2019

Burner melted it down in about 20 minutes
There was a never ending pile of yellowish junk that kept building up at the top. Almost like it was coming from the skillet

I poured the lead into cup cake pan

It tested as pure lead

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PowPow · Feb 2, 2019

There's too much melting and dripping out where I fire that up. There's never a good time for a visit from the tinsel fairy!

Pinecone · Feb 2, 2019

Did you flux it before you skimmed?

Melnic · Feb 2, 2019

Initial skim
Then beeswax
Stir
Skim

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Brickman301 · Feb 2, 2019

I’m glad the turkey fryer worked out for you! Like I said before, that’s all I use anymore to smelt lead into ingots.
Now you need a deep aluminum kettle, so you can fry a turkey. Get a kettle with a steamer you can put in the bottom so you can stream craps and shrimp. Lol. These burners are very universal.

Brickman301 · Feb 2, 2019

Here’s a few pictures of my set up. These are older pictures, and I’ve got a lot more corn bread muffin tins now. I use the old propane/helium tanks, for my lead pots. I can easily get over 200 pounds in a pot. Saving the tops I cut off, I use them as lids. This helps especially for the 1st time I load up my pots, it definitely helps hold in the heat.

Pinecone · Feb 3, 2019

Melnic said:
Initial skim
Then beeswax
Stir
Skim

If you skimmed before you fluxed at all, that skim may be tin and/or antimony.

Dogmeat · Mar 2, 2019

Pinecone said:
If you skimmed before you fluxed at all, that skim may be tin and/or antimony.

But only 3%, no matter how many times you do it!

Cutting large lead chunks down

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