Smelting Today
- Thread starter nw mb
- Start date
Also, how can you tell you aren't melting zinc wheel weights into your lead and making it useless for casting? Top heat like that will melt the zinc as well as the lead. And getting Zinc out of lead is almost impossible unless you use sulfur and man, that stinks.
Anytime the temp goes above 800 or so you are loosing tin and antimony.
You need to get a gas "turkey burner" or electric hotplate and a thermometer.
Keep the temp around 700 and flux with saw dust to remove the impurities.
You can the also throw in a hunk of candle to put the tin back in the mix.
turkey fryer
You need to get a gas "turkey burner" or electric hotplate and a thermometer.
Keep the temp around 700 and flux with saw dust to remove the impurities.
You can the also throw in a hunk of candle to put the tin back in the mix.
turkey fryer
...how can i tell? ...because zinc weights were recovered intact...
...nope, zinc was still recovered and not melted...thanks though!
...melting point of zinc is 419, whereas lead is 327...guess it's not that hot in spite of how it appears...hhmmm
looking at your first video, it seems pretty slow with the small cast iron pot your using. get a sturdy turkey fryer and make it even more sturdy, then cut a propane tank in half or near the top and you should be able to do 100+ lbs per melt. also add a sheet metal heat shield to focus the heat around the pot unless it's a perfectly calm day.
perfect...can do (i indeed do have all that stuff...out back (really))
today it was indeed perfectly calm (actually using a cut out in the landscape here and low winds, too...truly) ...i think it went rather well and i did not over-heat in spite of what it looked like, but i need to test the hardness...
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perfect...can do...i am a farmer, you know?!(i indeed do have all that stuff...out back (really))
today it was indeed perfectly calm (actually using a cut out in the landscape here and low winds, too...truly) ...i think it went rather well and i did not over-heat in spite of what it looked like, but i need to test the hardness...
you certainly had a good yield all things considered, how many btu's is that propane heater? you could just rig something up so that's the burner in your make shift turkey fryer. the one i use is only 65,000 btu's
if you want to get real fancy you can make an even larger pot and built a spout to pour some lead from the bottom so you won't have to ladle it all. bigger batches mean more constant lead alloy.
here is a video with a wood burning smelter with bottom pour spout, also a good example of what can go wrong.
[youtube]zI2MCsiN3mg[/youtube]
actually reviewing this this morning the pot is never more than half empty (or half full if you're an optimist! )...once i make the melt that you see in the video, then i lay the torch in the channel and stir the pot with the ladle ...it always takes quite a while for the lead in the bottom to turn into a liquid ...it's a sludge really and not overheated, that's for sure ...then i turn the torch down (the pot is 3" above the the bottom so the flame is under the pot when it's laid down) and process it through the molds until it again reaches 1/2 empty, then refilled ...and if the torch is turned off at that point, the entire pot will solidify within a few minutes ...the heat's not that high ...no zinc melting ...and in my bullet casting it seems that my problem is with my bullets being harder than i want rather than too soft, although they certainly aren't brittle ...no problem in filling my molds when i'm casting bullets, either ...i flux at that time, not before, saves time and money ...it's slow but methodical and it works for me ...with this done i'll have about 3/4 of a ton of ingots ...i cast rifle bullets, buckshot, slugs, and fishing jigs ...i only do these big melts once every few years ...going to make a shot tower this winter
...it took me four hours to produce the ingots you see and i'm not quite 1/2 done
...and watching the video, he seems awfully rash ...his accident is horrific! ...not well thought through, although he is properly protected ...i wouldn't want to be anywhere near the guy...hope he was okay...
)...once i make the melt that you see in the video, then i lay the torch in the channel and stir the pot with the ladle ...it always takes quite a while for the lead in the bottom to turn into a liquid ...it's a sludge really and not overheated, that's for sure ...then i turn the torch down (the pot is 3" above the the bottom so the flame is under the pot when it's laid down) and process it through the molds until it again reaches 1/2 empty, then refilled ...and if the torch is turned off at that point, the entire pot will solidify within a few minutes ...the heat's not that high ...no zinc melting ...and in my bullet casting it seems that my problem is with my bullets being harder than i want rather than too soft, although they certainly aren't brittle ...no problem in filling my molds when i'm casting bullets, either ...i flux at that time, not before, saves time and money ...it's slow but methodical and it works for me ...with this done i'll have about 3/4 of a ton of ingots ...i cast rifle bullets, buckshot, slugs, and fishing jigs ...i only do these big melts once every few years ...going to make a shot tower this winter...it took me four hours to produce the ingots you see and i'm not quite 1/2 done
...and watching the video, he seems awfully rash ...his accident is horrific! ...not well thought through, although he is properly protected ...i wouldn't want to be anywhere near the guy...hope he was okay...
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...i did that with the first melts i did over the years ...this time i just did not have the time so everything went into the pot ...but i pulled a lot of zinc weights out ...it didn't show it but the temp was low enough that much of the time the lead was cool enough that it kept forming sludge in my dipper (pre-heated dipper) when i was ladling it out ...sorting is best tho, you're right on that
funny thing is, i did alot of math in the past and using a gasoline burner was cheaper to run than electricity at 15cent/kw.
i had to stop because mine wasnt meant to run for hours on high and started melting the alumilium shroud on the top. (BRS-12)
