[modeleng] Re: Alumin(i)um was RE: Re: O/T Disposable Propane bottles

Actually, I would prefer a cast iron pot or ladle for melting lead, Tim.  Or 
even a plain steel one.  The relative temperatures of lead and aluminum 
(inuminum) at their melting points are close enough to give me pause 
concerning strength loss in the Al pot at that high a temperature. 
Regardless of what you chose to go to pot with, do the melting outside where 
air circulates freely and brand the pot so that it won't slip back into the 
stash of cooking utensils.  Saw a web site about some guy building a 
sailboat in his back yard.  He gathered tons (tonnes?) of wheel weights from 
garages and cast them into ingots for convenience and steel clip removal. 
Then, when he was ready to convert these into a keel, he melted the whole 
lot in a huge old bathtub.  Built a wood fire under the tub and kept feeding 
the ingots into the tub until it was full of melted lead.  Then he "pulled 
the plug" and let the molten lead flow into his keel mold.  That's one mold 
I would want to be extremely sturdy!  The panic when one's concrete form 
collapses and the wall becomes a walk wouldn't begin to touch the excitement 
of tons of melted lead running around everywhere and exploding when it hit 
damp patches of ground!  Charles

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Rickard" <the_viffer@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Manfully attempting to keep it on subject I've my eye on one of our Al 
> pans
> for using in casting a small amount of lead. I can't think of any chemical
> hazards with that (but plenty of physical ones especially if I get caught)
> If anyone knows of any would they let me know?
>
> By the way we spell it right.

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