Poor Ingot Mould Choice
- Thread starter TXGunNut
- Start date
AlaskaMike
New member
The muffin pans are real hit or miss. I have some that work beautifully, but I have others that were absolute disasters. The aluminum ones get really soft when heated by the molten alloy and just collapse, and the ones that have the cups soldered to the surface tray separate just like you experienced. What you want are the old one piece stamped steel ones, or cast iron. The muffin ingots also don't stack well. I have 5 gallon buckets that I fill about halfway, so I don't worry about stacking. It would be a heck of a lot more convenient if I had an ingot shape that lent itself well to stacking though.
That said, I think the welded angle-iron moulds are the real deal. They're darn near indestructable, and if you leave them outside in the rain so they rust a little bit, they'll drop the ingots with no effort on your part. It really helps if the ends are angled out slightly though. Ends that are perfectly square absolutely don't help ingot release at all. I should point out that I don't have any angle-iron ingot moulds though, but I've read quite a bit in preparation to have a friend weld some up for me.
If the angle-iron moulds sound like something you want to pursue, you might do some searches on http://castboolits.gunloads.com since there are quite a large number of threads including good photos there.
Mike
That said, I think the welded angle-iron moulds are the real deal. They're darn near indestructable, and if you leave them outside in the rain so they rust a little bit, they'll drop the ingots with no effort on your part. It really helps if the ends are angled out slightly though. Ends that are perfectly square absolutely don't help ingot release at all. I should point out that I don't have any angle-iron ingot moulds though, but I've read quite a bit in preparation to have a friend weld some up for me.
If the angle-iron moulds sound like something you want to pursue, you might do some searches on http://castboolits.gunloads.com since there are quite a large number of threads including good photos there.
Mike
grubbylabs
New member
I just realized that I have some Stock that I think is 2X2. I am going to cut it some and see if I can get some molds out of it. I should be able to weld some ends on it easily.
mapsjanhere
New member
Just one remark, do NOT use Teflon coated muffin pans, the Teflon decomposes below the melting temperature, and the decomposition products are extremely hazardous to your health.
grubbylabs
New member
Well I have two options for welding, I can try my stick welder again but I am having a hard time picking that up. Or I can go a few blocks away and use a friends wire feed welder. I am pretty good with a wire feed welder, but I can't seem to use a stick to save my own hind end.
I'll say first,I have not done this,it is theoretical.If you are going to weld something up,there are two kinds of channel iron.One kind has a significant draft inside the legs.So,if a person took some 1 1/2 or 2 in channel.and chopped it to 4 to 6 in long,with a little taper on the ends,you could gang them side by side,weld flat bar to cap the ends,and have a good ingot mold.
I still like the Lyman.
Anymore,if I can buy a good product that meets my needs at a fair price,my time and trouble to make it,I'd rather make what I cannot buy.
I still like the Lyman.
Anymore,if I can buy a good product that meets my needs at a fair price,my time and trouble to make it,I'd rather make what I cannot buy.
My understanding of the graphite molds is that they're intended for the precious metals trades.
When I was looking into casting and reading up on the molds, I came across the graphite ones, but I also noticed that they were almost always built to much smaller sizes than the lead casting community uses.
When you're playing with gold or silver, and playing with materials that cost that much, apparently you don't keep all that much on hand...
When I was looking into casting and reading up on the molds, I came across the graphite ones, but I also noticed that they were almost always built to much smaller sizes than the lead casting community uses.
When you're playing with gold or silver, and playing with materials that cost that much, apparently you don't keep all that much on hand...
I use angle iron 2" & be sure to make a little draft (angle) on the ends so they will drop out !
You can even get graphite spray from the auto store $ 8-10 & coat em good !
The 2 I welded up I did`nt put a draft on em ,so I took a hammer & knocked a draft in em now they fall out !
You can even get graphite spray from the auto store $ 8-10 & coat em good !
The 2 I welded up I did`nt put a draft on em ,so I took a hammer & knocked a draft in em now they fall out !
A buddy of mine owns a fab shop. He had some scrap channel iron, drops from a job. He fabed this one up for something "to do" one day. I told him I would be smelting some range scrap lead, he hauled this out saying "here test this for me, I made it a while back, never used it".
It casts a 2.5 pound ingot, that fits right in my lee 20# pro-20.
Here it is in use. Note the two muffin tins on the bottom of the pic. They're Teflon coated aluminum. They worked just fine, I did not notice any noxious fumes coming from them, AND I survived the smelting session.
Just about anything metal with tapered sides can be used to pour ingots. If you get some tin coated muffin tins, you WILL NOT be able to get the ingots out once you pour hot lead in them. The ingots will solder tight to the steel. I suspect that if you were to spray some graphite type mold release on those tin coated tins, you would be able to use them without trouble.
I got some of this to try to make a stubborn mold release boolits. It didn't help, but would work for a sticky ingot mold.
It casts a 2.5 pound ingot, that fits right in my lee 20# pro-20.
Here it is in use. Note the two muffin tins on the bottom of the pic. They're Teflon coated aluminum. They worked just fine, I did not notice any noxious fumes coming from them, AND I survived the smelting session.
Just about anything metal with tapered sides can be used to pour ingots. If you get some tin coated muffin tins, you WILL NOT be able to get the ingots out once you pour hot lead in them. The ingots will solder tight to the steel. I suspect that if you were to spray some graphite type mold release on those tin coated tins, you would be able to use them without trouble.
I got some of this to try to make a stubborn mold release boolits. It didn't help, but would work for a sticky ingot mold.