Casting Equipment Questions - Melting Lead

Status
Not open for further replies.

Lovesbeer99

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
1,413
I have a few follow up questions with regards to casting -

1. Can I melt lead in any cast iron pot or pan? I can get 1 at a garage sale this fall.
2. If I buy a single propane burner, does it have to be high pressure?
3. Are there any burners that use those small green propane tanks for camping?
4. Anyone using the Hot Pot 2? Looks like a nice, cheap little unit to get started or to keep projects small, like if I'm testing something new.

I'd thought I'd start buy getting a hot pot for 21.00 and buying some lead to cast my first rounds. With a little practice I can get the pot and start getting into bigger projects. Then if I ever just want to drop 50 bullets or so, I can just use the little hot pot. Any opinions?

Thanks in advance.
 
1. yes. 2+3, i dont know. I use a old coleman camp stove and a Lee 10lb pot. 4.Looks like it would work for a few bullets. Never used it.
 
What do you use to fuel the coleman camp stove? How high can you get the temperature?
 
What do you use to fuel the coleman camp stove? How high can you get the temperature?
Unleaded gas. Hot enough to melt lead alloy. I Clean the alloy in the pot over the coleman. Make ingots. Then i make bullets using the Lee bottom pour 10lb pot.
 
1. Can I melt lead in any cast iron pot or pan? I can get 1 at a garage sale this fall. As far as I know yes.
2. If I buy a single propane burner, does it have to be high pressure? It doesn't have to be but a high pressure will be faster. It also depends on how big the pot is and how much lead you are melting at one time.
3. Are there any burners that use those small green propane tanks for camping?I have seen a single burner that takes the small tanks. I think it was called a light weight backpack stove.
4. Anyone using the Hot Pot 2? Looks like a nice, cheap little unit to get started or to keep projects small, like if I'm testing something new. I have never seen one of those.
This is what I use to melt my WW's to get ready for casting.
ry%3D400.jpg
The pot is a six quart dutch oven from Harbor freight, $12. The rectangle molds I made at work and my wife surprised me with the cast iron muffin pans. These are the tools I use to scoop clips, dros, flux and whatever else I need to do.
ry%3D400.jpg
I can melt around 1,000 pounds of lead with one propane tank. Here is the finished product from one evening after work, it's around 350 pounds.
ry%3D400.jpg
It doesn't cost that much to get setup like this. I'm into this for around $100. All I had to add to cast was a bottom pour pot and a mold.

Rusty
 
Rusty is that a Rowell #1?

I just ordered one from the Antimony Man not 5 minutes ago.

How do you like it?


Sadly the 6 qt dutch oven is now $19.99 at Harbor Freight. I will be picking one of those puppies up this week or next.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm sure I'll get into the mass clean and ingot stage, but I usually like to start small so I just want to cast a few bullets first. This will also give me time to get my larger gear set up.


Thanks again
 
I use a dutch oven a little bigger than the one shown above. For the heat source I use a propane ring for a crab boiler hooked to a BBQ-sized tank, though it will use the little ones too.
For casting I just use the same pot with an RCBS-type ladle, though I have found I get better results with larger calibers (.50+) if I enlarge the spout hole a little.
 
Bottom pour ladles are awesome. Not absolutely necessary, but real nice. I made a lead melter from an old stove eye. Worked great. Used a Club Aluminum pot to melt it in. I cut a piece of cast iron pipe to sit around the pot to help hold in the heat. Poured ingots in a Lee ingot mold and a cast iron muffin mold I found. Still have a bunch of ingots in the shed, even though I have given a lot away.
 
Quickdraw, it's a Rowell #3. It is supposed to hold either 4 or 41/2 pounds of lead. each rectangular bar has two ladles in it. I love the Rowell ladle but have never used a different kind to compare. That's still a great price for a six quart dutch oven.
Rusty
 
10% ethanol in Gas

The gas now has 10% ethanol in it. What will that do to my coleman camp stove that i have been using unleaded in all these years? Anyone using it?? :confused:
 
if you have a Dick' Sporting Goods store near you they have an excellent 2 burner camp stove that can use a 20 lb propane tank,Camp Chef is the name I believe. That's what I use with a large cast iron pot I got from Walmart. I can melt 60-80 lbs of WW in a little over an hour.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top