lead

[bigbob76]

I just got some free lead, enough to hurt my back carrying it. I'm going to look into a cost effective way to melt it and cast bullets. Any ideas? I don't want to buy a bunch of fancy stuff, I want to do it on the cheap. Bob

[jjefrey]

If your looking for inexpensive. This pot and ladle are the way to go.

[Requiem]

wear a mask while youre working with it and wash your hands afterwords

[bohoki]

i'm the cheapest skate in the rink

i use a coleman stove a cast iron skillet(6 inch) and a spoon to fill my molds

i use a 6 inch cause lead is heavy and i worry about an 8 inch pan breaking the grill also it heats up quicker

i use the lee molds and smoke blacken them with a propane torch with the air hole taped off so it makes a sooty flame

i'd love to see a pic of you lead is it fairly clean or dirty

[Ugly Dwarf]

Watch yardsales or thrift stores for old cast iron dutch ovens. A 4-8 qt pot will hold a LOT of lead. If you can't find one used, I think you can pick a new one up at Harbor Freight for under $30.

If you're looking to move lead from a smelting pot to ingots, I'd stay away from the Lee ladle linked above. They're very small and light weight steel, so they don't retain heat well and don't hold much lead (perhaps 1-2 tbsp). You'll need to look for old steel / cast ladles while you're looking for your dutch oven. If you decide to buy new, you can look for 1-3 pound ladles by a company called Rowell. They're not cheep, but they hold a lot of lead. Figure to pay nearly as much in shipping as on the ladle.

For ingot molds, you can buy the kind made by Lee, RCBS or Lyman. They'll make four, one pound ingots (two one pounders and two half pounders for the Lee), or you can buy cupcake pans at the dollar store. Each cupcake will make a 1.5-2 pound ingot. You'll probably get your best results if you can get some surface rust on the cupcake pan, so the lead doesn't stick in it after it cools.

Good luck.

[jwest]

If you don't already have something like this - you may want to pick up some D-Wipes for cleanup (of yourself too).

http://www.esca-tech.com/WetDry.htm

[swerv512]

and i was just thinking of heading to the local Big-O tries to pick up some wheel weights... i cant believe its come to this...

[GW]

and i was just thinking of heading to the local Big-O tries to pick up some wheel weights... i cant believe its come to this...

Good luck with that
Tire dealers here have to account for their lead waste and so, won't give it away. I imagine some might be hanging onto it for their own friends or themselves, but scrap lead is getting harder and harder to find.

[mike100]

Just plain old pure 100 percent lead isn't going to make good bullets, but you can buy or acquire the other types of harder leads to make a shootable alloy.

wheelweights have the desired hardness, but will get soft when you mix 50/50 with pure lead, so plan on buying some linotype to mix back in. Still worth it though as you won't have to use up all of your wheel weights with a lot of lead on hand.

[Ugly Dwarf]

If you find yourself with nearly pure lead (think 'stick on' weights or lead sheeting), you may be able to work a trade with muzzle loaders. They typically don't cast with the 'clip on' wheel weight and are usually on the look out for the pure stuff.

Also, for those who don't already know, check out http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/ for more information on casting than you'll be able to digest.

[Ugly Dwarf]

Good luck with that
Tire dealers here have to account for their lead waste and so, won't give it away. I imagine some might be hanging onto it for their own friends or themselves, but scrap lead is getting harder and harder to find.

Yeah, that's anoyingly true in many cases.

I have a buddy who manages a tire shop up in Santa Rosa. He was going to start pulling buckets of weights for me when I told him I'd gotten into casting... till he got the word from the store owner that they needed to keep an accounting of what they buy vs. what they recycle.

I have found a couple local shops that will SELL me their weights. It's still cheaper than buying virgin lead online, but it's going to be tough to find it for free unless you've got connections.

[bohoki]

search bullet casting

[Kokopelli]

bohoki, I like your setup. Can you explain what the broom handle and file hanger are for? Is the cupcake tray for your "ingots"?

[tujungatoes]

search bullet casting

HAHA Looks just like my ghetto casting setup. minus the muffin tin.

BTW The broom handle I understand.....what's the file hanger for?

[bohoki]

HAHA Looks just like my ghetto casting setup. minus the muffin tin.

BTW The broom handle I understand.....what's the file hanger for?

i stir the lead with the aluminum cause i was sick of catching my chopsticks on fire the broomhandle is for whacking the sprewplate