JLmoore1956

If I had a cast iron ladle that you can melt lead in, what could be used to melt the lead? Could you use a propane burner or need something different?

Thanks

nchawkeye

Sure, I use an old Coleman stove, melt the lead in soup cans, works fine...

JLmoore1956

Wow, then I don't have to buy anything special! Works for me.

bronko22000

yep - propane stove works great. But be sure to have a lot of ventilation, wear safety glasses and gloves, and be careful your lead isn't wet or have oil on it when you add to the pot.

JLmoore1956

Thanks for the tips!

Blackpowdersmoke

WOW!!... This takes me back to Xmas weekend of 1973. I was given a T/C Hawken .50 percussion rifle complete with the accessory kit (mould blocks and handles, ball starter, nipple wrench, powder measure, jag, etc.) as my premier gift that year but I had one big problem...no powder and no lead! Back then, no stores near me had pre-cast balls and even though black powder was readily available where my parents bought the gun, I had nothing to shoot out of it! Well, as soon as the dealer that they bought the gun from re-opened, my Dad bought me a pound of FFg and a tin of #11 caps and then I started begging soft lead from anyone that had it to spare. I cast my first hundred or so round balls by heating my old sinkers and chunks of soft plumbing lead in the dipper (that I bought with some Xmas money) with a propane torch and making round balls so I could start shootin'!!! Shortly thereafter, an Ol' timer that my dad worked with gave me a cast iron lead pot and I melted lead with that on a Coleman stove for a long while thereafter. I now have an RCBS Pro-Melt that makes life SO MUCH easier, but I will never forget my first lead balls dropped out of that mould when I did it for the first time as a 15 yr. old kid!!!...BPS

corey012778

I started casting with an camping stove and pots I picked up from the goodwill. now I have an lee melter I picked up for $20.
if the lead is wet let it dry or start it out in an cold pot and let it heat up. the moisture will evaporate before it will lead will get to its melting point.

if you get any lead in raw state (ie wheel weight, roofing, old lead pipes), melt them down and make them into ingots. the oils, tar, and what ever else could be used as flux.

Blackpowdersmoke

Corey, don't you mean to say that these things (impurities) can be removed when you flux?

BPS

corey012778

yes.

I have used old motor oil to pull impurities out of range lead and wheel weight.

what I mean by other stuff. who knows what is left in old lead pipe

Semisane

I used to use bees wax to flux. But I've found that when melting even really dirty roof jacks to cast ingots if I get the melt really hot and stir it a lot (stir and skim, stir and skim, stir & skim) the lead gets very clean without fluxing.