Did you modify your RCBS pot

[hornady]

My RCBS Pro-Melt will be here today. I have used Lee pots for more years than I like to remember this is my first RCBS. Did you need to modify the mold guide? Every Lee pot I have owned needed some form of modifying of the mold guide. I use Lyman and RCBS molds four are the 4 cavity and the rest are 2 cavity. Thanks

[rockrat]

Nope, no modifying. The "mould guide" is adjustable up and down, using a setscrew. The "guide" is more just an "L" shaped rod that you can rest the mould on, not much of a "guide", like on my Lyman pot.

[bobthenailer]

You can use the factory mould guide or as i did i drilled some holes in the rcbs pots base and installed the lyman mould guide assy , I perfer this mould guide as it supports the weight of the mold better , and , no see saw effect and you can rest the mould on the guide assy and let go of the handles and it has a adjustible mould block stop to aligne the first hole perfectly every time ..
I use alot of 4 & 8 cavity moulds in my casting perhaps the rcbs would work ok with a 2 cavity mould ?
as i only used the orgional mould guide 1 time and took the mould guide off of my lyman pot.

[hornady]

The RCBS came yesterday, after years of getting by with the Lees, this thing is top quality out of the box. I wondered if the mold guide would stay in place. Hopefully I will get a chance to fire it up next week. The Lees work OK but I found myself not casting because of the known aggravation that comes with the much lower price Lees. Before I do anything with the guide I will try it with my 4 cavity molds. I was surprised at the superior quality of the RCBS. I adjusted the guide to one of my 4 Cavity molds and tightened the setscrew. Hopefully un-like the Lee that I finally gave up on the guide and fabricated my own guide for, this one will stay in place with the heavier molds.

[OuchHot!]

I had no problem with the stock mold guide for most molds. The see-saw effect is useful to me so I can tilt the mold so that I start the flow and sweep the cavities under in sequence in one pour. I sort of start at the rear hole with the mold tilted slightly away and level it as I push the mold away from me. I hope that made some sense. That works for most of my 3,4 and 6 cavity molds. For the molds with bottm projections, the guide easily pivots away and I use wood blocks to support the mold edges. The thermostat does not over heat as badly as my Lee pot. The lee tends to surge up about 50F toward empty.

[seagiant]

Hi,
I guess I always chime in on these RCBS lead pot threads as I am totally impressed with 2 things that RCBS puts out. The lead pot and the molds!

This is the best pot you can buy-FOR THE MONEY! Nothing else comes close,including anything made by Lyman (barf!) unless you want to go $200 more for a Magma!

I PREFER the simple but handy mold guide on the RCBS as I use alot of different size molds and it will accomadate all of them with no problem. Your gonna love it!

[OuchHot!]

Well, I bought my RCBS furnace maybe thirty years ago. They sure are expensive now! That's why I also have a lee 20# pot, it works, but is not in the same class.

[dromia]

I have two and cannot fault them. :smile:

[Hardcast416taylor]

The only modification I made to my RCBS pot many years back is as follows. I found a 3/8" stainless pipe nipple that is 3 1/2" long. I removed 1 keeper from the guide rod and slid the nipple on the rod then replaced the keeper on the rod end. I now had a roller to put my molds on when filling, the stainless won`t let lead stick to it.Robert

[seagiant]

Hi Robert,
Excellent idea!!! Having a lathe, I might try that out! Thanks!


Well,after writing the above I went out to my scrap pile and lucked out. I found some SS hydralic line that was a good fit to the guide rod,cut it,cleaned it up on the lathe and put it on! works nice and I won't have any problems with the lead sticking to the guide that happens when you test to see if you have flow through the spout! Took some pics!

[cajun shooter]

When testing for flow it is much easier to use a ingot mould which I see in your pictures on top of the mould guide to prevent it from having stuck lead.
A tip about the RCBS pot which I have used for years and have had nothing but fun casting with it. After refilling with ingots the spout may become stopped up as the temperature probe is at that area and the light will go off even though the spout contains hard alloy. The use of a propane torch for about 5 seconds clears it all up.

[crabo]

I bent my mold guide back just a little so when I get drips, it misses the mold guide and hits the cast iron skillet below.

[seagiant]

Hi,
Well,this is a good thread. I learned a few things even though I will have to admit I have been having a small propane torch next to my lead pot since day one! Better than trying to stick something up the spout! I guess I'm to lazy or to much in a hurry to pick the ingot mold up and set it on top of the mold guide to test the lead flow from the spout. That's why I was happy to learn about the SS sleeve trick!

[nvbirdman]

I put a clamp on the upper part of the mould guide so it will not drop down when I loosen the set screw and I can swing the mould guide out of the way.
I put a double nut on the volume adjustment screw so I can increase the volume when I want to fill ingot moulds, but return to the same setting when filling boolit moulds.

[C.F.Plinker]

I put a small aluminum loaf pan under the mold guide to catch the overrun.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Another alternative to the nipple roller used by Hardcast 416 Taylor are 3-4 bearing assemblies taken from old skateboard wheels and stacked side by side on the guide bar. There is not much friction and it makes things easier when pushing and pulling 4 and 6 cavs (or bigger) gang molds back and forth. Keeping them oiled also helps. LLS

[DukeInFlorida]

I have some of the Miha "Cramer" style HP molds with pins that can also be turned around to make solid nose boolits. When I turn the pins around, the pointy end (which used to be inside the mold to make the HP) is now hanging down, and is a pain in the neck to run through the support.

Anyone have any ideas for how to support the sides of the mold, and allow a 3/8" gap under the mold so that the pointy pins will clear??

This would not work for the HP version that NOE makes.

[Bad Water Bill]

Make a plywood base to rest your mould on. A piece of angle brass,iron etc on one side to keep the alignment good with a groove down the center for the HP pins to travel down. Problem solved. Now wasn't that easy?:bigsmyl2:

[OuchHot!]

I use a wood block with a dado down the center to clear the pins....it is kinda charred now but still works and doesn't pull heat out of the mold to any great extent.

[casterofboolits]

I started with Lee lead pots and now have three of the RCBS pots and used them in my casting business for 23 years. The mould support bar held up to eight and ten cavity H&G moulds with no problems. I use nothing smaller than a four cavity mould.

RCBS did rebuild a couple of them twice!