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SO.....got thinking.....I am a welder and wondering if I can make a homemade casting ladle out of some scrap steel I have? Just wondering if the steel will contaminate my boolits?....I was going to make it from a piece of 2" round pipe and put a pouring spout on the side, just like the RCBS ladle.....any info or ideas would be great, Thanks!
my melting pot and ladle are both steel, they don't contaminate my boolits..
just sayin'
Paul Matthews has a great description of a hand made ladle in one of his fine Black Powder books. It is Chapter 6 of his book: Black Powder, Pig Lead and Steel Silhouettes.
Duke
I made a bottom pour laddle from the cap from a cutting torch bottle. Cut a slot in the side and welded a 3/4 inch black iron pipe at an angle to reach the rounded bottom of the cap.
This ladle holds 10 pounds of alloy and makes quick work of pouring 250 lbs of alloy from my propane tank smelter.
I built ingot moulds from channel iron steel welded from the out side and coated them with graphate spray.
A lot of good guys and good ideas on this forum.
yeah i made my own ingot moulds the same way!.....works great, they average 2.8 lbs a piece
http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/at...s-dscf3951.jpg
Why not just use a soup ladle? You heat the handle and bend it and make it level and you have a ladle that is cheap and will work.
Nothing wrong with making your own. I would not use galvanized pipe. Any steel tubing would be best.
I made one about 2 inches long out of 1 inch electrical thinwall and a front that I turned on my lathe and put it all together with silver solder. To let the lead in, I have a hole in the back end that is about 1 inch in diameter on the top. You can even do it with a propane torch. -- Bill --
My ingot molds are made from ordinary channel iron and angle iron, cut 6" long with 11" sides from angle iron.
Factory mig welder
I just use an old gravy ladle I found in my folks basement. I drilled through it and screwed it to a longer wooden handle. I also formed the spout a little so that it pours lead better. I love free.
I love free too! My smelting tools are homemade or bought from Wally World. My next ladle will be a soup or gravy ladle custom formed, of course. BC
I've made several home made molds. The first was a u-joint cap with a slot ground in the lip with the chop saw and a handle welded on.
Then built a Rowell style made with a piece of pipe. Cut the top at an angle and a lip formed red hot with a hammer using and angle iron to give the lip a groove. The bottom welded with a square piece of strap. Then welded a 1\2" angle iron on the inside so that the lead comes off of the bottom.
My last ladle was also made of a piece of pipe. This has a 1\8" hole drilled in the side of the pipe so that you tip it on it's side and a small regulated stream of lead comes out much like a bottom pour. I welded a tit on the inside and the hole was drilled through it so that dross and stuff wouldn't come off the bottom. The top was welded half shut with a piece of strap and the bottom has a piece of strap welded to close the bottom and is longer than the diameter so that I can push the dross to one side before dipping.
I hope that this is explained well enough to help. Boy I need to figure out how to put some pictures up.
Jim
sharpshooter81,
This is not a bottom pour ladle but this is one I made awhile back
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/atta...6&d=1282407740
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/atta...7&d=1282407923
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/atta...8&d=1282407957
Like ioon44, I made the bowl is made from an old welding cap. It has a sliding handle similar to the Rowell ladles. I have thought of making it into a bottom pour but I don't use it that often and haven't had the motivation to modify it
good luck jmsj