An exerpt from a book on casting lead balast for a boat. The exerpt reads: Each pig had to be cast to fit. By using garden earth in a wooden box, with a wooden model of the lead pig, it was quite easy to make accurate moulds. All this lead Michael Frost cast by his fireside during winter evenings, using a large iron ladle in which to melt the lead. The lead was melted from sheet or ingots (NOT lead pipes which might contain water and ex- plode). The melting was done over an ordinary dog grate in the sitting room of Michael Frost's home. The mould was placed just outside the sitting room window, so he scuttled back and forth between fireplace and window sill using a smaller ladle. Each time he lifted a ladle full of melted lead, his wife added ingots to the lead that was heating. In order to get enough heat length of hose was fitted into the back of the out of the fire, domestic vacuum cleaner and the jet of air directed on to the a fire, which was roaring like a blacksmith's forge.