Which Melter?

[Greg_R]

Going to order a Lee melter. My experience so far is melting down wheel weights to make cupcake tin ingots and fishing weights, a few .452, 356, and 230 grain .309 boolits. My equipment is a propane stove, small cast iron frying pan, a couple of Lee dippers, and a Lyman ladle.

I want opinions on the Lee melter furnace and the Lee Production Pot 4. Is bottom pour better than using a ladle?

[Sasquatch-1]

It's a matter of opinion. You have die hard ladlers who believe that is the only way to cast. I prefer a bottom pour and used a Lee 10 pounder for 30+ years. Just don't smelt in your casting pot and remember, it's called the drip-o-matic for a reason.

Is bottom pour better than using a ladle?

[David2011]

Hi Greg,

Welcome to the forum. Most people that cast larger volumes of smaller to medium sized boolits lean toward bottom pour. The big boolit casters seem to prefer dipping. My experience is mostly 260 grains and smaller so bottom pour has served me very well. Ladle pouring allows for pouring a large volume of alloy very quickly. With a dipper like the Lyman you can pressure pour large boolits, like the 500 grain variety and get good fillout.

David

[Ben]

Whatever you do, DON'T smelt and cast from the same melter.

[EDK]

I ladle cast with a 30 year old HENSLEY & GIBBS ladle and a LEE Magnum Melter pot. I've had a SAECO pot that got destroyed in a flooded basement and a LYMAN bottom pour that just never worked for me. The Magnum Melter is around $60 from GRAFS and has worked for 10+ years for me. IF it ever shoots craps, I'll see how far I can throw it or give it to someone to rebuild while I buy myself a new one.

I cast because I like to shoot. I want to make a large quantity of high quality boolits in the least amount of time...four, five or six cavity moulds, a 20 pound melter, and a STAR.

[Yodogsandman]

Greg, Get the Lee Pro 4-20 bottom pour pot, you'll never look back! You're already ladling from your description. A bottom pour pot by itself alone will speed up your production 2 or 3 fold. Keep a drip pan under it and adjust the speed of the flow with the screw to match your mold.

[Lead Fred]

The 20lb Lee is the way to go.
My top pour dont leak, Cant say the same about them bottom pours

[bangerjim]

Lee 4-20 bottom pours all the way for me! Have a CI bottom side ladle and it is just waaaaaay too slow and cumbersome for me. Bottom pour pots work fast and efficient. Even for 300gn boolits!

Some bemoan Lee's dripping, but I have NEVER had either of mine drip.....just keep dirty lead and sawdust out of your casting pot. NEVER re-melt anything in your casting pot as said. Use only beeswax to reduce the Sn back in. You already fluxed the heck out of your ingots in your re-melting pot 3x, RIGHT? Why flux again????? Only need to reduce Sn.

Lee 4-20 is an economical way to get into production speed accurate casting. Just invest in an electric hotplate to pre-heat all your molds to FULL casting temp. The key to perfect drops from the 1st one. Also use it to pre-heat your feed ingots to speed thing up a ton.

Some swear by ladles. I swear at them.

That's MY story and I'm stickin' to it.

banger

[brtelec]

I just got rid of my 4-20 Lee but I never regretted buying it. It worked well and I used a couple of fixes to keep the dripping at bay. I have used my bottom pour furnaces to pour up to 385 gr. bullets with excellent results. I started with a bottom pour and used a ladle only once. Once was enough.

[jmort]

I ladle pour and have a Lee Precision Magnum Melter. Just got the Waage 4757 and I am in love.

[NavyVet1959]

I have a Lee 4-20 bottom pour and have used it for quite a few years, but it occasionally leaks, but it's not that big of a deal to me. I was curious about ladle pouring, and came up with the idea of experimenting with it by taking a stainless steel condiment ladle and drilling a hole in the bottom to make it a bottom pour ladle. It actually worked pretty good and I often cast that way these days instead of using the bottom pour from the pot.

One of the guys over on YouTube (FortuneCookie45LC) reviewed my idea did a video of it.



It kind of depends upon whether I want to be casting while standing or seated. With my current casting table height, it is the right height for the bottom pour pot when I'm seated, but too high for casting with a ladle. If I stand, it is the right height for casting with a ladle. Of course, the solution to this would be to just design and build an adjustable height casting table, but I'm too lazy to do it. Why do today what you can put off until next year.

[Bigslug]

I want opinions on the Lee melter furnace and the Lee Production Pot 4. Is bottom pour better than using a ladle?

For what it sounds like you're doing (semi auto handguns & small rifle bullets) I certainly think so. My experience with ladling is somewhat limited because my father has some physical limitations which make that mode of casting unfeasible, and that has dictated the equipment purchases - his and mine - toward bottom pour. Having dabbled with ladling for some off the wall projects, it certainly does seem like a method better suited to someone with 4-6 arms. Too much picking up and putting down for me.

As to the Lee pots - can't help you there. That the Lyman Mag 20 leaked like a sieve, and the RCBS Pro Melt doesn't is as far as I can take you.

[RogerDat]

Single 2 cavity mold you I doubt you will be able to cast faster by a significant amount using a bottom pour over a ladle. More than one mold or mold with 4 or more cavities then the bottom pour might really impact your speed of output.

I ladle but I can "go" faster than the single aluminum mold can handle the heat build up. At least with 158 gr. and 255 gr. so if I want to really crank I'm using both molds at once and dropping in 2 different piles. I do not recommend it. Only went there once, it worked but I don't think the bullets were as good quality and I was jumping like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Exact opposite of a relaxing time spent casting boolits. I have no doubt I could feed a 6 cavity mold with a ladle, 2 of them however... does not sound like fun.

If you want or need quantity I think more cavities and a bottom pour make sense, if you just want to make 1k bullets in the spring and again in the fall for your annual shooting needs bottom pour is not a huge advantage.

[Mk42gunner]

Honestly, I would get the Lee 4-20. It will allow using a your ladle without too many problems, and it doesn't drip as bad as the ten pound versions.

The only reason I am not still using my 4-20 is that I stumbled onto an RCBS Promelt for about ¼ of retail price.

Robert

[garym1a2]

I ladle pour only with the Lee Magnum melter. Its plenty fast enough for the 6up lee molds.

[44man]

I ladle pour everything and nobody will ever change me.
I wanted the Lee 20# production pot but they were out of stock so I got the bottom pour, wasn't long before the junk was removed and a tapered brass plug stuck in that nasty hole! It has worked perfectly for many years.
I tried Lyman and RCBS pots and after they age, the thermostats went bad and I would set the ladle in on hard lead because cycle times got so long. The remote thermostat on the Lee is the best ever.
I admit to never getting in tune to a bottom pour.
Don't fool with a 10# pot. I have one from LBT for nose pour but if you cast the whole boolit, it will drain fast.
With a ladle I can use two, two cavity molds in rotation and have even used 3. I don't like the pre heat times to get 3 going though.

[Greg_R]

OK, I ordered the the melter furnace. Hoping it will will be what i needed. I think ladle pour is the way I want to go. Going to ask a NOOB question. Why not smelt ans cast out of the same pot. That is what I have been doing. What problems does it cause?

[NavyVet1959]

I think ladle pour is the way I want to go.

Try the bottom pour ladle idea that I previously posted. It only costs about $1-1.50 for one of the stainless steel condiment ladles and it makes for a pretty cheap experiment. You might actually like it.

Going to ask a NOOB question. Why not smelt ans cast out of the same pot. That is what I have been doing. What problems does it cause?

Some say zinc contamination, but I've never experienced that... For me, the biggest problem would be that when I'm smelting, I'm doing large batches whereas when casting, a 20 lb pot is sufficient --ok, maybe a 30 lb one would be better, but 30 lbs on a smelting pot would be way too small.

[Landshark9025]

I smelt using the bottom of an AC Freon tank. No matter how much you flux, stir, scrape, etc there is dirt and other stuff that sticks to the sided and bottom. This is just part of the process. If you smelt in your casting pot, this junk will always be there and if you have a bottom pour it WILL cause the valve to stick. If you ladle cast, I would imagine it would be floating to the top and you have to deal with it sometime. You don't smelt in your casting pot for the same reason you don't use the good kitchen broom to sweep the garage. It'll just track more dirt into an area that is somewhat clean already.

Couple of hints if you ever do get the bottom pour Lee:
1. Get one of these: http://goo.gl/Gp3oXt to put the pot in. You can bend the front edge down a bit so it isn't in the way and can actually act as a guide. This way, in the unfortunate event of a full on "lead waterfall", it has some containment. Changes an "OH SH%$" moment into an "oh, shoot" moment.
2. Preheat the ingots on top of the mold or a hot plate turned on low and keep it about 2/3-3/4 full. Much easier to maintain the temp if the melt level is high and consistent. If you are casting boolits in the 150g range, that means that you are getting 40-50 per pound of lead. If you are using a six cavity mold, and have one pound ingots, you can plan on dropping an ingot every 5-10 "runs". Helps keep a nice rhythm. Plus the pot doesn't work as hard as it is easier to maintain the temp. Kind of the opposite of having a full fridge.

OK, I ordered the the melter furnace. Hoping it will will be what i needed. I think ladle pour is the way I want to go. Going to ask a NOOB question. Why not smelt ans cast out of the same pot. That is what I have been doing. What problems does it cause?

[Tatume]

OK, I ordered the the melter furnace. Hoping it will will be what i needed. I think ladle pour is the way I want to go. Going to ask a NOOB question. Why not smelt ans cast out of the same pot. That is what I have been doing. What problems does it cause?

Ladle casting is the best, in my opinion. I have both, and only use the bottom pour pot for casting pure lead. This is because I can cover the melt with sawdust and keep it from oxidizing, which pure lead is prone to do.

No harm will be done smelting wheel weights in your melter. The harm people worry about is getting grit and debris in the bottom pour mechanism, which will certainly happen if you smelt in a bottom pour pot. Your pot will not be harmed. When you are done smelting wheel weights, just pick up the entire pot with a large pliers (grasp the base), and pour the last little bit of melted lead out. Then after the pot cools, wipe it out with a damp cloth.

The RCBS casting ladle is a good one. The Rowell #1 is even better.

http://www.rotometals.com/product-p/...le_bottom1.htm

Good luck, and welcome aboard.

Take care, Tom