Thermometer do you use one

[TCLouis]

I need to bring the order up to the minimum at Midsouth (why didn't I buy .459 H&I die in the first place) and one thing that would do it would do it is a thermometer.

Worth my effort/money or one of those gear weenie sort of things that look good, but provide little substantive improvement.

Or simply put . . . . Will it produce much more consistent weights/diameters??

Not that I think there are any opinions here, but thought I'd throw it out on the table for discussion!

[bobthenailer]

I need to bring the order up to the minimum at Midsouth (why didn't I buy .459 H&I die in the first place) and one thing that would do it would do it is a thermometer.

Worth my effort/money or one of those gear weenie sort of things that look good, but provide little substantive improvement.

Or simply put . . . . Will it produce much more consistent weights/diameters??

Not that I think there are any opinions here, but thought I'd throw it out on the table for discussion!
i use a thermomter all the time when casting

[NVcurmudgeon]

I SHOULD use the thermometer more than I do. Just a matter of training myself, I guess. What I use it for is to return to a temperature that has worked well for me with a particular mould in the past. Different moulds seem to require different temperatures, I think because of different number of cavities, time to fill, whether steel/iron or aluminimum, etc. I try to help the mould arrive at a good working temperature by always adding metal after the same number of casts, always pre-heating ingots in the same way, always allowing the same freezing time, etc. As in all loading or casting operations, uniformity is the name of the game. Adopt a uniform way of casting, then it is possible to adjust temperature for good fill-out and a productive rhythm of casting. Be advised there seems to be a lot of variation in thermometers, I don't think it matters a lot as long as you can return to the temperature that promotes good productivity and well fillled-out boolits.

[David R]

Only my opinion, but I don't use one. Never had one except an infared that I check mold temp with. I learned, shiny boolits, lead too cold. Frosty boolits lead too hot, slow down, or cool the mold. The boolits tell me what to do. Starting out, I crank the RCBS Pro Melt all the way up. Once the mold is hot and boolits are frosty, I turn it down to about 3/4 or even 1/2 for a 6 banger. I set my lead temp so the boolits come out with a galvanized look at MY casting Pace.

Ymmv
David

[Maven]

TC Louis, I use a casting thermometer all the time, but I don't think its use automatically leads to lower weight variations in CB's. What it does do is allow you to fine tune the temperature at which your mold or molds operate best, i.e., cast bullets with the fewest defects. E.g., I have several LBT molds that cast well, but only at a given temperature. By using a thermometer, I've been able to pinpoint that temperature and not even attempt to cast before the melt is, in this instance, 800 deg.F. This cuts down on frustration caused by poor fill-out, wrinkles, etc. and has reduced my culls significantly. This works with iron, brass and other aluminum molds, e.g., Lee, T/C too. Now that I think about it, minimizing frustration is probably one of the best reasons to own & use such a thermometer: That alone makes it worth the price!

[Guido4198]

I keep a thermometer in my pot all the time while I'm casting to monitor the melt temp. At the very least, as Maven pointed out...once you know your equipment, you establish a start temp. before which you don't waste a lot of time and energy trying to "see if it's ready". .
Works for me..
Cheers,
Don

[Bass Ackward]

I have one. It's always in my pot. I have operating temps listed for all my molds. Saves big time learning and adjusting every time. Especially if you get away from having just one mold.

Where I find it exceedingly helpful is if I am smelting large batches of WW and I miss a zinker. I can keep the temp low and just scoop my problems away.

Where it is invaluable is if I am blending in pure antimony where temperature is critical.

And it does let me know when I have to work on my thermostat if the temp spread get's too wide.

Is it absolutely necessary, no. But then .... few things are.

[grumpy one]

A thermometer is extremely useful when you are alloying, because it is probably the only reliable way to tell what metals you have. If you know the melting temperature you can pretty well work out what it must be. Once you've got known, consistent alloys in your ingots and want to cast bullets, it becomes a convenience rather than a "must have": you can tell the difference between cold-metal-hot-mould and hot-metal-cold-mould without having to do any experiments. So, for me it's an essential part of alloying and I also keep it handy while casting to make life easier.

[dragonrider]

Yes I use one all the time. Tells me when to start and stop, by using two pots, one to fill the other, I can keep a relatively constant temp. And I never let my casting pot get below half full.

[Blackwater]

I got a thermometer about a year or so ago, and I think it's really helped me KNOW rather than guess just what temps my lead is at. As someone pointed out, the mould can get too hot, and so can the lead. Having a thermometer to show me which it is helps sometimes.

Can more knowledge ever be a BAD thing?

BTW, I left mine in the pot, and the face turned brown from the heat. Any of you who keep it in the pot ever have this happen? IIRC, it was @ 875 degrees when this happened. I have the Lyman. Is the RCBS's face more heat resistant? I've thought about making one of aluminum or copper, so I can leave it in the pot all the time. Anyone done this, or found it necessary?

[BruceB]

In all my forty years of casting, I've never used a thermometer ('cepting the one time a couple years back when I tested my pot's max temperature with an instrument belonging to a friend....870 degrees).

One of the major reasons is that I simply do not use anything except wheelweights and pure lead, NOT mixed together. Back when I started out, it was either salvaged stuff (sheeting, cable sheathing etc) or straight linotype.

Nor do I cast at anything except the max setting on my RCBS pot. K-I-S-S shoulda been my initials, I guess.

The above parameters are also the main reason that I am using the two-alloy method for casting softpoints. I don't want any miscellaneous ingots of various mixtures laying around, and by using the two-alloy method, all I have to do to set up for casting softpoints is place the small can of pure lead on top of the straight-wheelweight melt in the furnace, and I'm ready to go.

For MY purposes, I don't need a thermometer. If someone was to give me one, well, it'd be "nice to have but far from essential".

[Buckshot]

................Yup, I'm guilty.

...............Buckshot

[charger 1]

As you all no ,I've not been casting that long. When I went out to buy equip,I got some tech stuff to,thermometer,hardness tester,etc. Right outta the hole I'm casting way better and the envy of the guys up here who have been treating it as an art form for decades with statements like"I know my pot"..Well my reply is,you may know your pot but my ameture bullets fly straighter than yours...I'll never be convinced that keeping every pour identical by accurate methods doesnt significantly improve things

[Bucks Owin]

Only my opinion, but I don't use one. Never had one except an infared that I check mold temp with. I learned, shiny boolits, lead too cold. Frosty boolits lead too hot, slow down, or cool the mold. The boolits tell me what to do. Starting out, I crank the RCBS Pro Melt all the way up. Once the mold is hot and boolits are frosty, I turn it down to about 3/4 or even 1/2 for a 6 banger. I set my lead temp so the boolits come out with a galvanized look at MY casting Pace.

Ymmv
David

This is pretty much my method too. When I'm getting a little frost, that's where I generally try to stay just under as far as temp and speed goes...

"One of these days" however, :roll: , I would like to get a good thermometer and start using it. It would be especially handy when adding to a hot pot to know when the temp is back up to good casting range as I'm continually adding sprues and "bad" bullets back to the mix...

My two centavos,

Dennis

[HiWayMan]

I use the Lyman therm. I've found my Lee .358 TLWC double cavity fills out best at about 850 and a Lyman .50 cal Maxi-Ball single cavity likes 750. It is nice to have, but probably not neccesary. It also allows me to start casting with only about 5 wasted casts to finish getting the moulds up to temp. Before I had it I would probably waste 2 lbs just waiting for that right temp.

[Wayne Smith]

I'm casting from an open pot on a Coleman stove, so I've got a thermometer in the pot all the time. Mine's an RCBS and hasn't darkened in several years of use. It's much more comfortable casting when I have some idea of the temp of my melt. You guys with thermostats kinda got a thermometer there anyway.

[montana_charlie]

There have been a number of posts (lately) where guys describe problems with 'insufficient max temperature' and unreliable thermostats in their Lee units. I use an old Lyman Mould Master which gets plenty hot. I don't even know how high it goes 'cause I don't want to 'burn' any lead...so I have never run it up to the top...but I know it goes past 900°.

The numbers on it are useful in that you can detect different alloy temperatures as you work through the range, but a '7' doesn't (necessarily) mean 700°.

So, the biggest help a thermometer has been for me is to find out what temps I get when using 'the numbers'.

Of course, if I pick a setting which should equate to 810°, having the thermometer handy to verify that...or to see if the alloy is up to that yet....is also comforting.

BTW, on that .459 H&I die...
If your boolits are cast from Lyman #2 alloy, they will have enough springback to finish up at .459".
If they are cast from a 'soft' alloy (20-1, etc.), they will be .458" when you're done...unless you hone out your new die.

I can comfortably load a .460" boolit into my Sharps and my moulds drop that diameter. So, I only use the luber/sizer to apply lube.
For that I bought a die from Buckshot which actually has a .460" bore.

Lyman doesn't offer a .460 H&I set, but if they did it would be .459" (or less) inside...'cuz they figger on that springback.
CM

[lovedogs]

Here's another 2 cents worth... I use a Lyman thermometer to get up to what I think will be a good casting temp. Then I take it out, just because the instructions say not to leave it in, and it gets in the way when I return sprues to the pot.

Usually, my guess at good casting temp is low and I get wrinkled bullets. That's okay 'cuz it gives me time to heat my mould and get in the swing of things. I turn the heat up on my Lee pot until it starts casting good bullets. If bullets start getting frosted I turn it down a little until it quits throwing frosty bullets. In my experience each mould responds differently to the temps. It even makes a difference on the weather. On moist days it casts differently. If you have a breeze (or fan) blowing it takes a little more heat.

Guess you could say I use the thermometer as a guide and then let the finished product govern further adjustments.

[Beau Cassidy]

I used one until I got the Master Caster pot. The temp. setting is on the dial and it is dead nuts on. I cast until I get good fillout and that is all. If it is hot outside, then the pot usually wants to be run cooler. It it is cold, then I have to turn it up. Pretty simple for me. Usually I keep it around 700 degrees.

Beau