I'm going to be melting a lot of lead next year and have been looking into a couple of things to make it a better faster easier experience for me. Ergonomics and efficiency are my goals.
I used to have some of those short turkey cookers that run off LP gas. They do work well but when you are melting several thousand pounds of lead it gets pretty tiring to have to bend over all the time.
I have a new LP gas furnace. Its homemade but made very well and most importantly it is taller and will save my back.
Another problem I had was pouring the lead into molds. I used to try to pick up the cast iron pot and pour it directly into the molds. To make it worthwhile you have to put 40 to 60 pounds of lead in it and to try to pick up that much hot lead and pour a mold. Plus its not easy to hold a pot with 60 pounds of hot lead in it and pour it.
Im looking for one of those larger size pourers . Something that holds at least 10 pounds of lead at a time would be best. In my mind, this would save me the wear and tear of having to try to pick up the pot every time and allow me to work for longer periods at a time.
After working with a lot of different molds I finally found a size that it best for me. It produces 27 pound ingots with a minimum of trouble so I dont plan on changing molds, but almost everything else I am open to suggestions.
Can anybody point me to a supplier of large cast iron pots, and lead pourers?
