Any budget electric melters with stainless inner pots?

[BCRider]

I've been using a Lyman Big Dipper for a couple of years now and for the amount and type of casting I'm doing it's proven to be just fine. But I really hate the fact that it uses a regular steel inner pot that rusts so easily. So I'm looking at some sort of upgrade to something that is still modest in price but which has a stainless inner pot to get away from the rust issue.

If I have to I guess I'll learn to deal with a bottom pour option. But after reading all the threads about leaking and dripping I really wonder if I need or want a bottom pour style. But if that'll get me into a stainless pot then fine.

Suggestions? Other options? I'm all eyes :D

[bangerjim]

Rust? I have had 3 Lee pots for years and never any rust.

What are you melting in them and where are you storing them?

They should not rust. There is an oxide that builds up that will help minimize rusting in normal conditions.

BC may be humid, but you are not living in a swamp where clean bare steel will rust overnight! I had that problem years ago in Iowa.

Spray a bit of oil on it when cold. It will burn off next time you hear er up.

And remember, certain alloys of stainless steel WILL rust.

banger

[M-Tecs]

Some fluxes promote rust. What are you using?

[bangerjim]

Good point. You should be using ONLY beeswax to reduce in any casting pot.

[BCRider]

Up until today I've not used anything to try to avoid any rust. And I've only dabbled with fluxes trying a bit of paraffin wax, some sawdust and more recently a bit of waxy saw blade lube wax. Of the lot the only one I've seen which seems to clarify the lead to any noticeable degree has been the saw blade wax stick lubricant I tried just today. Smokey as blazes though.

And I'm located in the Pacific North"Wet" coastal area. The term "rain forest" most certainly applies. So yeah, unprotected steel rusts easily and generously. If I were living in the southern interior of the province where it's almost desert like conditions it might be different. But around here it's rather damp for much of the year.

Based on a couple of basic searches I did here on Cast Boolits I found a reference to using some beeswax to coat the pot while still warm enough to melt the wax. Did that today after I was done with a casting session. (it was raining cats and dogs outside BTW just to try to live up to the local "rain forest" status) I'm sure it'll help a lot for the future but for now it just made the residual rust left after I wire brushed the pot turn into a mucky brown paste.

If there's no melters with stainless, or at least stain resistant, inner pots I'll stick to the beeswax as an option. But I'll never stop it from rusting fully. Each time before this when I've cleaned off the excess rust then used the pot the heat causes it to rust anew during the session. It's really that nasty around here for rusting. I'm not kidding when I say that Portland, Seattle and Vancouver are the triumvirate that form the core of the Pacific North"Wet" area.... :D And I'm an hour east of Vancouver.

[Petrol & Powder]

I wouldn't worry about a little rust on a Lee pot, it didn't cost much to start with and it will take a long time to rust through.
Anything you put on there to stop the rust either must be able to withstand the heat OR burn off at the beginning of each use. Why bother?
Some things must be protected from rust and some things don't matter.

And BTW, I will not challenge the amount of rain you get in the Northwest but if you leave ANY ferrous metal unprotected in the southeast or mid-Atlantic states you can watch it rust!

[leadman]

Not inexpensive but the RCBS furnace has a stainless pot. It also holds a measured #22 versus the measured Lee at #15.

[ryan28]

I use mineral oil to coat my molds after use, and have also applied some to a melting pot. It leaves no residue and will burn off quickly. Works well.

[BCRider]

Leadman, I appreciate the info but I already looked at the RCBS pot and grimaced at the price. If I was doing more casting then that sort of price would not be out of the question at all. But since I'm pretty much a small time caster I just can't justify putting that much into something that won't be used a whole lot.

Ryan, thanks for the idea of using basic and super cheap mineral oil. I keep some around already for coating my wood cutting boards in the kitchen so using a little for the pot and molds would not be a stretch at all. Just need another cheap bottle of the stuff.

Ya know.......... I've thought more than once about setting up a special tool rest on my metal lathe to allow for doing some basic metal spinning. A replacement stainless pot for the Big Dipper might must be something worth doing if the heating element isn't too tightly wound or bonded to the inner pot.

[leadman]

I bought my RCBS furnace used with a bunch of casting stuff I bought from an older guy than me. They are warrantied forever so no risk buying a used pot if you see one.

Could you make one from a piece of stainless pipe and weld a flange and bottom on it? Does it still rust if you fill the pot with lead and letting it melt before you turn it off?

[BCRider]

I'd be all over a used one if I ever see one for sale.

I've never filled it with lead and then shut it off. But when I've removed the lead from the pot I found that the rust under the slug was still as rusty as the sides. So I'd suggest that it wouldn't help much.

I'm going to give it a really good wire brushing with a power brush and coat it with mineral oil for now and try the post melting mineral oil wipe. Hopefully that does the trick.

Another trick is perhaps to use a cooking oil and allow it to varnish up on the metal. Sort of like seasoning a cast iron fry pan. That stuff sticks like poop to a screen door and prevents rusting very well. Might be worth a try in this case too. At worst it'll burn off instead of varnishing up.

It's not so much the fear of rusting through that I worry about. It's the worry that rust dust is mixing in with the lead. Of course that'll float and just be part of the stuff skimmed off the top. So likely I'm worrying about nothing other than letting my OCD tell me that rust is bad.... :D

Anyway, even if this thread goes no further I want to thank all of you for your thoughts and suggestions so far.

[country gent]

One trick is leave the pot full and as it cools coat with parrafin or beeswax around the seam between lead and pot and exposed metal. I use a candle like a pencil or marker for this. The wax will run into the gap and coat the exposed metal sealing it from moisture. It has to be free from rust to start with. You need moisture and air for ruet to form the wax seals out the air from it. It also seals the moisture out if put on hot enough. Think the old hot bath perserves with the wax seal on top of the jars.

[Yodogsandman]

Where I work, they use straight beeswax for lubricating band saw blades. Check your ingredients.

[BCRider]

I've got some straight beeswax and it's far harder than this more greasy sort of wax lube stick. The blade lube I've got here is Stick-Kut by Relton Corp. The colour suggests that beeswax is a major part of the lube. But it's mixed with something that makes it much like butter at room temperature.

I've got a bunch of cakes of beeswax here that I picked up to make black powder lube for bullets at some point. I'll use a little of that in the pot as it cools but where it's still hot enough to melt the wax and spread it around with an old toothbrush. I did that already and I have to say that it does a great job of lifting and mixing with the rust that the wire brush wasn't able to scuff away.

[montana_charlie]

I think the inner pot on the Waage K4757 is stainless.

[Petrol & Powder]

That OCD thing from post #11 is the driving factor. Let it go.

[William Yanda]

Cheap, good, fast. Pick any two

[jonp]

Pick up a can of generic spray cooking oil like PAM.

[jsizemore]

I use pine resin for fluxing in my 10 quart dutch oven. No rust inside, rust on the outside. Over the years it's seasoned which could be old motor oil, grease, etc that the WW had on them. I first used some from a sticky piece of heart pine scrap and progressed to lighter wood stump. Next was a pine knot from a tree by the driveway. I chopped pieces with a hatchet and let cook on the top of the melt. Next was pure resin running from a tree. Then I found a 5lb block of pine tar at the flea market. I use it mostly for electronics flux but tried it as an alloy flux. In all cases, they SEEMED to work the same. The heat from the melt caused it to liquefy and run across the surface like beeswax, paraffin, or oil. Stirred into the melt it works just like beeswax with the added benefit of no rust and smells good. I assume that our use of sawdust has the same benefit of adding dried resin to the melt but in a much lower quantity to realize any rust inhibiting benefits. I use dried resin in my RCBS, Lee 4-20, Lyman Mold Master XX, and Saeco T-31 to flux with NO RUST in the pot liner. The casting pots stay inside but the smelting pots stay outside. Humidity here runs 50-70%. From my time stationed in Tacoma and a few visits to BC, I think you should be able to locate some pine/fir resin to give a try. I'm sure I'd let it dry first or cook the moisture off on top of the melt before stirring.