lead melting

J

jeff tarr

Active member
I have a couple sheets of lead that I saved off a renovation I'm doing and would like to know what I need to use to melt it? What and ware I can purchase would be helpfull.
 
If you only want to melt a little. An old pot a camp stove and an old muffin tin for an ingot mold will work

A nicer solution is a Lee melting pot search Cabelas or bass pro. A bigger tackle shop (if there is one near you) may carry them
 
I use a camp stove or hot plate and a small cast iron pan.
Be very careful, melted lead plus water equals molten lead volcano.
only melt in a well ventilated area with no chance of liquids falling into the pot.
 
Jeff~

One more thought: When I am just doing a bird or weight or two, I just heat with my Bernzomatic torch with the lead in a ladle. The ultimate is an old plumber's pot that mounts right onto a large propane tank.

SJS
 
I like the sheet lead for weighting decoys. I cut square or rectangular pieces with a tin snip until I get the amount of weight I need. Since it's all a consistent thickness, it is then easy to determine how big (volume) of a hole I have to make in the keel to hold it all.

The sheet lead I have is nice soft stuff, way nicer than wheel weights.
 
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Water falling onto melted lead does nothing but make a little sizzle. Yes I know this from experience. Just make sure any lead you add after the pot is heated up is absolutely dry.

Tim
 
I'll add one other tip. If you are melting lead and then pouring it into a mold, you'll want to heat the mold up too. Heating it up and getting it white hot will help the lead flow into the mold better. Pouring molten lead into a cold mold is a total PIA.


Nate
 
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