New lead pot

[Stonecrusher]

I just thought I would share a few pictures of my new pot for making ingots. It is made from a 20lb propane cylinder and is a bottom pour. I tacked three pieces of flat stock onto the top portion so I could use it as a lid and keep the heat in when melting.

The valve is made from a piece of 1 1/2" dia steel turned to 1" dia leaving a shoulder about 1/8" thick on one end. It was inserted from the inside of the pot through a 1" hole in bottom. The shoulder keeps it in place and the thin flange made metal thickness close to the pots metal and enabled me to get better fusion with my poor welding skills and Oxy-Acetylene torch. Also I figured if my weld failed it would keep it from falling out the bottom and dumping the load!

The valve is threaded in the bottom 5/16"18 and is drilled out to 1/2" to allow the lead to flow around the threaded portion. The screw is made like an 82 deg flathead and the seat was machined witha 90 degree included to give a small area to seal against. I extended the screw witha piece of 5/16" stel rod and capped it with a short piece of 1/2" square stock to mate with the removable handle. It has to be removed to get the lid off or on the pot.

Can't take credit for the valve idea, I saw it on another forum. I just adapted it to use the scraps I had laying about. Now I need to try it out. I need more alloy for the handguns!

 

[Brad]

That looks nice. Should hold a bunch of lead. I do like the lids.

 

[Stonecrusher]

Thanks Brad. A lid is almost necessary in SE Georgia. In the spring and summer it rains almost every afternoon and a lot of other times.

 

[Brad]

Bet it holds heat in well enough to speed the melting too.
Welding is something I need to learn.

 

[Stonecrusher]

Me too! I don't do enough bigger stuff like this to get, or stay, good. I was having some real problems when I started the pot and found out my O2 regulator was developing problems. It let me know when the escape valve popped. The gauge was pegged so I shut it down quick. Had to get a rebuild kit so I went ahead and rebuilt both regulators. Works better now! Every time I do something like this I am reminded whyI didn't choose welding as a trade.

 

[Ian]

Looks good. I'd add a deflector to the end of the spout there or undercut it sharply and bend the tip down so's you don't go shooting a 3/4" solid stream of alloy across the driveway when you crack the valve.

As for the welding: A wire clotheshanger, some 20 Mule Team borax, and a medium brazing tip, no problem.

 

[Stonecrusher]

Thanks Ian. Clotheshangers are what I used. They are getting harder to find these days. I thought about the deflector and have the spout end angled so I can tack on a short section of the tubing to make a downspout if necessary. The outlet hole in the side of the valve is only 5/16", so that and the 3/16" diametrical clearance between the valve body and stem limit the flow a little.
I know the flow isn't the same but I tried it filled with water and it worked pretty well. I still need to make a riser for the ingot molds to sit on.

 

[Ian]

The weight of even a few inches of lead in the pot makes the pressure unbelievable, bottom pour "smelters" usually surprise their makers in the respect of how much volume and pressure will jet out of there. Depending on spout design, the flow and splash can make it difficult to actually get the lead to flow well into an ingot mould. It's like trying to fill a pet's water dish with a narrow, full-force blast from a garden hose spray nozzle.

Your overall design is pretty neat, though, and simple enough to make. Mine is wood-fired and uses a sheet metal hearth stove with a hole cut in the top to closely fit a 20# cylinder cut off at the very top of the body. Stops welded to the cylinder keep it from falling through, and an old copper lid from a stew pot fits perfectly. I still have to ladle the lead out, which is a pain, but helps filter the metal. Wood-fired is slow, but free to operate and I live in the country so no issues with smoke.

 

[Stonecrusher]

Ian, the pressure is one reason I went with the screw type valve instead of the Lee type. You can just crack it for a trickle ans it won't get stuck in the open position. I have the downturn already made but was going to see how it worked. I wanted to be able to get the stream into the opposite side of my muffin tin molds and can only get so close to the turkey fryer stand.

 

[Ian]

I totally missed the point of the screw and how it works, now I get it! That's really, really smart.

 

[Stonecrusher]

There was a guy on Castboolits selling this type with the screw a few years back, except his were rectangular and welded to the bottom edge of the pot and by design left a certain amount of alloy in the pot. I just made it round and welded it in the middle which is the lowest point. The top of the valve is only 1/8" above the bottom of the pot. It should only leave a few ounces that won't drain. I can pick it up and dump that little bit if I desire. Or just leave it. A few ounces in 100-150 lbs of alloy wouldn't make much difference.

 

[Ian]

Leaving a few pounds would be OK too, most of the time. I like the idea of locating the valve up a little bit from the bottom to minimize sediment flowing out with the ingots, but your pot will likely do just fine.

 

[freebullet]

Nice work.

With the cost to fill oxy/ace tanks getting a little harbor freight wire welder would be worth it if you want fabricate more.

 

[Stonecrusher]

That's true Freebullet. Most of my welding is small gun parts, and not much of that. The torch is great for heat treating and silver brazing, etc. As much as I use it my bottles last me several years. I have a full TIG setup except for a welder to hook it to. One day I'll spring for an AC/DC box.

 

[Cherokee]

Nice pot, like the design. That will hold lots of metal.

 

[Stonecrusher]

Thanks Cherokee. Should hold at least 180lbs.

 

[Cherokee]

That's a lot more than I usually do at one time, but most of my stash has already been turned into ingots.

 

[JWFilips]

Probably going to take more the 2 hours of casting to drain that pot!

 

[Stonecrusher]

Maybe........