First cast with my PID

[Iwsbull]

I have not been casting for very long, but I hooked up a PID to my lee 4-20 pot and all I can say is I would that I had done this a couple hundred pounds ago. Wow, you find what temp your alloy likes (725 for mine) and it will be there very time no guess work no messing with the controls to regulate it. It is one less variable to have to deal with, if you’re new to it like me. I know some of you old hands and it can sniff the melt and know, but for the apprentice of us it is a great asset and you can also use it to make sure the oven is holding the right temp for powder coating.

[wv109323]

Along with the PID, I would add a hotplate to preheat the molds as big improvements for the begining caster.

[Iwsbull]

I think I will add that this week as well, I was using my powdercoat oven for it but I like the idea of a hot play better.

[Leadmad]

Iwsbull, Another suggestion you may be interested in is If you are casting for production you can use a slave pot for your spru`s and cold ingots and a soup ladle to top up your main or master pot as you cast, that way your casting cadence and temp control will be very consistent

Cheers

[Bookworm]

A slave pot. I think I will get a second pot to use that way, if I find a used pot for short money.

Using a ladle to transfer means it can be just a simple pot, no need for a fancy bottom pour.

[Iwsbull]

Thanks I may have to give that a try.

[OS OK]

I had been casting quite some time when the talk about these new PID's started across the boards.
I thought..."hmmmm...I don't need no stinking computer controlled 'thing a ma jiggie' to cast my fodder!"
I hadn't even used a lead thermometer....begrudgingly I bought a Dillon thermometer only to discover that it was off by -45ºƒ...
I thought..."hmmmmm...is all this precise control really necessary?"
All this time I'm reading how much better everyone is casting...how the bell curve with the weight of the casts has narrowed significantly...how they can get shiny or frosted as desired...etc...on and on they bragged about how much better it is to cast with a PID control.
OK...so I get one...just out of pure curiosity & after using it for several 4-20 potfulls...
I thought..as I looked over at the PID control box..."Where the heck have you been all my life!"
Then they're talking about how a hot plate oven can speed the mould pre-heat and give much better casting results from the first or second filling of the mould.
I thought..."Why not, I'm not resisting anymore!"

So, my humble casting bench has 'morphed' from this...



To this...



I'm thinking..."I guess I do need a stinking computer controlled 'thing a ma jiggie' to cast my fodder!"

[Iwsbull]

Son when you went with it you sho nuff went with it. I have to add a hot plate and a slave pot too.

[joe leadslinger]

I had been casting quite some time when the talk about these new PID's started across the boards.
I thought..."hmmmm...I don't need no stinking computer controlled 'thing a ma jiggie' to cast my fodder!"
I hadn't even used a lead thermometer....begrudgingly I bought a Dillon thermometer only to discover that it was off by -45ºƒ...
I thought..."hmmmmm...is all this precise control really necessary?"
All this time I'm reading how much better everyone is casting...how the bell curve with the weight of the casts has narrowed significantly...how they can get shiny or frosted as desired...etc...on and on they bragged about how much better it is to cast with a PID control.
OK...so I get one...just out of pure curiosity & after using it for several 4-20 potfulls...
I thought..as I looked over at the PID control box..."Where the heck have you been all my life!"
Then they're talking about how a hot plate oven can speed the mould pre-heat and give much better casting results from the first or second filling of the mould.
I thought..."Why not, I'm not resisting anymore!"

So, my humble casting bench has 'morphed' from this...



To this...



I'm thinking..."I guess I do need a stinking computer controlled 'thing a ma jiggie' to cast my fodder!"

^ this is the best way to set up for casting.

[fredj338]

100%, best thing I ever did for my Lee 4-20.

[Conditor22]

Notice the weight on the 4-20 handle located right next to the pot

[Walter Laich]

^ that weight or one like it makes a world of difference as far as drips are concerned

[Mitch]

Love the nut.Got the PID and Hot Plate.Ill have to look for a Nut now.

Joe the onloy thing you are missing is and an old style RCBS Pro Melt you wont go worng with it.I still us emy lee 4/20 but not as much.

[OS OK]

Love the nut.Got the PID and Hot Plate.Ill have to look for a Nut now.

Joe the onloy thing you are missing is and an old style RCBS Pro Melt you wont go worng with it.I still us emy lee 4/20 but not as much.

Since using the big nut to add to the weight of the valve assembly, I discovered this spring handle that came off an old wood burning stove. It has a 1/4 x 20 thd. base on it and threads onto the valve shaft of the 4-20 pot. I drilled it for a 6 x 32thd. set screw so it could be tightened and wouldn back off the valve stem. This does a couple of things...adds weight to stop that dripomatic from dripomatic'ing and it's very handy to reach up and turn as I adjust the valve more and more open as the pot empties and thereby keep the volume of the flow the same...starting pot to finish.



That PID thermocouple is just sitting in the mould oven while the pot is heating to maximum and melting the lead bars down to about 1/2 way of their length...at that point I'll put the PID thermocouple into the 4-20 pot to keep that pot from overheating as all the lead bars melt down the rest of the way.

[Yodogsandman]

^ that weight or one like it makes a world of difference as far as drips are concerned

I used a hunk of pure lead pounded it into a big, fat, flat washer and drilled a hole in it for the #10 pro pot. Placed it on the arm to add weight to it. It never occurred to me to do that to the Lee 4-20 pot, too. I'm on it!