Do not melt lead indoors, especially if it’s connected in any way to living space. The risk of lead fumes, lead dust, and fire is simply too great. Keep children and pregnant or nursing women out of the area. Exposure to lead fumes or dust can be particularly harmful to the development of fetuses, infants, and small children.
A handheld kitchen blowtorch. These are relatively safe and easy to use for the average DIYer, but using one means you’ll only have one free hand throughout the process. You can pick one up for roughly $20-$50 USD. A propane burner, like those used for outdoor turkey fryers. Turkey fryer models typically integrate the burner into a built-in stand, which makes it easy to rest the melting pan on top. You’ll have less immediate heat control than with a blowtorch, though. Expect to pay around $50-$100 USD. An electric melting pot. These are designed specifically for melting metals like lead and don’t use an open flame, but take longer to do the job than open flame options. They usually cost in the $50-$100 USD range.
A breathing mask rated for use when melting metals like lead. Eye protection or, even better, a full face shield. Thick leather gloves designed for high-temperature applications like melting metals. Long, thick sleeves and pants, and sturdy shoes. Also, consider putting on a disposable zip-up suit to keep lead dust off your clothes and body. A hat, hair net, or some other method for keeping any long hair you may have from dangling near the heat source.
You might, for instance, melt down 5 lb (2. 3 kg) of lead pieces from a scrapyard in order to fill molds to make 4 lb (1. 8 kg) of lead fishing sinkers.
The melting time can vary widely based on the heat applied, any impurities in the lead, and other factors. A good general estimate is 5-10 minutes.
Choose a discard vessel with a lid that you can put on when you’re done. This will limit the amount of lead dust created by the dried dross. Make sure the slotted spoon and discard vessel are completely dry before using them. Molten lead can cause water droplets to vaporize immediately, potentially causing the lead to spray all over you.
If you do choose to flux the lead, keep applying heat to the pan or pot. Put a tea light candle on the slotted spoon and stir it into the molten lead. Keep stirring while the smoke bellows and the flames kick up from the surface. After approximately 1-2 minutes, the smoke and flames will die down. For even more purification, stir in a second tea light candle after using the slotted spoon to skim off and safely discard the dross produced by the first candle.
You can use a pre-made mold to cast items like fishing sinkers, or you can use an aluminum muffin pan to make ingots (puck-shaped pieces of lead) for later use. Swirl the mold gently after adding the metal to help any air bubbles escape. Even with heat-resistant gloves on, don’t put your hands (and any other body parts) directly above the opening to the mold. Hot gasses from the molten lead present a burn risk. Make sure the mold is completely dry before putting any lead into it.
For a 2-piece mold used to make things like fishing sinkers, unscrew the wingnuts on the bolts that hold the 2 halves together. The cast lead should pop right out. Simply turn an aluminum muffin pan over and tap it on a solid surface to free cast lead ingots.
Exposure to lead dust can have serious health consequences and can be especially damaging to the brain development of fetuses, infants, and young children. Any molten lead that has spilled and hardened on the floor of your work area can be scraped up with a chisel or flat-head screwdriver.
