RCBS Pro Melt Upgrades

[pjames32]

Used mine today. The single fence worked well after some learning on my part. I'm happy with my purchase!!!
PJ

[Jim_P]

Thanks for the comments. Would like to see a pic of the Dancing Beetles
DeWayne

The one which landed on it did everything it could to get back airborne. Beetles are not the best fliers nor are they aerodynamically sound. He flipped twice before he got back up. It would have made an entertaining 10 second film...

[VHoward]

Got my shelf and lid kit today. Took about 5 minutes to install. Looks good.

[Walter Laich]

Turns out the lid does a great job of holding in heat. Was able to keep casting for about twice as long before I finally got ahead of the add lead/cast curve.
Nice place to put ingots to pre-heat, too.

[VHoward]

Well, I cast bullets with my Pro Melt with lid and shelf kit installed. Overall, it is well worth the money spent. I personally could not get used to the fence guide for the mold, so I took it off and casting got better. The shelf has a feature that is good and slightly bad. The shelf absorbs heat from the mold so it takes longer to get up to temp before you can get into a rythm, but the shelf absorbs heat from your mold during the whole casting session, so after it gets to a certain temp, casting can speed up as it helps keep the mold from getting too hot. The lid does keep heat in the pot well. However, by the time the lead was up to temp for casting, the mold I had sitting on it was not. I will continue to use a separate hot plate for mold pre-heating. It is nice to have the shelf to set the mold on while pouring.

[kalison]

Got my shelf kit in today and installed it.

First I want to thank Harlow Industries, for making an excellent product. The product itself looked crafted flawlessly and when installed, looks like it belongs on the Pro Melt... If it was anodized green it would look factory!

I haven't casted with it just yet, but I can tell that it's going to make a difference!

The only negative I have; the clamps for the shelves are bored/milled so close to the leg diameter spec that I had to pry the clamp apart... Even then it was such a tight fit on the legs it just marred them from that black to bare metal. They are just legs, so I don't really care that much... But it's a brand new Pro Melt . They are still so tight, that I don't even need to use the bolts on the clamps to ensure the shelf doesn't go anywhere.

[OpenNRG]

Got my shelf kit in today and installed it.

First I want to thank Harlow Industries, for making an excellent product. The product itself looked crafted flawlessly and when installed, looks like it belongs on the Pro Melt... If it was anodized green it would look factory!

I haven't casted with it just yet, but I can tell that it's going to make a difference!

The only negative I have; the clamps for the shelves are bored/milled so close to the leg diameter spec that I had to pry the clamp apart... Even then it was such a tight fit on the legs it just marred them from that black to bare metal. They are just legs, so I don't really care that much... But it's a brand new Pro Melt . They are still so tight, that I don't even need to use the bolts on the clamps to ensure the shelf doesn't go anywhere.

Sorry about the clamps being too tight. The are machined, then reamed and then sanded to allow for about .005-.008" tolerance. Since the legs are .625" round bar they are probably pretty accurate but could vary a few thousandths. What may have happened is when the 1/4 x 20 bolt was pressed in it may have pushed the hole in some. We use a spacer in the slot when pressing to hold it apart but the hole itself probably needs to be supported. I'll make a .630" piece of round bar for the hole while pressing.

Don't want the clamps too big or tightening would be a PITA. Considered adding a plastic bushing to the clamps but thought it might melt so chose not to.

I'm glad you posted that. Don't like to use "nervous" or "worried". Lets say I am always a bit concerned when introducing a new product.

If you want me to send you a new set of clamps, let me know.

thanks, DeWayne

[kalison]

Sorry about the clamps being too tight. The are machined, then reamed and then sanded to allow for about .005-.008" tolerance. Since the legs are .625" round bar they are probably pretty accurate but could vary a few thousandths. What may have happened is when the 1/4 x 20 bolt was pressed in it may have pushed the hole in some. We use a spacer in the slot when pressing to hold it apart but the hole itself probably needs to be supported. I'll make a .630" piece of round bar for the hole while pressing.

Don't want the clamps too big or tightening would be a PITA. Considered adding a plastic bushing to the clamps but thought it might melt so chose not to.

I'm glad you posted that. Don't like to use "nervous" or "worried". Lets say I am always a bit concerned when introducing a new product.

If you want me to send you a new set of clamps, let me know.

thanks, DeWayne

Thanks for the response!

I don't think that new clamps are needed, these work fine and I don't have to move my shelf up or down often, if ever.

I do know I'll be buying a second fence though! Very nice to have a guide that I can tune to any mold I may be using!


Thanks again for making this product!

[Walter Laich]

Kalison:
I didn't really snap to the fact that the shelf was absorbing so much heat from the mold. Kept waiting for it to get too hot but never did. Now it all becomes clear--thanks.
.
I may get another fence so I can have the mold's position locked in left/right-wise. Or I can just cast as is and retrain my positioning of the mold
.
looking to put a wooden handle on the lid out at the end of the tab. Maybe get another knob from RCBS

[kalison]

Kalison:
I didn't really snap to the fact that the shelf was absorbing so much heat from the mold. Kept waiting for it to get too hot but never did. Now it all becomes clear--thanks.

Hi Walter, I don't think I mentioned the shelf as a heatsink?

[VHoward]

I'm the one who mentioned it. I only had experience with either no resting bar under a pot or RCBS' mold rest bar and I noticed the difference between that and the shelf. After you get the shelf up to temp, casting gets faster than without the shelf as the mold never gets too hot.

[Walter Laich]

just order the floating plate and another fence. Figure to make a 'cattle chute' for the mold to fit into.

[kalison]

Had a chance to cast some boolits finally.

I have to agree with VHoward. I kinda like the heatsink and I kinda don't. Seems like it takes me a lot longer to get rolling, and its putting me on a pace thats just a little too fast for me. It's 100 degrees outside and I still feel the shelf is pulling heat away from my mould like thats its job.

Little torn, because when I finally got the shelf to temp, things were okay... but I felt my pace had to speed up... because if the shelf falls in temp, that means the next time my mould goes on it, its going to pull my mould down even more.

So, I love how it looks and I love that someone is making this stuff... but, I don't know if its for me.... but it just looks soo good

[Nueces]

I can see us getting to the point where we want a little heating element on that shelf.

[VHoward]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#35475k162/=xsn7ql
You could use one of these hooked into a PID and mounted on the bottom of the shelf. Could heat to 300 degrees. Or just hook it to a light dimmer and set it to about mid point or slightly higher.

[OpenNRG]

If the shelf was made of steel it would get so hot you would have to be cooling it down.

I know some people keep 2 molds going at a time just so they can allow one mold to cool down some.

Time for the Pot to Heat Up...Time for the Shelf to heat up? I keep two propane torches on my shop benches at all times, year round. Would say in my work I average grabbing one 4-5 times a week. Re-fill the 1lb bottles from 20lb tanks.
http://www.amazon.com/Bernzomatic-TS...o+ignite+torch
There are cheaper ones at Harbor Freight

I may be wrong but I don't think the shelf is heat sinking the molds as much as you think. The mold is on the shelf for at most 10 seconds. Most likely in the 2-4 second range. (one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three . . .) It is not going to draw that much heat in that amount of time.

Went out to the shop to test it but all my 9v batteries were dead. Will charge them tomorrow and let you know how much heat comes off a 6x9mm Lee mold in 5 seconds.

[VHoward]

I'm just comparing the use of the mold support bar that RCBS provides and the shelf unit you made. I still prefer the shelf unit you made and will probably just use a torch to preheat the shelf before I start casting. The heating pad was just a wild idea I won't be doing.

[bbqncigars]

You could insulate the bottom of the shelf. It's not as sexy as a PIDed heater, but it would work. A coating of high temp RTV sealant should do the job.

[VHoward]

I tried the propane torch tonight. Takes about 30 seconds to heat the shelf up to almost too hot to touch. Easy and cheap. Aluminum is an excellent heat sink. It will absorb and dissipate large amounts of heat even without cooling fins and it does not take a long period contact for that transfer to happen.

[kalison]

I prefer the shelf, but there is no doubt about my pace having to speed up. I used to be able to take more time watching all the colors of the sprue change till I cracked it open... Now if I do that, I can't crack the sprue without my mallet, which I do not prefer.

So some people like to go wicked fast, that's fine. I run nothing but 5 cavity moulds, I don't need to crack through them ultra fast.

Also I didn't make argument about it being made of steel. Nor am I saying that the design is flawed, it just might not be for me.

Preheating a shelf along with everything else doesn't appeal to me, sorry.