Lee Loader

I've been really searching and watching for a smelter to so that I could start rendering down the amount of lead alloys I have on hand into ingots. I've been using a propane "fryer" with an assortment of pots but I find that it really wastes a lot of heat.

I looked at some commercial setups but they are quite expensive. Here is an example, the small DynaForm Soft Metal furnace. The smallest handles 160# of lead, which is probably too much at a given time for me to work with but I received my quote yesterday and it is $5,000!
Saw one of these on eBay a couple of weeks ago, after watching for a year, it was spent in every stretch of the imagination but they still thought it demanded a high price, several thousand dollars.

The trouble with most furnaces that I've looked at is that they don't provide a "tap" to deliver the molten metal. Most require that the melting chamber be removed with steel tongs and then poured. That really makes a mess with small ingot molds and is quite dangerous actually.

I sure wish an outfit like Lee made a gas fired casting furnace, something that would handle 30 to 40 lbs of lead at a time and provided a tap that didn't tip the furnace or require the use of a ladle for removing the alloy once melted.

I have bought a small smelter as I described, from an estate sale on eBay, that a machinist had made for his use. I did the calculations from the provided dimensions and it should handle about 28# lead alloy at a safe level in the pot. It was only $40, don't know why no one can't provide something like this at a reasonable price point.

I do not use my Lee casting pots, I do not want the foundering debris in them as it has caused problems in the past and I just don't think electric heating elements has a quick enough of a recovery.

I want one if you start making them.

In the mean time I've got a propane Turkey fryer, a 6 or 8 quart cast iron pot and a large old kitchen ladle that gets my aluminium muffin pans filled. Actually this set up works very well for me.

If you are wanting to stay lower cost and worried about the heat loss then look up kiln stuff. Maybe wrap some kiln insulating wool around the sides of the pot and something covering the lid but with a cutout for the handle. I'm sure you could rig something up that isn't a mess and not have spent too much.

daboone wrote:I want one if you start making them.

In the mean time I've got a propane Turkey fryer, a 6 or 8 quart cast iron pot and a large old kitchen ladle that gets my aluminium muffin pans filled. Actually this set up works very well for me.

This is what I've been using but I feel the fryer is just not very efficient. Will see how my recent purchase works. No plans to make anything. I need to spend less time fiddling and more time with my family and land.

Ranch Dog wrote:

daboone wrote: I need to spend less time fiddling and more time with my family and land.

That's good advice for for every man with family, really good advice.

RD,

It's been years ago, but I saw a thread over on cast boolits where a fella built one just as you're describing. Used insulation, the whole nine. It was impressive and seemed affordable, a lot less than $5K for sure.

Dave