Okay, if newb like me can make this work, you can too. What are you waiting for?
Get get some stuff and get to work!
Smelt Setup before I start up.
I went to Wally World (I hate that place) to get a cast iron pot but when I saw the skillet, I thought it would be convenient to have a handle and a pour spout.
Okay, I'm a newb. You can't handle a skillet that weighs thirty pounds with your hands. NO gloves on the planet and protect your hands from 700+ degrees of heat. Ain't happenin'.
I shoulda got the bigger pot.
That said, however, this setup seemed to work just fine. It's low enough to the ground so that I don't have to worry about everything falling over and high enough so I'm not no my knees working. Bayou Classic makes a tall stand burner and I considered getting it but deferred to this one for a bit of added stability. I think, however, I would have been fine with the tall one. It's a very well-built piece of equipment.
After the fires are stoked and the lead had just started to melt.
This first batch was 18 pounds. I had weighed out two rolls of 50/50 bar solder plus this lead in order to get to 20 pounds. I intended to add the bar solder after fluxing and, according to the recipe in the Lyman manual, I would have a harder alloy.
Then I got so involved in what I was doing, I forgot to add the solder until I had poured all but the last four ingots out of this first melt! Oh, well. As I thought about it, I figured that it was a good thing, after all because in the smaller casting furnace, I'll have more control over the recipe and can customize each one mo' betta.'
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