bottom pour or ladle

[Muddydogs]

A guy can run through a Lee 10 pound pot fairly fast with a 6 hole mold. I had trouble getting the mold hot at first since about the time it was hot the pot needed filled. Finally got i a rhythm of casting and adding lead, turned out 200 .40 cal slugs that weight between 180 and 183 grains. Bullets look good. Mold is a Lee 175 grain truncated cone. I am going to get a hot plate set up to held heat the mold and keep it hot while adding lead to the pot.

My main question is would it be better to ladle pour the mold or get a Lee 20 pound bottom pour? A $300 Lyman or RCBS is just not going to happen for a while. I read where the Lee pot dripps and my 10 pound does but its not that big of a deal. I mess with the stem every once in a while if it dripps a lot and just brush the drip pile out of the way with my glove.

[Maximumbob54]

My Lee 20# drips soooo much worse than the 10# ever has but then I seen other posts saying the opposite. I cast with that same mold if it's the TL version. I used to drop the sprue back into the pot and had to stop doing that. Once it gets low enough then it's time to take a break. My aluminum mold heats up well enough setting on top of the pot while the lead is melting. To hurry this up any more would require a PID of some sort and a bigger pot. I find that while the 20# does double the casting time, if the 10# is too sloe then doubling too slow doesn't give you twice as fast like you might think. I figure it's good enough for now until I want to drop some serious money into this hobby. I leave an ingot mold under the spout to collect the drips. By the time it's full it's usually time to add fresh lead anyways.

[dbarnhart]

I have a Lee 10lb bottom pour (aka Sir Dripsalot). What I did was to spend $40 and buy a Lyman Big Dipper (aka Ursula Major) and ladle. I ladle molten lead from Ursula Major into Sir Dripsalot. Ursula Major gets refilled with ingots. The ingots are preheated on the hotplate (being careful with the hotplate's thermostat) so that it does not take long for them to melt when I drop them into Ursula Major.

I live in Phoenix and soon the temperatures will be too hot for casting. In a couple of weeks I will be done until the fall. I hope to have the money saved by then for an RCBS Pro-Melt.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

The answer is: Whatever works best for you!

I personally prefer using a ladle. I use a Lyman for small pours and a Rowell #1 for large pours. I use a Lee 20 lb pot. When I tried a bottom pour pot, I usually made quite a mess.

[SlowSmokeN]

I have the Lee 20# bottom pour and love it. It very rarely drips and the few times it has it was just a matter of adjusting the screw.

For me in is far easier to use a bottom pour than using a ladle. Like Charlie said above, whatever works best for you. You can still get a 20# pot and ladle out of it even though it has a bottom pour.

[ku4hx]

I started out with a bottom pour pot and a Lyman dipper 40+ years ago. To this day I do both depending on which mold and other variables. If one method isn't working, I'll try the other and see if it works better.

I'm not slave to either method, I use whichever serves me better in a given session.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

my lee 20# pot has NOTbeen a problem dripper , keep it clean , and turn the rod with a screw driver several turns as soon as it will turn , and a few times when you unplug it

i have thought about a second 20 pound pot for that exact mold , once i get it hot i don't want to stop

but i think i am going to try a hot plate first to preheat and keep it hot while the pot is coming back up to temp

[newton]

I started out with both, and find both to be about the same. I thought I would have a lot of trouble with the ladle, but I think I am about as fast with it. I know that I have cast good with both, so it really just depends on the individual using it. Ladles are not that expensive so you could try it out for a bit and see if you like it.

[williamwaco]

I am with the two pot crowd.

When I am in a "production" mode, I melt lead in pot A and cast from Pot B.When B gets low, I ladle melted alloy from or A to pot B and add ingots to pot A! Pot B this way never gets cold.

Nowadays, I am rarely in that much of a hurry.



.

[cf_coder]

I'm trying to get used to a bottom pour pot. I just picked up a used Lee 20# bottom pour. First time I used it I got so disgusted with drips, couldn't control the pour very well, lead everywhere, drips, drips, drips.... I shut it off and poured the lead back into my little steel pot and finished the rest on my coleman stove with a ladle... I'll try the pot again when I start going after my 6 banger Ranch Dog molds. I find it to be a bit much for a two cavity molds (which is most of what I have).

[stubshaft]

Many years ago I used to bottom pour using both a SAECO and Lyman pots. After both of those gave out I ended up with both a 10# and 20# Lee pots which I promptly plugged the spout on, and have been ladle casting ever since. Might be a smidge slower but I get much fewer culls.

[slim400]

After using my 10 pound lee pot for over 20 years and recently investing in a magna master caster I would tell you that a little maintenance on the lee pot such as fluxing your lead on a regular basis not smelting and in the same pot making sure the lead that you put in this is clean you will be remarkable how well it works for $65 melting pot the other pots that are mentioned to have a better system I think that pro-pot by RCBS is right around 400 bucks and I know the magna just the pot can be bought for around 550 are willing to make a major investment I would go with Lee 20 pound pot in a minute smelter lead in a separate pot a camp stove hop plate or my absolute favorite turkey buner out of a turkey fryer if you will do some checking at your local Wal-Mart you can buy turkey fryer at this time a year for around $25 exactly what I paid 60 days ago you can use a 12 quart canner you will find that in the
caning section at Wally world I did modify i brazed a half-inch piece of black piping 6 inches long in the bottm and then put a quarter turn ball valve on the base of it turkey fryer with a propane tank also a gas grill which we already had well-run turkey burner for 14 hours mixed up some number 2 Lyman alloy two weeks ago I had 1000 pounds that's how I know the 14 hours I hope this has helped anything nice else I can do just let me know below to help you all I can

slim 400

[MikeS]

I too have 2 pots, a Lee 20lb bottom pour, and a Lyman Big Dipper. I started out using the Lyman pot, but after getting my first 6 cavity mould learned that I needed something bigger. Now I use the Lee pot as my primary pot, and at first it never dripped, but lately it's been dripping more, but I think that's because the upper screw that holds on the handle that controls the pour spout came out, and I epoxied it back in place, and it's now slightly crooked. It doesn't drip to the point of annoying me, it's just something I have to keep an eye on. The Lyman pot is now mostly used for pure lead for muzzle loading projectiles. I also have a 3rd pot, a HotPot, the one that comes with a stand that it's attached to, and can be tilted to pour the lead out. I use it for various other alloys I want to melt only a small amount of (I think it holds 4lbs or less), and it comes in real handy having the selection of different pots of different sizes, and pour styles.

[casterofboolits]

I prefer bottom pour pots. When I had my casting business I ended up with three RCBS 10 Kilo pots and three Mastercasters. Currently I have two RCBS pots on the bench and the third as a spare. I haven't used the Mastercasters in ten years.

I use only iron moulds, nothing smaller than four cavity and normally cast with three. I like to cast a ouple thousand at a time. I even still have a Magma LubeMaster. Just can't bring myself to sell off the equipment!

[Bullet Caster]

Since I only have a cast iron pot and a Coleman camp stove, I'll have to vote for ladle casting. BC