Just wonder how?

[Mike W1]

Been out making some bullets, or boolits I guess on here, and wonder how on earth anybody gets along without a thermometer. This was my third session recently and unless I was at about 725 degrees I had wrinkled bullets with this batch of lead. All 3 times it required a different setting on the Lee pots to accomplish the needed temperature. And this was in a heated shop. It'd sure have been a guess if I hadn't had one!

I can't quite justify the cost of PID's but I can sure see how they'd be a dandy thing to have.

[JSnover]

They are pretty handy things. I've had my best results with the pot near 800 degrees, full, in an unheated shop, room temperature was near 40 degrees.

[No_1]

Amazing you should mention this. For years I cast without a thermometer. I figured I did not need one because I figured the numbers on the pot were good enough for me. You know what I mean, this number is good with that mould and another number for another mould. Never figured outside temp effected the melt. I thought that if you set it at the number then that would be the temp of the melt. Boy was I ever wrong. Once I got a thermometer I figured out why my spout sometimes froze, my bases were round and my boolits were wrinkled no matter how consistent I was with the settings or how much I cleaned the mould.

I have now moved on to a PID controller. That is as much night and day as using the thermometer vs not using it. Now I never adjust my pot. Just turn it on, set the temp and cook. When my melt gets to temp I find that pretty much all is right in my world. The other addition which made a huge difference was a hot plate.

In closing, you can cast with a pot and mould. You can flat out make boolits once you take the guessing out of the mix by adding a thermometer and hot plate.

Robert

[Blammer]

thermometer? nope never used one, and I get along just fine.

[chris in va]

I'll admit, my molds fill out just fine with the bottom pour set at 5.5. I just cast 9mm and 45 though. Not sure what that temp is but definitely a sweet spot.

[mooman76]

I have been casting for almost 40 years without one. No sence getting one now. You kind of get used to reading your moulds by your results. If you aren't getting good fill out you turn up the heat. If the lead takes too long to harden or the bullets come out distorted from the heat you turn it down. It's not really that hard when you pay attention to the signs.

[beagle]

I think most of us older guys never use a thermometer. I didn't own one until about 5 years ago and now, I occasionally use it to set my temp and then forget it untol next time.

We got so use to adjusting until it cast good and then leave it alone that we didn't need one./beagle

[stubshaft]

Never got around to getting one. I'm with the "older guys" group and let the mould and melt tell me what temp it wants to cast at.

One of the things that casting boolits has taught me is that :

The only constant is change.

[bohokii]

no thermometer for me either i just just a skillet on a coleman stove when the lead gets liquid i thne float the head of my lee 2 cav mold in it and every minute i pick it up and out and when the goop stops sticking i start spooning (yes with a spoon) some of the silver juice into the lee mold

been wookin fine so far probably made about 4k so farhttp://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/006/a/0/Bummies_family_by_MenInASuitcase.gif

[44man]

I bought one to alloy antimony in the mix at 600*. Never use one when casting.

[Tazman1602]

I have been casting for almost 40 years without one. No sence getting one now. You kind of get used to reading your moulds by your results. If you aren't getting good fill out you turn up the heat. If the lead takes too long to harden or the bullets come out distorted from the heat you turn it down. It's not really that hard when you pay attention to the signs.

+1

Same technique I use Mark. Ya' just need to know your molds and how they work and what they do and when they need more heat or less heat.

Also some of my molds like to have (I've got all two bangers right now) the front cavity filled first and some like to have the rear cavity filled first, go figure.

At least that's what works for me.

[kelbro]

Using a thermometer while casting can be a big advantage to somebody fairly new to casting like myself. I use a Lee 4-20 bottom pour. It took a little while but I found the sweet spot temperature for most of my molds (mix of iron and aluminum) where they fill out, drop easily,and do not frost. Now I just keep slightly adjusting the t-stat until that temp is displayed.

The thermometer showed me why my yields were so poor. As the pot emptied, the temperature increased. Greatly in some cases. I never knew that the temps swung so much. This caused frosted, underweight boolits. Or when sprues/ingots were added to the melt, the temp dropped which also messed up my consistency. Then the mold cooled down while waiting for the pot to heat up and the boolits didn't drop or fill out well. It often seemed like I was caught in an endless loop.

Getting a system going to keep your melt at roughly the same temp can't help but make better boolits. Seeing what happens when the temps vary and learning to adjust is part of the process but I think the thermometer flattens out the learning curve if the caster is observant and learns what to change to optimize their pours.

I'm thinking more and more about building a PID controller.

[357maximum]

I did not have one for years....bought one....hardly used it....dropped it....broke it...have not replaced it yet. It is a luxury item and not at all neccesary IMHO. Fluxing with a stick and sawdust while paying attention will tell you where your heat is at.

[rbuck351]

After about 40 years of casting , I finally got one only to find out I really didn't need it. It does make it a little easier to decide wheather it's my lead or my mold that is too hot or too cold. Makes it a little quicker to get things at the right temp.

[armyrat1970]

kelbro i agree with you. If it makes it easier for you to cast by all means use one. Once you gain in experience like some of these guys have you may find no need for it. I use one to check my alloy temps and am in need of a hotplate to keep my mold temps right. Sure the let your molds tell you what they want thing is one way but do what works for you. One thing about casting is not everyone does it all the same way, we all use different equipment, all have different levels of experience and use different alloys to boot. The end result is what matters. Dropping a good boolit, by whatever means, that you can put down range with satisfaction.

[WHITETAIL]

:redneck:
I only use it when I clead my lead.
I watch my temp, and keep it under
700 deg.
So if I miss any of those @#$% WW,
I just skim them out.:cbpour:

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

I don't use a thermometer, just a pot on a propane coleman stove, turn the knob if I want it hotter . . .

[smilie=s:

[TAWILDCATT]

you do know the temp regulater is an on off switch.nothing more.I recently got a HARBOR FREIGHT speed controler.$19.99.turned the heat all the way on,and adjusted the controler to tempeture.it is on all the time and regulates the VOLTAGE.which controls how hot the element gets.I got it for a SAECO that lost its regulater.and cant get a new one.:coffee:

[Tazman1602]

you do know the temp regulater is an on off switch.nothing more.I recently got a HARBOR FREIGHT speed controler.$19.99.turned the heat all the way on,and adjusted the controler to tempeture.it is on all the time and regulates the VOLTAGE.which controls how hot the element gets.I got it for a SAECO that lost its regulater.and cant get a new one.:coffee:

TA can you elaborate on that one? You mean the temp control on the Lee pots is in it's basic form a timer? So much time on, so much time off according to how high you turn it? If so which speed controller did you use. My 4-20 is new, got if just before Christmas but it's been pretty good to me so far. It did take some work going from ladle to bottom pour though and I've still got my ladles and other pots and ain't throwing them out.

For $20 I"d try that on one of my small pots....

Art

[lylejb]

You mean the temp control on the Lee pots is in it's basic form a timer? So much time on, so much time off according to how high you turn it?

Not exactly. It's a flat bi-metal spring with the electrical contacts on the end. As the spring gets hotter, it curves. as it cools the curve flattens back out. With the electrical contact on it's end, when it curves far enough away, it separates one contact from the other, turning off the power to the heating element. once it cools, the spring flattens back to it's original position, the contacts touch again, and the power is back on. With this type of thermostat, the power is either 100% on, or off.
50%, 75% ect. is not possible.



wildcat,

is this the one?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43060

thanks.

[Mike W1]

Well I'm too tight to put PID's in but I might spring for that Harbor Freight controller. Does it actually let you stay within a temperature range as maybe observed with a thermometer?

[TAWILDCATT]

it is a voltage control.you may have to tune it as the pot gets near empty.but the heat stays on all the time,so there is not a high and low.you still can use a thermometer as I do.I got it because my Saeco bimetal died.and I could not get a new one.I have used it on both the Saeco and the Lee.between the rain and cold I have not been able to cast to really give it a test.I did run it for couple days.
:coffee:

[kelbro]

I tried one of the Harbor Freight router controllers on the Lee 4-20. I does maintain the heat OK (keeps it from spiking) but if you add an ingot and it drops the temp 50°, the melt doesn't heat back up. It also makes my pot squeal a little.

[lwknight]

The PID will hold a few degrees constantly. They are accurate too.