Cover your furnace pot OR NOT?

[ascast]

I cover for initial melt, then no-but I general dip cast with ladle. For bottom pour I leave it covered and add cut off all at the end, or break time LOL

[myg30]

Layer of saw dust ( no pressure treated or partial board dust) pine or hard wood. I also return my spruce to the pot after I get going good.
No cover unless bugs or flys won't leave the pot alone. Adding more saw dust makes more smoke and generally runs them off most of the time.

Mike

[Tazza]

I cover mine to try and keep the heat in, it doesn't help with oxidization, i'm fluxing and skimming quite often.

There was an idea of injecting argon or another inert gas into the pot to try and help with reducing the oxidation of the molten metal. I'd like to see if this would actually work or not.

[JohnH]

I cover mine to try and keep the heat in, it doesn't help with oxidization, i'm fluxing and skimming quite often.

There was an idea of injecting argon or another inert gas into the pot to try and help with reducing the oxidation of the molten metal. I'd like to see if this would actually work or not.

It'll definitely work. All you're doing is displacing the normal atmosphere. You want to use an inert gas, one that won't interact with the melt. Carbon dioxide is not inert but I don't know how it would react with the melt. It is actually through the introduction of carbon that the oxidized metal in the dross is reduced, so it is possible that CO2 would do just fine. Argon is inert and wouldn't react at all. That's where I'd start.

[camp]

Yes , paranoid a bird will fly over and drop something on the pot ☺

[lightman]

I've never covered mine. I have considered covering my smelting pot but I use mostly wheelweights and I pile them up pretty high, so that makes a lid problematic.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

I cover mine with al. foil til it melts, then I use sawdust, and I do drop my srrues directly back into the pot, I figure dropping them through a layer of carbon/sawdust will minimize any oxidation that may occur. I have not encountered problems with the sawdust getting into the valve, it is so light and the lead is so dense it would be pretty hard to stir it all the way down there... but not impossible-Travis

[dragon813gt]

I don't cover my Lee pot. The time spent warming up isn't wasted because the mold is being preheated. Sprues go back in it often so I don't want to constantly take a top off.

[mblack]

i cover mine while its heating up to temp.

[Dragonheart]

I have never used or felt I needed a cover. If my Pro-Melt needed a cover RCBS would probably have included it with the pot or at least sold is as an accessory. A cover would probably just be something in the way, slow me down and end up causing me to burn myself fooling with it, but that is just my take.