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Thread: Melting pot build

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Conditor22 View Post
    It looks like the valve goes through the burner, like you, I don't see how he triggers the valve
    Yes. the pour tube does go through the burner. I did this and made the tube out of brass so it would stay hot and flow. That is the only complaint I have with my RCBS Pro Melt is the steel pour tube is the last thing to heat up. I keep a micro torch handy to quickly remedy this problem.

  2. #22
    Boolit Bub
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    Well it took a while to get around to it but I finally got my pot made. It was a chore and ended up being unbelievably heavy. I still have some grinding and cleaning up to do. It’s crazy heavy. I didn’t realize it was 1/2” thick metal until I tried cutting it.

  3. #23
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    Click image for larger version. 

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  4. #24
    Boolit Grand Master jmorris's Avatar
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    I used a piece of steel pipe and welded a plate to the bottom. Drilled an countersunk a hole for the needle to seat in and drilled and tapped two for the orifice plate to screw on underneath. Machined a section of 1/4” stainless steel for the needle and used a 1/4” bolt to allow for flow adjustment.

    For heating I used a cheap 3500 watt oven element controlled by a PID and covered it with stainless steel so my face doesn’t get so hot


  5. #25
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    With it being 1/2” thick (much thicker than I was expecting) how hard will it be to heat it? Any recommendations on a good burner setup to heat this?

  6. #26
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    I did make one lid

  7. #27
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    I use a Harbor Freight weed burner that I got for $15 on sale. It can put out up to 500,000 BTU/hr compared to about 50,000 for the various turkey fryers. I've smelted over 5000 lbs of scrap and the burner is still working great.

  8. #28
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    I’ve been trying to post a pic all day and keep getting an error message

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Idz View Post
    I use a Harbor Freight weed burner that I got for $15 on sale. It can put out up to 500,000 BTU/hr compared to about 50,000 for the various turkey fryers. I've smelted over 5000 lbs of scrap and the burner is still working great.
    Thanks. I’ve found a weed burner I will use

  10. #30
    Boolit Grand Master jmorris's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Groundpounder17 View Post
    With it being 1/2” thick (much thicker than I was expecting) how hard will it be to heat it? Any recommendations on a good burner setup to heat this?
    If won’t be anymore difficult to heat than a 1/4” one, it will just take longer. It will also “hold” the heat better once it is warmed up.

  11. #31
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Groundpounder17 View Post
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    I have to agree with you (LOL). A 1/4" would be overkill and a 1/2"! Oh, well. The good news is it won't rust out, in your grand kids lifetime.

  12. #32
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    I actually thought it was probably 3/16” thick then had so much trouble cutting it that I soon figured out it’s much thicker walled than I expected. I figured the thickest it would be would be 1/4”

  13. #33
    Boolit Master
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    This is sort of what i want to try and build, see if the image works or not...

    Click image for larger version. 

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    The one i built a good 5 years ago has since rusted out, it had no lead pour chute, just a pot that i used a ladle to empty, i'd like to try and pour it out with a valve. My only concern was the output tube getting too hot due to being in the fire and causing the lead from the initial pour to boil. My idea was to insulate it with a second skin made of a larger metal tube to stop direct contact of the flames to the inner tube. I could add insulation, but i don't believe that will be of a whole lot of use.

    After seeing your pour spout on the side, i may even do that to hopefully prevent drips. I wanted the rod to the side to assist in giving more room to remove dross.

    The pots i have made in the past were fed with dry tree carcasses, this one will be the same. Harder to regulate the temperature, but it does a fine job of getting the lead hot enough.

  14. #34
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    I used a out of date propane tank, did a few mods to the fryer and pot. I like the round bottom,makes it easy to scrape when fluxing.[ ATTACH=CONFIG]247014[/ATTACH]
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 20190817_081723.jpg  

  15. #35
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Groundpounder17 View Post
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    That looks conveniently tall, I assume that you’re building a bench to hold ingot molds. Is it stable, cause it looks super top heavy.

    Can’t decide how I feel about the tabs to hold the pot vs cutting a few vent holes and welding the pot to the stand.

    Please post up your thoughts after your first couple batches.

  16. #36
    Boolit Master
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    You make a very good point, the last pot i built sat only about a foot, maybe a foot and a half tall. When fully loaded, i'd have about 300kg of lead in there, and when you are mixing while it's melting, you don't want it tipping over. As i was using a 44 gallon drum for the fire, it had a fairly wide base to not allow it to fall over, the pot was welded the the drum, so nothing could tip.

    After it rusted out, it started to collapse when it was full of lead, it got a brace to finish a batch, then retired, as it was a safety risk.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check