home made lead pot

[sparky911]

What can I use or make to use to melt lead for pouring into a bullet mold?

 

[Bubba45]

A rescued side burner from a gas barbecue, gas camp stove, even an 1000watt electric hot plate.

 

[Bill Hall]

Before I got my plumber's lead pot, I got creative with a propane weed burner and an old cast iron pot.

 

[eric o]

We use a colman camp stove and a coffee can.
Works great.

 

[omarick1948]

A single burner electric Hot Plate from Wal-Mart for under $15.00 works great!

 

[Blizzard of '93]

all of the above will do the job and you can use a propane torch (or acetylene if a welder) to melt the lead down when the pot is on the heat source to speed things up. my advice - use as pure lead as you can get for any BP projectile.

 

[Bob Riegl]

:bow: While all of the aforementioned methods will certainly work. My main thought is SAFETY FIRST.Lead is a treacherous substance when molten, IMHO if you are going to "run-ball"more than once or twice---then I would invest under $50 and get an electric Lee 4lb furnace and learn how to use it safely. Primarily don't do this in a closed situation---take it outside and wear safety clothing, heavy gloves and face shield. PLEASE. :thumbsup:

 

[Bubba45]

To add to what Pasquenel said, keep water away for molten lead and be sure the lead being added is dry and not from a freezing storage area, the condensate that forms will make the molten lead splatter all over.

 

[kayja]

for about 60 dollars, shipping included you can get a pot and ladle and know you're safe and can get many yrs of service, even put it on ebay when tired of it.. i'm not promoting the material below, it's just the first i came to[url] http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/lead-melters-tools[/url]/

 

[Many Klatch]

Sparky, a lot of antique stores have lead pots and lead ladles at reasonable prices. Some of them are a lot better made than the ones that you can buy today. Fortunately since they once held lead, they aren't desirable to a lot of people.

I used a Coleman stove to heat my lead for years before I got my bottom pouring 20 pound lead pot. Just be careful, do this out of doors, wear goggles, wear heavy leather gloves with the gauntlet cuffs. Make sure that you have on a long sleeved shirt, buttoned at the wrist and inside of the gloves, wear shoes and socks and long pants. I can still remember getting hot lead between my toes when I started out in shorts and sandals.

Remember if the molten lead hits you it's an automatic second or third degree burn.

Be careful and enjoy.

Many Klatch

 

[sparky911]

thanks all.
great ideas and tips!

being a weldor (yes that is spelled correctly)
I have torches, and leather bibs, gloves, shields and all manner of safety for burns and breathing.
I have only the desire to make a dozen or so maxi-balls at a time. I will be using brand new wheel weights for lead.
I found an old mini-cast iron skillet to melt the lead in and I have a spare coleman propane stove already. ...now to make a ladle out of something lying around the shop....

 

[FPDoc]

You can drill or turn the threads out of a black pipe cap of a size that seems appropriate and weld or thread a handle into the side. Grind a bit of a pour spout and have at it.

 

[bramble]

Sparky,

My experience, (limited) has been with casting roundballs. It usually takes a dozen or so before I hit a rhythm and get consistency in casting.
Run a search on this topic (there are a number of threads dealing with this). One consistent theme is that wheelweights are not pure lead and cast hard projectiles and can have some problems with sizing.

Good luck
bramble

 

[Rebel]

You may have a hard time loading Maxi's cast from Wheel weights.

 

[sparky911]

I know there is a steel piece that clamps to the wheel, I've melted weights before years ago to make weights for fishing.

I wonder about the lead for counter weights on old windows in houses built in the 50's
I have some of those also, they should be pure lead

 

[Rebel]

I was refering to the hardness of the wheelweight lead. It is a lot harder than pure lead and you may have trouble getting a Maxi cast from it to engrave the rifling right.

 

[MSW]

fwiw, i agree with Rebel. your wheelweight may well be too hard for a maxiball. unless you're getting these guys up to 'screamin' me me' velocities (in which case, why not just go to center fire rifle) you shouldn't get leading in the rifling even if you use 'pure' cast lead. (i think that if you can dent it with your thumbnail, it's pretty safe to call it pure lead)

good luck running ball!

msw

 

[sparky911]

thanks for the information about that.

Since I have a couple hundred new round balls I bought real cheap, I'll just melt a few of them down to cast with. That way I know they'll be soft enough and good clean lead also.

 

[bramble]

Sparky,

I believe that wheel weights are an amalgam with a relatively high percentage of antimony. The resulting "lead" is not soft enough to deform/conform to rifling. Re-casting roundballs should work ok.

bramble

 

[user 2647]

A good rule on lead is if you can scatch with a thumb nail it's soft enough for casting ball with. :thumbsup: