My new alloying and bullet casting work station!

[JimGnitecki]

This photo shows the alloying and bullet casting work station I built yesterday as I prepare to get into lead alloying and bullet casting:



It is outdoors, and it is concrete, for safety reasons (ventilation of lead fumes and fire prevention just in case).

The 8 individual concrete blocks that create the 2 support towers for the tabletop weigh 28.6 lb each, and are each 7.5” high by 15.5” long and 7.5” wide. The 1.5” thick by 24” x 30” concrete tabletop (actually a modular sidewalk panel from Home Depot) weighs 102 lb.

So, the entire structure weighs 331 lb, so it is not going to move while I work on it or accidentally bump it. But since it is not mortared, it can be disassembled and removed in the future quite easily.

There is a layer of concrete caulk between the tabletop and the 2 tower supports to ensure that there is NO “rocking” between the tabletop and the supports.

The location was carefully chosen. It is not visible by neighbours, or from inside the house, it gets outdoor ventilation even if I choose to not use a fan, and if I create any tall flames during fluxing with sawdust and bees wax, they can safely go upward without encountering anything that they could burn. The gravel ground cover is obviously not going to catch fire if I ever have a hot lead spill. And if things get really wild somehow, the siding on the garage is HardiePlank, which is made of concrete so cannot burn.

This is also a very low maintenance setup. The outdoor location means no careful and complete cleaning up of any residual lead is required, as would be if I had used a location inside the house. We get very cold winters here in The Province of Alberta, Canada, but since my annual usage of cast bullets is relatively low (under 1000 at most), I plan to do all my casting in the April to October timeframe, so cold winters are not an issue. And w ehave very DRY weather here. Only 14 inches of rain per YEAR.

My low annual usage also ensures that I don't need to play with Lead for more than a very few hours per year, and that of course is a good thing. In fact, the only reason I am taking up casting is because here in Canada, pre-made 405g and 500g or heavier 48-70 bullets are (a) very hard to source, (b) very expensive, (c) very costly to ship, and (d) too hard for the low pressure Trapdoor-level loads I intend to use in a Pedersolli rifle that needs bullets that obturate well without leading. And, no, U.S. bullet makers are NOT allowed to ship to Canada either.

The workbench is well within range of a 12 gauge extension cord that plugs into a choice of 120 volt / 2400 watt outlets inside the garage, so I have 2400 watts of electrical power available, and 2400 MORE watts if I ever need them, as the garage as 2 separate 120 volt outlet circuits.

The entire cost of the concrete blocks, tabletop, and concrete caulk was about $76 Canadian.

As you can see, I’ve tried to maximize convenience of a rather inconvenient task, and minimize the chances of any safety or damage issues, while enabling myself to make bullets of ideal BHN for my specific shooting plans.

Jim G

 

[kmw1954]

Jim that looks terrific. In time you may find you need another table to set all the extra tools and peripherals, like bullet boxes, cloves, wood knocker for the molds, Wax, Spoons or ladles.

Last time I rendered down scrap lead bullets I did enough in two days with my big pot that I now still have almost 250lbs of ingots ready to cast. Also I understand your position as I have a friend casting 45-70 also.

Not take your time and enjoy.

 

[JimGnitecki]

Jim that looks terrific. In time you may find you need another table to set all the extra tools and peripherals, like bullet boxes, cloves, wood knocker for the molds, Wax, Spoons or ladles.

Last time I rendered down scrap lead bullets I did enough in two days with my big pot that I now still have almost 250lbs of ingots ready to cast. Also I understand your position as I have a friend casting 45-70 also.

Not take your time and enjoy.

Yes, I realize you can never have too much work surface, but I was limited by a some important constraints:

- The available outdoor and out of sight space is limited in our suburban lot, and I did not want to get too close to either the deck attached to the house on one side, or the garage on the other side

- I wanted concrete for the entire work station, and the largest concrete slab available from my local Home Depot is the 24" x 30" one I bought, and that slab itself weighs 102 lb, which is about the limit of what I would try to lift, carry, and install from the pickup truck to the work station location! Also, unreinforced precast concrete is only strong in compression, not tensile strength, so I did not want the unreinforced tabletop to have to span any more distance than absolutely needed

- My wife would not tolerate a concrete workstation in the backyard if it was any larger than this!

The limit on available space is one reason I am separating alloying sessions from casting sessions. It reduces the number of items needed to be on the table surface simultaneously.

Jim G

 

[41 Mag]

Looks good. I always set up separate times for cast or smelting ingots. Just too much stuff to wrangle. I use a propane fish cooker that I reinforced the legs on, then a large cast iron Dutch oven pot for the lead, that'll hold just over 60# if I load it up. That works out good since my alloy recipes are based upon a 60# batch.

 

[Targa]

Looks great!!! It appears that you will have ample shade as well. That is a big plus in my casting sessions, I am no fan of the sun.

 

[Obturation]

Simple works. I cast outside too generally unless it's real windy or too cold, in those cases I'll clear my metal work bench off in the garage and open the window it sits against with a fan . the only thing that matters is that it works for you . good luck , I've only been casting a few years and sometimes things don't make sense the way they turn out but you can always melt and pour again until it's right .

Also I understand your position as I have a friend casting 45-70 also

lots of lead and lots of powder = lots of fun and a sore shoulder

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

Don't be too concerned about lead fumes. You are not boiling the lead, you are melting it. The only fumes you will get is from the garbage in the pile of wheel weights, which is absolutely something to be of some concern.

I render the dirty lead in a barn (some call it smelting; we are not smelting. We are melting and cleaning: I.e. rendering). No fan, but I stay out of the smoke.

Even during rendering, you will have some tools. Scrapers, large stirring implements, a bucket or large can (fireproof) in which to deposit the garbage you clean from the dirty lead.

You will need someplace to set the ingot molds during pouring, and someplace (else) to set the cooling ingots.

Looks like you have a good setup. Enjoy it!

 

[JimGnitecki]

Don't be too concerned about lead fumes. You are not boiling the lead, you are melting it. The only fumes you will get is from the garbage in the pile of wheel weights, which is absolutely something to be of some concern.

I render the dirty lead in a barn (some call it smelting; we are not smelting. We are melting and cleaning: I.e. rendering). No fan, but I stay out of the smoke.

Even during rendering, you will have some tools. Scrapers, large stirring implements, a bucket or large can (fireproof) in which to deposit the garbage you clean from the dirty lead.

You will need someplace to set the ingot molds during pouring, and someplace (else) to set the cooling ingots.

Looks like you have a good setup. Enjoy it!

Good point on the potentially bad ingredients in recycled lead products, like wheel weights. I believe I will be able to avoid those at least initially because:

- A good friend is going to give me a substantial bunch of Linotype left over from his own casting history (He stopped casting years ago after moving entirely into F-Class shooting where cast bullets are not used)

- I have a large supply of very soft, pretty much 100% Lead .357 Mag Hornady swaged bullets that proved to be unsuitable for my Cowboy Action Shooting (SO soft that they got further swaged down by the brass cases during normal bullet seating and gave really crappy accuracy as a result), and I will initially use several pounds of them to alloy with the Linotype, to bring the hardness of the Linotype down into the 13 to 15 BHN range I need for Trapdoor-level pressures in my Pedersoli Sharps replica.

So my alloying and casting sessions are going to be using only "clean" material.

In theory, because both the Limotype and the swaged bullets SHOULD be very clean, I should in fact be able to alloy them together in my Lyman Mag 25 melting pot, but I have been told that it is not a good practice to put anything into a bottom pour pot that you are not absolutely sure is free of any impurities that could potentially clog the pour valve. So I plan to use a s.s. saucepan on a 1500 watt electrical hot plate to do the alloying, and then in a separate session feed the resulting ingots into the Mag 25 for casting into 500g bullets.

Jim G

 

[mdi]

That bench ain't goin' nowhere! It's good that you are very safety minded, but be cartful to not overthink it. Also be aware that not all things one reads or sees on line are true or helpful. (I've only been casting 30+ years and my blood/lead levels are within "normal" range, and only have had minor burns were all my inattention, my fault. No fires or major spills). Your casting station should last a very long time and provide a very safe casting location...

 

[Blue68f100]

The only thing I see that may be a problem is by chance you spill (Or drop something) something that misses your table top. Cleaning up in gravel is not going to me a easy task.

Do like the setup, well thought out.

 

[JimGnitecki]

The only thing I see that may be a problem is by chance you spill (Or drop something) something that misses your table top. Cleaning up in gravel is not going to me a easy task.

Do like the setup, well thought out.

I agree that a Lead spill into the gravel would be hard to clean up. Best remedy in that scenario would be to simply shovel out the area that got splattered and replace with fresh gravel.

Jim G

 

[kmw1954]

- The available outdoor and out of sight space is limited in our suburban lot, and I did not want to get too close to either the deck attached to the house on one side, or the garage on the other side

Jim G

All that would really be needed is a small folding card table to be set up and taken down when not needed. Not meant to work on just a place to stage tools so your actual work bench does not become cluttered.

 

[JimGnitecki]

All that would really be needed is a small folding card table to be set up and taken down when not needed. Not meant to work on just a place to stage tools so your actual work bench does not become cluttered.

That's a GREAT idea! I already have a couple of folding DeWalt worktables that could hold the staged tools. Thanks!

Jim G