Well I am back to casting after a 34 year hiatus.
But the 1st problem is I can no longer fill the 20#s propane cylinder for the commercial plumber's pot I have. This really bummed me out as it worked so well.
So............I purchased a 100,000 high pressure (20 PSI or so the literature said) gas burner. The 1st time I used it the results were pretty sad regarding how long it took to melt a pot. I was using a very heavy duty cast pot that weighs 25#s empty with a flat bottom. It is large, probably at least 80 #s of lead, maybe more.
I have a couple other pots, one about 50#s for the plumber's pot and another that had a crack but had been welded when I got it many years ago. The welding looked good but welding on cast is always an iffy affair. I elected to use this as it is around 80# capacity.
The first thing I did was build a heat shield to hold concentrate the heat around the pot, also made a lid to hold the heat from going straight up.
I have a very heavy duty cast iron ingot mold that came from a linotype shop. It is a 9 cavity that makes 2-2.6# ingots. In order to fill the ingot mold I use a 10# cast iron pot that has a special handle for pouring (the pot has a double dove tail slot). This pot needs to be very hot and have a very secure place to pre heat it and hold the crucible while filling and skimming. (I have some specialty skimming ladles too).
Anyway today I rendered a couple pails of lead recovered from water pipes and stained glass caming.
I am happy to say the heat shield and lid reduced the time to melt by about 2/3rds.
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Originally Posted by Winger Ed.
