Casting temperature

[AZMark]

I want to start casting boolits. I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum. I'm thinking about getting just a melting pot instead of one of the more expensive electric melters. Here's my question: How crucial is temperature to casting? As long as the alloy is melted, am I OK?

[Cherokee]

I started out with a Lyman pot and a hot plate. Ladle casting, I generated enough bullets to keep me interested and shooting for a few years before getting into more capable equipment.

[versifier]

Depending on the mould/boolit, you may get good results, but you may not. And it may work well today, but not so tomorrow. You have no way to be sure how hot your melt is. Some moulds are very particular about the temperature you run them at. You will still learn something though, and will likely have fun doing it.

Lee's little 4lb Precision Melter is adjustable for temp and retails around $40 - mine is used for ladle casting and has been working great for 30 years. I now keep it full of pure lead for m/l boolits and soft noses as pure needs a higher temp than alloys, and the MaxiBall mould fills out much better. The point being that the electric melter will give you control over the temperture you are casting at, where with the pot & hot plate you'll be guessing. Yes, a good lead thermometer would help you out there, but good ones cost as much or more as the small electric melter.

Hot plates and Coleman stoves can work well for smelting where temperature is not as critical - in fact you want to keep it well below 787*F (the melting point of Zinc) when you process wheel weights. It doesn't matter if your ingots have wrinkles and poor fillout from low temp, but it does matter if your boolits do.

[Sundogg1911]

I would get a thermometer just for consistancy. I cast at the lowest temp. that give me good bullets. Once you have the mold(s) up to temp. you don't want to have to wait very long in between mold fills for the mold to cool down. If the bullets are getting frosty looking the mold is too hot, although many people strive for frosty bullets, i've never seen a reason for it. I've used an elentric hot plate for melting lead into ingots, but it really didn't get hot enough to be effecient. I switched to a 10# pot on a colman propane stove. that works pretty well. I still use that setup from time to time to feed my Lee or Magma casting pots. but I now use a turkey fryer with a big cast iron dutch oven for making ingots. But I now do hundreds of pounds of ingots per session.

[Wayne Smith]

I use a Coleman stove and 20lb pot. A thermometer is extremely useful, not only for casting but for making ingots as well. As long as there is zinc in with wheelweights I will keep my melt at 600-650 until all the junk is cleaned out, including the zinc. To maintain this temp I need a thermometer.

I had an RCBS thermometer but dropped a 2'x4' 3/4" plywood on it while it was sticking out of my pot, actually the wind from a storm blew it over. I don't expect RCBS to replace that, even though they probably would. I got the electronic one mentioned on a thread last year from Harbor Freight and it works great. I can highly recommend it.

[Marlin Junky]

I want to start casting boolits. I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum. I'm thinking about getting just a melting pot instead of one of the more expensive electric melters. Here's my question: How crucial is temperature to casting? As long as the alloy is melted, am I OK?

What are you going to melt and what are you going to use for a heat source?

I have a natural gas set up in the backyard for rendering raw materials which works pretty well using a burner from a water heater. That set up, a casting thermometer and a good ladle:

http://www.theantimonyman.com/ladles.htm

Is all you really need to get started. The #2 ladle is my favorite. I would have a couple of cast iron pots and some small bread pans. Other than the boolit mold that just about covers your major investments if you're going to shoot plain base boolits. For gaschecked boolits you'll need a way to crimp on checks which I have been doing the same way since the 70's... a Lyman 450 luber/sizer. For plain base boolits there's aways pan lubing and if you have access to a drill press and grinder you can make your own wad cutter... or you can even place gaschecks upside down on top of powder charges in straight wall cartridge cases.

You've gotta know how hot your metal is though.

MJ

[scrat]

old henry propane two burner stove. Then i have a huge propane bottle, i get it filled up once a year for about 20.00. Helps to know the guy at the station. Then i use a transfer valve to fill up the small bottles. So it cost just pennies on the dollar to do my bullets. It takes a little experience to be able to cast on a propane stove. Some people think its dumb or you cant get good bullets that way. you need the state of the art burner. Well i say this people have been casting lead bullets for hundreds of years using wood, coal or anything else that can melt lead and keep it hot. you dont need a thousand dollar set up. you can use a cheap old propane or white gas stove. it dosent matter. You just need to commit to learning how to cast and how to look at the signs of temperature control. Thats like saying you need a $50.00 bullet to kill a deer. The deer wont know the difference. When its dead its dead end the end all that matters is its dead. So if you can do it cheap then do it cheap. When i first started casting i did it with less than 40.00. thats what it cost to get a mold, lube and a sizer. The rest is history.

[Marc2]

Get a thermometer, if anything to keep the lead from getting so hot it vaporizes. You dont want to be breathing lead vapors.

Marc

[buck1]

My dad made good boolits for 20 years with a ladle, a spoon,a mold,and a small cast iron pot sitting on a old style heater. He pan lubed with a old metal ice cube tray, and sized the boolit with the bbl of his gun when he shot it.

I have 5 melting pots, two sizers, and all kinds of goodies. But I cant make boolits any better than he did, and most casters make real good boolits .
Yes its nice to have , but in truth not a must.
The thermometer is a good idea and Ebone can have them cheep. 1000 deg one is needed but search all of ebone not just casting stuff. FWiw............Buck

[lovedogs]

I have a thermometer but use it little. It's good to use as a starting point but I've found each mould likes it's own certain temperature. My best method is to get up to at least 600 degrees then start pouring. I use a bottom pour Lee 20#. As mould warms up and I increase temp gradually the bullets start coming out good. I usually keep gradually increasing temp until bullets start frosting. Then I back off until frosting stops and bullets fill out good. I call that the sweet spot and it works well for me.