Smelting Lead...?

Brian F.

Brian F.

Well-known member
Did I read on here once, where folks added Borax soap or Boron (boric acid?) to the lead smelter to help with the impurities?

I'm melting old wheel weights to cast some decoy anchors and there is a crap load of crap in the smelting pan...
I use a spoon to skim off what I can, but still....

And how much powder should I use per volume of lead???

Thanks in advance.

Brian F.
 
I'm not an expert Brian but have melted lead many time for anchors. I just skim the surface slag off and once the molten lead is poured out - toss the old steel clips on the ground until they are cool enough to throw away. Since you are melting for decoy anchors why worry about impurities? If you are melting for bullet casting or shot making you might want to approach it differently and then worrying about impurities makes sense.
 
Yep..Boraxo...I was told , on this site, to put a spoonfull of boraxo in the leadpot by the guy that casts tanglefree weights. It really gets the crud out when you stir it in. Be careful with wheelweights..some are Zinc and will contaminate your pot of lead and goop up your moulds. If they don't melt instantly in a pot of molten lead, spoon them out and toss aside to get rid of later. I have also used sawdust to clean the lead..make sure it's dry....some flux works too but the Boraxo works really good..plus you can put it on turkey butts so they don't rot for a fan spread. Are you pouring strap weights? If you are the wheel weights will be too brittle and they will bend hard and break.
 
thanks Pete and Lee.
I do think going for purity in a decoy anchor is a fair bit of overkill, but I was curious about it nonetheless...

Not making strap weights, as I have yet to find a cheap source for pure lead.

Here are a couple of pics of the weights and the aluminum molds I had made. These H weights are 8 oz. I have another mold that makes 14 oz., same style anchor. I used old small clay flower posts lined with aluminum foil to make the 4# long line anchors.

leadanchors.jpg


moldx.jpg

 
Your clay flower pot molds are just what I have been thinking of but had run out of ideas for molds. Never thought of lining them with aluminum foil, guess I never thought it would be strong enough. Cool beans, thanks.
 
Pete,
Those little clay pots will crack out the bottom after a couple of pours, even with the foil. And they need to be dry, dry, dry...

I just had really good luck with "Slip plate" coating or Graphite paint. I sprayed a couple coats of that Graphite paint on some cavities that I had drilled into a Red Oak board. I have poured about 5 times in those cavities so far and see only a small bit of blistering on the bottom, but it's still holding and the lead pops out after its cooled about 10 minutes or so.
These little guys are 6 ozs.

P8060294.jpg

 
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Brian,

I have always used teflon coated muffin tins with great success but now that I rarely hunt puddlers I have been looking for something large enough for "substantial" long line wts. I use sash wts. mostly and find that they tend to roll around alot + if there is significant waves, 2 footers for example, the wts will drag a long way. Never was a problem with hollow plastic decoys but now most everything I use is either cork or Toledo's and they can drag even the biggest sash wts. when the wind kicks up.

I bet if I baked the flower pots in the oven for a while it would drive the moisture off enough to pour lead into them.

Pete
 
Funny that this topic came up as I have been thinking of making some decoy weights myself. I have some old wheel nuts, big ones must be off of a big truck I'm thinking of just filling them with lead. I just used the wheel nuts them selves last year and they weren't heavy enough even for small puddler waters.

Bill G.
 
Brian,

Nice looking anchors. We used to cut hangers in a "U" shape then bend the ends 90 degrees and place in the flower pot for bell anchors. They worked great for heavy current in the Mississippi river. For strap weights we routered a "U" shape strap profile in a 2x6 so the loop was large enough to go over the decoy head. We used a 1/4" router bit and the depth was roughly 3/4" to an 1".

Ed L.
 
You guys using long lines should hit some garage sales that have old wieght sets. The barbell weights work great as is. and most of all CHEEP!
 
The small coffee cans full of cement work great too..that's all I had for anchors for my boats for years. Sink and eye bolt with a nut and washer into it while wet...tamp up and down on the ground to settle and get the air out and when the can rusts away you still have a nice smooth anchor.
 
Pete,I am getting ready to cast some long line weights and bought a texas muffin pan 6X in WM.I have some old ballast that I made years ago
for my Cat Boat 400# or so,that I will melt down.I don't know how much each of these will weigh (4-5lbs),but will make enough to double them ,
at the upwind end of the longline.
 
A 20 oz coke bottle of concrete works fine for longlines too if you don't have strong currents & winds to deal with. They will roll though if you are on sand, they stick fine in much & weeds.
 
A "texas muffin pan"? I can imagine what they look like though I don't think I have ever seen one. I'll have to check out the housewares section next time I get to a WM.
 
Joe, Pete,
a friend here in No. MI uses a texas muffin tin for his LL weights. a level pour in one cup will yeild a 5# weight.

Best,
Brian F.
 
Thanks Brian.I figured they might weigh that much.Should hold a dozen heavy or two doz Plastic decoys,
with one weight in calm water and two anchors when its blowing.Won't be long before we find out.
 
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