Casting Equipment

[Rich219]

I've been meaning to get into casting for a couple of years and with spring on the way, this is going to be the year I actually take the dive into it.

I have an entire barrel full of raw lead that needs to be smelted and cast.

I'm a strong believer in that if it is worth doing, it is worth over doing. I'm looking for a setup that is going to allow me to cast as many bullets per hour as possible. It looks like the Master Caster is my best choice?

Aside from the Master Caster and a Lube-sizer, what other equipment am I going to need?

[6bg6ga]

A large selection of bullet molds for the Master Caster which you will gladly share with me.:wink:

[pretzelxx]

A turkey fryer and a huge pot to melt the lead in for ingots, a chopped down propane tank will do.

[Wayne Smith]

Something with which to melt, clean, and ingot that raw alloy you have in the barrel. There are lots of ideas here, most of which involve a turkey frier base, a big pot, and lots of ingot molds welded up of angle iron.

I believe D.Crockett is back making pots out of half of a 20lb gas bottle.

[Rich219]

Something with which to melt, clean, and ingot that raw alloy you have in the barrel. There are lots of ideas here, most of which involve a turkey frier base, a big pot, and lots of ingot molds welded up of angle iron.

That's actually what I'm search the forum for right now. I'm thinking a 14' pipe with a plate welded to the bottom. I just have to figure out how to rig a spout and some legs to it so that a turkey fryer can fit beneath it to provide the heat source.

[WildcatFan]

...a storage facility. My garage, notably.

[monadnock#5]

I believe D.Crockett is back making pots out of half of a 20lb gas bottle.

This is what you want if you can get one. The rounded bottom makes it much easier to flux the crud out.
The 90° angle at the bottom of a section of pipe, with a flat bottom welded to it, will drive you to drink trying to dig the dross out.

[Rich219]

Anyone have a link to his pots?

[jmort]

Just find him on the member roster. He had some pots available and some ingot molds. I have two pots from him. Recommend

[CGT80]

I thought about a master caster as well. Now that I have my 4 cav MP and 5 cav NOE molds working well with my lee 20 pound pot and a pid temperature control, I can't see spending near $1000 on a master caster, or even trying to build one myself. I can cast 600 rifle boolits in a few hours. I think the lube sizer I saw and liked was a balisticast. It was very similar to the star. I use an RCBS LAM I. It does just fine, but takes a while.

A bass pro fish fryer and harbor freight 6 qt dutch oven worked well for my smelting. I filled the dutch oven full of range scrap with a lot of jwords and ended up with 55 pounds of clean lead.

The master caster only makes two boolits at a time, vs. up to 6 or more from a hand mold. The PID temp control is great for a bottom pour pot. It would probably do well on the master caster also, if it doesn't have one. If you have lots of money, the master caster would be cool to have. I spent $70 on a lee 20 pot, $100+ on a PID, and just over $100 on each of my custom molds.

I like white label Cred lube. It needs a heater and won't melt easily in hot weather, but it isn't rock hard either. The price is very good. They have softer lubes as well.

I use this thermometer when smelting: http://www.teltru.com/p-272-big-green-egg-primo-grill-dome-kamado-replacement-thermometer-lt225r-5-inch-stem-2001000-degrees-f.aspx

Here is a great custom google search engine just for this site. Someone else posted it and it is very easy to find the topics I need, and in a hurry: https://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=001951264366462437169:ggn3vg-bjum

I made my own ingot molds from aluminum channel and angle that I welded together. You can use steel also, or buy muffin pans that are sheet metal, or even cast iron muffin/bread pans.

Sawdust works well for flux and I think most like pine. I ran a piece of 2x4 through the thickness planer and got some nice shavings.

I use pure tin chunks from rotometals to sweeten my lead. I also have some linotype and a fair amount of wheel weight lead. I have been picking up range scrap to use. A hardness tester would be nice to have, but I could buy another custom mold for the price of that.

Let us know how make out with the dive into this hobby.

[dikman]

I'm thinking a 14' pipe with a plate welded to the bottom. I just have to figure out how to rig a spout and some legs to it so that a turkey fryer can fit beneath it to provide the heat source.

14 foot - wow, you don't mess around, do you........

[Rich219]

14 foot - wow, you don't mess around, do you........

If it's worth doing, it's worth over doing.

[Green Frog]

14 foot - wow, you don't mess around, do you........

I wanna see the furnace that heats that!! Can you get one @ Wally World?? :wink:

[mold maker]

With an eye to the political climate on lead, investing in super sized equipment may not pay off. WWs are a dying breed. Scrap yards are stopping sales of lead to private commerce. Linotype printing is a dinosaur. Plastic is replacing the use of lead on roofing work. Best advice is to use the fish frier heat source, with either a cut off gas/freon tank, or dutch oven.
The ingot moulds that most reloading suppliers (LEE, LYMAN, etc) sell aren't expensive. (again watch for sales) With a welder and some scrap iron, you can fabricate your own, with an eye to storage size requirements.
Cost wise none of this is a deal breaker, and will handle all the lead most shooters will need, or supply.
Getting the raw lead in scrap from any source is more important than the immediate smelting. You can always do that, if you are lucky enough, to acquire lead. I spend all hot, and cold weather hunting a stash, and Spring and Fall allows time to smelt in comfort. Casting can be done year round indoors with adequate ventilation.
Harbor Freight and Northern Tool both sell dollies, that will allow milk crates and buckets of lead to be moved on a flat floor. Full buckets and crates of lead on the floor are NOT MOVEABLE.
The hand held moulds with multi cavities will produce an amazing quantity of boolit in a short time. The expensive, so called, "automated casters", still require constant attention, just not as much hands on. Literally millions of boolits have been successfully cast, with the much maligned drip o matic, by LEE. I am among one of it's fans. It can be replaced up to 5 times, with the price of one of the other name brand furnaces. My first one still serves me well, after 11 years. Let your actual bullet use, common sense, and your pocket book, guide you.

[D Crockett]

Rich219 I sent you a pm as to where to find my add with pictures D Crockett my add is on page 5 now D Crockett

[Hossfly]

Found this on old friends back porch, said been there at least 25-30 years. Got dirt dobber nest out, plugged in and melted 10# lead right quick. Bottom pour will feed my Lee with metal so won’t reduce temp when neededhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190222/b747d099021d5b6206c0c1a6d1e11c41.jpg


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[Winger Ed.]

Found this on old friends back porch, said been there at least 25-30 years.

Who said those things won't last forever?

[Hossfly]

Also picked old Lyman vibratory tumbler that would only run about 5 mins. Disassembled down to motor and found one of the bearings had gave up. Found a replacement bearing in town for $7.00 bought 2, had to use wire tie to hold eccentric weight on tho,and it’s about as old as the furnace.
Use it for PC ing boolits, works very well.