Methods to melt scrap lead?

[Coot]

My preferred source of lead is (free) new small scrap from a stained glass shop. It is thin & clean & I just add the scraps to my Lee pot. I have been offered some plumbing scrap that is much bigger and dirty. I want to melt it down, removing the scum & cast it into one pound rods for future use. What methods work well for melting bulk lead, & where do you get the gear? Thanks for any tips.

 

[jtmattison]

I use my propane camp stove and an old stainless steel pot. I do it outdoors, away from the house. Wear safety glasses, long sleeve shirt, pants, and leather boots. I use long tongs to add lead to the pot that might have any moisture hidden in it. I grab the pot with large Channel-lock pliers to handle it. I pour into ingots for easy handling.

HD

 

[B.Habermehl]

Even with long tongs I really don't think you would get clear of a good size moisture pop. I melt all suspect scrap like pipe suspended over the pot with a propane torch, and I will not ever submerge scrap lead in molten lead. This way any moisture should be driven off in the pre heating or premelting step which ever it should be called.

 

[jtmattison]

Even with long tongs I really don't think you would get clear of a good size moisture pop. I melt all suspect scrap like pipe suspended over the pot with a propane torch, and I will not ever submerge scrap lead in molten lead. This way any moisture should be driven off in the pre heating or premelting step which ever it should be called.

The only lead I use is telephone cable sheath. I cut it into chunks and split it open. Any moisture on it would only be on the surface so the chances of an eruption are next to zero. I think my method is safe. I've never had so much as a fizz from any moisture on my lead.

HD

 

[Blizzard of '93]

ditto, I use my oxy-acet torch to melt lead into the pot.

 

[grey8833]

Coot:
I use plumbers lead ingots. Five pound round buttons that just fit into my iron lead pot which I sit on my camp stove. I then pour our 1/2 pound ingots (lee ingot mould) for use in my pot. Each button has to be done from a cold pot, cause they just fit. Purchased buttons my be expensive, but at least I have not (should not) have a moisture problem.

Mike

 

[R.M.]

I have a friend that gets me a fair bit of old used lead pipe. I've had it sitting in the shed for over a year and it still retains moisture in the scale and manure. The best way I've found is to put the scarp into an empty pot and bring it up to temp. As it heats up, all moisture will be driven off before it melts.

 

[mazo kid]

I use an old (cast iron/porcelain) 2 burner hot plate and iron plumber's pot for melting bulk lead, then pour into ingot moulds. For larger amounts, I use an old propane burner set-up. DO NOT use any aluminum pots for melting lead!! Sometimes you can find cast iron dutch ovens at thrift stores and they work nicely. Just don't use them for food after melting lead in them.

 

[renovato]

That's exactly what I do too, R.M. I always start it in an empty pot, pour ingots, then melt the next batch in the empty pot. I never add scrap to a hot pot. Don't really need to anyway.

 

[Swede50]

I have a propane cooker I bought for deep frying outside it has about the same size base as a turkey fryer. I use an old paint pot I bought from one of the thrift stores. I fill it with whatever lead I want to melt (usually wheel-weights). I then use a large ladle with holes that I got from a thrift store to separate out the crud along with the ww-clips. I then dip the lead out with a long handled dipper/ladle and pour it into ingots. Over the years I have used muffin pans Lee and RCBS ingot molds, but a couple years ago I started cutting the tops off pop cans, rinsing them out to get rid of the crud and let them dry for a couple of days upside down so there "IS NO" moisture left. Then I pour them full of lead let them cool over night and tear off the aluminum. They fit nicely into my RCBS Pro Melt pot.
BTW I stamp WW for Wheel-Weights and Soft for all Muzzle Loading lead. This system works for me and I have not had any problem with moisture in the scrap this way.

 

[MikeChapin]

Right now I'm using an old cast iron skillet to melt bulk lead. It is small enough that I can lift it when it is about 3/4 full and pour into my ingot mold, an aluminum muffin tin.

In the past I have used an old aluminum coffee pot to melt bulk lead. When there was about seven or eight pounds in it I would pour into my muffin tins.

Plink and others have mentioned the best method of melting scrap lead. Bring it up to heat in the pot. Do not add the scrap to a hot pot. You have not clue what moisture is in there that could pop and ruin your whole day. Bringing it up to heat will drive off the moisture before bad things can happen.

 

[Zonie]

The lead I have is mostly sheet lead so I don't have any concerns about moisture in it.
If I did have some lead that might have moisture in it I would heat up the oven and bake it for an hour at 350 degrees.
Unless the moisture was in a totally sealed area somewhere down inside the lead that would boil off any water.
It also wouldn't harm or contaminate the oven because 350 degrees is far below the melting/outgassing temperature of lead.

 

[Rancocas]

I use whatever lead I can find - wheel weights, spent bullets, fishing sinkers, lead pipes - whatever. I've never concerned myself with the alloy mix or hardness. And, I've never had a moisture problem.
I melt it all outside on my camp stove in an old, iron plumber's pot that used to belong to my Dad. I wear heavy work gloves and a leather shop apron to protect myself from the heat and any lead splatter, and I use an old tablespoon to skim off the slag. I use a small size bisquit baking tin as a mold to form little bisquit shaped ingots.

 

[Otter]

I use basically the same setup as Rancocas except I use a cast iron cornbread pan for my (as a friend says) "iggots". They are the shape of a half ear of corn, look neat, weigh about a pound each and they fit in my pot real well . . .

 

[Bubba45]

I made a little set up with a discarded gas hotplate burner and a turkey fryer frame.My pot is homemade and is about 14" wide and 10" tall.
I use this for cleaning lead and for making up batches of alloys .

 

[flm_shooter]

Guess I learned from the best (here). I recently received a bunch of old roofing lead from a remodel project. Some of it was quite clean, some had tar gobs, spider babies, and aluminum caps.

I found an old ugly dutch oven at the thrift store, and a cheapo ladle. Wearing nomex long shirt, pants and gloves, I piled the pot as full as I could get it. I stuck it over my turkey fryer on the patch of dirt I call a back yard. As it melted, I used a propane torch to 'cut' out the aluminum bits (all in a steady breeze outside). When the first pot was melted I fluxed the bejeezus out of it then dipped it into muffin pans until the pot was empty. Let it cool down, and then restarted from step one. It took all day, but I now have a bunch of clean soft lead to last me for a bit.

 

[Otter]

Last time I cleaned a bunch of lead ( 8 years ago ), I ended up with 33 - 3 pound coffee cans full of ingots at about 30 pounds per can. Took me the better part of a weekend and a 20# tank of propane. Only have 26 cans left though . . .

 

[Many Klatch]

A welder made up a lead pot out of 1/4" plate for a commercial lead coating project. I got it after the project is done. It is 24" square and 12" deep. I use a commercial 50,000 BTU propane torch to heat it up when I need to melt mass quantities of lead. It will suck a 20 pound tank dry in two days of lead melting. The torch will heat up 30 pounds of lead to melting point in about 20 minutes. The last time I used it I melted down about 800 pounds of scrap lead salvaged from a roofing project. All the crud floated to the top, copper, caulking, stone,nails and screws.

For an ingot mold I use a cast iron corn dodger mold that makes about a 1 pound ingot that looks like an ear of corn. I also have an ingot mold made by the same welder that makes a 28 pound ingot. It will only fit in my large pot so I don't make very many of them.

I always do this outside. I dress up in long sleeves, long gloves, blue jeans, steel toe boots, hat and scarf to cover the face. I haven't had any blow ups but that doesn't mean that they can't happen. I keep my scrap lead indoors in the garage so it is dry when I use it.

Many Klatch

 

[buttonbuck]

One question I have is when you add bees wax to flux is there a good technique to keep it from flashing so quickly, I used marvel flux on an itnitial melt and it cleaned up really well but I prefer to use more natural materials like bees wax. So how do you add it without having it flash? We sure aint melting today with all this hurricane rain effects in illinois.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

So how do you add it without having it flash?

I prefer it to burn off - no smoke. If it doesn't flash, I light it (torch sparker/lighter or long butane barbecue/fireplace lighter). I just use a _long_ wooden stick or stainless-steel spoon to stir & scrape with, then I skim after it stops burning.

Joel