Melting lead in the cold-my new experience

Using your home cast bullets as a ammunition component. Group buys are listed here.
Post Reply
User avatar
JohnnyEnfield
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 159
Joined: 08 Dec 2017 20:24
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Northeast USA
Has thanked: 176 times
Been thanked: 53 times

Melting lead in the cold-my new experience

Post by JohnnyEnfield »

Hello all,

Today I finally found an old, leftover piece of lead flashing that I have had for 18 or so years. it was almost 3 feet long, maybe 10 inches wide. I have looked high and low for it recently because I wanted to use a 2 quart cast dutch oven I have to melt lead and wanted to test it with the flashing. Someone here mentioned that they had used the side burner on a grill to smelt with a small pot so I wanted to give it a try. This would be my very first attempt at melting lead.

I got everything together, my plan was to melt, flux with wax, clean the scuz (it is dirty and cruddy from being outside in a tin shed and even had mouse droppings on it) and try to pour into a tin that I used to clean small parts in, since I don't have real ingot mold yet. It was around 20 degrees Fahrenheit here when I started heating the dutch oven on the grill side burner. It took a while but melted pretty well and I kept adding little pieces until there was a decent little puddle. The scuz really separated itself very well and then I fluxed and let it smoke real well, everything looked great. There was a small chunk that seemed like it just would not melt all the way and I realized it was probably cooling off and hardening in that spot. I left the lid on for a while and came back and that helped but still there would always be an area, maybe a little bigger than a quarter where the top would harden. I fluxed and cleaned and the same thing kept happening. I left it in the pot and let it harden completely.

It appears that the temperature of the mix and amount of BTUs from the side burner was not enough to overcome the cold air and it just got hard spots on top. Does this sound possible? I have never done it before so it is all new to me. I am pretty happy with the results so far. Next I want to try the turkey fryer with the same 2 quart dutch oven. It cleaned up nicely so far, I will put the piece that I cleaned so far in the pot and start fresh, adding the rest of the lead as I go. Same fluxing and cleaning and mixing. Hopefully the heat from that fryer will get it hot enough to liquefy everything. Also, I don't want to 'over cook' the lead. Anything I should look for? Signs of too much heat or not enough? Thanks for listening.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, means- resize, reload, recycle.
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6456
Joined: 22 Jun 2013 17:16
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1616 times
Been thanked: 2850 times

Re: Melting lead in the cold-my new experience

Post by Ranch Dog »

JohnnyEnfield wrote:It appears that the temperature of the mix and amount of BTUs from the side burner was not enough to overcome the cold air and it just got hard spots on top. Does this sound possible?
Entirely possible.
Michael
Image
User avatar
GasGuzzler
Moderator & Supporter
Moderator & Supporter
Posts: 2035
Joined: 26 Jan 2016 22:39
My Press Choice: Turret
Location: Cooke County, TX
Has thanked: 330 times
Been thanked: 500 times

Re: Melting lead in the cold-my new experience

Post by GasGuzzler »

There's no way the side burner on my grille would heat a cast pot enough. I wouldn't trust it to hold the weight either especially after adding the lead.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from goin' insane.
User avatar
JohnnyEnfield
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 159
Joined: 08 Dec 2017 20:24
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Northeast USA
Has thanked: 176 times
Been thanked: 53 times

Re: Melting lead in the cold-my new experience

Post by JohnnyEnfield »

So my update is this: The turkey fryer worked and worked well. The big chunk of pretty silver lead is cooling in the the 2 QT dutch oven as I type. I have no good way to make ingots so I decided to just make a big one in the bottom of the pot.

So my first load of lead has been melted and cleaned. I am not sure how much of this I want to do in the future, the fumes are a killer. Great experience and experiment though. Gives me food for thought. My giant ingot will be there if I ever need it. Pure lead for a trade if needed as well.

The lead was melting beautifully this time and the whole operation went smoothly. I definitely was not getting enough heat out of the side burner the other day. It is still cold here, in the twenties but the turkey fryer was great and very adjustable too. Happy melting guys!
Reduce, reuse, recycle, means- resize, reload, recycle.
User avatar
JohnnyEnfield
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 159
Joined: 08 Dec 2017 20:24
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Northeast USA
Has thanked: 176 times
Been thanked: 53 times

Re: Melting lead in the cold-my new experience

Post by JohnnyEnfield »

So I just weighed the ingot and it is 7.4 pounds. Basically pure lead, since it started as roof flashing material. The slag in the slag bucket looks like I got most all junk out with very little lead. a few little pieces mixed in that could not be avoided because it was dripped into the spoon with it. Very happy with the outcome.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, means- resize, reload, recycle.
User avatar
Macd
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 1009
Joined: 16 Oct 2017 16:12
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Far East
Has thanked: 362 times
Been thanked: 403 times

Re: Melting lead in the cold-my new experience

Post by Macd »

I use the side burner for a one quart cast pot which I use to pour small ingots. My BBQ is more than capable of handling the weight. It is used also for boiling lobsters in a big stock pot. Lead melts slower but it melts just fine. Do it on nice warm days with little or no wind so I can sit out on deck, enjoy some sun and maybe a beer. Over the course of a week I can accumulate quite a few pounds of small round ingots that are nice and clean. These go in my stock for the days I decide to cast a few bullets. My shooting, except 9mm, doesn't use up a lot of lead so it meets my needs. I used to use the turkey pot burner but I found big pots too heavy to handle full of lead so gave it up. A camp stove is my favourite and I use one with two burners and two old stainless kitchen pots with side handles if I want to produce more ingots at a time.
User avatar
GasGuzzler
Moderator & Supporter
Moderator & Supporter
Posts: 2035
Joined: 26 Jan 2016 22:39
My Press Choice: Turret
Location: Cooke County, TX
Has thanked: 330 times
Been thanked: 500 times

Re: Melting lead in the cold-my new experience

Post by GasGuzzler »

I guess I can hold more weight than my grille. My cast pot is 6 quarts and is cast iron. I'm not putting it and 40-60 pounds of lead on my grille where I make food. To each his own. That's what's cool about life.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from goin' insane.
Post Reply

Return to “Cast Bullets, Buckshot, & Slugs”