6-cavity Lee and bottom pour

[corvette8n]

I've got a Ranchdog 6 cavity Lee coming and wondering if I would get better fillout with a 20lb pot rather then the 10lb bottom pour I have now. I know the two cavity 45-70 mold sucks the lead out pretty quickly, and the thougt of having a pool of lead working with gravity might flow better.
This will be my first 6-cavity mold, any casting hints will be appreciated.

[Freightman]

I have a couple of six cavities, one a 255g 45 the other a 240g 44 and a 357 all suck the lead fast, I cast with a 20# and it emties before I have a chance to get real fast. So I have an old Lyman 10# pot that the bottom pour is shot on and stoped up so I set it beside the 20# and fill the 20# when it need s filling. That way the 0# always will work, as at moderate temp it will freeze up if you add cold lead.

[mooman76]

Never used a bottom pour before but those 6xs do soak up the lead quick. My guess would be you would need the 20#er. Id do like freightman and get a 20#er and use both adding as you go or get a big cast iron pot and a Coleman stove/ Turkey frier might be a cheaper route!

[IcerUSA]

I do like Freightman also , my 10# is setting behind the 20# and I pour right into the 20# pot , lust prop up the handle with mt stiring stick and keep casting. Knock or pull out the prop and fill with ingots . I keep the 10# at max and sometimes I still havr to wait for the lead to melt if useing a large cavity mold . When that happens I just take the gloves off and have a smoke break and get a drink and go back at it .
Do a search on casting setup's and you will find some good info to setup a double pot .

Keith

[SAWebbx1]

I use a Lee 20# ladle pot to back up my bottom pour pot and find I can cast almost continuously with a pair of 6-cavities at once. Both pots start full; the ladle pot fills the bottom pour when it gets low and is refilled with sprues and ingots to melt while continuing with the casting.

I keep a small coffee can as a mold rest on either side of the pot, cooling one mold while I empty and refill the other. I find that consistent pacing will turn out good boolits with few rejects at an impressive rate.

WebbShooter

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Hi, Definitely go for the larger, or in this case 20 pounder. I use a couple of H&G six holers and while they cast boolits nowhere near the size of 45-70's, they can, especially if used in tandem, drain a pot that was full to start with, in no time. As pointed out by other contributers on this question, unless a supplemental or continuous supply of melt is nearby to keep the rythm going, you are going to have to, at some point add ingots and/or stop operations to let the pot catch up to temp. Adding ingots while casting lowers the melt temp and can effect boolit quality and to stop is flat out "down time" unless you don't mind using the break to count, gather sprues or organize things. But also in the break the molds cool down and have to be brought back up to temp. Its the proverbial "rock and a hard place". In my case the weight of H&G 6 bangers (even one) loaded with 6 pills can weigh a lot more than Lee Aluminum ones and my old wrists tire after a while so I don't mind resting and contemplating the pile of treasures while the load of ingots that had to be aded, get melted in and up to temp. LLS

[AZ-Stew]

The original question was about mould fillout, not production rate.

The pot capacity (10 or 20 pound) doesn't make much difference if you're casting with a space between the spout and the mould. If you put the mould against the spout and pressure cast, there is a slight difference due to the extra weight of alloy above the spout. I wouldn't expect this to make much difference with normal sized boolits. It will also usually produce whiskers of lead on the boolit at the mould seams where the vent lines got filled during casting.

What can make a difference in mould fillout are the following:

Alloy temp

Mould temp

Sprue plate hole diameter

Spout hole diameter

Personally, I'd like to see the casting pot manufacturers provide us with slightly larger spout holes. I've modified the 10 and 20 pound Lee pots I've owned and am considering drilling out the hole in my RCBS. Doing so reduces clogging and helps ensure good boolit base fillout because it's easier to get a consistent fast flow.

I used to modify (enlarge) sprue plate holes so it would be easier for the cooling boolits to suck in alloy from the sprue puddle to prevent center base voids, but I'm not sure there was enough advantage to justify the work.

Alloy and mould temperatures can be varied by any number of methods, so I won't go into it here.

Suffice it to say that when the mould and alloy are at the correct temp and the flow rate from your bottom pour pot is sufficient, you should have no trouble getting proper base fillout. If you're getting rounded base corners, try increasing any of the three afore mentioned variables. Eventually you'll learn the proper combination for your needs.

Regards,

Stew

[jonk]

The best tip I can give is to make sure your mold and alloy are hot. With a 1 or 2 cavity mold, I can get by by just dipping the corner in the molten alloy (lee) or by casting a few bullets (lyman) and will be doing fine pretty quickly.

With a 6 cavity job though, that doesn't do it. I put the mold on a coleman stove for 5 minutes or so. Even that isn't excessive as the bullets, while lightly frosted right off, cool quickly.

Anything less and (I find) I don't get good fill out, either with bottom pour or ladles. Just too much mold surface area.