Need a Cheap Idea for Ingot Molds

[ACrowe25]

Hey guys, I'm getting ready to melt 100 lbs of wheel weight down here in the next day or so and am looking for some ideas to pour my lead into that won't break the bank. I commonly see cupcake pans but I don't think they will fit very well in my Lee Pro 10 lb pot. Any other ideas you can come up with? Maybe something at Walmart? I have a LEE ignot mold, but it has 2x 1lbs and 2x 1/2lbs. Thinking it will be a rough day using only 1 ignot mold (2lbs at a time lol).

Virtually any metal should be okay right? Or some that I should stay away from (don't think they make lead pans... ) Do some work bettter than others i.e. Al vs Fe?

What do you think?

[GMT210]

I use the mini-loaf pans from walmart, 8 cavities about 3lbs each, less wasted space than the round muffin pans or corn cob molds.

[Pmc]

Wal mart. Stainless steel condiment cups. 97 cents for a pack of 4. Each ingot is about 1.2 lbs. 5 bucks gets you 20.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-...-Cups/14964954

[ACrowe25]

I use the mini-loaf pans from walmart, 8 cavities about 3lbs each, less wasted space than the round muffin pans or corn cob molds.

I really like this idea. Thank you. Made of aluminum?

[detox]

I would make as many as i could using the Lee mould. Set hot mould on wet towel to cool and work faster. Be sure surface is level. About 34 fills using the Lee mould and 100 lbs of lead

When wet towel will starts to dry, just pour more water on towel

[ACrowe25]

Why do you say that detox? Preference or better?

[dbosman]

The Lee mold is small, but straight ingots fit electric pots fuller than muffins. It's available for $10.00 from Titan.

[Defcon-One]

...mini-loaf pans from walmart, 8 cavities about 3 lbs. each...

I second this!

Aluminum? No, They are coated steel. I sand blasted mine and no issues at all. They even look like an ingot should!

DC-1

[ACrowe25]

Sounds like a plan to me. Should fit nicely in my pot. Sand blasting allowing for easier fall out? Or just looks?

[GMT210]

I didn't bother sand blasting or letting them rust, I just washed them to get preservative off of them and started using. They are great, just make sure your ladle is big enough to fill them, at least a 6 oz ladle is needed..

[CountryBoy19]

I use the mini-loaf pans from walmart, 8 cavities about 3lbs each, less wasted space than the round muffin pans or corn cob molds.

I use a "micro" loaf pan that my wife didn't use anymore. Yields 1.5 lb rectangular ingots. If I were buying a new pan I'd look for something a bit larger because its a bit tedious with only 1.5lb/ingot. Lots of marking and handling and waiting for things to cool. Even when melting wheel-weight I "batch" and mark as batches just in case a batch is contaminated or different from another. It takes a while to empty a 75 lb batch from my melt pot at 18lb/pour.

[Any Cal.]

I use a corn cob cornbread pan. Set it in a shallow mud puddle and the first ingots are cool enough to flip out by the time you have poured the last one. They come out almost 1lb each. When smelting range scrap I usually smelt a pot, pull out the jackets, then do 3-4 rounds w/ the same pan, then reload the pot. You only need one pan if you keep water under it.

[ACrowe25]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I headed over to WalMart just now and found, what I think to be, the same 8 count mini loaf pan some of you were talking about. Taking it to a friends shop to sand blast it seems like it couldn't hurt and I have to go there anyways lol.

Looking forward to pouring some loaves this weekend lol.

[383]

I didn't bother sand blasting or letting them rust, I just washed them to get preservative off of them and started using. They are great, just make sure your ladle is big enough to fill them, at least a 6 oz ladle is needed..

Your ingots didn't stick? I used something similar on my first smelt and the ingots stuck so good I had to throw the molds in my next pot to melt the ingots in order to get them out.

[GMT210]

I have not had an ingot stick in the mold, that a light tap wouldn't knock out, in the last 2,000 lbs.

[00buck]

just a reminder.. I felt compelled to repeat. keep that water out of your smelting pot and your molds!

I hate the tinsel fairy

[jabo52521]

WalMart condiment cups ingots. 2 sizes .

[Defcon-One]

I sand blasted them to remove the Teflon coating. It would "gas out" under the molten lead and leave large bubbles in the ingots surface. Not very good looking ingots. Obviously, my pans were Teflon coated. Also, the fumes from super hot Teflon are not good for you.

Tin coated pans will stick like they were soldered to your ingots, probably what you had if they stuck so bad!

[WILCO]

I use a corn cob cornbread pan. Set it in a shallow mud puddle and...

Greet the Tinsel Fairy:


The Tinsel Fairy

Beware The Tinsel Fairy
Or She will get you good
When you are tired and thinking not
As clearly as you should

One little drop of water
Your lead will go KABOOM
And so The Tinsel Fairy comes
To decorate your room

She's not the nicest Fairy
That you will chance to meet
And She'll appear too quick for you
To make a safe retreat

On the ceiling, on the walls
Faster than you can run
Your clothes and face She'll decorate
So you glitter in the sun

In the future there'll be scars
Reminding you how dumb
You acted then and now beware
Lest The Tinsel Fairy come

TJD 1/25/06, Conway, NH

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...e-Tinsel-Fairy

[383]

I sand blasted them to remove the Teflon coating. It would "gas out" under the molten lead and leave large bubbles in the ingots surface. Not very good looking ingots. Obviously, my pans were Teflon coated. Also, the fumes from super hot Teflon are not good for you.

Tin coated pans will stick like they were soldered to your ingots, probably what you had if they stuck so bad!

They likely were tin coated. I now have some donated teflon coated steel pans the wife donated that I sanded down to bare metal.
So I don't need to allow then to rust before using?