New guy with a box full of hand-me-downs.

[Fistybum]

I had one of my good'ole boys come into my shop today and we were talking gun stuff, about how I've been rolling up .38 special like a mad man for my suppressed 92 project. And he asked if I had started casting my own bullets yet. I replied that I really had been looking into it and really wanted to, and I have the space in my new place to do such things, but things were tight and whatnot.... Well about an hour after he left my shop he shows back up with a big cardboard box and says "Here's a present for ya. All I ask is when you upgrade your gear you hand it down to some one starting out..." Here is what was in the box:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/Fistybum/IMAG0038.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/Fistybum/IMAG0037.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/Fistybum/IMAG0036.jpg


A melting pot, ladle, 4 ingots of lead, a lee 2 hole tumble lube 158gr?? mold, lee .358 sizer that will mount to my rock chucker, and a bottle of lee alox.....I think All I need is a heat source and I'm in the bullet casting business!!!!

Hot damm, you gotta love the godoldboy network!!!!

I'm wanting to give it a go this weekend, do you fellas think this 1,000w hotplate I already have will get me hot enough?

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/Fistybum/IMAG0039.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/Fistybum/IMAG0040.jpg

Or do I need to put on the scrounge for a propane unit? The cost of a turkey fryer is about the same as a cheap lee unit. Will I need the turkey fryer down the road for smelting?

Can any one tell me about the mold? Only markings on it are LEE 90320

Thanks for any help or advice! Fisty

[WHITETAIL]

Fistybum,Welcome to the forum!:holysheep
Now as far as getting a fryer, YES!
You will need it to smelt your lead.
Because as soon as you make your
first boolet there is no turning back.:groner:
You will be hooked for life.

[gon2shoot]

Wow, nobody ever gave me a jar of candy. :D

Yes the turkey frier would be a good investment.

And, Welcome

[Ajax]

Welcome to the site, sounds like you have a good friend there. The fryer will be needed to smelt raw wheel weights into ingots. As far as the hot plate i am unfamiliar with using one.

Andy

[qajaq59]

I tried a hot plate once and it wasn't too great. But a tag sale variety Coleman stove worked fine until I got the bottom pour pot.

[WILCO]

I'm wanting to give it a go this weekend, do you fellas think this 1,000w hotplate I already have will get me hot enough?

Or do I need to put on the scrounge for a propane unit? The cost of a turkey fryer is about the same as a cheap lee unit. Will I need the turkey fryer down the road for smelting?

Can any one tell me about the mold? Only markings on it are LEE 90320



1) LEE TWO CAVITY BULLET MOLD .38 CALIBER .358 DIAMETER 150 GRAIN
Manufactures Number: 90320

150 GRAIN .38 CAL .358 DIAMETER SEMI-WADCUTTER TWO CAVITY ALUMINUM MOLD HANDLES INCLUDED

2) Get a Walgreens hot plate for under $10.00 to smelt lead and cast your bullets.
It has the "coiled" burner which seems to work best. It's 1,000 watts too, but works like a charm. Here's a link to a thread about "hot plates":
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=759735

Welcome to the forums.

[EMC45]

Sounds like you have a good friend. You are off to a good start. Take his advice to upgrade after getting going and get someone else started in the hobby as well.

[RobS]

Good start and the hot plate will work. +1 on having a coil one though as it heats better than the others. With that the hotplate you have there, it may or may not heat up hot enough, but what will help is to place some aluminum foil around the bottom edges of your pot so air doesn't cool the iron as quickly. Actually I used a great deal of it and kind of made a bowl for my pot to sit in.

[gwilliams2]

Very nice; we all could use a few friends like this guy..

[DLCTEX]

When you consider that the Lee 10# pot is only 750 watts, then yes, it can be done. It may require a heat shield, possibly insulated, around the sides of the pot to retain the heat. A heat shield can be made of light guage steel flashing. Just a circle to slow air convection some.
I just checked and the 10# pot is only 500 watts.

[Cherokee]

Great friend. You are ready to start. Coil hot plate is what I used for several years. You will now need to start finding wheel weights and other leads to continue the new hobby. Welcome to the forum !

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Hullo & welcome, You are luckey to have found someone willing to part with the gear he gave you.....there are a lot of good people in this hobby of ours....like the man said, learn and pass it on:redneck: :cbpour:

[mdi]

Welcome. Great start! I still use my cast iron pot with a Coleman single burner stove for smelting, but that's how I got started. Check out the Boolit Lube section stickies for insight on using liquid alox (thinning, application styles, mixes, etc.).

Don't know if I'm happy for your new hobby[smilie=p: or sad about your new addiction!:sad:

[imashooter2]

Turkey fryers are for smelting using a much larger pot than what you have now. They are a pain to cast from due to all the heat wasted up around the sides of the pot and the fact that they are so low to the ground. You could get a Coleman stove to cast from using the pot you have now. I find them regularly at yard sales for a song. Or you could invest in a bottom pour furnace. If you stick with the pot you have, get a Lyman or RCBS dipper. You'll find them easier to use than that big ladle (which would work well for smelting).

[JSnover]

If the hot plate you have isn't hot enough, keep it. It's a good way to pre-heat your mold.

[RobS]

If the hot plate you have isn't hot enough, keep it. It's a good way to pre-heat your mold.

+1 on this one........

[Fistybum]

Thanks for all the positive comments guys!!! This is something I've wanted to try for some time. I'm going to hit up a couple of thrift shops,and goodwill on the way home from work today and try to find a little propane unit. If I don't come across one I think I'm gonna give the hot plate a try. The worst that could happen is I will throw duds that can be melted back down ,right? Or get the lead half melted and stuck to the pan, which would not hurt the lead, until I get something hotter. The little lee pot at midway looks more and more tempting after pricing retail camp stoves. Think Ill hit harbor freight for some gloves.

I was up until two last night reading old threads on this sight. What a wealth of knowledge and experience. How the hell did anyone do weird stuff before the internet ?

Again thanks. Fisty

[qajaq59]

How the hell did anyone do weird stuff before the internet ? Books, or other gunners if you were lucky.

[beagle]

What a friend you have. We need more like him.

Welcome to the site./beagle

[Fistybum]

Thanks for all the positive comments guys!!! This is something I've wanted to try for some time. I'm going to hit up a couple of thrift shops,and goodwill on the way home from work today and try to find a little propane unit. If I don't come across one I think I'm gonna give the hot plate a try. The worst that could happen is I will throw duds that can be melted back down ,right? Or get the lead half melted and stuck to the pan, which would not hurt the lead, until I get something hotter. The little lee pot at midway looks more and more tempting after pricing retail camp stoves. Think Ill hit harbor freight for some gloves.

I was up until two last night reading old threads on this sight. What a wealth of knowledge and experience. How the hell did anyone do weird stuff before the internet ?

Again thanks. Fisty

[JIMinPHX]

Some hot plates work. Others do not get up to a high enough temperature. The expensive ones are frequently not the best ones for casting. When using a hot plate, I find it useful to wrap a little sheet metal around the pot in sort of a cone shape that covers the entire heating element. That gets much more of the heat to the pot. A 6" vent pipe reducer from Home Depot fits most 10# pots & works well for this purpose. You may need to cut it down a little shorter.

[SciFiJim]

How the hell did anyone do weird stuff before the internet ?

Man, that has got to be the quote of the year. No one around me casts that I know of. I would not have know where to start if not for finding this site one day while googling.

[Goatlips]

;-)Fistybum,

P'raps your friend, while being generous, was trying to tell you something that we here already know... SUCKER! :bigsmyl2:

Let us know what you decide upon. My site below might help a bit.

Goatlips

[Taylor]

Yards sales and flea markets,you'd be suprised at what you will find.It's quite an enjoyable hobby,like the man said "there's no turning back".Everything you see,you'll see casting applications in it,or wonder if you can use it.

[qajaq59]

One thing that a caster wants to look for at tag sales, or especially estate sales, is solder. Ask if they are selling the stuff in their garage too and then have a look. I've made out pretty good on solder this year for roughly a buck or less per roll.

[Blammer]

Good score!

I'd go to the pawn shop look for a used coleman camp stove probably $5 use that to melt the lead for your mould, get a thick pair of gloves to hold that ladle with. May get a touch warm... :)

also, make sure you wear a long sleeve shirt, long pants and good shoes, lead is hot.

[PBKing]

Nice Score. I always get excited when someone gets excited about starting to cast?
Good on your friend.

[qajaq59]

And keep in mind that even "damp" ingots should not be added to the pot.