New ingot mold

[Camaroguy]

Last fall while working my second 250 pound batch of lead, my one overworked RCBS four x one pound ingot broke. The tab fell off. So I limped through the rest of batch only making three one pounders per pour. I could have bought a couple new moods, but they're thirty bucks after tax. So instead I invested my $30 into a four foot length of three by one inch channel, dug out some three by one inch angle iron and built my own molds. Channel was cut to five inches at the base with a 10 degree draft. Ingots drop right at six pounds each. These ingots aren't the nicest due to the mold being cold and not getting the lead very hot. I expect better results when I use it for a large batch.

 

[yomomma]

yup....next time weld on the outside.

 

[Camaroguy]

I welded on the inside because I was worried lead would get into the gap and lock the ingot in the mold.

 

[yomomma]

gap has to be pretty big for that to happen

 

[vviking]

Admire your initiative OP.
My 1/2 dozen muffin trays do just fine, no waiting to cool during a large melt session, and a handy sized ingot to refill pot with.
Almost free at value village, or pinch a few from yer MIL!.

 

[Camaroguy]

Thanks for the tip, yomomma. I'll give it a try Wednesday when I make a second one.

I had thought about using muffin pans but I don't think they would stack well and round shapes waste space. Knowing my lead pile wasn't stacked as neatly as it could be would eat at me.

 

[BattleRife]

I hated using muffin tins. They are flimsy, a tray of heavy ingots will flop and fold if handled improperly. And if the ingots stick, even a little, you gotta bang on them to try to release it, and the tins end up mangled in no time.

I tried to use them twice, then went out and bought hot rolled steel shapes to make moulds. I did some C-channel ones like Camaroguy, but the triangular ones made from angle iron are by far the easiest and fastest to use. And they stack nicely, too.

 

[ted_dent]

Mini-muffin trays. Cheap, the ingots only weigh around half a pound or less so they melt really fast in the casting pot so temperature doesn't drop like with big ingots and you can get them with as many as 24 cavities so you can get 10-12 pounds of ingots per tray. Been using them for years, never had one fold up or break.

 

[soulchaser]

I hated using muffin tins. They are flimsy, a tray of heavy ingots will flop and fold if handled improperly. And if the ingots stick, even a little, you gotta bang on them to try to release it, and the tins end up mangled in no time.

I tried to use them twice, then went out and bought hot rolled steel shapes to make moulds. I did some C-channel ones like Camaroguy, but the triangular ones made from angle iron are by far the easiest and fastest to use. And they stack nicely, too.

Couldn't you use a blow torch and heat up the underside of the cup that had the stuck ingot to loosen it up and pop it out?

 

[Mobular]

Sticking ingots? What's that? I give each cavity a quick shot of graphite spray lube. The ingots fall right out! Each graphite application lasts...well, I don't know as I've never had to reapply it!

 

[RRCo.]

Works well if you just clamp the angle iron ends instead of welding them on. Clean corners and no chance of pours getting stuck.

I was doing some recently and the fumes will trick you: once the obvious contaminants are burned off and visible smoke is gone, it seems all OK, but it's not!

A strong wind or a good sized fan blowing, or else hold your breath.

 

[Lionel]

I made up the same thing, but made the ingot moulds long enough to just fit the finished product inside a 5.56 ammo can.

I made up both angle iron and C-channel moulds.

They work pretty slick, with the only problem being they can get too hot for the lead to cool quickly, so I have to either wait, or use more moulds. I made more moulds.