Ladle vs Bottom Pour

[GregLaROCHE]

It seems a lot of people believe using a ladle to pour gives better results. How many people agree with this and if so, better in what way(s).
Thanks

[barrabruce]

I ladle pour cos I’m to stingy to by a letric one and have to run leads here or there.
I mostly positive pour as in put the spout into the mould ala Lyman style.
I get a nice flat full base.

If I pour from a ways above the mold I don’t seem to get as good fill out unless I overflow the mold for a bit.

Some of my moulds like a different pour and cadence as I get feathering.

I mostly use a kero burner outside and a fan blowing.
I find it better than being locked into a hot garage to cast.
I suppose I could be missing out of the fumes chasing or killing the creepy crawlers in there thou.

Ladle pouring gives me options I suppose and I don’t have to stoop to see where the leads going.

[2011redrider]

Started w lee drip o magic bottom pour. Couldn't get it to stop dripping and replaced the pot liner with a solid one with No hole for spout for spout.

When the new RCBS came out I got the easy melt that is ladle pour only. Had rebates and it was only 75 bucks I believe. Works great w built in pic. Only problem is it takes about 2 hrs to cool off enough to unplug it as the pid electronics need the fan to keep them cool until pot gets to 160, at least thats what the manuals shows.
Much better bullets w pressure pour if needed or w a 1 lb bottom pour ladle.

[winelover]

Ladle pouring gives me more uniform bullets, in terms of weight, thus a higher percentage of keepers.

Winelover

[ABJ]

The only way I get great boolits with a ladle is pressure casting(ladle spout in the sprue plate.) Bottom pour with the sprue plate very close to the pot spout and a puddle of lead on top yields my best bullets. The farther away from the spout on bottom pour starts to affect the base fill out on flat base or gas check shanks. I will admit that on big long boolits, pressure casting works best for me, other than that, bottom pour is my preferred method.
Tony

[tazman]

I don't know any way a person could get better results than I do with my Lee 20lb bottom pour pot.

[reddog81]

I don't know any way a person could get better results than I do with my Lee 20lb bottom pour pot.

That's my sentiment also. And at rate that's much quicker.

[Shuz]

Bottom pour insures that you don't get impurities in your boolits because they float to the top. Also, the pot is easier to maintain the same temp if you apply a layer of new kitty litter on top. This keeps the heat in, as well as preventing oxidation of your melt. You can also tandem cast with two moulds much faster with the bottom pour method. I can maintain the same relative flow into the mould as the melt level drops by adjusting the pot handle lever screw.
I discarded my ladle over 50 years ago when I bought my first Lyman 20 pound furnace. I now use an RCBS Pro-melt and I love it.

[upnorthwis]

I started out with a ladle but once a neighbor gave me a bottom pour, I never went back. Have had a Lee 10 lb. for 20 years now and yes it was a drip-o-matic. So I tapped a hole in the plunger and put a handle on it. Just give it a flick now and then.

[LWSTARKS]

I use the Lyman pro furnace and don’t think I’d have the patience to go to using a ladle.

[MT Gianni]

I started with bottom pours and found that fill out problems were eliminated with ladle filling. I had some recalcitrant molds that resisted with a cavity or more and went to a ladle for almost all of my pours.

[jmort]

Do you put the ladle spout on the mold cavity hole in the sprue plate or just get it close enough to get a good pour???

[oldblinddog]

Do you put the ladle spout on the mold cavity hole in the sprue plate or just get it close enough to get a good pour???

Put the ladle in contact with the sprue plate. I have only cast with a ladle, never a bottom pour. However, my ladle is a bottom pour like this one https://www.rotometals.com/casting-l...handle-length/

[jmort]

I have a #1 (and a #7 for ingots), and a Lyman and a soup ladle with a 3/32" hole as devised by one of our members, aka Grumpy Old Man. I never pressure pour, i.e. zero contact with ladle and sprue plate. This video shows a #1 and the soup ladle with 3/32" hole which works really well (at 6:45 mark) of this most interesting video.

[oldblinddog]

That is slick!

[mdi]

All the opinions above are personal preferences. For each individual that posted, the choice is what works best for them and all the reasons can be debated. I have done both, but I prefer an electric bottom pour pot. Fill out, speed, temp control are all done by the user for a particular style of casting that works for them. Most casters can extol the benefits of their choice and condemn the other. I used a Lyman style ladle for a couple years and got good, clean bullets, and I now use a bottom pour and get good clean bullets...

[waksupi]

I never could keep a six cavity mold at heat with a dip pot.

[plainsman456]

Tried both but with bottom pour i make more boolits faster.

That molds are their own problem and you have to figure out what they like.

[Bait O' Eggs]

I have been pouring lead for decades, mostly fishing stuff, used a soup can bent up with a pour spout and a vice grip holding it for about 40 years. I bought a 20lb lee drip o'matic a year ago and cant believe I didnt do that a long time ago. So much faster and easier.

[Larry Gibson]

I use both methods. Which simply depends on the size (weight) of the bullet I casting. Generally for 300 gr or less I use the bottom pour (Lyman Mag20) although I have one 350 gr mould that casts excellently using the bottom pour. For most others 375+ gr I use a ladle.