I'm considering getting a bottom pour pot....questions

[jamesp81]

I don't really want to spend $260 on a Lyman TMag, but I'm not above it if I need to. I'm also looking at the more economical Lee Pro 4-20. I've heard the horror stories with dripping and have done a little reading on how to deal with it. It seems like those with good success with this pot 1) degrease it completely before first use and 2) often lap the valve assembly for better mating.

My thing is, I don't like equipment that I have to babysit constantly. The Lee Pro 4-20 has a reputation for needing babysitting. I guess my question is, is the Lyman really 4 times better, since it's 4 times the price? Does it drip too and need babysitting, or is that more of a Lee thing?

[Wayne Smith]

I don't even have a bottom pour, but as I have read you need: 1) clean alloy - this is critical with all of them. 2) more weight on the valve in the Lee - iron floats in lead.

[TexasGrunt]

RCBS Pro Melt.

You can try a Lee but I'd guess you'll be wanting to upgrade within a year or less.

[OS OK]

Clean the pot, lap the valve...hang a weight like this big square nut on the handle...then keep your Pb clean, flux with paraffin and keep the sawdust out. When you do get a little drip, use a screwdriver to give the valve a twist at the same time flush a little spurt of Pb out to take the debris away and enjoy casting.

Attachment 187033

[Mike W1]

Never had a RCBS but have been happily using a pair of Lee 10# pots for about 35+ years. There's a few tricks I've picked up over the years but they'll still pour hot metal into a mold. Your pocket book also makes a difference!

[TexasGrunt]

Never had a RCBS but have been happily using a pair of Lee 10# pots for about 35+ years. There's a few tricks I've picked up over the years but they'll still pour hot metal into a mold. Your pocket book also makes a difference!

I've got a Lee 10 lb pot that's about that same age. Great pot. The newer ones....not so much.

[mozeppa]

i bought the magma pot....not sorry i did either! ......was right at $600
has a very strong valve that is spring loaded, has a 90 pound capacity and the pour spout is removable for cleaning.

and yes when i got it and assembled it, i took the valve rod and put it into a drill and put diamond lapping paste
on the valve end and gave it about 5 min. lapping ing the valve hole.

ANYBODIES POT WILL LEAK! ....if there is the smallest piece of gunk, slag, foreign substance in your alloy...
IT WILL eventually make its way to the valve...it may pass thru on one of your pourings...it might get stuck!

if it does get stuck...your pot WILL drip...no matter which pot brand you buy or how well you've lapped it in.

This is why you flux your lead 2,3 times ....or as many times as it takes to get it clean.
i do my fluxing in a cast iron dutch oven....not in my bottom pour pot.

even the cheap lee pot will do just fine...i modified my LEE pot like this:

i took out the valve rod ...went to the hardware store and bought blank drill rod the same diameter, just twice as long. then i copied the pointed end onto the drill rod.

why make one twice as long?...well i noticed that when my pot leaked it was usually when the pot was full of melted lead. that much weight per square inch on top of even the smallest of pinholes will leak.
then i realized that steel will float on melted lead like a cork does on water.

thats one reason for twice the length ...to add more mass weight to the rod to help it stay down better.

and then at the very top end of the rod i put a wooden knob...this adds a little more weight and you can grab it
and twist it down for the stubborn leaks you'll get once in awhile...the wood knob don't get hot.

i wired it together with a "pid" for constant temperature regulation.

that being said ....all pots need to be "baby sat" ....i can do other things in the reload room, but i NEVER leave that room while it's on...too much bad can happen when you leave it unattended.

[OS OK]

You can place your pot inside a shallow cookie pan too...if it lets go when you are in the bathroom or wherever...it'll be in the pan, not all over the bench.

[w5pv]

I have a Lyman bottom pour that I have used for years,yes it leak,drips and whatever,I put a small piece 3x5 inch of shim stock under the spout to catch the drippings a little bees wax or lube will keep the drippings from sticking.

[dverna]

I have a Lee that I got on sale and have never used. It is a spare...my main pot is a Lyman that I ladle cast out of. Health issues have kept me from doing much casting but I figured if the Lee worked, I would use it as my main pot. If it was a PIT*, I would use it as a pre-melt on a Master Caster I am planning on getting.

They are cheap and if you luck out and get a good one you are happy happy. If it is not so good, you have not lost much. A lot of people will buy an old Lee for 1/2 the cost of a new one so your risk is minimal.

The bulk of my casting is with foundry lead and it is clean. That is why I figured the Lee might be OK. Previous posters have made the same comment. USE GOOD CLEAN LEAD to give you a better chance at success.

BTW, ALL commercial casting equipment is bottom pour and they run relatively well. But they do not use whatever cheap alloy they can scrounge.

Don Verna

[oteroman]

Buy the RCBS. You are not a tinker type. Just do it, or you will not be happy. Buy once cry once. Ever hear that??? True.


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[jamesp81]

From what I'm reading in this thread, I think I might stick with my ladle casting until I have enough pennies for an RCBS Pro Melt. That might take a while, but if it's as good as everyone says it'll be worth it.

[paul h]

See if you can find a used Saeco pot, the run $75-100. I've had one for nearly 20 years, and it was well used when I got it. I have no doubt it will last me another 20 and I have a spare one as well.

I can't claim it's never dripped, but the few times it has I just raise the pour lever to get a stream of lead flowing to clear out the crud and I'm on my merry way.

I did have a Lee bottom pour furnace so I know about leaky spouts. Also the lee seems to have a greater temperature swing so I'd add in a PID controller when factoring cost.

[Andy]

The lee rarely dripped once I did the lapping and never annoyed me too much even when it did, I just left an ingot mold under it. I figured I would want something better eventually (and lucked into a pro-melt recently) but also figured I would be glad to have the lee for something else once that happened. So, I think it's a great option to start out with. You might be 100% happy with it and can always sell it or leave some other alloy in it later on if you decide to upgrade.

[Pee Wee]

Had the lee, did all the mods and upgrades and still had to fiddle with it. Got the RCBS Pro Melt and have not had any problems with it, works great, holds temp perfect and don't have to fiddle with it. You get what you pay for most of the time.

[Jackpine]

+1 on the RCBS ProMelt. I have run many hundreds of pounds thru mine and it has NEVER leaked. That being said, I cast a lot of bullets thru a Lee, before I ran into a incredible deal on a slightly used ProMelt. While I tried all the fixes for the Lee I could find, I never got it to stop leaking, but I kept a little six inch cast iron frying pan under it, to catch the leaks and drip my sprues, so it wasn't that big a deal.

To me, the biggest draw back of the Lyman is the mold shelf, which will not accommodate some molds. The RCBS is very basic, but easily, quickly and fully adjustable to use with any mold.

Good luck,

Jackpine

[BK7saum]

I have 3 lee 20 lb pots and 2 lee 10 lb pots. I keep different alloys in each. One is straight wheelweight, one is 50/50 ww/lead, a third is range lead, one of the 10lbs pots is for fishing sinkers. The last 10 lb pot is empty right now but was last used for pewter to cast 1oz pieces for alloying. That way I don't always have to empty and refill the same pot. They seem to heat up quicker/better when at least half full of alloy.

Brad

[fatelk]

I've had a 20 lb Lee pot for a number of years now. I know some people hate them but I've had good luck with mine. I did lap the valve. I don't remember it leaking that bad before, hardly a drip now.

Different folks have different financial resources. There just no way I could justify buying anything much more expensive than what I have. For the amount that I use it and what I could afford, it works great.

[Krieger82]

Ive used a lee pot since I started. Only had one dripping incident of note that was caused by me. It might take some time to get the pour distance right, but I love mine. I also have a Tmag, but only use it for the big calibers (read 44 and up)

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[fredj338]

I have a 20yr old 10# & my 20# is about 10yrs old. Neither drips if you just follow two basic concepts.
NEVER smelt in the pot, only put in clean alloy.
NEVER drain the pot empty.
Both things will eventually put crud into the pour spout. The best thing I did for my Lee pot was add a PID. The uninsulated pots temp vary a lot.
It's not that I can't afford a RCBS, best of the production pots IMO, but for what you are asking the pot to do, melt alloy & dispense it, the Lee works fine. FWIW, I also have a Magma Master Caster. It doesn't drip either.