Newbie furnace question

[Shootn]

Hi guys. I have lurked for several years and have just stumbled into two 10 lb. Lee bottom pour furnaces. I kinda had a plan to get the Lee 4-20, but I got these two right. Should I sell these and get the 4-20, or can I make good use of running these two simultaneously? I'm thinking I can run one down, refill with ingots, and while it is heating up I can use the other. Is that logical, or is there a disadvantage i'm not thinking of? Thanks for any advice!
Derek

[Lee]

The 10#'ers I'm told are known as the Lee Leakers. I'm also told that a small visegrip on the end of the rod helps keep 'em from leaking. I have a new one I haven't used yet so I don't know for sure.
To your question; yup, it is not a bad idea to use one to feed the other. Preheating and all that. Makes the casting session go quicker, if you've got a lot of casting to do. Also consider this, if you utilize different alloys for different boolits, you may want to consider dedicating a seperate pot for each. My inclination is not to sell, but to hold on to them. I do have a pro-4 20# pot and it works like a charm. (also with the vise-grips on the pour rod. Small vise grips, not the biggies!). I currently use a skillet on a hot plate to preheat the ingots. Someday, when I mhave time, I'm going to construst a set up like you are thinking........Lee:wink:

[454PB]

The pro-4-20 is clearly a better pot, mostly because it's metering rod is vertical and positioned at the edge of the pot. The 10 pound pots have the metering rod running at an angle from the top rear to the front bottom. Use of a dipper is nearly impossible with the 10 pounder, but quite easy with the 20 pounder. I don't do much dipper casting anymore, but you might want to.

However, I used the 10 pound pots for many years with no trouble at all other than the small capacity. If it was me, I'd buy the 20 pounder and help pay for it by selling one of the 10 pounders. There are times when the 10 pound pot is very handy for small lots of boolits.

[HeavyMetal]

I just finished a very rough "rack" that holds a Lee 10# above an old lyman master pot. The idea is to have hot lead ready to "dump" into the other pot while casting and then remelt ingots in the top pot as filler. Worked very well and I saw the idea posted here somplace with a photo.

If you going to use a single cavity mold this is over kill. However if you got two DC 44 molds or are using two six bangers this can keep you production rate fairly nice!

Something I had noticed that wasn't posted in the dual pot thread: To reverse a Lee pot all you need to do is turn it over(please do it cold) and pull the four screws out of the bottom and then turn the base around!

This gives you the extension you need to place to spout over the bottom pot! This removes the need to have some type of "funnel" for the transfer od hot lead! Please be aware that this "adjustment" will leave you with a very unbalanced pot so have a place to clamp or bolt it before you change anything.

I've never worried about the leaking problem on my old Lee unit! I've always "cleared" the spout with a small "blast" from the spout before I put my mold under it. This does require that you remove a pile of lead every dozen or so casts any way so why worry about drips?

Check out some photo's you'll find in the section before you do anything with you pots and good luck.