Melting lead on stove? 2024
IndianaFinesse reply :
I have heard that you can melt lead in a melting pot on a stove, is it true?
Molay1292 reply :
Yes you can, but if you ever want to have normal children, I highly recommend doing it outside.
IndianaFinesse reply :
On 3/27/2016 at 9:43 AM, Molay1292 said:Yes you can, but if you ever want to have normal children, I highly recommend doing it outside.
Figured I would just turn the fan above the stove on to suck all the fumes outside.
Molay1292 reply :
On 3/27/2016 at 9:47 AM, Centralinfinnesse said:Figured I would just turn the fan above the stove on to suck all the fumes outside.
I don't know man, that lead is some bad stuff, I would be very hesitant to melt it in the house. If you decide to give it a go, make sure you use a respirator regardless. Otherwise those kids are gonna be a mess.
Kevin22 reply :
An exhaust fan in a kitchen is likely not strong enough to remove all of the toxic fumes. Plus most just filter the air and send it back into the room, which will not work with the toxins.
Don't do it inside... find a place outside. You can get an electric melting pot for $25, or you can buy a lead ladle and use a propane torch.
tbone1993 reply :
Even worse than the lead fumes is the dust. You will probably contaminate you're entire kitchen and may ingest lead well after you have melted it.
ww2farmer reply :
Let me know when you start this...........I'll forward the phone # to some lawyers that I have heard are very good with divorce.
Bluebasser86 reply :
A Hotpot II is less than $50. Get one of those and do it in your garage with the door open or in a well ventilated shed or something.
smalljaw67 reply :
Lead melts at approximately 621 degrees F, it does not vaporize and go into the air until it gets over 960 degrees F. So having good ventilation is recommended but it is due to impurities and the odor and not lead fumes. That said, when people want to get into casting lead, I always makes sure to tell them not to go cheap, buy the best melting furnace you can afford and I'll tell you why. The first reason is safety, molten lead will splash and get on your skin and instantly stick causing a nasty 2nd degree burn and possibly 3rd degree if you can get it off fast enough. The next reason is the learning curve, the gates on jig and lure molds are small and melting lead in a pot on a stove or hot plate means you'll be using a ladle to pour, this takes time to get it right and be consistent so you end up with having a lot of hooks with partial pours that need to be done over by melting the lead off the hook and trying again. The other problem is temperature control, lead can vaporize if it gets too hot, but it also changes color and becomes brittle when overheated and it is tough to keep it in the right zone. Now, there is a product called the "Hot Pot 2" from Palmer, it is an electric ladle, it has pouring spots on the sides and you can melt lead in it and pour with it. The problem is that it will only hold 4lbs of lead and if you use it to pour, it is a lot of weight to try to pour a 1/4oz jig with, this is the hardest way to pour. You can buy a small ladle and a precision melting pot from LEE, it holds 4lbs and lets you dip with a ladle, I use it for pouring spinnerbaits because I pour those with a ladle, but my jigs are now poured out of an RCBS pro melt. If you want to get into pouring jigs, the precision melting pot and a small ladle will run $50 shipped, it will be safe and relatively inexpensive and it will work but the downside is you will need to learn the ladle on your own and it may take some time to get the hang of it. The next in line would be the 10lb LEE Production pot IV, it is a bottom pour pot that runs $60, these work great and I used mine for years, the downside is they can drip after a bit but as long as you melt clean lead you shouldn't have a problem. That brings me to my last point, the lead itself, be careful of scrap lead, there are different types of lead, some of it is hard lead, and some of it is soft lead and you need to be aware of what you have so you don't ruin your pot. Wheel weights are what a lot of us, including myself, use to use but lead started getting beat up by activist groups so the lead content got lowered and zinc was added and to tell you how bad zinc contamination is, a single 1/2lb ingot I made with a zinc wheel weights, ruined a full 10lbs of lead, it became a thick consistency and I could not pour with it, so I had to dump it out and clean my pot, and I was lucky. Some guys I know actually had like 5 or 6lbs of them they melted down and it actually ruined a friend's pot, it stuck to the liner and inside the spout and he had to send it back to LEE to get it refurbished. When you buy a new pot from LEE now, they include a warning in the manual and on a separate paper that tells you not to use wheel weights, and so if you don't know the good from the bad, don't use them, as for hard and soft lead, hard lead is more difficult to pour in molds that have tight spaces or extra fine detail but it is something you will learn down the road. There is a lot to know about casting lead, and if you start out on the cheap it can get frustrating, so do your homework and get a decent melting pot and join Tackle Underground, you can get a lot of help with casting in the wire baits section.
Jaderose reply :
BassWhole! reply :
On 3/27/2016 at 9:38 AM, Centralinfinnesse said:I have heard that you can melt lead in a melting pot on a stove, is it true?
If you don't care about your kids SAT scores, and know a good divorce lawyer, it works great...
IndianaFinesse reply :
Would melting lead on a propane grill outside get hot enough?
Munkin reply :
Lee Pots are cheap enough to not mess will poisoning your family by using something you cook on.
Allen
Will Wetline reply :
Centralinfinnesse -
. . . I'm worried about you. All of the above posters know what they're talking about and none like your do-it-on-the-cheap-your-own-way ideas.
Please, if you're determined to mold your own baits, make the approximate $300.00 investment (which includes a Lee Production Pot IV, safety goggles and gloves) and read and follow the instructions that come with it and the mold. This is not an activity that you rush. And it takes time and patience to learn to do it well. Okay? Be smart and be safe.
IndianaFinesse reply :
How about outside over a campfire? That way there is proper ventilation, and it can't contaminate surfaces that food comes into contact with.
Kevin22 reply :
Yes, that is fine but be sure to use a thermometer so you don't over heat the lead. A better idea is a fish/turkey fryer if you have one. Set a cast iron pot (one just for lead! NEVER to be used for cooking again) on the propane burner and you are ready to go.
smalljaw67 reply :
On 3/30/2016 at 2:12 AM, Centralinfinnesse said:How about outside over a campfire? That way there is proper ventilation, and it can't contaminate surfaces that food comes into contact with.
Are you having fun or just don't want to get a melting furnace?? I do my lead casting in the house, I have a basement that I made into a work area and I have 2 windows, one in the back of the basement, and one in the front. I have a small window fan in the back that sucks air in from outside and a small fan on the front that pushes air out, if I light a candle you can see the flame move toward the front window and that is how I know the air is circulating well. That said, the lead dust is the bad part, it gets on your hands and your clothes and if you don't wash up after messing with it, you end up ingesting it and it is how you get lead poisoning. The fumes aren't a problem with a melting furnace that you can control the heat, as long as you keep the lead at or below 900 degrees you'll be fine but you can't do that on a hot plate or campfire or a coleman stove. When you melt scrap lead the impurities will burn off and it will stink, those are the fumes to worry about, I don't get that much because I buy my lead from Rotometals, it allows me to control my alloys because I purchase both pure lead ingots and 3% to 5% antimony ingots and the lead is pretty clean, when I flux it, very little slag or dross comes to the top that has to be skimmed off. If you are serious about getting started then do so but only do it when you feel you can afford the initial start up cost, doing it without experience and trying to cut corners is a disaster waiting to happen, it is a fun and rewarding hobby if you take the time to do it right, but cut corners or rush it and there will be problems, good luck.
SHaugh reply :
For something as small as jig heads just get a decent ladle and heat it up with a propane torch outside. You don't need to spend money to have fun with a simple hobby like that. But you do need to wash your hands before lunch...
IndianaFinesse reply :
Thanks for all of the replies, I think I will try melting it with my fish fryer outside Instead of on the stove.
buzzed bait reply :
if this is the way you're set on going, at least get a $20 - $25 hotplate and do it outside.
Munkin reply :
Before you or anyone else asks do not try and use a microwave oven.
Allen
Catch 22 reply :
I use my turkey/deep fry burner outside, on a windy day with snow on the ground for melting bulk down to ingot size for the Lee pot. I found a 3 gallon pot at a yard sale that works fine with a ladle used to fill the mini muffin pans that sit in a bed of snow so they will cool off in a reasonable time.Water and hot lead don`t mix well but a little common sense goes a long way. Have done about 400 lbs in recent years ==no probs. Wear long handle welder gloves and curtail the beer drinking til yer done.
I recycle old jig/bucktails that often have thread and some plastics on them. Now THAT SMOKE is very toxic not to be inhaled. I try to pick a day that the wind carries the smoke over to one of the neighbors I don`t like. He doesn`t approve of fishing /hunting or the likes.===========and of course I`m just kidding ha ha
Mom asks me if I have seen her muffin pans now and again==me==nope.
C22
IndianaFinesse reply :
On 3/31/2016 at 9:03 PM, Catch 22 said:I use my turkey/deep fry burner outside, on a windy day with snow on the ground for melting bulk down to ingot size for the Lee pot. I found a 3 gallon pot at a yard sale that works fine with a ladle used to fill the mini muffin pans that sit in a bed of snow so they will cool off in a reasonable time.Water and hot lead don`t mix well but a little common sense goes a long way. Have done about 400 lbs in recent years ==no probs. Wear long handle welder gloves and curtail the beer drinking til yer done.
I recycle old jig/bucktails that often have thread and some plastics on them. Now THAT SMOKE is very toxic not to be inhaled. I try to pick a day that the wind carries the smoke over to one of the neighbors I don`t like. He doesn`t approve of fishing /hunting or the likes.===========and of course I`m just kidding ha ha
Mom asks me if I have seen her muffin pans now and again==me==nope.
C22
On 3/30/2016 at 3:09 AM, Kevin22 said:Yes, that is fine but be sure to use a thermometer so you don't over heat the lead. A better idea is a fish/turkey fryer if you have one. Set a cast iron pot (one just for lead! NEVER to be used for cooking again) on the propane burner and you are ready to go.
Do you fill the deep fryers with oil, or do you leave them empty? I would imagine that empty would be better.
Catch 22 reply :
On 4/1/2016 at 8:48 AM, Centralinfinnesse said:
Do you fill the deep fryers with oil, or do you leave them empty? I would imagine that empty would be better.
Is that a serious question
IndianaFinesse reply :
On 4/1/2016 at 10:39 AM, Catch 22 said:Is that a serious question
No, sorry. I was just checking wether you guys would actually take it seriously. Everyone, except for you and a couple other guys, seems to think I am insane for even thinking about doing some of the things i've suggested. I know it would be easier to just buy a lee melting pot, but I am extremely tight on money right now, so I was trying to save the thirty five bucks.
Catch 22 reply :
"Everyone, except for you and a couple other guys, seems to think I am insane"
Don`t count me out
Jaw1 reply :
Wow!!
ogarza reply :
I remember making sinkers with my dad, not exactly on the stovetop, but it was like this small crock-pot looking oven that would hold about a cup of molten lead, it was electric if I remember correctly, sometimes it was scary as moisture or trapped air bubbles would occasionally blow, sending bits of molten lead through the air
Kevin22 reply :
On 4/2/2016 at 11:31 PM, ogarza said:I remember making sinkers with my dad, not exactly on the stovetop, but it was like this small crock-pot looking oven that would hold about a cup of molten lead, it was electric if I remember correctly, sometimes it was scary as moisture or trapped air bubbles would occasionally blow, sending bits of molten lead through the air
That brings up a good point that should be in every lead melting thread.
NEVER EVER put ingots made by others, old weights, old jigs, bullets, or tire weights in a pot of melted lead. Always fill your COLD pot with these items, place your pot in an open area and let it melt with nobody near it. I've been guilty of not following my own advice, dropped an egg sinker in my pot and it had water trapped in the sinker somewhere (sat in my lead pile for months), out came a splatter of lead at mach2 and covered my workbench. Luckily I had glasses on.
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