I was thinking about upgrading from a hotplate to a turkey fryer.

[meltleadalot2693]

I think it is time to upgrade from a hotplate to a turkey fryer. I want a pot that has a 50-70lb capacity and was also thinking about using a stainless steel crock pot as the melting pot and modifying that crock pot to make it bottom pour capable. It would be a custom bottom pour furnace with a greater capacity than my hotplate setup.

 

[Fatman]

X2 with Doc but why would you need anything that big????

 

[Lost Pole]

I read your posts all the time. I don't know a thing about pouring lead like you is the reason I never reply.
But sometimes I wonder…
What is it that you want to accomplish?

 

[meltleadalot2693]

I want to be able to melt lead faster and easier and have a greater capacity.

 

[blt]

Myself, I would not modify a pot like that to be a bottom feed. If you go to a bigger pot, just by a bigger ladle. Much safer that way.

 

[Hawnjigs]

x2 on adequate size ladle. Mostly, bottom pour pots are useful for smaller castings, and the commercially available ones are well proven and reasonably priced.

 

[meltleadalot2693]

I was going to make a custom bottom pour using some pipes, a big bolt for a screw type valve to let lead flow and make lid somehow and wrap the pot with some fiberglass to help the lead heat up faster. I should head you advice and just use a large lade and cast that way.

 

[CrappieHappy]

I was going to make a custom bottom pour using some pipes, a big bolt for a screw type valve to let lead flow and make lid somehow and wrap the pot with some fiberglass to help the lead heat up faster. I should head you advice and just use a large lade and cast that way.

I would not try to modify anything for a bottom feed! Flowing hot lead is very dangerous, you do not want a problem occuring with that much lead in a pot.

I will say this, get a turkey fryer, and a bigger pot to do your cleaning/fluxing. use a bigger ladle as BLT and Hawn suggest to pour your ingots/cast. Get a 10 or 20 lb bottom pour Lee pot or equivilent if needed.

 

[crappiecripplerjigs]

I am curious as to what you do with the lead once it is melted. Melting in a turkey fryer is going to be a big chunk of lead. So, you melt it... then it cools... then what? Are you taking it to the scrap yard or utilizing it for something else. None of my business, but that's a lot of lead!

 

[meltleadalot2693]

I just want something where I can melt 20-30lbs of WW at a time as that is how much I usually get from the salvage yard at a time. With my current setup, it takes me more than an hour to make ingots from 20-30 lbs using several melts as the pot is not big enough to melt all of my raw WW at one time.

 

[blt]

I spend more time than that, and I have a large cast iron pot that I use. It's only an hour, any money you would spend for this project....may want to put it into something that will make you money. Or, as Corp. America would say...."what is my return on my investment". Good logic to apply to what you do.

 

[meltleadalot2693]

So I can know what to use to cast more at a time, what casting setup do you guys use? And Doc, I melt the lead to make sinkers and plan on making my lead into useful things not just ingots.

 

[AtticaFish]

MLA - Doc has a point that more than a few of us have wanted to say. We are not sure what you are wanting to make out of your lead. By the sounds of it, you have a few sinker molds right now and are looking for new things to make. The vast majority here pour jigs, spinnerbaits and a few odd sinkers. Lots of variety of fishing tackle can be made with lead molds but they all will cost you $$$ to get started. You have to do the leg work to sell what you make in the end.

We have been trying our best to point you in the right direction but you are asking alot of questions that fall outside the area of fishing tackle which is the MAIN FOCUS of this website. If the lead is 90% or 94.75% really does not matter much in fishing terms. Soft lead is used for casting the smallest jigs and removable split shot.... harder lead for larger stuff. That is the general idea any way.

Most here (i do not think) would have any need to melt 50-70lbs. at a time. Messing with 600°+ molten metal in factory designed equipment is dangerous enough as it is - trying to modify any container would NOT be advised in my oppinion. You can go back through old posts and see what others use for pouring and also what they use for cleaning their lead.

 

[meltleadalot2693]

Thanks AtticaFish, now I understand, I should just keep using my hotplate setup or if I do get a fryer just don't modify anything and use a steel or cast iron container to melt stuff in. Also, I will stop worrying if the lead I have is pure or not as pure lead is more expensive than soft or hard alloy lead. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Commercial casters & salty gonzos use turkey fryers + large pots to process large amounts of scrap into ingots or pour large castings. If you manage to find a large supply of hundreds of #s or more of scrap, and you will if you keep looking, that setup will optimize your time efficiency. Scrap is out there waiting, recently I was offered 16 full buckets of wheel weights.

An electric coil hot plate is really slow and DANGEROUS as it is not designed for the weight and temp of molten lead - I use the smallest size cast iron propane burner designed for cooking I believe and it works fine for my 15-20# cast iron pots for jig head casting and 3 qt. HEAVY GAUGE steel pot for processing scrap into ingots or larger sinkers.

Sorry Doc, I know you're horrified by my suggesting gas as a fuel source, but it is the most efficient way to heat lead melting pots.

 

[meltleadalot2693]

What would be a cheap and quick setup? I have a budget of $20-30 for the setup and fuel.

 

[Hawnjigs]

With respect Doc I'm gonna tiptoe around you and say that I've got at least a half ton of 1 lb. ingots boxed & organized by batches. They are the result of years studying and practicing the art and skill of smelting and alloying, and are integral to my jig crafting.

I'm with Doc tho being uncomfortable suggesting risky cheap out equipment. Bottom line for quantity scrap processing would be cast iron burner, cast iron or heavy steel pot, cast iron ladle, & cast iron ingot mold. Also, my propane tank is protected underneath a lipped metal top work table. Most of my equipment tho I saved a few bucks and got better vintage quality buying second hand.

 

[AtticaFish]

The cleaning up of scrap lead is all part of the process to get to the end result of fishing tackle, just seems like a huge amount to try and do at once in my mind.

MLA - Just be safe with whatever you are doing, do not cut corners! Save up those pennies so you can upgrade to quality equipment. Out of respect, you should let your parents know what you are planning to do since you are under their roof.

 

[meltleadalot2693]

I always inform my parents of what I am doing and plan on doing with my lead melting. Thanks for the advice as it is still helpful.

 

[cadman]

I'm with Doc on this. It's not that I don't want to help, however Melts-a-lot, all this talk of melting lead is going nowhere except melting lead. Please fine something productive to do with your time, (like making jigs ,painting them and try selling those) and most of all be safe like mentioned above.