Just smelted 130 pounds of WW lead ingots.

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Kryogen

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Went quite well, bought 2 5 gals at a tire shop for 40$.
Quite a lot of iron weights, dirty smoke and took all the afternoon, but I now have 22 nice 6 pound ingots.
Felt quite good pouring that molten lead, felt like a ton of gold to me ;)
Should be good for a while.

Bought a camping outdoor burner(60 000 btu), a cheap pot at walmart, and a laddle, and all set. Cost approx 80$ to setup (used bbq propane tank).

Ended up at approx 30 cent per refined pound. Still okay I guess, would cost like 4$ per refined ingot + shipping(heavy, expensive) if you buy refined.
Costs 6$ a pound for plated berry bullets, so thats quite a nice saving.

So at 30 cent a pound, it's still 20 times cheaper than berry bullets.

Of course it took the whole afternoon to process those 130 pounds, and then it cost 80$ to smelt, and then like 250$ for equipment to cast, but oh well, it's fun and in the end, it's going to last a while I guess.

Just reporting. I hope the casting goes well. Didnt order the stuff yet so I'll report when I know.
 
Nice satisfying job, I'm sure . I still have 5 gallon pales of sorted wheel weights sitting in the garage just waiting for such an affair. What size/type/material of pot did you use for the melt? I have an old barbeque that we don't use any more ear marked for the melting, but I'm not sure the old burner would be up to the task.
 
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...853259P/Master+Chef+Stand+Fryer.jsp?locale=en
0853259_1

This, with a walmart 15$ cheap stainless steel cooking pot
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I did not use a thermometer, i tried to sort all zn weights out but some got in, but i think i got em all out before they melted because as soon as lead started to melt, i stirred and removed everything that floated including clips and zn weights. Some nasty zn weights are just marked p like lead.
 
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To convert an old BBQ take the regulator and hoses with the valves and jets and find a chunk of pipe to make a new burner..put some screen on one end and feed the gas/air in the other end. Is is better to be able to "meter" the air in to get a good flame. I am going to do this to Smelt about 600 pound of lino-type.
Someday....:bsFlag:
 
the dreaded zinc... Is there a practical use for ZN? I've been saving the ones I sort out - chronic hoarder maybe. I think I'll get a thermometer anyways. I sort every thing, but I'm sure some will slip through. I might have to stop by C-tire tomorrow and spend some CT dollars on the burner though.
 
Hunter1970 said:
the dreaded zinc... Is there a practical use for ZN? I've been saving the ones I sort out - chronic hoarder maybe. I think I'll get a thermometer anyways. I sort every thing, but I'm sure some will slip through. I might have to stop by C-tire tomorrow and spend some CT dollars on the burner though.
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Yup mail them to the nearest NDP tree hugger and ask him which landfill site he would prefer to fill with them.

Take Care

Bob
 
Hunter1970 said:
the dreaded zinc... Is there a practical use for ZN? I've been saving the ones I sort out - chronic hoarder maybe. I think I'll get a thermometer anyways. I sort every thing, but I'm sure some will slip through. I might have to stop by C-tire tomorrow and spend some CT dollars on the burner though.
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Find a guy that cast's fishing lure's or sinker's. Make sure you tell him what it is.
 
Hunter1970 said:
the dreaded zinc... Is there a practical use for ZN? I've been saving the ones I sort out - chronic hoarder maybe. I think I'll get a thermometer anyways. I sort every thing, but I'm sure some will slip through. I might have to stop by C-tire tomorrow and spend some CT dollars on the burner though.
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i'm not sure if he will ship to canada, i don't see why not, but on cast boolits a member by the name of shady grey (i think :)) will trade you equal amounts of lead WW for your zinc. he makes cannon balls from it. 40lb balls.
 
I hope I didnt get zn in the mix. zn weights that slip in didnt seem to melt, but how can I be sure, eh.
I will just sell all the junk (iron and zinc) (probably 70 pounds of junk and 130 pounds of lead) to a metal selling place. Maybe I'll just get 10$ out of it though. oh well.
I don't want to throw it away, and I don't want to toss it in the recycle bin. Iron is worth something.
higginson is out on all lee reloading equipment so I'll just wait I guess.
 
Spawn-Inc said:
i'm not sure if he will ship to canada, i don't see why not, but on cast boolits a member by the name of shady grey (i think :)) will trade you equal amounts of lead WW for your zinc. he makes cannon balls from it. 40lb balls.
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Zinc is worth more than lead. sell it locally with your iron scrap
 
No #### I told the garages I used lead to cast scuba diving weights.
(still a damn good bargain, scuba diving shops steal you at 4$ a pound for weights, when you can cast your own for 30 cent a pound). Of course you wont get the belt holes, but we all know pimp scuba divers use weight pouches nowaays anyway, so cast anything you want that fits in the pocket....
But for real, I cast bullets with it, I already got ripped off on the scuba diving weights, too late.
I don't like saying to everyone that I cast bullets
I also say that I cast lead medieval figurines that I paint.
 
Now that you have a nice big stash of lead ingots, you might want to run them through the melting process again. I do that to get rid of ALL of the dirt and crap that floated to the top or stuck to the sides of the pot and didn't come out with the skimming.
 
I have a 500+ pound smelt planned for Aug long weekend as long as there is no rain. I just cut a propane tank in half and will be using the type of burner above. I just need to find a lid for this pot as it is bigger than the one I used in the past. I think I am in for a long day :)
 
90 pouds of scrap and 120 pouds of lead.
LOTS of large iron weights.

How much do you guys pay per 5 gallon of WW ?
I paid 40$ for 1.5 (1 being full)
 
Kryogen said:
90 pouds of scrap and 120 pouds of lead.
LOTS of large iron weights.

How much do you guys pay per 5 gallon of WW ?
I paid 40$ for 1.5 (1 being full)
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that's pretty much on par, i think with alot more people casting it will be the new normal price, but before it was $20/near full 5gal pail.
 
They use zinc for all sorts of good things.

They plate metal with it to stop corrosion.

They make little blocks of it to attach to boat motor legs and hulls to stop the electrolytic action between the different metals in salt water.

The zinc actually casts well into bullets on its own. It's harder than lead but is also more frangible. Weight is different as well. Lighter.

Some higher end vehicles, use zinc blocks for the same reason boats do, only it's road salts they are trying to deal with.
 
one place wanted 35$ for one full bucket, that,s too much considering almost 30% is iron or zinc now.

I would say 25$ per full 5 gallon, 30 max if it's really full and he wont give it to you..

Quite a crapload of job to smelt and you end up with 60% lead and 40% crap.
Will sell the rest to metal recycling, but at like 10 cents a pound, that's just 9$ of scrap
 
the best felling is to remove all those clips by the lader full.
its getting harder to get any lead now, garage always say they got a company and they cant because its illegal all sorts of BS.
 
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