need help with ww to ingnots

R

rbf420

New member
whats the best way to melt down WWs im using a dutch oven and campfire (pallets) currently and its just not working, ive heard mention of fish fryers and particular model/brand thats good or any other methods that are worth mentioning? thanks for the help
 
Any of them from Walmart, Lowes, Gander Mtn, Cabelas, (insert favorite outdoor store here). You will be surprised how fast you can melt a pot of lead with one of these. A good lead thermometer would be a good idea too.
 
I use my fish fryer all the time, for the smelting process. As flintshooter has mentioned, any of these should be just fine. I literally can get mine to roar and the melt is fast. Most of my ingots are out of muffin tins. I also run sinkers and decoy weights. :)


Be Safe !!!
 
I use a fish fryer too. It gets up to heat quickly and I spend more time removing steel clips and dross than I do filling ingot molds. Once you start getting a melt, it goes quickly.

One caution: Once you've used an pot, pan, or spoon for melting lead, I'd mark it somehow so that it's never in the food business again.
 
How many pounds are you talking about? I do about 10 to 15 pounds at a time in a stainless steel saucepan on an electric hotplate. It's cheaper than buying propane or Coleman fuel, and easier to control than burning wood.

(what I need is a big electric or natural gas furnace)
 
So far I'm doing small (<50#) lots in my Lee 20# pot-one without bottom pour. It melts them almost as fast as I can sort them. If I get a few hundred pounds piled up I'll get a propane setup.
 
Melt em anyway ya can ,as safely as ya can !!

Don`t add wet lead to a melt !!!

Don`t use aluminum pots or pans to melt in !!!!


JUST DON`T

& DON`T ASK HOW I KNOW THIS :p:p


I`ve been lucky not to be seriously hurt or burnt:eek: , YET :D
 
You don't see them so often anymore, but a nice cast iron plumber's lead melting pot is perfect. Shaped like a small cauldron except for a flatter bottom. One of those with a stand is great. The fryer burners are fast, but a Bunsen burner is plenty of Btu"s for these things if you aren't in a hurry, and uses a lot less fuel. They're still made, along with special burners, though I don't know how many plumbers or body work guys actually use them these days.
 
I've used a single-burner Coleman camp stove for years. $20 at walmart and I can get through about 60 lbs of smelting on one throw-away tank. I've been threatening for a very long time to just get a remote line for my 8gal tank and be done with little disposables, but just haven't yet. It works just fine as-is.
 
Rangefinder beat me to it.
The Coleman stoves work fine and you can find them everywhere. New or old, it dont matter.

I much prefer my turkey fryer, but I end up using the Coleman once in a while.


I just looked and this was my 600'th post. I need to get a life!:o:p
 
And I'd add in that when I got my turkey fryer burner I was able to buy just the burner. I think Gander Mountain had them for $30 when I was in there one day. About half what they wanted for whole fryer set at the time, though I've seen at least one of those complete sets online for $40. Lots of expensive burners are out there, too, but I've also noticed you can buy replacement burner tips for under $10 if you want to plumb your own and can make your own stand.
 
I prefer the fish fryer heigth.

I prefer the fish fryer burner, only because it sets up higher than the turkey fryer. Just a bit handier. .... :)
I also get more service out of my fish fryer as I can fry other foods outside, like chicken, potatoes, stir-fry and somtimes beef liver. .... :)

I've used a single-burner Coleman camp stove for years.
Click to expand...
I did as well and had plenty of heat to boot. Found this a bit tipsy where the fish fryer, is pretty stabile.


Be Safe !!!
 
Originally I used an old plumbers leadpot and burner but found that to be a bit unstable. I found an old "dutch oven" cast iron pot in a scrap yard (too rusted to be any good for cooking) and I use it on top of my propane turkey frier. Its a lot more stable and I can melt quite a bit more lead per session.

My scoop is from a long handled straining spoon that I attached a wodden handle to. To ladle the lead into ingots, I use the lyman ladle.

My ingot molds are cast iron corn roasters.

I worked for a little over 7 years in a tire shop and saved the old wheel wights from there. In a months time I could fill a 15 gallon drum with used weights (no, I brought them home in 5 gal pails with 3 to 4 gallons worth in each and stored them in the 15 gal empty oil drum untill I smelted them into ingots).
 
I use a turkey fryer that I got at walmart. The only complaint I have about it is the timer system on it. Other wise for 45 bucks its hard to complain about.
 
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