electric burner for small rcbs lead pots

[sffar]

I've got several of the 10# RCBS pots, and like the idea of having several alloys available. The cooled lead can be removed easily, so swapping fitted 10# ingots is possible with one pot, but I'd like to find or fabricate a burner that would accommodate the 10# pot design so the pots can be removed, but also heated efficiently so that the element encloses the pot. Anyone else find this appealing? It would be pretty cool if RCBS made such a thing with a decent thermostat. It'd be nice for smaller runs of ladle poured boolits and alloy experimentation. I'm thinking something like the little Lee ladle melter with the pot removable.
Sam

[Ben]

MANY years ago, when I was in my teens, I pulled a small electric burner out of an old Hot Point, electric range ( as best I remember, it was a 240 volt arrangement ).

It had no thermostat, I ran a straight 240 volts to it. I had the RCBS pot. Many hundreds of pounds of cast bullets came out of that set up . I had a long heavy gauge cord that allowed me to get outside with the set up. Worked well for many years.

Are there better ways to accomplish what you want....most likely,yes.

But , I know my system worked and was cheap, which at that point in time for me was crucial.

Ben

[sffar]

Ben,
Your old system's what I'm talking about, though I'm thinking just a little more elaborate. Probably could be made pretty inexpensively, too. Maybe with scavenged parts. I'd like the element to wrap around the lower part of the pot, then enclose it to insulate a bit. The Hotpot II might serve along the same line, though I believe it's a lower capacity than the RCBS pots.
Sam

[Ben]

Sam :

As I remember ( we are talking late 1960's ), I took some solid concrete cap blocks and made a stable platform for the burner to sit on. You might get someone that can weld and make you a stable platform to hold one of the burners, take the control knob off an elect range and wire it into the inline power source and you'll have variable heat control also.

All the parts ( used ) at an appliance repair shop would be cheap.

[sffar]

I'm keeping my eyes open for readymade parts. Some insulation against the tabletop makes sense to me, like the concrete block, or maybe the furnace insulation/cement such as gets used in gas forges. I found this post regarding elements on a site somewhere . .

"Actually, they make new ones that can be bent to shape before they are used the first time. After they have been fired the insulating material turns hard and then the shape is permanent. We used them to make heating elements for our bullet casting machinery. We would bend them to the shape of the pot the lead was melted in and then install them, add lead and fire them up."

The elements are around $40.
Sam