Casting KARMA - NES ONLY - stainless steel smelting pots

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I'm emptying out my barn, in preparation for moving, and found a bunch of 15 gallon sanke style beer kegs.

I cut them up to take to the scrap metal place, and discovered (while looking at the bottom piece) that they make wonderful smelting pots!
I bet one of these babies will handle 300+ pounds of lead.

Sam, with his recent 600+ sailboat keel would be able to cut up chunks, and make them fit. I designate the first one of these for him. (if he wants it)

I am keeping one of the others for myself, and will bring it to FL.

That leave another few for those who speak up first. Must be a paid NES member.
I am posting this here, because more of the casting people hang here than the Karma area.
I hope that's OK, Jim.

You guys have to arrange to have someone come up and pick them up.

I still have that pile of range lead available, and anyone who wants that will need a large smelting pot also.

So, who's in???

IN LIST:
  • 1) Sffar
  • 2) ZipTar <<== Willing to drive these back to Massachusetts
  • 3) Exousia
  • 4) gulfmp
  • 5) Bob J
  • 6) Slowdive
  • 7) RugerSlinger



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What kind of burner would you need to support 300 pounds of lead? A turkey fryer certainly wouldn't hold the weight nor is it likely to be able to keep that much lead hot enough. Those look great if you have the means to cook that much lead at once though.
 
I'm not sure what you were hoping to get for scrap value for these, but FYI, you can return them to a package store and get a $20 deposit returned for each one.
 
Duke, would like to be put on the list as well! This is an awesome Karma and am also thinking that any beer brewers might be able to put one of these to good use as a good sized brew pot...... Should be perfect for an all grain batch......[wink]
 
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Well Bob,
These 15 gallon barrels are now 7.5 gallons in height. So, they'd barely serve as a 5 gallon brew pot.
I'll put your name on one.
I do have a 15 gallon untouched barrel, which has a rubber coating over the whole outside. If ZipTar is willing to drive it back to MA for you, you can have that. Otherwise, I'll leave it on a street corner in Portland. Someone would take it.

Duke, would like to be put on the list as well! This is an awesome Karma and am also thinking that any beer brewers might be able to put one of these to good use as a good sized brew pot...... Should be perfect for an all grain batch......[wink]

Got your name on one also

Thanks Duke...I'm in.
 
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I will take the last one if someone is willing to hold it until i can get up north of here to get it. I am hoping to get into casting and already have a bunch of lead waiting for me.
 
I'll put you on the list.
ZipTar will be bringing these back to Massachusetts for you guys.
You can make arrangements with him.

That completes this Karma.

If you guys need a "BIG BOY" burner to go with this stainless steel smelting pot, check with ssfar. He's got the lowdown on a great deal on a high output burner.

I will take the last one if someone is willing to hold it until i can get up north of here to get it. I am hoping to get into casting and already have a bunch of lead waiting for me.
 
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I am heading up to Duke's at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning to pick these up.

If you want me to bring one back to you and you haven't PM'd me yet, please shoot me a PM.
 
I just had to post this.....

This morning when I was heading out the door my wife had just woken up and I said goodbye as she was getting coffee.

She asked me very sleepily "Why are you going to Maine again?"

I simply said " I'm making a pot run, I'm bringing back a whole car load for a bunch of guys. Love You! See you later babe......" and closed the door behind me. [smile]
 
Hahahaha.... FUNNY!

Just don't tell them where you got the pot(s)............ haha

Nice to see you again, Kevin.

I hope that you all enjoy the pot(s).....

I found the bolts for my boat, but after Kicker96FS left for home.

Kevin, I would suggest that you begin (or someone begin) a new discussion thread for the 2012 Cast Bullet Workshop. Not looking like I'll be able to attend.
 
Kevin, I would suggest that you begin (or someone begin) a new discussion thread for the 2012 Cast Bullet Workshop. Not looking like I'll be able to attend.

Duke,
I'm sure once something is firmed up someone will post something about it. You will be greatly missed however.

I did have an idea yesterday (this is what happens on long drives...). Since its 2011 and we have the Interwebz, we might be able to hook up a web cam and you could attend "virtually". [wink]
Then I thought why not take it one step further.... If we hooked up a monitor on our end you could even do one of the sessions, kinda like Max Headroom...
p.gif

(MaxDukeInMaine?? err I mean MaxDukeInFlorida??) [smile]

Picked up my Karma Big Brew pot. Many thanks, Duke. And thanks again, Kevin, for taking the trouble to schlep it around. There's nothing like a bowl that's plenty big, whether for ice cream, cereal, what Kevin said (I suppose) or for lead.
Here's the link for the 185,000 BTU cooker on Amazon . .
http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic...1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1321230892&sr=1-1
Sam

Sam,
Thanks for posting the link, I forgot to ask you about that yesterday.

I had an SP10 on my list. It's the same price, size, and BTUs as the SP1 but its got a windscreen and it doesn't have "Jet" in the name.

What's the difference? SP10 does the same job as the SP1 with less noise??

Seeing a show these keg pots are so huge, those that are impatient might want to spend the extra ~$15.00 for the SP2 "Double Jet". http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-SP2-Double-Cooker/dp/B001FTS32W/ [smile] Better have a big bottle though, looks like it's got a big appetite.

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Kevin,
The rated BTU output for the double jet is exactly the same as the rated btu output for the single jet.

Here's the company page for the double:
http://bayouclassicdepot.com/sp40-bayou-classic-double-jet-propane-burner.htm

Here's the company page for the single:
http://bayouclassicdepot.com/sp1_propane_jet_burner.htm

They're BOTH 185,000 btu's per hour.

If you want SERIOUS heat, get the "Kick a Banjo" version:
http://bayouclassicdepot.com/kab6-kick-a-banjo-burner-plus.htm

That one is 30 psi regulator, and 210,000 MINIMUM btu's (on low/idle)
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Not sure how practical a video teleconferencing setup would be.

I'm also not sure how fast the house will sell. If I'm still around, I would make a guest appearance. However, planning should be done on the basis that I am not here.
 
I like that Kick A Banjo, and it should support 320 pounds easily. I found you have to double check on the BTU's, as sometimes the specs seem to change depending on when/where it's listed. The other day the windscreen one was lower output, I believe, and I was looking at both Amazon and Bayou's websites.
Cyber Mon the 28th there's a 25% off code CyMon11 that might bring the KAB6 down to $75 IF it's still priced at $100.
 
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I was looking at the KAB6 yesterday. It would be double the price of the others when it's on sale (Thanks for the code by the way.) but, it does have a 30 PSI regulator and would support 320 pounds, description states 162 quarts. 40 gallons @ 8lbs per gallon is 320 lbs, the others might as well but, I'd had to find out they won't when they've got 300 lbs of molten lead on them.

I'm on the fence as to which I'll ultimately get, but with these pots probably worth it for the heavier stand.

Yesterday I read a few thread about the KAB6 on some of the home brew forums and there were several where they'd modified theirs to get it to heat better and use less propane by raising the burner or adding a windscreen. Apparently it doesn't do well on a windy day too. Mostly though, they do say it works well with their "keggles".

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These seemed like the most simple and effective, and both threads are worth a read also.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/kab...-report-review-160400/index3.html#post2080007

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http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/shroud-windscreen-kab6-banjo-burner-163718/
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Until Kicker96FS took it home on Sunday, I had been using his home made stainless steel stand that he made for brewing beer (20 psi regulator) as my smelting stand.

When I land in FL, and start acquiring some new lead, I'll need a new burner for my own smelting needs. The Kick a Banjo looks like the good choice.
 
Until Kicker96FS took it home on Sunday, I had been using his home made stainless steel stand that he made for brewing beer (20 psi regulator) as my smelting stand.

When I land in FL, and start acquiring some new lead, I'll need a new burner for my own smelting needs. The Kick a Banjo looks like the good choice.

you're not gonna truck that pile of range backstop dirt or the keel to florida?
 
you're not gonna truck that pile of range backstop dirt or the keel to florida?

LOL! I grew up in central Florida (near Orlando).... What part of Florida are you headed for Duke?

BTW, the pots are awesome! I picked mine up this week from Kevin who was nice enough to bring them back for us! Much appreciated and will hopefully get a chance to give it a work out next week.....[smile]
 
East coast, just south of Daytona. Port Orange. Other than the stress of selling so much stuff, I am actually looking forward to the change.

LOL! I grew up in central Florida (near Orlando).... What part of Florida are you headed for Duke?

BTW, the pots are awesome! I picked mine up this week from Kevin who was nice enough to bring them back for us! Much appreciated and will hopefully get a chance to give it a work out next week.....[smile]

No, swampy. One of the NES members is coming up to Maine this morning to purchase the pile (arranged with a local guy to haul it back to Mass), and Sam already bought the keel. And, most of my 2 tons of other lead is gone. As is the 50 yellow buckets of brass, and most of the 55 gallon barrels of brass. I'm taking bare minimum of lead/brass. Taking ALL of my linotype however. Not sure how many old print shops there are in the Daytona area.

you're not gonna truck that pile of range backstop dirt or the keel to florida?
 
East coast, just south of Daytona. Port Orange. Other than the stress of selling so much stuff, I am actually looking forward to the change.

Wow, talk about a small world..... My mother has a beach house in Port Orange (Wilbur by the Sea).... Spent many a summer there in my youth.....[wink]
 
Duke,
Thank You again! All pots distributed! We'll just about. I'll bring Exousia his shortly. Made arrangements with gulfmp so he could swing by my place and pickup his pot while I was in South Carolina this weekend. He's also picked up Rugersliger's and is going to work on getting it to him. Thank You again for helping out gulfmp and thanks to everyone that pitched in gas money, you were all more than generous.

I think they'll make awesome smelting pots. I kept the smallest for me. I'm not set on a burner yet and it's still pretty darn huge. [smile]

I was thinking.... The home brew guys call theirs "Keggles", for smelting how about "Smeggles"? [laugh]
 
Just ordered the KAB6 from Bayou Classic. On sale today at $75 + $22.50 FedEx Ground. No more screwing around (I hope)!
Looks like the keg pots should fit pretty well, especially with four notches cut out of the bottom flange.
Sam
 
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