Melting problem

[tn_junk]

Traded for what is supposed to be WW. Five bricks, approximately 8 lbs each. Looks like they were poured into a coffee can as an ingot mould. Won't fit in my Lee melter. Figured I would melt them in my old faithful stainless pot on a Coleman stove. Cast stuff for my BP like this, using pure lead, for many years.
This stuff will not melt. Got the bottom of the pot glowing a dull red, and the alloy not only didn't melt, didn't even slump. Any ideas about how I can melt this stuff. Anybody got any ideas what it might be?

thanks

alan

[Lloyd Smale]

good chance what you have is zinc. it looks like  lead but is much harder to melt. What i would do is take a brick of what you know is ww of the same size and weight them together. Zinc will weight about half what lead does so it should be easy to tell. If they weight close to the same it could be that your coleman stove just doesnt have the btu to heat up a big piece of lead and will take alot of time to do it.

[Idaho Ron]

tn junk, You won't want to use WW for that .501 in your ML. You will have a tough time getting them down a ML if they are hard.  Ron

[tn_junk]

tn junk, You won't want to use WW for that .501 in your ML. You will have a tough time getting them down a ML if they are hard.  Ron

Thanks, and I agree. This material is for my .460 S&W and my .357 MAX. I will use only pure lead for my BP guns.

This stuff weighs like lead, so I guess my little stove just doesn't have the BTU's to melt such a big piece. Gonna hafta find some way to do it. I called the guy I got it from and he assured me it was Wheel Weight.

alan

[Lloyd Smale]

if it weights like lead its probably pure and pure can be a bugger to melt in big chunks without lots of btus!

[Old Syko]

Takes a lot of heat alright.  If you ever get a chance to pick up a cast iron pot, don't pass it up.

[Tom W.]

A propane torch will get it down, but it will take an awfully long time. If you have access to a shop that has an oxy -acetylene torch, you can reduce it with that, but it still will take a while. I had a 60 lb. ingot of pure lead that I tried both methods with.  The big torch won out...

[tn_junk]

Had a brainstorm (or brain fart, not sure which). I'm gonna drill the thing like Swiss cheese with a 1/2" drill bit in my drill press. That will give me the drill chips and I can most probably break the big chunk up with an ax after I drill it full of holes. Both should melt well.

alan

[adirondacker]

i wouldn,t reccomend this,but i cut my big lead chunks up on a chop saw,i have used a skill saw too.safety glasses and a mask would be reccomended.again i didn't tell you to do it but that's what i do.just a regular carbide framing blade.i know other guys who use a woodsplitter.good luck, adker

[Lloyd Smale]

When i smelt wws for future use i use a 2 quart cast iron pot for an ingot mold. It makes an ingot that wieghts about 50 lbs. My turkey fryer and bigger cast iron pot have no trouble melting them later.

[blhof]

I use the same method as Lloyd; have used my fryer base for years with a dutch oven and plumbers dipper.  Use it outdoors only and once lead starts to melt; start lowering the temp to prevent the lead from boiling, yes it can get that hot on a fryer.