Lyman lead pot

[ClarkS]

Having misplaced my two cast plumber's pots and both my ingot molds, in a rush I ordered a Lee ingot mold & Lyman pot (Midway #855578, Lyman #2867791). After reading of the handle-coming-loose problem w/the Lee mold, I ran a 8-32 flat head, countersunk into the handle right behind the ferrule & had no problems thru 150# so far. The $16 Lyman "10 pound" pot is another story! This little sheet metal gem (w/no spout indent!) MAY just hold 10#, but right to the brim, so good luck fluxing it! Actually it begins leaking out the bail holes at about 8#, making a lovely mess on the Coleman stove! Just a heads up, but I suppose I'm revisiting knowledge that's been common for years? Wifey parted with a 2 qt. sauce pan that works splendidly with a pair of vise grips.

[dominicfortune00]

They must have changed pot material, mine is cast iron.

I got it about ten years ago.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Lyman did change the metal used to make their pots. Some years ago they used cast iron. RCBS still does use that for theirs and you should have gone that route. The Lee ingot mold is a good/practical one. The countersunk screw is a secure solution to the loose handle, but it will get hot and if you burn yourself on it, after the cussin stops, try the following. When everything cools off...pull the handle and drop either 2-3 found toothpicks or wooden matches or a substantial sliver of wood in the hole and redrive the handle. A heat tolerant epoxy or adhesive would help to secure the situation even more. LLS

[ClarkS]

Good advice Solitaire. That's why I countersunk the machine screw, making sure it stuck out on neither side & placed it just behind the ferrule, knowing that got hot too. But I'll probably pick it up w/o my welder gloves, thinking it's cool eventually. I do that occasionally with an ingot & have to trace down the source of the sizzling sound to decide to drop it.

slightly off-topic, but I decided to smelt all the lead, linotype, & wheelweights I had into #2 alloy because my brother in law is a plumber by trade & is currently working for a pretigious instituion of higher learning, and when asked if he ever ran into tin, he said "sure, the de-ionized water pipes there are all tin, but we're replacing them with plastic." He then brought home over 20# of pure tin pipe! The joy of it! Since the tin was the only part of the mix I had to buy, all the wheel weights, pure lead, & linotype had languished for years as forlorn ingots, longing for some tin. Now I have 165# of # 2 alloy just waiting to plop into the pot, which I'm doing more since ammo$/availability have skyrocketed. Oh yeah, & here in Kalifornia, starting feb. 2011, we'll all have to provide a thumbprint, name, address, shoe size, etc. to buy ammo. So then some pimply faced Wallyworld employee can copy all that info and know just where they can go steal a gun! Thank God the gov't is looking out for us here. But I digress. Point is, apparently pure tin was used for D.O. water systems in scientific operations. 'Twas not a source of which I was previously aware.

[dromia]

I JB weld all my lee handles before use as they are sure to came away at an inappropriate time.

Treat all lee stuf as kits that need some finishing or fettling to make them play as advertsised.