Potter Casting Pot

[metricmonkeywrench]

Sight unseen and unknown operating condition i have this Potter casting pot on the way along with a couple of pieces of lead. The previous owners father used it many years ago to cast wadcutter bullets for his only pistol so the story goes. I did a google search and low and behold the only place that comes up on the search is two old posts here from years ago. Rather than dredge them up i decided to go the new post route.

Does anyone still have an instruction sheet for it that I can get a copy of?

My plans (if it works) is to empty out the lead and clean it up top to bottom and put it back in service. Any tips or things to look for on something this old? As mentioned in the other post a router speed control may be a good investment for this one.

[Green Frog]

If you can’t find specific instructions for your Potter, the 10# Lyman of the day is similar if not identical. Neither is all that complicated.

Froggie

[ReloaderFred]

Send a PM to Roundnoser. He's the expert on all things Potter.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[dimaprok]

What is it that you're trying to figure out? It's super simple device just like all lead melters you plug it in and it melts lead, you might have a knob to adjust temperature and you have lever for pouring lead - that's it! I wouldn't mess with router speed control but build / buy PID controller. There should be a plan somewhere on the forum here.

[skeettx]

I have two of them,
No knobs, just plug it in,
wait a bit till it is hot, cast bullets till it is 3/4 empty, add more lead,
wait a bit till it is hot, cast bullets till it is 3/4 empty, add more lead,
wait a bit till it is hot, cast bullets till it is 3/4 empty, add more lead,
wait a bit till it is hot, cast bullets till it is 3/4 empty, add more lead,
etc.
Use the lead that is in the pot for pistol bullets

Makes great boolits
Mike

p.s. I put a couple of one pound ingots under the spout to support the mould when
I cast, this insures consistency.

[metricmonkeywrench]

Thanks for the replies and PM's, so far no instructions but I did find an ancient Reloader Magazine that listed the 3 models and differences and Pressman has a small page in the Antique reloading site with I believe 2 of the models.

Yes, I do intend to plug it in outside the shop on a solid landscaping block just in case the magic smoke that makes electrical things work escapes.

I may drill out a few plugs to make more room in the pot until I can get the lead level down.

I do intend to eventually get a PID but for now a thermometer will suffice for temperature management for both this and my Lee 20 pounder.

[wv109323]

If you have an ohm meter just check from the power terminals to the frame to see if there is a short. Also check to see if the heating coil has resistance. If no short, and you have resistance on the heating coil it should work. You can eliminate the fireworks.

[Echo]

I have a couple 3-lb Potters, and use a Router control from Harbor Freight as a control. The original power cord had an On/Off switch in series, but I never had an original, just used a standard for the 2-prong receptacle on the back. One of my 3-lbrs as 2 sets of 2-prongers, and the bottom set is for an On/Off switch, too - I shorted it out with some copper wire, after polishing the prongs. Might even solder them - should be OK, as not too close to the pot. Great for when one only wants to cast a few boolits, although I did go into production one time - boolits were turning out so good! Put a fresh ingot on the lip, cast several molds-full (returning the sprues), put the hot ingot in, put another on the lip, and pressed on - went through about 12 lbs of ingots!

[metricmonkeywrench]

The pot arrived over the weekend and has been confirmed to be a Model C, 2 prong single element with an on/off switch . While changing the oil in the wifys car (gotta multitask) I pugged it in to warm up. While tending to the car I heard a small pop, and when I wandered back over to the bench a plug plug of lead had jumped up bringing the valve with it since the anchor/pivot pin was out leaving the pot half full of lead. The spout was plugged and I took a couple of swipes with my lead fork and pulled a bullet jacket and some other small debris out of the lead. A good poke with a stiff wire opened up the valve and the pot drained completely. It now disassembled with some smaller bits and the base plate soaking in some evaporust and the pivot pin for the valve rod will have to be drilled out as it is rusted solid.

[bhawk_1]

I have a potter pot that needs a cord. Anyone know what replacement cord will work?

[metricmonkeywrench]

bhawk, Rumor has it that a cord from a hotplate or similar should work if the prong spacing is correct, goodwill and such seem to be popular sources as well. You likely would not have the integral switch.

Does your unit have 2 or 3 prongs on the back?

[bhawk_1]

Mine has two prongs on the back. Is there anyway to date these?

[skeettx]

And the same cord was used for hot plates and waffle irons
Go down to GoodWill and look at their box of power cords
to find one that fits the prongs.

[Echo]

And see my entry re using a router control from Harbor Freight for a control. No problems, just stack upi some ingots next to it, plug it in put your thermometer in, and Have At It!

[abunaitoo]

I have a pot like that.
Must be a three pound because it's small.
Got a cord from Ace Hardware.
Never even tried it.
To small.

[Echo]

I have a pot like that.
Must be a three pound because it's small.
Got a cord from Ace Hardware.
Never even tried it.
To small.

The pot is small, but if you warm the ingot on the top of the pot, and replace as soon as it gets down a pound, my results have been just fine - as long as you keep a GOOD supply of ingots next to the pot!

[metricmonkeywrench]

No way to date them from what I can see. Yours is in a little better condition than mine. From what I can tell they were produced from the 50's to the early 70's.

Now that I have mine cleaned up somewhat, I refilled the lead and fired it up again. 3lbs of lead definitely heats up a lot faster than the Lee 20 pounder. I now have a lot of slop in the handle assy and it is a leakomatic unless the spout is in a specific spot. Ill have to try and shim the pivot pin to see if I can get some more control over the spout plug.

I ended up melting some lead with a propane torch into a Goodwill mini-muffin pan to get ingots small enough to feed the pot.

[Echo]

Thought I should show the stop I cobbled together...

[metricmonkeywrench]

Does anyone have a picture or dimensions of the valve rod? I look at the pictures of bhawk and Echo’s and the handle sets high, when mine is seated the handle is almost touching the pot.

I cleaned it up the best I could but there is a chip right at the end that I can’t get out without cutting the rod shorter making my drip problem worse.

[FerricOxide]

I have a potter pot that needs a cord. Anyone know what replacement cord will work?

I threaded the prongs on mine with a die set and used nuts and ring terminals to attach a modern cord. I couldn't find any 2 prong plugs with the correct spaceing. I've got a rheostat on mine but I run it wide open as it doesn't seem to overheat in any reasonable amount of time.