4-20 lead pot doesn't hold 20lbs

[AlHunt]

Has anyone besides me noticed that the Lee 4-20 lead pot only holds about 16lbs?

I've long suspected it. Recently I've been working with some pure lead weights that weigh in at 7lb 14oz. 2 of them pretty well fill the pot.

Then when I cast it down to where the stream slows down, it takes about 13 pounds to refill it.

No biggie, just an observation,

[Cast_outlaw]

Mine holds about 18lb if if fill it right up still good for the money

[Mal Paso]

Old News. LOL

[Wheelguns 1961]

I usually leave about an inch in my pot when I am done. Then my first fill is 15 pounds. After that, I put in 10 pound batches and finish it with sprues.

[vagrantviking]

Never really thought about it.
Guess my 20-1 alloy is more like 15-1.

[Conditor22]

Kind of like a 2x4 only being 1 1/2 x 3 1/2 LOL

[Targa]

Yep...20lbs of lead would equal a hot mess.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Maybe Lee was using Metric?

[Stewbaby]

Don’t have mine handy to measure but they advertise it as 4” dia x 4.5” deep. That is 0.032 cu ft. At 700 lb/cu ft at 60F, that is just over 22 lbs slap full of cold lead. The density decreases at higher temp (not sure it drops enough though to account for the actual weights we are seeing though).

~5 lbs/in of height if dia is 4”

[megasupermagnum]

I never weighted mine. Maybe it can get close to 20 lb with pure lead?

[JimB..]

You just gotta stack it up a little more in the middle.

[kevin c]

It might hold 20# of pure if perfectly level, but it'd be so full you wouldn't be able to dip a spoon in it, let alone flux, stir and skim dross.

Mine's a feeder pot now, mounted over a ProMelt. Between the two and starting topped off to a practical and what I consider a safe level, I can cast a bit under 40# before I have to add an ingot, but I never do that, adding sprues, rejects and new ingots on the go. That makes the casting pot essentially bottomless (or would that be topless, since I am not ladle pouring?), and the capacity of either pot a nonissue.

[metricmonkeywrench]

your all overthinking it... the 20lbs includes the weight of the lead, pot and spout drippings

[AlHunt]

It might hold 20# of pure if perfectly level, but it'd be so full you wouldn't be able to dip a spoon in it, let alone flux, stir and skim dross.

Mine's a feeder pot now, mounted over a ProMelt. Between the two and starting topped off to a practical and what I consider a safe level, I can cast a bit under 40# before I have to add an ingot, but I never do that, adding sprues, rejects and new ingots on the go. That makes the casting pot essentially bottomless (or would that be topless, since I am not ladle pouring?), and the capacity of either pot a nonissue.

40 pounds is a lot in one session. A couple hours is enough at one time for me. A half hour heat up then about 90 minutes to knock out 6 or 7 hundred bullets and my knees are ready for a break!

[Mk42gunner]

I still remember the day I stuck one of my three-ish pound angle iron ingot in my 4-20. I knew it would be close to the top, then suddenly the ingot started self-feeding.

As the liquid lead started flowing over the edge I finally got hold of the remains of the ingot with a set of water pump pliers and pulled it out. This is not a fault of Lee's, but my own inattention that caused a bit of excitement.

After that I made sure the level was a low enough that it could take the volume of the whole ingot when I added more.

Robert

[RogerDat]

Bottom pour has hardware taking up space inside the melt, that space reduces the amount of lead. I think my 4-20 production that is for ladle casting gets pretty close to 20 lbs of plain lead but at that point it is too full to easily work with. So I guess I'm probably only working with 16 pounds or so most of the time.

Not an issue because I don't mix alloys in the casting pot as a rule. Alloys are made in big batches and poured into ingots. Big batches are more consistent. Each ingot I add changes nothing but the temperature. Unless I pre-weigh two alloys to mix in a batch. Have done that once or twice to cut Lyman #2 a bit.

[kevin c]

40 pounds is a lot in one session. A couple hours is enough at one time for me. A half hour heat up then about 90 minutes to knock out 6 or 7 hundred bullets and my knees are ready for a break!

Action pistol uses a lot of rounds; 20-30K a year in practice and matches is typical. Needing lotsa boolits, I cast what I need for a few months in marathon sessions over a week so that forty pounds would only be about 2K of the 10K planned. So it's more a matter of have to than want to.

Anyway, with an 8 cavity aluminum MP mold and efficient technique I can empty the pots in a bit more than two hours so it's not too bad.

[NoZombies]

I always assumed it was catalogged by a dyslexic typist, and the real name was supposed to be 20 -4.

[bangerjim]

Old news.

Just keep some spare alloy ingots on your electric hotplate at ~15°F below your alloy's liquidous temp to add to your pot and you will never run it low. I sure do not worry about it not holding 20# of Pb, and that varies based upon what alloy you are melting. I just fill it to 1" of the top and keep adding those feed ingots when it reaches about 30% full.

Works for me and has for many years!

banger

[AlHunt]

Old news.

Evidently not old news for us all.

I sure do not worry about it not holding 20# of Pb

Promise, I haven't lost a wink of sleep about it. Just thought it was odd.