naptha, propane, electric burner for casting

[Bobby Ironsights]

Hi, the way I've been casting is a hassle, and I've bought a buckshot mold.

I'd like to set up a new burner and larger pot for casting these, and was thinking of going to either propane, or naptha for heat.

The electric burner in the kitchen never seems to pump out enough heat as is.

Any suggestions?

I was thinking either a naptha or propane coleman stove.

[454PB]

Most will tell you that you shouldn't be melting lead in the kitchen anyway, but I wonder what size and watt rating is your stove element? I use a 3000 watt stove element for rendering lead, and it will melt a 30 pound chunk in about 20 minutes. Smaller amounts should take less time.

[Dale53]

A low price method of casting bullets is a Coleman Stove. They can be bought at flea markets often for $15-$20 dollars. However, they have one serious limitation. Their grills were NEVER intended for heavy loads. Putting a relatively large pot on the burrner will increase the heat load on the support grill, it'll get red hot and collapse. Yep, it happened to me and it has to others. This is no imaginary fault but the "Real Deal". If you are going to use a Coleman, reinforce the grill and keep your pot size to no more than 20 lbs or so of lead and 10 lbs would probably be better.

A Turkey fryer is a more versatile unit and they can be MUCH sturdier and have a LOT more heat. In fact, smelting with one is very practical and with a large dutch over you can smelt up to a 1000 lbs a day if YOU are up to it:mrgreen:. I am a bottom pour man but I wasn't always. However, it has been a long time since I have dipper cast bullets and I don't have a clue as to how expensive it is to run a Turkey Fryer at low speed for bullet casting. I get a lot of mileage out of one in smelting, but that is a different story. My gut feeling is it'll work fine including the expense. It'll cost a bit more initially but will be MUCH more satisfactory in the long run.

Dale53

[Bobby Ironsights]

Thanks Dale, I gave the thought of pouring molten lead over myself a long think, and I've decided to get a factory made electric pot.

[runfiverun]

a lee 10 lb pot is about 40.00 and is bottom pour.

[Dale53]

If budget constraints limit what you can spend on an electric pot, I recommend the Lee 4-20 pot at less than $70.00. You will not outgrow the size like you will the 10lb and it has room under the spout for the rather large multi-cavity moulds.

I like the RCBS pot but it is VERY expensive for a budget minded party. Buy the Lee and then keep a look out for a used RCBS one. A couple of years ago, I unexpectedly ran onto an "extra" RCBS for a very good price. Now I keep one alloy in one and another alloy in the other.

Dale53

[sargenv]

I just picked up a 4-20 and will likely use it for all my casting needs.. though for smelting I just picked up a 5 qt Lodge Cast iron Dutch oven for $46 and change shipped from ebay. A little steep but I tried looking around for used and they are just not local to me.. now I need to get some ingot molds..

[qtip223]

A turkey fryer is hard to beat,

[TAWILDCATT]

turkey fryer for smelting lead and Lee 20-4 for casting.lee works and for the price is great.at least lee makes their pots.where the others get their is not known .
:coffee:

[Wayne Smith]

I've been using a Coleman 2 burner propane camp stove for years and a 20 lb pot on it. The pot support elements are 1/4" chromed steel, they aren't gonna collapse. I've had them red hot very many times.

Bobby, it really depends on what you are casting. If you are only casting for a .30 caliber or pistol boolits a bottom pour is more than adequate and nice cause using it indoors is no problem. If you want to cast big boolits, and I started with an RCBS 40-400CSA mold and went from there to a Lyman 457125, you really need to ladle cast. This means an open top pot, either electric or gas. I had the stove and bought a 20lb bottle. As I said, I've been using it to both smelt and cast for over 10 years now.

[armyrat1970]

I just picked up a 4-20 and will likely use it for all my casting needs.. though for smelting I just picked up a 5 qt Lodge Cast iron Dutch oven for $46 and change shipped from ebay. A little steep but I tried looking around for used and they are just not local to me.. now I need to get some ingot molds..

Muffin pans are cheap and can be used to pour ingots.

[farmbif]

North of Atlanta off of I-75 is a lodge cast iron cookware store and in the rear they had shelves filled with blemished items at up to half off. Dutch ovens pots and pans of all sizes and lids, ect. I don't remember what exit It was maybe someone else knows about the place. Anyway the lady who was manager there was very friendly and possibly she could ship items.

[farmbif]

Correction on previous post, it was west of I-75, it might have been I -65 north of Atlanta lodge cast iron outlet store

[jcwit]

I use a Coleman single burner stove with a SS sauce pan, have yet to have any problems with the Coleman grills supporting the sauce pan, this is the way I've been casting since the 1960's.

One thing to consider tho is the fact I live in No. Indiana's Amish Country and can purchase NAPTHA at the pump, no need for the high priced Coleman fuel. Todays Coleman Stoves claim to be dual fuel as in using unleaded gas, but I fine the generators last a whole lot longer with NAPTHA.

[dikman]

I have a "dual-fuel" camping stove (lightweight back-packing type) and out of curiosity tried it with unleaded petrol. It worked, but burnt a bit dirty. While it can be used in an emergency, if the stoves are designed to run primarily on Naptha (white spirit, we call it Shellite here) then that is the best to use. It burns cleaner and hotter and is an excellent fuel particularly if the price is right!

Most seem to use propane as it is more readily available and convenient.