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Lead melting pot

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My first elec pot was abottom pour and after a few yrs couldn't get it to close every time . Sent it down the road and now have a 10lb elec pot with a pouring lade, Works great
:2
 
Swampy said:
After seeing the bad reviews of Tracks bag molds, I ordered a Lee .600 mold and a Lyman ladle. As soon as the weather breaks I'll get somebody to do a search and rescue for the melting pot I have stashed away somewhere.

Both good choices I think. I got to looking around and found this Lyman with a 10 pound capacity and a thermostat for $35. Anybody have one of these? It looks like a heck of a deal for a Lyman.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=816131
 
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Thanks for the link! I really don't care for my Lee Drip-O-Matic, even after I welded the bottom pour spout shut. I would rather have a ladle style pot, but didn't want to spend the money on a new pot. $35 isn't bad so I think I'll be ordering one soon.
 
I just bought the Lee Pro 20.Its a bottom pour electric. My production pot was dripping and I couldn't seem to stop it. I cast about 60 balls tonight, some .662 and some .678. Not one drip. Being able to adjust the flow rate is nice to. Only draw back is you have to bend over quite a bit to see the spout. Next time I may elevate it a little to see if that helps. Overall I would say its a big improvement over the bottom pour production pot.
 
fyrfyter43 said:
Thanks for the link! I really don't care for my Lee Drip-O-Matic, even after I welded the bottom pour spout shut. I would rather have a ladle style pot, but didn't want to spend the money on a new pot. $35 isn't bad so I think I'll be ordering one soon.

:) Drip-O-Matic. Love it!
Hey, maybe the Lee is the answer to folks wanting to make their own shot. Wonder how far would it have to fall...
 
Welp, after much thought and a search turned up nothing here,(I may have let someone borrow the pot and have forgotten about it) :shake: Hate when that happens as people end up with free stuff and I'm none the wiser. :idunno: Anyway, I ordered and just recieved the Lyman Big Dipper 10 lb casting furnace which should do me just fine. Midsouth supply had it for $32.00 and I just couldn't say no. :thumbsup:
 
Of course you KNOW that the old one will turn up any day now since you bought a new one. Works every time for me. :haha:
 
Yeah thats been a running joke with Roy for a while now lol. Always sending stuff missing a part or two and damn if I can fine them....a year later there they are! :haha:
 
Swampy (and everyone else too),
I will second the advice about being careful and using proper protective clothing/gear. As has already been said, It will bite you if you get complacent. I can appreciate and respect your comment earlier about being slightly nervous and not being able to outrun the splash, but I honestly wouldn't worry about it as long as you're careful. You already know this since you've done it in the past, and those old safety habits will come back in no-time. You'll do fine. As to being able to outrun it, I dont worry about it because I dont believe anyone can regardless of physical condition. I have had plenty of small splashes just during regular casting that are more of an annoyance than anything and arent even big enough to hurt, much less burn me, so those I just ignore.

My only one that actually had me scared and hurt was several years ago now (but keep in mind the safety gear and procedures we are supposed to take when casting as I tell you this). I decided that I knew better/got lazy and decided to cast some .490s on the stove in the middle of the summer, while I had a couple fans going for ventilation because the AC in my apartment was out in the middle of a Texas summer. As hot as it was, I decided to cast wearing nothing but a pair of jeans , and why not since i'd never had an accident and was sure i was perfectly safe. About an hour into the casting session, I somehow managed to move the melting pot which in turn splashed my side halfway between my ribs and waistline and the wall with melted lead. There is no way I could have avoided it once everything was in motion, so I instead grabbed the pot by the handle to attempt to minimize the damage. As soon as I got the pot stable, i reached down and pulled the now solidified lead (only about 2 seconds have passed so far) off my skin. To my surprize, about a 2 inch wide by 4-5 inch long piece of skin came with it. I said a few things i wont repeat here due to this being a family oriented site, turned off the heat, and went to take care of the injury. I still have the scar to show for it and will for the rest of my life as a wonderful reminder of what happens when I get complacent. Other than the scar and being miserable for 2-3 weeks afterwards waiting on it to heal while i tore it open every time i tried to sit up, lay down, turn, etc, no damage was done, and i am thankful that it was all cosmetic in the long run. It could have been MUCH worse, so I got off lucky, especially since I never had any hopes of being pretty anyway. All I ask, is that everyone learns from my mistake and the mistakes of others here. I am still not afraid of casting, and you couldnt get me to stop if you offered to buy my balls/bullets for the rest of my life--but I do RESPECT it more, and with respect comes common sense and caution. Go ahead and cast your own as it is very rewarding and much easier than I ever thought before I started, but use your head more than I did as it only took that one time. Be safe, cause I can tell you from experience that being stupid hurts. :thumbsup:
 
Absolutely, I'll be covered with thick leather when I do it. I no longer heal up and recover fast like I used to so there is no way I'll get myself in a position where something bad could happen.
 
I own a casting business and have tried several different types of melting pots. My favorite is the RCBS 20lb. But at over $400 for us here in canada they take a while to pay off.
I've also had a few Lee pots. They all had a slight drip. I also had one 20lb lee that the bottom fell completly out of and spilt the lead all over my bench. Lucky for me it was half empty.
I have found with casting pure lead bullets and rounds balls. That if I cast at a bit higher temperature than normal I get fewer rejects and better consistancy. With my 7% antimony mix that I make our handgun and rifle bullets from I cast at 700 deg. These are done on two automated machines. I cast the pure lead around 750 in my Lee bottom pours. I have also found that the pure lead moulds like to be hot hot hot before they will throw a nice slug. We sell a pure lead 455 webly bullet that has many fine lube groove lines. And if the mould is not really hot the grooves come out rounded not sharp and defined.
Magma engineering makes a really nice mould. I use their mould in sets of 8 for the automated machines. I have some for handcasting as well. Plus RCBS and Lee for handcasting as well. The Lees work but the RCBS hold the heat better.
With the 7% mix the lees heat up really quick and frost the bullets after 6 throws. But pure lead does not frost.
 
Swampy - I'm planning on casting when the weather gets nice enough to use my back porch (cross ventilation and out of the mrs' way). I picked up my equipment piecemeal over the fall and winter.

SAFETY: Harbor Freight. I got a 3 PIECE WELDER"S LEATHER OUTFIT: good quality gloves, apron, and a useless holder. $15. Great deal. I also got safety glasses for a couple bucks too, although I later bought a face mask for not much.

The apron is important because I'll be sitting while I cast, and it's large enough to give GREAT protection.
 
Sorry Swampy - I put in the above REPLY right after reading your first post. Obviously AFTER a lot of other posts! Glad to see you've got it covered, literally. Good thick leather apron and gloves from you cousin sound GREAT!
 
All you will need in addition to your mould is a Lee electric pot and a ladle. Lee makes good servicable products at an excellent price. Buy the simple one, not the bottom pour model. It's cheaper and will hold up to 10 pounds of lead. This kind of Lee pot will allow you to easily flux your lead to clean it and keep it clean by skimming with your ladle as you work. You can spend more but why would you want to when the Lee pot and ladle will more than meet your needs?
 
I got the Lyman Big Dpper for 32 bucks, I didn't look at the Lee prices at Mid South but I'm not going to complain to much about 32 bucks. :haha: :thumbsup:
 
Lyman Big Dipper for $32......Ya done good. The small Lee pot that I was talking about wouldn't have been much cheaper. Lyman melter, bullet mould, leather apron, gloves....all you need is a ladle and you are in business. Don't spend your money on some special flux for your pot, a tiny piece of an old candle or a dab of bees wax will do the job nicely and is a whole lot cheaper than buying some special fluxing concoction.
 
Yeah I went back to Midsouth shooter supply and one of the Lee pots is 31.00. I liked the fact the Lyman has supports under the pot where the Lee did not. Probably don't matter at all but the added strength couldn't hurt either. :thumbsup:
 
Hi Swampy been following your adventures for years. Casting will be fun. I use a propane cooker for the heat sourse, a stainless bowl heavy (thick) holds about 20#s of lead. Liked a cast iron pot better but don't know where it went.I also like the dipper for larger bullets. Now my dipper?? Was a 12" screwdriver. Got one of the small CO2 cylinders drilled out the hole and cut a hole in the side for the lead to fill welded it to the screwdriver it works well and is less than $4 to make. It holds enough lead to make any size minnie ball you would want and does double 50s easy.
A little trick on you molds is a good grafite pencil. Rub the sprue plate and the top of the mold with the pencil also the sprue hole,The lead doesn't stick and the plate moves easier. I smoke my molds with a kitchen match works for me.
Fox
 
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