10 lb melting pot

[hound13]

i just got the lee 10 lb pot to me it seems small ,is it better for a beginner like myself to start with this or should i return it and get the 20 lb one??? do any of you guys have the 10 lb one ??? and what do you think of it ????thanks hound13

[bangerjim]

I have a 10# I use for small batches of special alloy and to melt small amounts of Sn/Bi/solder in to make 1/2" ingots. Or if I want to ladle cast some pure lead round balls. A very useful pot! Just pick it up with gloves and pour over the side into your ingot molds.

For casting I would HIGHLY recommend the Lee 4-20 bottom pour. Very economical and easy to use. I have 2 of them and use them all the time for real casting.

Keep the 10 pounder.....you will wish you had it when you need to melt some alloy. You NEVER want to empty your main casing pot. I have not seen the bottom of them in years.....always leave them 80-90% full for next time (9-10 bhn alloy).

banger

[runfiverun]

I have a 10 pound [holds about 8 pounds] LEE pot it gets used for strictly soft lead stuff like round balls and to make cores for swaging.
I keep a 20 pound [more like 18] lee pot around too, I use it for single cavity molds and smaller projects like the 22's.
the 40 pound pots are the main casting pots for the 2/4/6 cavity molds.

[HollandNut]

I have the ten and twenty , I find I use the ten more than the twenty

[Dusty Bannister]

I would recommend use of the 10 pound Lee in the beginning because the nozzle is in the front so you can see what the stream is doing so make corrections if necessary. Plus it is adequate for the 1 or 2 cavity molds. I do not recommend the 6 cav molds for new casters because when things go wrong, they go wrong for a long time before it is corrected. A lot more bullets to inspect and reject.

Once things are comming together, the 20 pounder is a good idea because you have the learning out of the way and your production rate goes up with the larger molds. I have more than one pot, so I leave the alloy in a pot, mark the base with a marker and leave it at least half full to heat up quicker next time. I have a slide fit bracket on each pot, so I can easily remove the PID from one pot and stick it in another to change alloys. Dusty

[hound13]

thanks for the info guys i seen the size of it and thought it was too small but even the guy i got it from said thats his biggest seller....... hound13

[45 Zulu]

I started off with a Lee 5# dipper pot back in the late 70s and cast many thousands of bullets with it, slow yes but cheap. Then I moved up to a Lee 10# bottom pour in the late 80s, wow what an improvement. I melted ingots in the 5# and poured that into the 10# to keep it toped off without cooling down the pot. When that wouldn't keep up with my shooting I got a Magma Master Caster in the 90s. Don't think there is another step in my future at this point. I still have and use them all. I wouldn't be afraid of buying something you think is to small, if you keep shooting you will use them all.

[Bent Ramrod]

I used a Lee 10 lb pot for almost 30 years. I used it for everything: recycling, ingotizing, casting, whatever. When it burned out, I got the Lee Magnum Melter. The advantage of the larger pots is that you can use all the high production tricks like alternating multiple moulds and using multicavity moulds because there is more heat available in the larger quantity of molten lead to keep more mould mass at casting temperature. It is also less trouble to cast really big boolits consistently, for target use, for the same reason.

That said, I never particularly felt handicapped by the smaller pot until very late in the period I used it. The only extra I would insist on (and did) in the smaller pot was the temperature control. For small runs, like casting round balls for muzzleloaders, it is ideal and takes up little space in storage. If your budget only allows you to shoot 50-100 rounds a week, it fits in perfectly.

[hound13]

ya thats in my budget and im keeping the the10 lb pot...... hound13

[454PB]

I have two 10 pounders, one with the nozzle plugged for ladle casting and the other for small lots/small boolits. 8 pounds of alloy makes a lot of 55 grain boolits.

For the bigger lots/boolits, I have the Pro-4-20.

By the way, both of the smaller pots are over 35 years old and have melted tons of lead.

[detox]

The Lee 20 lb is best. I also have the very small Lee 5 lb pot (actually holds about 4 lbs safely)...i never use it, but it is possible to ladle cast with it.

[freebullet]

Nuttin wrong with a 10lb dripper unless the majority of yer boolits are 200+ grains.