Casting Pot?

[woodmann]

New guy getting ready to cast if/when it ever warms up. Anyway, do you empty your pot at the end of a casting session or turn it off full?

Seems that filled would heat up more efficiently next session.

Leaving it full would be problematic moving it (don't have a permanent home for the pot) or if you wanted to change alloy (I only have COWW and SOWW so maybe I answered my own question since 10-20 lbs won't kill me to move...)

What do the experienced ones say?

[Ed_Shot]

I have always left my pot full at the end of a casting session. I occasionally have to move it to make room for another operation in my limited work area.

[bangerjim]

I have ALWAYS left my pots at least 75% full. If the truth be told, most of us cast the same alloy most of the time anyway, so leaving it full is not a problem. I have multiple pots for different alloys.

18-20# is nothing to pickup and move.....when cool!

Leaving them almost full makes start-up time less.

I have never seen the bottom of my pots in years, now that I do not use saw dust in the bottom pour pots any longer! Had to clean the spigot out all the time. Now I only use beeswax to reduce the Sn back in.

I also cast a 1/2# ingot when I am done, let it air cool, and mark it with the hardness in 3-4 days and put it back in the top of the cold pot. That way I know what is in that pot the next time.

bangerjim

[Animal]

I empty my pot. I might use a soft alloy for one bullet and a harder alloy for another bullet. I don't always know what I will cast next, so I empty the pot. I empty my soft alloy into a fish shaped muffin pan and my hard stuff into a corn cobb muffin pan. This keeps my metals organized and my pot ready for anything.

[woodmann]

I like the idea of using 2 different ingot pans for different alloys. That never occurred to me.

[Foto Joe]

I don't empty mine even if I might change alloy's simply 'cause I might or might not change it. If I do I just ingotize what's in it when I heat it up then drop the other alloy ingots in and start over. I do however like the idea of the two different ingot shapes for different alloy's. I usually just use a letter punch set to mark ingots that are 50/50 SO/CO or already have SN added.

Find what works best for your particular application, there really isn't a wrong way.

[454PB]

Since I change alloys frequently, I empty the pot after each session. I also tip it upside down and "tap" it on the bench to clear the bottom nozzle. I read constantly about casters fighting leaks with their Lee bottom draw pots......my method may be why I have very little trouble with that. There is usually a half teaspoon of dirt lying in the bottom before I tip it over.

The melt time is probably increased by 10 minutes or so by starting with an empty pot, not a big deal, and I use that extra time to arrange tools and equipment.

[Animal]

I find that the caster has very little input in the process. The caster just needs to adapt to the personalities of his equipment and materials. Once you've done this, it ain't hard to figure out what works. It is mostly common sense after a few sessions and mental notes.

[NavyVet1959]

I like to leave at least an inch or two of alloy in the pot so that it is easier to heat up the next time. Once you have a molten pool, heating up subsequent ingots is quicker due to more surface contact.

Since my pot drips sometimes and I've made the mistake of just turning it off and thinking that it would be contained by the ingot mold that I keep underneath it and subsequently finding a very solidified mess that soldered the pot stand to the tray it was sitting on, I now don't leave the pot until it is solid. As such, I'll cast until the pot is about half empty or so, turn it off, and then toss some cold ingots in there to solidify it.

[mdi]

Yes I do, sorta! Most of the time I'll just turn off the pot with whatever is left when I've cast enough. But I'll rarely leave less than 1" in the bottom of the pot for a quicker heat-up next time. But, the pot that isn't full will develop scale and rust on the inside of the pot between casting sessions, which is a bad thing for Lee needle valves. But my start-up procedure usually consists of a quick wire brushing of the interior and a thorough fluxing...

[fredj338]

I never empty a bottom pour pot, I also never get leaks. I leave my casting pots at least half full. The smellting pot gets about 1" left in the bottom.

[dolang1]

I always leave lead in the pot. The other night my wife called me to come in when my pot was low. I put 3 ingots in the pot and turned it off. I came back in 20 minutes to make sure everything was off by placing my hands over the burner and the pot at the same time, to make sure everything was off. My hand touched one of the ingots that was sticking up and branded me. Made me feel stupid.

[bdecker9]

Rarely empty mine Lee 4/20. Nice to have the option to use something other than straight coww's, but that's probably all I'll ever use any way. Keep wanting to cast some pure/ lino to compare or pure lead, to see how soft I can go in my 9mm but I just keep casting big batches of coww's cause I'm addicted and only have enuff of that to keep feeding my guns

[44man]

Pull the plug.

[Doggonekid]

I have a RCBS pro melt and the distructions say not to go below 1". I also have a old Lyman bottom pore and I run it dry. The difference is the RSBS has a thin steal pot and the Lyman has a thick cast iron style pot. With the RCBS you could burn out your heating element. The Lyman is so thick it wont matter. Most of the time I leave a inch or two in each one.

[pworley1]

I have three pots for different alloys, they all stay full.