The Boat Barn Web Page

Previous Page

      
  Spring 2005
The big event of the spring has been the lead pour.  The box has been finished for a while and after finding more lead than I could use at a local printer (old linotype lead) there was no longer an excuse for waiting.  So,  with the help of a few large friends we set about pouring the lead.  

The arrangement for melting is a cast iron stew pot on a fireplace grate which sits on a couple of cement blocks. The burner underneath is the business end of an 80,000 BTU space heater with the top chimney removed.  The while thing is surrounded on three sides by a sheet of steel to keep the wind out.  There's a slot in the back of the sheet steel for the straight end of the lifting handle which goes through eye bolts on the pot with an "L" which goes thru a third eye bolt.  See the picture below.  A "T" on one end of the lifting handle helps control the process.  

Burners
This is the steel keel box hoisted up with an engine hoist so the lead will run into the aft end beneath the overhang.  What you can't see well is the 40 feet of 1/2" copper tubing that's coiled up in the box.  This is for engine cooling.  The only sea water entering the engine goes straight to the exhaust to cool it.
Keel Box
This is one of about 33 pours we did that day.  We poured 2000 of 4000 pounds.  There are bulkheads in the box and after the aft section was full, we let the box down so we could pour with it level.  The height of the box is no problem for my large friend, but it was a lot easier on me when we lowered it down.
Pouring





Next Page
Home | Beach Cruiser | Badger Builders | Junk Rig Stuff
Gerald K. Limber
Asheboro, NC
gklimber@triad.rr.com