"Brian Lawson" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 16:52:46 GMT, "Colin Jacobs"
wrote:

A bit OT but as you are all engineers What is the melting point of lead?
If
I melt it are the fumes poisonous?

What is the best vessel to melt lead in?



Hey Colin,

I use a babbitt ladle. Of course, that's because I have one. Holds
10 pounds worth, maybe 3 cups worth maybe, with a pouring lip on
either side, and a long "D" handle.
We melt old wheel balance weights, and for what we're doing, we don't
care too much about the temperature, so I can't tell you degrees.
Certainly not too much hotter than it takes to char a small pine
sliver/chip. Not so hot it would catch the sliver on fire. When it's
hot enough, we just scoop the floating steel clips off . Dross comes
away with the clips, and its ready to pour.

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.

Yep! What Brian said. Add a little paraffin or bees wax to the heat just
before you skim off the steel pieces and it will clean up the metal very
nicely. Smokes a lot, but you can light the fumes and that goes away.
It's a good thing to do if you want clean metal.

Harold