Melting Lead At Home And Casting - Any Tips

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There have been a few postings where Forumites have stated that they have cast their own lead line sinkers / anchor chums.

I want to give this a go and I am looking for tips. For example will the lead melt with an ordinary single ring camping gaz cooker and heavy base pot, or do you need something more substantial?

Any advice appreciated. A recent bathroom renovation has left me with an old lead water tank, and about 10 meters of 2" OD lead pipe. Plenty of project stock!
 
whatever provides the heat beneath the smelting pot will have to be very securely based.

Make exceptionally certain that whatever you are pouring the molten lead into, has no water (or other liquid) at all. If you don't, then you will have lead fireworks sputtering all over you.

Best to cast all in one go, but if you scrape the surface contamination off a block that has set, (and the cast is still quite warm) then you may be able to pour on top and add layers.

Usual caveats about decent gloves, heavy clothes, head and eye protection.

It would be good to see some pics afterwards, please !
 
I us a cut up butane tank as a 'crucible' and a gas water heater burner to warm it. 13 kg gas cylinder for big melts, Camping gas 907 for small. The 3,500w Camping burner would do to melt, but I doubt the little ones would work. Do it outside, as the fumes are poisonous if the temp is a bit high, back to the breeze. Keep everthing dry, or you risk splattering hot lead around. Wear a mesh mask and eye protection, welders gloves Also make sure any tube is not closed at the ends as the expanding air might do the same as water. Put small bits in to start the melt, once you have a pool the bigger ones melt much faster.
A

Sigh, slow typing again, Saraband got in ahead-A
 
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Hi,

I've just recently spent a few hours melting down 25kg of old lead and casting it into ingots, for boat ballast, using the recess (frog) in a brick. It's really easy but you do need to be careful as the sloshing weight can easily cause you to spill it.

I used a single ring gas stove and an old saucepan, cut the lead into small squares, chucked it in and put the lid on. After5 minutes some had melted but I found it necessary to heat from the top with a blowtorch as well. I used an old spoon to scrape off any floating residue and then quickly poured it into the brick.

It has been one of the most satisfying things I've done for a while. Now looking for more scrap lead to do some more, got my eye on the local church !!
 
I used to make lead weights for sea fishing on a small camping gaz stove but I wasn't melting large quantities at a time. If you are using a mould be sure that the mould you are pouring the lead into is very hot or the lead will start cooling and solidifying before you have poured it all.
Usually as the lead melts dirt and impurities rise to the surface, be prepared to scrape this off with an old spoon.
Usual precautions gloves ,goggles etc.
 
A camping gaz cooker will take a very long time to melt anything other than very small quantities. I used a cast iron grate full of coal with an airline to "turbo charge" the fire, very efficient and hot. Protective clothing is absolutely vital!
 
I want to give this a go and I am looking for tips. For example will the lead melt with an ordinary single ring camping gaz cooker and heavy base pot, or do you need something more substantial?
Click to expand...

You can do as you mention, single ring etc, a baked bean type can full, no probs, want more? then use alloy saucepan, any larger amounts you will need more heat, proper container etc, I make lots of weights regularly.

All good advise about safety, wear goggles, Not beer gogles:)
 
Interesting thing is that you can do exactly the same with old part used zinc anodes. Just need to find / make a mould for the new one.
 
I want to construct an encapsulated lead keel. Instead of trying to cast it in one lump I was going to try making lead shot. Any suggestion how? I was going to try dribbling molten lead from a height into a bucket of water. Good idea?
 
Lead shot used to be made by pouring from a very high tower. I wouldn't try pouring into water unless you can do it from a good distance!
Click to expand...

It still is! normally poured through holes in copper plate. The height from the drop into water determines the size of shot, ie a longer drop is needed to produce large shot.
Nothing that a good DIY peep cannot do from an upstairs window:)
 
Davy_S said:
You need to dribble it through a seive first, this determines the size of the shot.
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No! This is NOT the way. Molten lead is dropped down a very long height to get small lead shot. Distances are hundreds of feet!. The historic shot tower formerly used by Associated Lead outside Chester has been mothballed as a future exhibit. Don't know how its done nowadays but its not a sieve.
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There was a tower in N.London (or East?) used to make shot. Dated from Napoleonic wars.
Note that shot is about 2/3 the density of solid due to the air spaces, if all the same size. I was going to try the upper window and sieve. Decided to cast wedges to follow the deadrise in the bilge.
A

Jug, the tower was not over a 100ft (IFIRR) and I was told that after the sieve, the air shaped and cooled it a bit before it hit the water.
A
 
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smelting

as has allready been mentioned no water,and that includes tiny residues in the lead pipe my garden fence still has small deposits of lead all over it from my smelting exersise,we just dug a hole and lit a fire in it with the wood from my tree pruning and used a very old and big cast iron pan with a few moulds made at my welding class and we managed one point eight tons into toblerone shaped ingots for ballast in my M.G 30 , it took us about twelve hours ,we had a few explosions and then we stopped using pipe altogether ,in conclusion we new nothing about the water danger and managed to do all that lead so i,m sure with the advice youhave been given you will manage o/k . kieron
 
I cast my own sounding lead using lead reclaimed from old car batteries.

pure lead melts at 327°C so quite low and therefore does not need great heat sources. Cast mine at home IIRC so would have had no more than a Gaz camping stove or a Primus to do it although the alloy from the car batteries may melt at a lower temperature.

(Actually cast mine in the cardboard tube from a toilet roll!)
 
Tips On Moulds

Many thanks for the advice just to finish it off any tips on mould making, so far: -


  • Perrier water bottle poked into a bucket of sand for a lead line sinker!
    The dent in the top of a brick to make ingots.
    Dropping through air to make pellets

I guess the sand mould should be dry sand that sticks together to keep a shape.

I guess a cement shape made around a former could be used. What about clay?
 
I fancy one of these
http://www.mobilegas.co.uk/caravan-camping/rings-urns/index.htm
ideally the 8 KW one.

I do it over an old fashioned paraffin stove in an old brass jam pan.

I hang the pan on a steel rod attached to a beam in the garage roof rather than stand it on the stove.

I have cast in sand and even wooden moulds. A recent idea is to encase a plastic bottle or the like in sand and then pour in through the hole. Sacrifices the bottle and probably creates some noxious fumes - never tried it.

In the building of Amulet we melted 1.25 tons of lead in the back garden burning coal in old-fashioned wash boilers. One failure resulted in the lead running around the garden and having to be "remined".

I don't think you could make a concrete mould for reuse - it'd crack I think. On the other hand, a bit of cement in soft sand prevents if from falling to bits until you want it to.
 
Used clay to pour lead filled cast iron pipe joints but there wasn't much depth/pressure of lead being contained. Weak cement / sand has been used.

There are a few youtubes like this in a factory setting
or this rather more primitive arrangment

The two methods no doubt produce different quality results.

Clay contains water so must be heated to dry it out which is necessary when making pipe joints as any water present turns quickly to steam when the lead's poured in. The lead quickly comes back out as others have warned. Burns take a while to heal. Eyesight is precious.
 
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