Highest temperature you expect to need.

[Changeling]

I just purchased a Waage pot for ladle casting. The directions say it will go up to 800 degrees. I see some of the guys on this site recommending for people having problems in molding bullets to heat the lead up to over 800 degrees. These problems were with hollow point molds that do NOT have hardened pins, witch I have one of.
Is this pot going to not allow me to pour great bullets because the pins aren't hardened and the Waage pot only go's to 800 degrees?:roll:

[HeavyMetal]

800 should be plenty hot for casting.

I can't remember ever being hotter than 725 and routinely cast at the 695 700 degree range

As for HP molds? Get a hot plate from Wal Green's, 9.99 by the way, and a small steel plate.

weld a round piece of stock to it slightly longer that your pin and just a hair bigger in
diameter.

Set your pin in the pin heater set just under medium when you turn on your electric pot.

Both should be up to temp about the same time and always put the pin back in the heater hole when it is not in the mold.

Every third or forth cast dip the sprue plate in the alloy to keep it hot for base fill out and you should never have to max out the Waage.

[turbo1889]

"Blue-Gold with Pure" is as hot as I ever cast. I don't know the exact temp but when you heat up pure lead it first melts, then you add more heat and it gets a gold colored sheen on the top, and then you add more heat and it gets a blue-gold sheen on the top, and if you add any more heat beyond that it starts to glow in the dark !!!

To get it up to that temp I have to run my old Lyman pot full out hotwired so that that the heating element never kicks off due to the thermostat. The only thing I ever need to cast that hot for is pure lead boolits in hollow base aluminum block molds such as the Lee wad-slug mold, the Lee 45-70 hollow base mold, and a couple other aluminum hollow base molds I have. Don't need it that hot for aluminum hollow point molds unless your hollow point is huge. Brass, iron, or steel molds there is absolutely no reason for that kind of heat hollow base or point not withstanding.

P.S. What HeavyMetal said is absolutely correct if the HP or HB pin isn't attached to the mold so it can't be removed which unfortionatly is how the Lee molds are set up so that trick don't work with them.

[runfiverun]

even with 4 cavity steel molds i rarely go over 725.
with my large mold block rcbs 22 mold i change the alloy rather than go with a hot melt.
the only time i ever go hot with an alloy is when i am fluxing.

[buck1]

800 is as hot as you will need.

[lwknight]

Those who cast at around 800 degrees are few and far between.
I cant imaging anything that 750 would not get done except maybe zinc casting.
700 degrees is good enough for most of us

[Wayne Smith]

As Turbo mentioned unless you are casting pure 800 degrees is hot enough. Even with pure it's hot enuf for round balls.

[sqlbullet]

I run my pot between 675 and 725. Hotter just seems to yield a lot of dross from oxidation.

[cbrick]

800 degrees is more than enough. I cast everything at 700 except occasionally 725 for HP's.

Tin in your alloy will help reduce Pb/Sb oxidation up to about 750. Hotter than 750 and the Sn itself will oxidize much faster and it's ability to inhibit Pb/Sb oxidation is reduced.

Pure lead melts at 621 so even if you cast pure at 100 degrees over liquidus (which is plenty) that's still 721. 800 is plenty hot, enjoy your new pot.

See post #2.

Rick