+1 for the cheap Lee furnace

[Maximumbob54]

First off I must admit that I did something stupid. I had some cheap scrap lead ingots. I knew it was dirty lead but I didn’t think it was that dirty. I have a cast iron Dutch oven I keep to smelt lead to clean it up some before I pour ready to use ingots. Well, being the stubborn person that I am, I thought I would just flux and stir in the furnace until it looked clean enough. Ha. Bad ideas come so easy these days. The bottom of the pot had such horrid build up that I couldn’t get it clean. Once I realized I was at the point it would take a grinding disk stuck in the drill chuck to get at the bottom of the pot I figured it would be a good idea to look at what Lee offers for parts. The new pot costs all of $8 + shipping and is right now on the way to the house. The old one is already out setting to the side. It took all of a few screws being removed to get the old pot out from the housing. It cannot get easier than that. I say all this because I have the supposed to be awesome RCBS Pro Melt, but it won’t heat the lead up the way it should. It uses rivets that I would have to drill out to free the pot. But I cannot find parts listed for sale for it anywhere. RCBS wants me to ship it to them and they will service it. With the Lee I’m only down a few days’ worth of shipping to get the part and in minutes I will be right back up again. So this is yet another plug for Lee products. Thanks, Lee.

[r1kk1]

I found this company and don't know if they make the pots for Lee but I'll will look closer at them when I replace the thermostat on my 4-20.

http://www.wenesco.com/melt.htm

My next electric pot will be 220 volt. I use a Lyman 10 pounder for experiments and mainly two cast iron pots that hold 50lbs each for volume casting. The Lee doesn't get used much as I bought it for pure lead casting but the temp never seemed to get high enough. I can fix that.

RCBS will fix you up. I've NEVER had a problem with anything RCBS I own. I do hate pop rivets too.

I use a wire brush on a drill plus Emery cloth to clean pots with. My smelting is done in cast iron never my electric pots.

My next pot will probably be from Magma but I hear good reports on Waage pots. I think 220 volt is the way to go at least for me plus I need greater than 20 lb capacity.

I think I will pull down sir leak-a-lot, comb the forums, and replace the thermostat on it. I have some projects to experiment with and the Lyman is a ladle pour.

Take care

r1kk1

[tazman]

Another plus 1 for the Lee pot.
I had 2 of them when I started casting 40 years ago. A few years ago I had to stop casting and sell most of my guns. The pots were still here, downstairs in my basement. In the last 2 years I have had water flooding my basement twice. I never even thought about the lead pots during that time. A few months ago I searched and pulled them out. I took them apart and cleaned the crud out of them and plugged them in. Lo and behold they worked. I have since cast several thousand boolits using them. Talk about a great indestructible product, wow!
40 years old, underwater twice in 2 years and they still work. Unbelievable.
Hats off to Lee on a great product.

[DxieLandMan]

I've used the Lee bottom-pour pots and I could not be happier with them. I've recommended them to others as well.

[LUBEDUDE]

Mine was a disappointment. The activation lever would not work right. So I ended up just using the pot for a mini smelter. This was fine with me considering the price and low expectations I had anyway.
Glad to hear that they are easy and cheap to rebuild.

[zuke]

Have 2 of them, a 10 and a 20lb'er and am happy with them.

[bdecker9]

I love mine. Leaks here and there but not too much.

[Hankster1962]

I also have a 10 and 20 pounder. Love them both. Bought the 10 pounder about 25 years ago, melted several tons of lead in it. Bought the 20 pounder the year they came out, whenever that was. Melted tons of lead in that one as well. Neither of them have any leaking problems. Would recommend them to anyone wanting to cast. Both work great to this day. I only use clean, fluxed ingots in them.
Hey Zuke, how are you doing? Still have not forgot about the lead I said I would get you. Drop me a line.

[Maximumbob54]

Almost forgot to follow up on this. Got the new pot in and installed it right away. Remembered to add a little bit of anti sieze to the needle. That's supposed to help seal it to prevent leaks. Mostly works. I didn't glop it on though. It really only leaks when I'm casting frosty bullets so I'm casting too hot anyways. But it was easy like cake to repair. Done within minutes. Wish I could do the same with the RCBS Pro Melt. :(

[Bullshop Junior]

I would like that RCBS if you are interested in selling it.