time to rip apart the master caster

[Sundogg1911]

decided to cast some boolits for a friend yesterday after work. went up to plug in the pot on the Master Caster and then went down to the house to grab a Pepsi. I went back up to the "bullet barn" about 15 minutes later and the ingots were just starting to melt, so I went upstairs to my office to queue up some music and check email. Turns out we had some problems at work and I ended up being on the computer replying to emails for longer than expected. when I finally went downstairs to start casting I couldn't find the mold in the master caster. The Master caster pot had leaked about 30 pounds of alloy down over the mold covering the entire inside of the machine. :( I tried removing hot alloy for about an hour before giving up. I'm guessing im going to have to disassemble the machine tonight as best as I can and then remove the rest with a propane torch. Some days it just doesnt pay to get outta bed in the morning. Has this ever happind to anyone else? what's the easiest way to clean up my mess? I unbolted it from my bench and also unbolted the pot this morning. I guess i'll tackle the rest of the mess this evening.

[fatnhappy]

Look at the bright side, at least you didn't burn your house down.

I can sympathize, I once had a cast iron plumbers pot filled with 40# of alloy let go. The tinsel fairy was good to me.

[454PB]

I love to Monday morning quarterback....................................... ........



NEVER, NEVER, NEVER leave a lead pot unattended while heating.

Now the truth....I've done it myself. Luckily, I've never had that kind of mess, even using Lee pots which have a reputation as drippers.

There have been a couple or reports like this lately. If you are going to leave one unattended, at least make sure there is nothing around it to get covered, and maybe a big cookie sheet underneath to catch the bulk of the mess. I have a 24" square of metal insulated heat shielding under my pots.

[Lloyd Smale]

my lyman pots will do it occasionaly. I went out one day and both of them had drained. What a pain in the ///

[MGySgt]

My Lyman has never drained it self and it can't, I ladel pour - no spout to leak!

Drew

[Sundogg1911]

well....spent about 3 hours torching off the lead. from now on if the pots is on i'll stay a little closer. i've had 'em drip but never drain. live and learn I guess

[fatnhappy]

well....spent about 3 hours torching off the lead. from now on if the pots is on i'll stay a little closer. i've had 'em drip but never drain. live and learn I guess

I'm glad you made out OK and nobody got hurt. :drinks:

[Hunter]

Well Sundogg don't feel too bad. A few months back it was way to cold outside to cast so I decided to cast a quick 100 for the range in the morning.
I spilt my ladle on my hardwood floors. Hot lead and oak don't mix well. It did leave a nice reminder to always cast way more then you think you will need at one time and then cast 100 more.

[klw]

In many ways a lead furnace is kind of like a volcano. All the heating elements are at the bottom so when the furnace heats up the metal liquifies at the bottom first.

If the cap of solid metal above the liquifying alloy is solid and you are using a bottom draining furnace then as the alloy turns to liquid it expands. That in turn pushes up on the top cap of solid metal and can pull up on the plug that seals off the bottom drain. That is why these pots can drip or, in some cases, empty when left unattended.

If the top cap isn't solid then the expanding liquid metal will find any weak spots. The liquid metal will snake through the top cap exactly like magma in a volcano. That liquid can literally explode though the top cap. I've seen such an explosion throw liquid metal three feet. You don't want to be in its path.

For this reason it is a good idea to leave a bottom draining furnace about 70 percent empty when yo turn it off.

The worst thing to do is to put new alloy into a furnace as it cools down after a casting study. That leads to the volcano described above. You REALLY don't want to see that!

[Sundogg1911]

That's exactly what I did. The day before I loaded it up with ingots after casting. So when I started it up it was sort of still in ingots.I learned a lesson. And didn't destroy any equipment. But I'm behind on casting now. But the weekend is near

[454PB]

The Lee pots have a cylindrical element that surrounds the pot.

[Springfield]

So does my Magma. I have had a LEE pot start to drain out but fortunately I was nearby reloading and saw it. Unfortunately I had a mould underneath the pot so it was a bit of a chore getting the hardened lead off it. My Magma has a spring loaded drain rod so I think it would be more difficult for it to self drain. The LEE's just work on gravity.

[Sundogg1911]

I have both, and the springloaded rod is a much better design, but take it from me, it will drain. The mold was completly encased in lead. I don't think i'll be walking away from it for extended periods of time anymore while the pot is plugged in.

[Orygun]

Man, I'm glad that I bought my RCBS furnace a long time ago, as I've never had any of these problems. Knock on wood. I always load it up after my casting session's end so it's ready to go the next time.

It might drip (very little) but an "easy" tap on the rod will stop it.