Casting Stove

[smo]

This is basically the stove I have:
http://www.coleman.com/product/per...642?contextCategory=2005#.Ue02f1FAPzI[/quote]

:shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2:

IMHO I had rather sand paper a wildcats rear end!

There's no way that "I" would try to run ball on that type of burner. :shake:

 

[crockett]

Looks sort of wobbly to me, I would put a couple of concrete blocks on either side with steel bars or a heavy BBQ grate to support the pot and then just use the stove as a heat source. I use the regular car camping type Coleman stove. I also favor a cast iron pot.

 

[ZUG]

I have an old Coleman "backpacking" single burner stove that sits atop the propane cylinder. Would this be hot enough to melt lead for casting?

This is my set-up to smelt. It will hold 60 pounds of lead safely. The "pot" is a 12" steel wok. Each ingot weighs about 2-3/8 pounds.

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[rodwha]

I can see how this little Coleman stove isn't as stable as it ought to be. It will be replaced ASAP.

My BBQ pit isn't well thought out as there is no side entry port to add wood/charcoal to the firebox. Maybe I can use just one grate and add wood from the side... I must say that I don't like the idea of using it for such as it could possibly send fumes from anything spilled into food later on right? Maybe if I laid layers of foil across it?

 

[Rifleman1776]

I don't know what I was thinking! You are correct as there is only 7000 grains to a pound (not an ounce).

And that doesn't make enough RB's for a day's shoot. I'd need to work with 2 lbs or more, especially if casting conicals.

Keep in mind you need enough depth of melted lead to have something to dip into. And, when casting, your sprue will take up lead. One or two pounds isn't much to work with. If it is all you have, however, it is all you have. Small cast pots are frequently found at flea markets and antique shops.

 

[ZUG]

Cooking lead and food you eat on the same "stove" don't mix --- My advise is to keep them separate :thumbsup:

 

[Coot]

Your little backpacking stove, while hot enough to melt a small amount of lead, is too unstable to be safe. likewise, aluminum pots are unsafe as others have already pointed out. Finally, you will find those small propane cylinders get expensive fast if there is much casting to do. Sounds like a flea market trip or two is in order - a turkey fryer burner & a cast iron pot are not expensive & will handle casting 1# ingots from scrap lead as well as casting ball.

 

[rodwha]

I keep telling myself I want/need a turkey fryer setup for brewing beer. Guess it's about that time. SWMBO doesn't like the idea of me casting, but we won't tell her that part! It's just for brewing :wink:

 

[BrownBear]

I'd be real concerned about that little stove being top heavy with even a small pan of lead. I've come close tipping them over just with a pot of water.

For big casting jobs I use an old Coleman 3-burner stove with a Dutch oven on the middle burner. Hard to regulate temps well enough for bullet casting, but kinda nice to be able to do 50# or so at a time. In muzzleloader land I generally use it only to produce 1# ingots for later use in one of my electric casting furnaces. But when casting halibut weights up to 2# each, it doesn't take long at all to go through a whole 50# melt. :grin:

 

[Billnpatti]

Spend your money on a Lee electric pot and a Lyman dipper with the small spout. I have the small 10 lb. pot and it does quite well for me. The advantage to the electric pot is that the heat is adjustable and you can control the temperature much better. :thumbsup:

 

[Idaho Ron]

If you do as some say and build up blocks around it what will happen is when the lead gets hot and the blocks focus the heat in the plastic knob will melt off and then you will have a problem. I know this for a fact. Ron

 

[longcruise]

Cynthia and Brown Bear have both given you good advice on that one burner! I have one just like it and it makes me nervous to make a nine cup pot of coffee on it! Also, at least on mine, the heat control does not stay put. The only way it will stay put is wide open. Maybe mine is defective in that regard but still a bad choice for melting lead.

I use a two burner coleman stove with the white gas/coleman fuel liquid type tank. That has served me very well for many years. Now you can get a propane bottle adaptor for those and get rid of the liquid fuel. Thats my plan.

It's easy to overcomplicate casting. A smallish cast iron pot of any kind works fine. So will a small steel pot, but the heavy cast ones will help maintain your heat better. I have a Lee bottom pour pot on my bench and it has not been used for years. They are a pain. Always dripping! The lyman ladle is perfect and simple.

 

[BrownBear]

...the heat control does not stay put. The only way it will stay put is wide open. Maybe mine is defective in that regard but still a bad choice for melting lead.

Mine too. It would probably melt lead fine on high, but I've never been brave enough to try it. But once the lead was melted and you were trying to hold it at a certain lower temp, fuggedabout it. The thing is all over the map. Even if it didn't melt or tip over, I'd probably launch it into the dumpster rather than use it again for lead.

 

[Many Klatch]

The best and cheapest place to find casting stuff is antique stores. Old plumbers cast iron lead pots and ladles can be picked up cheap. I have even seen them for sale with lead still in them. I used a two burner Coleman stove for years, now I have an old Lyman 20 pound electric pot that works well.

Recently I have been demonstrating how to cast ball at events and I have been doing it over a charcoal fire. The big problem with doing it over charcoal or any wood fire is that just about the time that you get the lead hot enough and you start casting, the fire burns down and things start to cool off again. But it can be done.

Many Klatch

 

[crockett]

Not to beat a dead horse but I still think you could surround your backpacker stove with some scrap bricks, etc and make a stable stand for the pot. I agree that melted lead diped on the grate could "plate" a grate and the fumes could burn off and taint food.

 

[rodwha]

I loved at the basic Lee melting pots and they are much more reasonable than I thought. I've put together a Lee 120v pot, dipper, ingot mold, and .457" & .490" RB molds and the cart shows ~$90 + shipping/handling fees. A little more than I wanted to drop all at once, and it doesn't include thick leather gloves or lead, but I'd prefer not to wear molten lead if possible.

This is all I'd need to make RB's correct?

I've only used that stove a couple of times in maybe 10 years. I don't recall feeling it was unstable out camping (not on a table top), but whatever I would have been heating (likely water for coffee) wouldn't have been nearly the same as a pot of heavy lead.

 

[necchi]

Dump the Ingot mold and get a ladle instead.

 

[Zonie]

If you can afford it, a good thermometer would be about the only thing your missing.

The stem is a metal tube that won't break and the dial reads temperatures from 200 to 1000 degrees F.

The dial on the electric melting pot works pretty good for adjusting the temperature of the lead but it doesn't read out in degrees.
Without a thermometer you really don' know what the melted leads temperature in the pot really is.

 

[Billnpatti]

You will need a piece of a large dowel to knock open your spru plate. I have an old wooden hammer handle that I have used for many years. Then you need a padded surface to drop your newly cast balls on. I use an old folded towel. Gloves are a should have item. I don't use them because they seem to be too bulky and it makes it harder for me to handle my mold. I do have to admit to having my share of burned fingers from not using gloves. So, they are a good idea. A leather apron is a darned good idea and you can get one at a very reasonable price at Harbor Freight. I have a heavy canvas apron that I use but the next time I am at Harbor Freight, I am going to pick up a leather apron.

 

[rodwha]

Why drop the ingot mold?

I'd certainly get a ladle.

Any reason not to buy Lee's casting equipment?