|
|
 |
|
|
STOVE: Here’s my current smelting setup. The burner is from a turkey fryer, the pot is a garage sale Dutch oven with a strip of sheet metal as a windbreaker; additional heat is provided from the top by a propane weed burner. Originally I used a camp stove and a heavy saucepan, with a propane torch for additional heat. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
TOOLS: You’ll need a ladle to fill your molds, a slotted spoon to skim the steel clips from your melt, a large spoon to help with fluxing, and pans to form your ingots. The pliers are used to move hot molds around and flip out the ingots. Muffin pans are easy to find at garage sales, and the ingots they create are the right size to fit in most casting pots. I use a lot of pans so that they have time to cool between fillings. Cornbread molds are also popular. Lee and Lyman sell more professional looking molds if that interests you. I have some fancy cast iron molds that I use for pure lead or lead of unknown composition; but when I grab a sack of muffin ingots, I know they’re pure WW. |
|
|
|
RAW ORE: Fill your pot with wheel weights and fire up the stove. You’ve already culled out the valve stems, stick-on weights (these are pure lead), candy wrappers and chaws that came with your bucket o’ lead. I add tin later, when casting bullets, if it seems necessary. |
|
