Base Metal bars

[danmc82]

My first ever metal pour. Got some lead lying around so melted it using an old frying pan, garden fire and blow torch. Turned out quite nice. Fire wasn't great so I'll be buying a dedicated Propane burner for the rest of the lead.

 

[dicker]

Thats a lovely ingot - well done!

[Bigmarc]

Nice one, I've been storing bits and bobs to hopefully get around to trying it myself. How did you do the mould?

[danmc82]

25 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

Nice one, I've been storing bits and bobs to hopefully get around to trying it myself. How did you do the mould?

I've got a couple of cast Iron molds which I'll be using for Copper and Aluminium soon. Thought I'd give the lead a go first as its easy to melt.

What bits do you have lying around?

[Bigmarc]

Mainly copper. I have been toying with the idea of sand casting a copy of a 3d printed model. It's a bit pricey for all the equipment so will be interested to see how you get on.

[danmc82]

2 hours ago, Bigmarc said:

Mainly copper. I have been toying with the idea of sand casting a copy of a 3d printed model. It's a bit pricey for all the equipment so will be interested to see how you get on.

Yeh it is to start up.

But, im hoping to do this for years to come so hopefully will be worth it. Trouble is finding scrap metal for cheap/free.

[Bigmarc]

Unfortunately I don't have the time or energy to warrant doing this to make money. Would be just a hobby for me. Luckily I am able to get hold of a few kilos from a plumber mate. I save it up and once a year, weigh it in and off to the coin shop I go. Because what's better than silver bullion? Free silver bullion!

There is this web page I read a lot, quiet helpful regarding what metal is in what. This guy says he can get up to 8 grams of palladium out of a organ. You can pick them up on Facebook fairly easy. I find it very interesting and may put it into practice one day. Otherwise just play the spot game. Contact scrappys and ask for a price.

https://www.scrapmetaljunkie.com/

Good luck, keep us posted. It will be nice to see it done without spending a fortune.

[danmc82]

Melted the rest of my lead this morning. About £8 worth of lead in total 😄

 

[danmc82]

Did some Aluminium bars this morning. Turned out ok. Used a mixture of old pop cans and Aluminium scrap.

 

[Bigmarc]

Impressive, out of interest how long did it take you? Your just using a blow torch and a frying pan? What kind of gas is it?

What are you going to do with the pieces you have made?

[danmc82]

15 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

Impressive, out of interest how long did it take you? Your just using a blow torch and a frying pan? What kind of gas is it?

What are you going to do with the pieces you have made?

Took a couple of hours. once I get the hang of it im sure i'll get quicker.

Ive got a Propane powered furnace to use for Copper and Aluminium.

No idea what I'll do with it tbh, probably just keep it for the years ahead. I know people sell on ebay so thats another option.

[danmc82]

Ive been doing abit of melting here and there. Done alot more Aluminium and lead and started with some Copper the other day.

Im not happy with how the Copper has turned out. I've only got cast Iron molds which isnt great for Copper as it sticks. I'll pick up a Grpahite crucible and do them again in the future.

Any gueses on what the 3 bars of copper weight?

 

[MickB]

12 minutes ago, danmc82 said:

Ive been doing abit of melting here and there. Done alot more Aluminium and lead and started with some Copper the other day.

Im not happy with how the Copper has turned out. I've only got cast Iron molds which isnt great for Copper as it sticks. I'll pick up a Grpahite crucible and do them again in the future.

Any gueses on what the 3 bars of copper weight?

 

2 kilos each? It's hard to tell without having something to scale it against. Copper is quite hard to cast but these look pretty good.

[Bigmarc]

About 5kg?

I do like you posts, any chance of a pic of your furnace? 

Have you attempted to sell any?

[danmc82]

1 hour ago, MickB said:

2 kilos each? It's hard to tell without having something to scale it against. Copper is quite hard to cast but these look pretty good.

Wow, spot on with total weight 😃 Although each bar is different, the one on top is 1.6kg.

 

1 hour ago, Bigmarc said:

About 5kg?

I do like you posts, any chance of a pic of your furnace? 

Have you attempted to sell any?

Thanks. No not sold any. Dont intend to for a while as I'd like to build up a big stash first.

I'll give you the link to the furnace I use...

http://devil-forge.com/gas-furnaces/39-fb2m.html

They sell them for alot cheaper on ebay.

[danmc82]

The different weights are mental. Lead is crazy heavy in bar form so Gold must feel insane.

Aluminium feels like Polystyrene in comparison 😄

[danmc82]

@Bigmarc Any thoughts on what your going to do withg your stash yet? Im still waiting for my Graphite mold so probably wont do any more melting until then.

 

[Bigmarc]

I'm moving house next month. Ive got my eye on a corner in the garden and have pre warned the missus. I have a 3d printer so I May play around with sand casting some of my prints. What graphite design did you go for?

Edited May 2, 2021 by Bigmarc

[danmc82]

6 hours ago, Bigmarc said:

I'm moving house next month. Ive got my eye on a corner in the garden and have pre warned the missus. I have a 3d printer so I May play around with sand casting some of my prints. What graphite design did you go for?

Just a standard bar. Smaller than the current bar size as a graphite mold gets very expensive at thise sizes. I may go for some coin shaped ones in the future.

Ive got my own little decking area for melting now, just need to finish it off. Bought a Keter storage box to keep all my gear in and out the hands of children.

[danmc82]

Melted a couple more bars of lead. Not had chance to do much since I'm re-doing my whole garden.

Had a friend give me some lead (he's a window fitter) so got plenty more bars to make...

You can also see the slag that comes off. Not much tbh with lead.

[danmc82]

Tried some sand casting for the first time the other day. Not bad considering ive only poured into molds previous.

Its solid Copper, weights just over 1100g.

 

[danmc82]

Had another go at sand casting Copper using a small brick kindly donated by @MickB

It turned out better than the previous casting anyway. The Brick will soon be heading home to its new owner 😀

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by danmc82

[MickB]

4 minutes ago, danmc82 said:

Had another go at sand casting Copper using a small brick kindly donated by @MickB

It turned out better than the previous casting anyway. The Brick will soon be heading home to its new owner 😀

 

Looks decent. Cheers for making this 👍

[Petra]

On 10/06/2021 at 22:41, danmc82 said:

Melted a couple more bars of lead. Not had chance to do much since I'm re-doing my whole garden.

Had a friend give me some lead (he's a window fitter) so got plenty more bars to make...

You can also see the slag that comes off. Not much tbh with lead.

Just scrolling around and seen this. I take it you are aware how poisonous lead is when heated up like that?

[Arganto]

On 17/03/2021 at 12:40, Bigmarc said:

get up to 8 grams of palladium out of a organ

Not been on this section of the forum much, I found this very interesting. However, your instructions were not clear. I have removed one kidney and found no palladium whatsoever. I did strain out a good amount of scotch and cider though so feel bad for the remaining one.

Any updates lads?

Edited June 26, 2022 by Arganto
Added missing letter