In order to pour the lead some means of melting and a proper container
must be provided.
As pure lead melts at about 620°F., and antimony at 785°F., an ordinary
gas flame will furnish sufficient heat. For the small shop, without an
artificial gas supply, a plumber's furnace which can be secured from
Hardware Jobber or Plumber Jobber will work satisfactorily. See page 19
for gas melting pots.
An ordinary cast iron solder pot will be found the most suitable
container. It should be about 8 inches in diameter.
It is advisable to obtain as large a pot as above, because for steady
pouring a sufficient supply of melted metal should always be available.
Then too, the constant addition of scrap or pig lead in a small pot will
often change the proportion of antimony so that the castings crack and
have to be melted over again.
Wash the pot thoroughly with gasoline or kerosene to remove all traces
of oil. Then after it has been carefully dried, put it over the flame
and heat it gradually. Do this before putting in any lead.
The only other equipment necessary to handle the melted lead is a ladle.
For this purpose a malleable iron melting ladle five inches in diameter
should be purchased. It can be used for stirring, skimming and pouring,
and the type with a spout, illustrated in Fig. 5 will be found most
suitable. The ladle should be cleaned and treated exactly like the
melting pot.
[Illustration: Figure 5]
The scrap or pig lead can now be put in the pot and melted. It is a time
saving plan to pick out carefully all the pieces of wood, rubber and
sealing compound from the scrap lead before it is put in the pot. Old
plates are not worth while melting, but a lot of good lead can be
salvaged by sawing the strap and post off old groups. Above all things
make sure that no wet parts or moisture of any kind ever gets into the
lead pot.