Casting Boolits with a "Lead Still"

[rbertalotto]

Casting Lead bullets with my "Lead Still"....A quick video...https://youtu.be/JvHHQJYjhps

[dverna]

Roy,

Near the end of the video, dumping sprues and "drip art" into the casting pot negates the advantages of the pre-melt top pot.

I bought a lee 20 lb pot to do as you have done but with only one PID on the casting pot. My thinking was that having a marginally higher or lower melt temp in the pre-melt pot would not be too critical as only a small amount is added to the casting pot at a time.

After I bought the pre-melt pot, I acquired a Master Caster and I am hoping with its 40 lb capacity, it will not require a pre-melt.

I wish you had shown the pre-melt topping of the casting pot. It would be interesting to see how that long ramp works in action.

Anything that makes the process more consistent will help with bullet consistency. Controlling the head in a bottom pour casting pot seems like a good idea and we know temperature is important.

[rbertalotto]

Don, Thanks for watching! The larger the pot, the higher the delta in weight between a full pot and a half full pot. I have a 25 pound pot I played with that showed wide variance in weight in bullets over 250g from a full pot to half empty. Actually, the small ten pound pot when used alone, showed a rather slight deviation in bullet weight from full to half empty, but of course that is only a 5 pound of lead difference. In a 40# pot that difference would be 20 pounds! And adding lead as you go just slows things down as you wait for the added lead to melt. Usually the spru and "art" goes into the top pot as you suggested. Not sure why on the video I dumped it into the operating pot......Stage nerves I guess!

[deltaenterprizes]

Roy,

Near the end of the video, dumping sprues and "drip art" into the casting pot negates the advantages of the pre-melt top pot.

I bought a lee 20 lb pot to do as you have done but with only one PID on the casting pot. My thinking was that having a marginally higher or lower melt temp in the pre-melt pot would not be too critical as only a small amount is added to the casting pot at a time.

After I bought the pre-melt pot, I acquired a Master Caster and I am hoping with its 40 lb capacity, it will not require a pre-melt.

I wish you had shown the pre-melt topping of the casting pot. It would be interesting to see how that long ramp works in action.

Anything that makes the process more consistent will help with bullet consistency. Controlling the head in a bottom pour casting pot seems like a good idea and we know temperature is important.

The Master Caster will still need a premelt!
I have one!
If you add 1 pound ingots as the lead level decreases you will not freeze the pot but I wait until the pot is almost empty and take a break while the temperature comes back up before I start casing again.
A second pot will speed up the process.

[G W Wade]

Really like the "still" but would have liked to see the premelter in action. Nicesetup with a lot of thought in it. Tried something similar several years ago but didn't know how to speed up the dump to make it worth while. Top pot didn't drain fast enough.

[dverna]

Roy,
"Head" pressure is not dependent on the capacity of the pot. It is determined by the depth of the pot. An 80 lb pot that is 6" deep has the same pressure out of the spout as a 6" deep 20 lb pot. The larger pot allows more bullets to be cast before there is a significant loss of melt depth. Let's say the "sweet spot" for a mold is a lead height of 5-6". With an 80 lb pot that has a diameter of twice the 20 lb pot, you will stay in the sweet spot for 4 times as many bullets as a 20 lb pot. Now, if the 80 lbs pot gets its capacity being the same diameter but 4 times taller, your sweet spot for head pressure is still 5-6" and you gain nothing wrt to lead pressure consistency.

Your set up allows you to top off the casting post frequently and maintain a more consistent ledad height. The PID controls the temperature. It is smart way to go to make consistent bullets. Nice job!