What Bottom Pour Furnace Do You Use?

[casterofboolits]

Kinda hard to imagine, but there are lots of people on this board who had been casting longer than I've been alive, before I was born.

Gear

Gear,

My youngest daughter is nine years older than you and I started casting when she was three.

[Char-Gar]

I bought my first Lyman bottom pour pot about 1965. It was a 10 lb pot and I still have it. I have pluged the spout and use it as a dip pot. About 1985 I bought a Lyman 20 lb. pot and it is still in regular service. When I first got it, it wouldn't get hot enough to get lead up to casting temp. I send it back to Lyman and they fixed it for free and it has worked well every since.

I don't know if the Lymans are better or worse than any other make. They are all I have used and have served me well for 45 years.

[skeet1]

I bought a new Saeco mid 70's and was never very happy with it. This year I purchased a Lee 4-20 and have had very good service out of it. Yes it does drip on occasion but so did my Saeco. I just keep an ingot mold sitting on the base to catch the occasional drip, no problem at all.

Skeet1

[leadsquirter]

I have two old Lyman MouldMaster 10 lb. pots. One was given to me by a friend who no longer reloads and the other one bought at a local auction for $40.00. Both work good.

[shootingbuff]

Had RCBS and was shooting to much to cast and sold the equipment. Relocated and now have more time to do anything BUT shoot (closest range is a little over an hour away) so back into casting with 2 lees. I guess I got lucky and only have min leaking once in a while. Can not beat them for the price but the RCBS pot is so smoooooth in comparison.

[Ugluk]

Other.

I've just finished updating my homemade pot to v1.1.
It worked just fine although it is a bit underpowered with only a 700w heater.
It takes about an hour to melt 40# and get it up to 750. When I cast with two molds and return the sprues as I go it usually falls to 720 and stays there. It works well for my alloy and molds, so it's not really a problem.

The ergonomics was a problem however. The pot originally stood on four legs (threaded rod holding it together) and the forward pair had to be navigated around with the molds. It also sat rather low, so when casting I was sitting hunched squinting in under it with raised shoulders and a lot of arm movements.

The pain in back and shoulders limited the casting sessions to around 3hrs, and I only managed around 1500 good boolits from a session.

Hopefully this new edition of my low budget pot will allow for greater productivity. The hotplates I use for preheating the molds and as a mold rest while the lead solidifies is now just below the pot, and the roller guide should be easy on the arms and give a smooth filling motion.
The PID finally got a box to itself instead of just laying on the bench with terminals covered by ducttape.





Does anyone use a foot operated bottom pour?
I'm thinking this would be the improvement left for me to try if this don't do the trick, and if so, would it be better (safer) to make it so the pedal should be lifted to open the valve? Or would that be hard on the leg?

[Mikael]

Pot's looking good Ugluk

I'm thinking it would be kind of awkward managing the pouring with your feet at a start. But sure, after a while it'd probably be alot smoother then using your arm, then you can dual wield those molds!

[LAH]

Nice set up. Foot pour would be great but keep the dog away. HEE HEE

[Ugluk]

Nice set up. Foot pour would be great but keep the dog away. HEE HEE

That would be the reason for the idea of lifting the pedal to pour rather than pressing it down..
Even if I don't own a dog, the prospect of a lead glove don't appeal much..

[zxcvbob]

I use a Lee 20-4, and when I use a 6-banger mold I keep adding the sprues back in while they are still hot. I seldom cast more than about 300 boolits at a time, and most of my 200+ grain molds are 2 cavity molds (and 200 is a big run of those.) It's weird but when I cast in freezing cold weather, I have to turn the rheostat *down* because the temperature creeps up.

Instead of a band heater, I wonder if a new electric oven heating element could be wrapped around a piece of 6" pipe? (a used element might be too brittle and break.)

[oldhickory]

Bottom pour pots, LEE 6 bangers...I'm not coordinated enough to use either. I ladle cast using a 20lb Rapine and an old 10lb LEE, gave my old Lyman Drip-Master to someone here who needed a pot.

[Cowboy T]

Lee Pro 4-20 for me. Drips just a little, but it's easy to deal with. Tens of thousands of boolits later, it's still doin' a great job.

[zxcvbob]

Lee Pro 4-20 for me. Drips just a little, but it's easy to deal with. Tens of thousands of boolits later, it's still doin' a great job.

Takes a lickin', and keeps on drippin'.

(I just cast a few hundred today with mine)

[mold maker]

Those lead bead sculptures sell. Your Lee dripper automatically creates a work of art. Spray them with lacquer and use shoe polish to antique. Great for paper weights.

[Shooter6br]

My Lee BP 10lb er drips of course but does not have enough "flow" for small 32 cal HPs. i may try using a laddle. i wonder if the new Lee 20 lb BP is better.

[blikseme300]

I use a Lee 20-4, and when I use a 6-banger mold I keep adding the sprues back in while they are still hot. I seldom cast more than about 300 boolits at a time, and most of my 200+ grain molds are 2 cavity molds (and 200 is a big run of those.) It's weird but when I cast in freezing cold weather, I have to turn the rheostat *down* because the temperature creeps up.

Instead of a band heater, I wonder if a new electric oven heating element could be wrapped around a piece of 6" pipe? (a used element might be too brittle and break.)

zxvcbob,

I tried to wrap oven elements around my pot initially but both cracked. Both were new, BTW. There are some people that did manage this but I could not make it work. If anybody here has a trick to share on how this is done please chime in.

Bliksem

[LAH]

zxvcbob,

I tried to wrap oven elements around my pot initially but both cracked. Both were new, BTW. There are some people that did manage this but I could not make it work. If anybody here has a trick to share on how this is done please chime in.

Bliksem

Check this out, maybe some help...........Creeker

http://www.sixshootercommunity.com/a...placement.html

[bbailey7821]

I got 1 each of 10 and 20 lb Lee. They seem to work okay, but I use a thermometer. The temperature control takes some fiddling to keep it constant.

[bbailey7821]

Oh yeah, the 20 lb model is a dripping fool!

[Shiloh]

Pretty happy with my LEE Pro 4-20.

Shiloh