Bill Ferguson's ladle furnace

[Naphtali]

I'm shopping for a moderate size electric furnace. I do no bottom pouring. Until recently, I anticipated buying an RCBS. And then I saw an advertisement for Bill Ferguson's ladle furnace.

The advertisement describes a simpler mechanism than RCBS', but I've not investigated Mr. Ferguson's advertising blurb more carefully. I think user experience with the product would be more helpful.

No one I know owns one.

How does the furnace's utility, reliability, and durability compare with RCBS'?

[Bret4207]

I forget the name of the company that makes them, but they are supposed to be of very high quality. I don't know if the RCBS warranty covers burnt out pots and temp controls, that's the only reason I might buy the RCBS. The BP mechanism will get in the way of the ladle.

[imashooter2]

Waage?

[mtgrs737]

I have found that everything Bill Sells to be of the highest quality. Bill is a good man to do business with, you won't be disapointed.

[GLL]

I own three of the WAAGE K4757 25 pound ladle pots and consider them an outstanding buy !

The construction quality and customer service are exceptionally good !

Talk to Marsha at WAGGE Electric Inc. (908)245-9363.

Jerry

WAGGE K 4757
http://www.fototime.com/DF1271887CEBA67/orig.jpg

[cajun shooter]

+1 on the Wagge pot. They sell for around $150 bucks now and are the best ladle pot going. All you need for a happy life of casting is a RCBS PRO MELT for your bottom pour and a Wagge 4757 for your ladle work. It just does not get any getter.

[GLL]

Based on the photos Bill's 25 pound ladle pot is a WAGGE K 4757.

I deal with Bill on several items but buy the ladle pots directly from WAGGE.
Marsha keeps a computer record of you as one of their customers in case there are questions or problems.
GREAT customer service ! :)

Jerry

[montana_charlie]

One nice thing about the Waage K-4757...
There is an adjustment in the thermostat shaft that lets you set it up so that '7' on the dial (for instance) produces 700 degrees of temperature.
CM

[Naphtali]

You'd think I would have learned by now. My shooting partner, the guy whose reloading room is larger than my home, must have every bell & whistle a non-commercial reloader might own. . . . Yep, behind both of his RCBS furnaces was the furnace I was interested in.
***
Tangential topic:

While we were using the ladle furnace, I realized a problem may be developing. We were casting with a Mountain Mold two-cavity unit. It's very difficult to use a ladle with two-cavity Mountain Molds because the nut jointing the sprue cutter plate to mold block is on the wrong side for non-ambidextrous ladles.

It's nearly impossible to correspond or talk with the owner of Mountain Molds to ask/request he mount the sprue cutter plate on the LEFT side of the mold rather than the RIGHT side. Those of you who ladle pour with two-cavity Mountain Molds units, were you able to specify this change? If not, what do you do when casting 45- 48-caliber bullets?

There is no problem with single-cavity molds because pour hole is more nearly centrally located.

[Naphtali]

Naphtali:

To make sure I follow your question: Are you left handed ?

JerryJerry:

It doesn't matter what I am; it's the ladles-and-nut configurations that are the problem. The Rowell #2 and RCBS ladles we used are configured that pouring with right hand while holding a Mountain Mold with left hand is very difficult because of the sprue cutter plate's nut interfering with ladles' bowls. It is on the top right of the mold block. Were the nut on the top left of the mold block, the ladles function efficiently. OR, were the ladle handles affixed 180 degrees from where they are, the ladles function efficiently -- pouring with left hand and holding mold with right.

I am left handed and use my hands nearly ambidextrously.

[Naphtali]

Jerry:

Rotate the XL .311 mold 180 degrees in the handles. That is how they were affixed. You brought to my attention what I hadn't considered. Can I attach mold to handles either way? The Mountain Mold was not mine. It was Bob's. I assumed, perhaps wrongly, there is only one way to affix mold to handles. If mold attaches from either end, there is no problem.

[wills]

Back to the original topic, Wagge is highly thought of. You might take a look at http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=37569&highlight=wagge