this old pot

[hpdrifter]

I think we need a sticky with the name "this old pot"; kind of a spin off of "This old house".

Compile all the posts of plumbers pots, electric controls, thermostats, and whatever else that falls into the realm of melting pot info.

For Plumbers pots:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=50118

Build your own?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=48404

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=46688

Valve discussion
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=49483

Electronic controls:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=47903

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=47430

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=48211

PID and temp talk.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=45733

Different setups:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=48858

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=49178

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=47876

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=46998

Ultimate pot.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=45728

Magma quality?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=45133

Lyman Pro Mag slow heat up.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=45548

Fish fryer?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=44196

The infamous(but quite usable and cheap) Lee 4-20.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=44691

110/220?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=44242

Mag 20 or Lee 4-20???
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=27081

Fluxing/Controlling the smelt;

Cover material
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=47583

Paint stirring sticks for mixing and fluxing:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=45702

Kitty litter(new), oil absorbent, ????
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=50103

Cleaning the pot

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=42865

Two pots;one for smelting, one for casting.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=49773

Charcoal???
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=45933

Clean it like NEW
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?301700-Cleaning-a-Casting-Pot

Fix Lee pot screws that are loose
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?403116-Lee-pot-screws

Propane tanks/ Coleman stoves/ hotplates.

Propane tank care.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=47687 (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=47687)

Coleman stove upkeep, turkey fryer, and hot plate talk.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=50085

Hot plate discussion.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=46170

little bit of everything
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=43046

How much do they weigh!!!!!!?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=50064

[briang]

Good idea, sounds like a tv show about casting

[Bret4207]

Who gets to play Bob Villa? I don't think anyone here is that obnoxious.

It's a good idea, all it takes is a a Moderator making a title and sticky.

[Bret4207]

No action from the Staff, so I'll PM someone with the suggestion.

[Willbird]

I think you might get an influx of hippies from the 60's with baggies of dried herbs.

Bill

[wiljen]

It's all your's Drifter - or should we call ya Bob now?

[Bret4207]

Oooh! ooooh! Can I be Norm?! At least he had some vague idea of what he was doing.

[GLL]

Although these 22 pound Pro-Melt ladle pots are not especially old they are difficult to find ! I have been searching for another for about a year. They have very nice thermostatic controls and maintain constant temp.

Anyone have one for sale ??? :) :)

Jerry

http://www.fototime.com/ED6FB2F8CC89A1F/orig.jpg

[hpdrifter]

To do all of the posting, but I'll try to do a little.

Content was moved to the OP

[Bret4207]

Well done rick!!!! Kudos!!!![smilie=w:

[hpdrifter]

thanx Bret

[Shiloh]

Who gets to play Bob Villa? I don't think anyone here is that obnoxious.

It's a good idea, all it takes is a a Moderator making a title and sticky.

Good Grief!! Can you imagine Cast Boolits own equivalent of Bob Villa inspecting
our boolits?? Then Tim Allen introducing Binfords own Cast-O-Matic Boolit maker??

Shiloh

[TexRebel]

Good Grief!! Can you imagine Cast Boolits own equivalent of Bob Villa inspecting
our boolits?? Then Tim Allen introducing Binfords own Cast-O-Matic Boolit maker??

Shiloh

Careful, some of the folks here use Binford type smelting pots, 500 to 2000 lbs at a time :drinks:

[Dale53]

Here's my set up. The fish fryer cost $30.00 from Bass Pro and the Harbor Freight Dutch oven cost $20.00. With my brother's help, I smelted 650 lbs of bullet metal in half a day:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/QWinter2009andleadsmelting-1767.jpg

I can hardly imagine a better, more value loaded set up. I have done well over 1000 lbs on the same gas tank. That is pretty dern efficient for a small cash lay out.

I cast bullets with a bottom pour RCBS (I have two). Everything from .22 caliber to 522 gr .45 caliber BPCR bullets are all done bottom pour - match quality bullets all the way.

Dale53

[wolfman]

Heres mine, looks like the same burner as above, but got mine for $25.00 on clearence from Menards. Pot is a bottom pour I built from 1/4 inch plate, 6 inches deep x 12 inches across and will hold about 250 lb of melted lead. I didn't trust the burner legs to hold that kind of weight, so I used 3 pieces of 1" pipe for legs, welded some 5/8" nuts on the bottom, and use the bolts as leveling jacks so the pot never actually sits on the burner. The back leg is straight across from the spout so I can angle the pot enough that only a thin skin is left on the bottom when I am done pouring. The valve is just a 1/4 to 3/8 pipe bushing, and I tapered the inside to match a 5/16 flat head socket head cap screw, then welded flush to the bottom. When the 2 nuts are tightened on the back of the valve handle, it puts just enough down pressure on the valve, to make it close automatically when you let go. The spout swings side to side, so you only have to move the mold a little to fill. Ingots from the home made molds, end up about 1.5 pounds, aren't real pretty, but work for me :mrgreen:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/wolf_man_x/SmeltingPot01.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/wolf_man_x/SmeltingPot03.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/wolf_man_x/SmeltingPot04.jpg

[Springfield]

Here is my current setup. The pot will hold almost 200 lbs. Using the auto drip pans underneath makes for easier clean-up, no lead sticking to the plywood like I used to do.

[Dale53]

wolfman;
Pwetty impwessive set up (spoken in the language of Elmer Fudd LOL)!! Truly a REAL smelting outfit. You should be pleased, sir!!

Dale53

[wolfman]

wolfman;
Pwetty impwessive set up (spoken in the language of Elmer Fudd LOL)!! Truly a REAL smelting outfit. You should be pleased, sir!!

Dale53


Thanks, I appriciate that !

[John Hammer]

I got a question, I'm just starting out... should I have a second burner or could I use the same one I use to fry turkeys

[Dale53]

John Hammer;
You can safely use the same burner you use to cook. However, under NO circumstances do you try to use the same pot. Lead poisoning is not a fun thing.

Do NOT try to use an aluminum pot, either. There have been some disastrous failures of aluminum weakened by the heat of molten metal causing a collapse. Use either a thick steel pot or cast iron. I, personally, use a Harbor Freight six quart dutch oven. It'll hold well over 100 lbs of bullet metal. I have smelted 650 lbs in an afternoon (with a bit of help). Commonly, if working by myself, I run a couple or three hundred pounds (smelt and cast in ingot moulds) in an afternoon.

Dale53

[David LaPell]

I picked this up for $20 at a gun show this weekend. I need to get the lead out of the bottom to see if the bottom pour still works. Hopefully it all works out.

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss57/Smith29-2/leepot2.jpg

[OnHoPr]

Has anybody tried affixing a wooden handled screwdriver type of apparatus to the top end of the flow control valve stem so the handle is above the pot. I think it could be a quicker way of controlling the drip art a touch faster, henceforth a better rhythm and better boolits.

[savagetactical]

I think my old dutch oven cost me $5 at a flea market. It works great.

[graphic914]

Image missing

[Lead Rain]

Stupid me .... I never thought of the dutch oven. Well it's Harbor Freight on the way home. I want to make or find a better way of making the ingots. I saw the homemade mold, but what did you use metal wise (type and thickness). I have the standard 1/2 to 1 pounders, but I would like to make 3 - 5 # ingots. I use the old muffin tins to get close to 2#, but they do not hold up long. I shoot a lot and need to speed up the process.

[Lead Bandit]

Id watch this show. lol

My "big" pot is a shorty 50 gal. water heater cut in half. I removed the valve and put a new one from homedepot because the one on it had to use a screwdriver to turn it. Holds about 2000 lbs full but I have never put in more than about 1k. I can use the valve as a bottom pour if I heat it enough but sometimes I have to use a blow torch to keep it flowing. I use a ladle a lot of times still. I use either wood or propane for fuel depending on my mood. Will post pics later. (dark out now)

[Rick45Colt]

I found and old cast iron pot at the flea market that I use for my rough melt to clean up my wheel weights. I also have a couple of Lee production pots that I tried using on Sunday with disappointing results. I guess I am going to have to use my cast iron pot from now on unless someone has a better electric pot than the Lee one.

[GhostHawk]

Well I just bought a small lee dipper pot. Wasn't looking for bottom pour. I've got a good dipper and I'm comfortable with it.

So now instead of making a mess of my wifes kitchen I can just sit down in my man cave and make booolits. :)

To top things off my sweet wife brought me home a nice big pewter plate she found at the second hand store.
I figure I'll smelt that down this morning. :)

[michiganmike]

Bob comes across as a pain in the keester, imo. Arrogant.

[holgarthedane]

Any idea of what this is?
Found this at a yard sale. It appears to be for melting lead, except for the threaded hole in the bottom. It also has the numbers 242 on the inside. Does anyone know what this is, besides a heavy cast iron pot with a hole in it?http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=110936&d=1405628525

[Case Stuffer]

ANy ideas on this ?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?279616-RCBS-Pro-Melt-heating-issue-bottom-half-of-pot

[TXGunNut]

If you run across an old RCBS Pro-Melt pot that looks like it has had thousands of pounds of lead thru it's spout and you aren't sure if it's safe to use I have a solution for you. Send it back to RCBS and they'll put in all-new electrical components, pot and valve for about $100 plus sales tax, where applicable. Works like a new one, looks like it's been around awhile. I like that!

[Cold Trigger Finger]

I just scrounged a 8" long 6" dia piece of 3/16" steel pipe and a 1'×2' piece of 1/4" steel plate. Plan is to cut a 1'×1' square of plate and weld the pipe in the center for a casting pot . The flats of the plate should work well for warming ingots and pre heating molds.
I think my old pick up camper will make a great casting room this winter. I plan on using the propane stove in it for a heat source. Its an old camper that has made its last trip on my trucks. Ive been thinking about hauling it to the landfill. But, I think it will make a great casting room .

[odinohi]

I have a Lyman 61 that has developed a pretty good drip. I have looked at the rod through magnifying glass and it looks ok. What size drill bit to drill pour hole out?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[toallmy]

Reference for later

[Whitesmoke]

Hi fellow casters,
Whitesmoke from Australia here. It has been a while since I was here last.

I have taken into my head to fabricate a bottom pour pot. I can see the time saving of a bottom pour pot where I can dispense with the dipper against the advantage of sliding a mold underneath and pulling a lever.The clean lead will be good as well.

I have reviewed the pearls of wisdom contained in this thread, but still seek yet more information. Information on the best material for the seat and the valve to best resist against the inevitable corrosion is what I seek.

I am hoping to use stainless steel and it looks from what I have found that 316L might be suitable for low temperatures typically found in a pure lead ball procedure though there is some corrosion at higher temperatures.

The valve seat is of concern as being that it is not readily removed ( being welded in the the pot base )

The valve face and stem is no problem, I think, and can be made of say some 1/4" or 5/16" round bar which can be made easily removable and able to be placed in my lathe chuck.

The pot itself is a cut down 4.5 kilo LPG gas cylinder which will straddle a three ring gas burner. The pot will incorporate a shelf to hold my .535" round ball moulds.
I don't wish to cast until it gets cooler as it is 95 degrees here at the moment. When it gets cooler towards May I shall cast my years supply which is about 2000 balls.
If any one has had success with a stainless valve and seat, I would certainly appreciate hearing about it.

Any other thoughts or advice on this which you can offer particularly regarding the valve /seat alternate material shall be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Whitesmoke

[SteveM54]

Wow, perfect setup for info.
Thanks