$2 mold preheater

[cheese1566]

She saw a $2 crusty fondue pot...I saw a mold preheater!

More pics of the process: http://cheese1566gunsandstuff.shutterfly.com/263

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[John Guedry]

Great find. Amazing how two people looking at the same thing see totally different things.

[WILCO]

Nice job of recycling! Pretty clever too! [smilie=s:

[dk17hmr]

Does it work?

Looks like it should! good idea.

[cheese1566]

Yep! It works!

I set it on the ground and turned the knob to 450 to burn off all the remaining gunk. The 3/8" steel plate turned from sandblasted white to a light tan after 15 minutes. Spit would sizzle and bounce around until it fell off. I did this of course without a mold on it. Just need to make room on the casting bench for it.

The dial control goes from "warm" to 450, so I just need to find the right temp.

Now I need to borrow one of those laser thermometers to find out how hot my molds are when dropping good bullets.

[wistlepig1]

Good use of something that was "Junk" to someone else!

[frankenfab]

You dun good!

I was wondering what the temp range was. I spent way more than you, and bought one of those square laboratory hot plates years ago off ebay. It goes to 600 on the dial, and if I set it there I can put my new Lee TL 230 RN 45 ACP 6 cavity on it for a while and get perfect bullets on the first pour.

In contrast my 8MM Maximum 2 cavity still requires me to cast quite a few throws before it is ready. But here I am talking pure Lino, which came out way harder than needed.

I wish I had thought of getting one of the $10 electric burners first.

[cheese1566]

I need to get one of my Lee W benefit indicators going in a test bar to rest on top to read temperatures.

But the dial goes from "warm" to "450". The unit is rated at 600 watts.

The plate on top is 3/8" steel to help even out the heat.

If I don't like it after some testing, I am only out a couple bucks and the steel will go into another handgun spinner target!
[smilie=2:

[theperfessor]

Good job!

[Bkid]

Nice find,I am looking for something to warm my molds also. Thanks for the tip.