pot haemorrhaging lead.

[JeffinNZ]

Team.

I'm a ladle man. I won't lie to you. My main pot (Lyman 20lb) and my sprue pot (Lee 10lb) were both bottom pour but to prevent "dripitis" I removed the plungers, plugged the holes and bought a ladle. This worked brilliantly for years...........only this evening.:groner:

I fired up both pots and pre warmed two moulds prior to dinner. Put the girls to bed and retired to the garage. The CBE 313 215, CBE 316 175 and Lyman 225462 HP bullets were near prefect straight away and I was progressing well until the 20lber suddenly began pour lead from the bottom. For a brief moment I looked at the silver stream with bemusement thinking to myself "you know Jeff, I am sure you plugged that orifice some time back. HANG ON! I DID:!:"

So there I stand, lead pouring out ad nauseam and nothing to catch it in. For a while I caught liquid silver in my ladle and transferred to the Lee 10lber until an epiphany befell me that the Lee pot was nigh on full[smilie=b: Right. Time for action. I grabbed a steel plate from under the bench and jammed it under the pot then bolted to my lead store, grabbed the ingot moulds and commenced to empty the pot.

Turns out that way back when I converted the moulds I the ever so handy object used to fit exactly into the hole in the bottom of the Lyman pot was a spend 12 gauge primer. Real snug fit from memory and prefect for the job...........until the cup burnt through this evening. After I stripped the pot down and cooled it in water I found a counter sink 5mm bolt and matching nut and installed them for a long term solution.

On the bright side I made 56 of each of the bullets before the excitment began.

[Tertle]

owwwww no, :groner:

i take it there was no special black dog to get under your feet!

you still good for tomorrow morning?

[fredj338]

I have a Lee 10# & 20# BP pots. They rarely if ever leak. The key IMO, don't let the pot get more than 1/2 empty & don't smelt in them. That way any crud in your alloy stays away from the spout.

[Duckiller]

Serves you right for using perfectly good bottom pour pots with ladles. Unplug those spouts and use them as God intended. Only ladles that work for me are soup ladles to pour ingots. Assume no major injuries. Glad you are well. You really should try bottom pour casting. Much easier than having the alloy solidify in the ladle.

[Tertle]

well trust me it didnt in any way interfer with his shooting early this morning.....

[stubshaft]

Serves you right for using perfectly good bottom pour pots with ladles.

When did Lee start to make perfectly good pots???:kidding:

The only good thing I can say is that they also make solid bottom pots to correct the deficiency of having a hole in them.

[JeffinNZ]

When did Lee start to make perfectly good pots???:kidding:

The only good thing I can say is that they also make solid bottom pots to correct the deficiency of having a hole in them.

Thank you.

The best pot Lee makes has one hole. The one you put the lead and the ladle in.

[stubshaft]

Thank you.

The best pot Lee makes has one hole. The one you put the lead and the ladle in.

Yup, Good old top pours!:cbpour:

[Jack Stanley]

My LEE ten pound pot got fixed years ago with a quick swipe of the heli-arc torch across the hole on the bottom .

nice thing is ... it ain't never leaked since :bigsmyl2:

Jack

[olafhardt]

I starrted with Lee, had no problems, so stuck with Lee.

[JeffinNZ]

I starrted with Lee, had no problems, so stuck with Lee.

Your time will come. :bigsmyl2: Buy the ladle now and be prepared.

[firefly1957]

I am a ladle man myself that is why my Lyman pot sits unused and I prefer the coleman stove and cast iron pot when casting.

THE GOOD NEWS IS LEAD IS EASILY RECYCLED

[WildmanJack]

I started using a bottom pour AKA Drip o matic, and it didn't take long to switch to a ladle. Nicer boolets, better fill out, NO MORE FRIGGIN drips!!! That was the best part!!!
Jack

[olafhardt]

My hair fell out. Used it to flux a pot of WW. Really stank but it worked. You could say I smelted it.

[michiganvet]

I have several lee bottom pour pots and plan to get another. One is older and leaks a little, one is newer, entact, and has my Lyman #2 in it, another is NIB, but I want to have one for each alloy I use. I used to use a dipper and made a lead pot to fit one burner of a coleman stove. (welded pipe with cap bottom and lugs welded on for support) (what would you expect frpm a pipefitter) Worked well but I decided after I tried it, botton pour works better. Lee is inexpensive and lasts a long time. I do all my smelting in a plumbers furnace, so excessive slag is not much of a problem. When the flow rate gets too low, I drain into an igot mold and clean the vent from the bottom with a drillbit turned by channelocks.

[Ausglock]

G'day. I have an old Lee 10lb bottom pure pot.
It drips. I have learned to love it.
I just sit 1/2 a plastic tube (from a white lable BAC Lube stick) under the spout and when I finish casting, squeeze the tube and the ex-drips drop right out. no mess, no fuss.

[Mal Paso]

G'day. I have an old Lee 10lb bottom pure pot.
It drips. I have learned to love it.
I just sit 1/2 a plastic tube (from a white lable BAC Lube stick) under the spout and when I finish casting, squeeze the tube and the ex-drips drop right out. no mess, no fuss.

Boy There's a lot of you shooting upside down!:kidding:

Cheers!

[skeet1]

Come on now Jeff don't you know that a bottom pour is nothing but a large self contained ladle.

Ken

[threewheels]

Coleman and cast iron pot does it for me too. Less than 10 buck invested been working for years and it melts quicker than a electric pot.

[Ausglock]

Boy There's a lot of you shooting upside down!:kidding:

Cheers!

Mal. Try using a bottom pour pot upside down.:bigsmyl2:

[snuffy]

Why is it that some have to declare they are either ladle casters or bottom pour? I do both!:idea: Is that a problem, do I need a therapist? Well doc, ya see it's like this;:-(

Some boolits cast just fine with the bottom pour. Mostly handgun boolits. The big rifles like my 45-70 boolits cast better with a ladle. That is a bottom pour ladle like the Lyman held tight against the sprue plate, IE pressure casting.

As I understand it, most ladle casters simply pour the molten lead on the top of the sprue plate, allowing it to overflow and form a sprue puddle.MESSY! Tried that once, had a mess to clean up! Besides, you have to stand to do it! My old bones won't take all that standing!:-P

As for drips, so what?! My lee 20# drips occasionally. If it starts dripping, it needs cleaning. It will stop with a couple twists of the valve rod. After a casting session, the drips go into the pot as a final cleanup as the pot cools.

[dragonrider]

Ya my Lee pot leaked once too, a minor inconvenience nothing more.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/PaulGauthier/lyman%20easy%20loader/IMG_9058.jpg

[JeffinNZ]

Dragonrider: that looks remarkably familar......

[MikeS]

Ya my Lee pot leaked once too, a minor inconvenience nothing more.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/PaulGauthier/lyman%20easy%20loader/IMG_9058.jpg

Heck, that looks like a work of art! Put it up on eBay and call it RARE, and sell for lots more than it's worth as lead! I've seen stranger things sell for lots of money on eBay, all you need to do is call it RARE, or VINTAGE, or both! I once saw a listing for a "RARE VINTAGE XBOX 360 GAME" !!

On a more serious note, I take it that it started leaking like that while you were away from the pot? I keep a Saeco ingot mould under my 4-20 pot, and it catches any leaks I have while using the pot, although it's rare that I get a leak that doesn't go away by turning the slot on the top of the valve plunger. (not that it can't develop a leak like yours, it just hasn't yet)

[dragonrider]

Exactly right I did step away from the pot for a bit.

[41mag]

Yeppers, been there done that too....

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f285/41nag/Shooting/P6040204.jpg

First time it has done this. I got it all cleaned up drained, cleaned out and the seat all polished back up. Still haven't filled it up yet to see how good of a job I did.

It usually drips about a quarter size spot and I use a 1 1/2" copper pipe cap to catch it in, well like Dragonrider, I "had" to step away for a brief period of time, and when I came back all I could do was laugh, even called the wife out to see it. Luckily for me, the aluminum blocks cooled it enough that it plugged it's self off before dumping the whole pot.

[mroliver77]

I wouldn't normally admit this but you'all are family and should understand. I am bi. I sometimes use one of four bottom pour pots and I sometimes use my Lyman ladle. I used to be ashamed of it but have matured and have come out. What a relief!
I can now proudly say; I am single, white and cast BOTH ways!
Jay

[Longwood]

I have made a shiney mountain also. I am considering a new pin, possibly with a lead weight, to keep it from floating.

[watkibe]

I have 2 Lee melters; the new one for casting, the old one for smelting. They are pretty much the same, both bottom pour, except one is higher. In the older (lower) one, it had a pretty good clog, so I started to drill it out. I'm sure the experienced guys are already cringing...yes, I drilled an extra hole right through the bottom of the pot. I had already broken off a drill bit when trying to clear the clog from the outside, so that hole was fixed. I found a self-drilling screw that fill the hole I made almost completely. I soldered it up with "non-lead" solder, figuring the likely metals in non-lead solder would melt at higher temps than lead. I fired it uo, and when it was completely melted, I picked up the whole melter and poured ingots in my muffin pan ingot mold. To start with it did leak some, but I always keep my melters in a cookie sheet, so the leak was no worry. Finally, the leak stopped. Woo Woo ! I have my 2 melters back on line !