begineers furnace

[wjhendo]

I first off apologize for this question as I'm sure ya'll have answered it many times. I'm just getting into casting. I have been collecting lead (wheel weights) for some time now. Using a Coleman stove I melted them into muffin pan sized ingots. I'm now getting close to purchasing a pot and that's where I have a question.The ingots I made are 2-3/4" in diameter and it's only now that I can see some pots may not have a large enough diameter for the ingots to fit. I've seen a few videos on the Lee 4-20 pot and it looks like my ingots will be a tight fit? Is there another bottom pour pot that I should be looking at without spending 3 times the price? All the Lyman pots I found are not bottom pour but maybe they make one I haven't seen yet. Or someone else makes one? Thanks.

[Conditor22]

Welcome to Cast Boolits

We are happy to answer questions
I would recommend the Lee Pro 4 20 Lb Furnace (only problem they are really hard to find now)
maybe you could buy one off a member here IF they have an extra they want to part with.

[wjhendo]

I found the $-20 pot online for $90. I couldn't tell if the opening is big enough for 2-3/4" ingots. I really wish I had made smaller ones.
EDIT: I should have read more of the older threads about furnaces than I did before I created this thread. I spent the last hour or so reading them and a lot of my questions got answered. I however haven't yet found out that my 2-3/4" ingots will "for sure" fit in the pot. I'd hate to order this pot only to find out afterwards that they won't fit. If they will then I believe that the $-20 pot is the one I want. I need a "proper" lead ingot mold for the lead I melt in the future.

[Txcowboy52]

I made mine in a muffin pan as well and mine work just fine , with that being said I've never measured them either. I would think that which ever pot you decide to use you could get the dimensions off the internet or contact the pot maker directly and ask them. Welcome by the way !!!

[Mitch]

Lee 4-20 will take your muffin ingot just fine.Lee 10b production pot will not.I have cast alt f bullets with a lee 4-20.nothing wrong with it at all i did lap the valve to cut down on the dripping it seemed to help alot.I got a RCBS promelt just as they quit making them and do not regret it ones bit.Like everything else the lee is the entry level pot.But i am sure either will serve you well.Good luck finding a pot seems everthing not just gun realted things are hard to find now days.

[jdfoxinc]

My 3" channel ingots fit just fine.

[Winger Ed.]

If they don't fit, hold them on their side with vice grips and pound them a few times with a big hammer.

Then, in the future, get one of those bargain priced Lee ingot molds.

For now, ya might want to get a ladle so as not to stop your casting until ya get a bottom pour pot.

[frkelly74]

Lead is malleable and can be mashed into a shape that will drop in as Winger Ed suggested , Big hammer on the concrete floor should serve. My family all laughs at my ingots which are formed in an old cast iron corn bread mold. they look like ears of corn split in half. These seem common at yard sales. The ingots are about a pound and slip right in the pot and disappear. The past two days I cast up some boolits and the old 10 lb Lee pot worked flawlessly.

[Misery-Whip]

My first pot was a lee 20#. At $70 NEW and shipping they are a real value. But I wouldnt buy a used one. Mine is 6 or 7 years old. And about wore out.

Definatly get a bottom pour. Really increases production.

[AndyC]

Inner diameter is around 4" on the 20lb pot:

[Mk42gunner]

Muffin tin ingots work fine with a Lee 4-20. After my first couple of muffin tin molds self destructed, I built my next few out of angle iron.

I've made them anywhere from eight inches to ten and a half inches long, depending on just how much scrap angle iron I have on hand. I like 1½" angle iron the best, any smaller and you tend to get really dinky ingots; larger works, but I wouldn't go over 2".

The best thing about the long ingots is you can set them across the top of your pot to preheat and try to keep the tinsel fairy away.

Robert

[wjhendo]

Thanks for all the help. I see that my ingots will fit fine in the 4-20 pot. Since I'm just starting out casting that Lee pot should work fine for me.

[Targa]

Here you go sir https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1262645810

[StuBach]

One more vote to start with the Lee 4-20. Mine has been very reliable for me and mine wasn’t as much of a drip-o-matic as most but I may just not have been as annoyed as others by it.

When this itch really takes hold and funds are available I recommend a PID controller to maintain proper steady temps on the pot and than you’ll really be in good shape.

I too was able to source a RCBS ProMelt I (used) and have since relegated my Lee to odd job stuff like pure lead work but it will for sure fit you muffins. Muffins make a great early ingot mold but don’t feel like you have to fill the mold to the top. Only down side is they’re so thick and large that it takes forever to get the core heated up, make them half as thick and the issues are much less.

In future I’d recommend angle iron ingots or getting one of LakeHouse’s Ingot molds. Last I looked I think there were like $25 and they stack in SFRB boxes for easy storage and labeling. Hillbilly GOLD OR Cast Boolits logo, either will serve you well. Added benefit is they’re a bit thinner than muffins so less issues heating the core.

Welcome aboard and don’t forget your PPE. Tinsel fairy is no joke and can ruin a perfectly good night with a trip to the hospital if you don’t protect yourself. One nice thing about Covid, cheap face shields are readily available to many customer facing businesses, see if you can snag one or use a full size.

[Rich/WIS]

Measured from the control rod to the opposite side of the pot I get 3 inches. Use the muffin tin molds myself and have never had an issue.

[gwpercle]

Just in case you want to start casting but don't have a bottom pour electric furnace ... you can actually make decent boolits with a Lyman dipper and a open cast iron pot of melted lead .
You wont see much talk about this method but it's called pressure casting .
I cast like this for about 25 years , joined this site and got mesmerized by the preaching of the gospel of St. Bottom Pour for about 5 years .
Didn't work for me , I had two different bottom pour pots but never could get my mouth held right .
Could make a lot of boolits but most had slight imperfections ... and I want near perfect when I cast them . I gave those bottom pour pots away and went back to the Lyman dipper / ladle , open top pot and pressure casting ... my boolit quality is now back to nearly perfect .
So if you want to pour a few but don't have a bottom pour ...you might want to give pressure casting a try ...beats sitting around not pouring nothing !
Gary

[gnappi]

Boy, you ain't kidding about the 4/20 being scarce. There are LOTS of 10 lb and production pots but are (for what they are) overpriced.

Those 4/20's that are available are "gouge" priced. Ever since the COVID issue, riots, and the election stuff has gone unobtanium or over priced. I wanted a backup pot to my very old RCBS pot and finally got one today at an almost pre-hysterical buying spree price

[Guardian]

If you're going to pay through the nose for it anyway, just call Magma and get a Master Pot. https://www.magmaengineering.com/masterpot/

[kevin c]

How much do your ingots weigh?

As pointed out, what you have should fit into a 4-20, but I also second considering other ingot molds of a shape and size that might work better, depending on your casting style.

A big mold casts a big ingot, sometimes so big that only a few will fit into the pot. You may find smaller ingots allow you to load the pot with much more alloy. A big ingot will also lower the melt temp a lot more than smaller ingots, sometimes to the point of freezing up the melt (which can be an option for dealing with a jammed open valve dumping molten metal).

If you don't want to wait to get started from an empty pot, sequentially melting big bulky ingots until full, or if you don't want to wait a long time for the alloy to get back to casting temp after replenishing the melt with a big ingot, long thin ingots of 1.5 to 2.5# may help. Angle iron, C channel or similar molds like Lakehouse's will load well, stack and store compactly, are stable on top of the pot for preheating, and even not preheated have lower mass and don't drop the melt temp as much as a heavier ingot.

Using ingots this way is good for casting sessions meant to produce large amounts (a few pots worth of alloy) of bullets. If you are casting in small volumes, investing in new ingot molds may not be worth it.

[Targa]

Those 4/20's that are available are "gouge" priced.

They are priced where they have been for years..$76.99 is no where near a price gouge, its a really good price.