Yard sale find #2 !

[Digger]

Okay,, not in a yard sale but almost there ,,,, Cragslist ,
Punched in "lead" and amid all the music and horse equip. , found this !
" Seaco furnace" lead pot ........ and close by no less !

Contacted the gentleman and he fired it up for me , it works fine , looks a little tired but works !
Seems he was quite the fisherman and was doing his own weights for a few years besides rebuilding reels .......very nice ol boy ...
Any how he wanted 55.00 dollars for it and it came home with me [smilie=w:
I think it looks great next to my lyman 45 ......
When you step into my reloading room , it's a little like stepping into the past with the tools there now ...
Lot's of fun !
Question ! . . did I see here in the forums some where an individual had rebuilt his seaco ? ,
seem to remember it looked pretty ... right down to the new paint.
The other question is ,,, what do you guys think ? , good or bad ?
P.S.... it has the original seaco ingot mold tray also and he thru in 3 or 4 pounds of sinkers ....

digger

[94Doug]

Awsome deal.... they will go for much more than that on ebay. My understanding is they are a great pot. Being Saeco, I have no reason to doubt that.

Doug

[pathfinder]

So cool. I love the ole timey look. And its in such great shape!

[Hardcast416taylor]

One of those pots was my next step from using a ladle, wish I still had it.Robert

[timkelley]

I suspect many of us would be pleased to give you a $5.00 profit.[smilie=l:

[mold maker]

I had to bypass the thermostat when it failed, but mine is still working since I got it second hand over 35 yr ago. I mostly use it to mix measured weights for alloyed ingots.

[beanflip]

Nice find

[jsizemore]

Nice catch.

It looks very much like my Lyman Mould-Master XX. If the 2 posts that hold the pot above the base are 1/2" diameter and 4.5" ctc then you might look for a mold guide. Sure helps with those big cast iron moulds.

[Dale53]

The Saeco was quite similar to the original Lyman 11 lb pot that I had for many years. I cast hundreds of thousands of bullets from the bottom pour pot. The only thing that failed was I had to replace the flat plug on the power cord where it plugged in to the pot. In those days, that was easy - most heating appliances used the same type plug (irons, toasters, roasters, etc). They were readily available (the thermostat was common with a house hold clothes iron, too).

I still have a Saeco 20 lb melting pot (made for ladle casting) that I used to pre-melt alloy so I could do continuous casting (I did 13,000 match bullets one week end - I cast and my two sons sized, lubed, and packaged). I was doing so much casting that I replaced the Lyman with a 22 lb RCBS bottom pour pot (I now have two of them + the Saeco).

Saeco is good gear and you made a very good buy.

By the way, if you have a similar pot and it's thermostat fails, you can direct wire it and use a Harbor Freight router speed control to control temperature ($20.00). The capacity is plenty enough for the lead pot and will keep you from overheating. I am a believer in correct temperature for various casting alloys.

Dale53

[Digger]

Thanks to all the responses , most appreciated and even more so all the tips as I suspect the weak links will be the thermostat and the electrical cord ..... only from all the experience here on these forums does one get so much valuable advice .
The serial # is 0993 ....wonder how old that makes it ? .... would be nice to have an idea how far back these pots go .. older than I am betcha ! [smilie=1::roll:

digger

[hornsurgeon]

does anyone here know where to get a replacement cord for this? i have the lyman version and it's missing the cord. i've checked all the thrift shops and rummage sales i can find and can't fine one.

[Dale53]

Check with your local professional electrical supply (where the electricians get their supplies).

Be sure and tell them what you are going to do with it (melt lead for sinkers and such) so they know to get you heat resistant wire of sufficient size for the wattage (wattage will be listed on the pot).

Dale53

[Echo]

does anyone here know where to get a replacement cord for this? i have the lyman version and it's missing the cord. i've checked all the thrift shops and rummage sales i can find and can't fine one.

I got one for my Cute Little Thing (Potter 3-pounder) from Ace Hdw.

[Digger]

Looking forward to trying this little pot out soon with my alloy mix ..... been smelting some radiator drippings for the first time , with a ww/stickon mix , this is going to be fun ,
digger

[codgerville@zianet.com]

Good shot ! I have one exactly like it that I got for Christmas in about 1978. Still use it, never any problems. BTW, what you paid for it is what mine cost new. Be glad to take it off your hands so you won't have to worry about it breaking down. I always try to be a Good Fellow, you know, by helping others !

[Digger]

Update: a little elbow grease and steel wool to get the rust off .....and a little barbecue paint .....
Also did the ace hardware trip and came back with a cord like Echo mentioned , prong width was not enough but dismantled the new plug and the old and switched the two little female expansion receptacles and and new wire, plug into the old female plug housing .......works !!
The old cloth braided plug wire worked but had a bad spot or two....by the way there Codgerville , thanks for the offer but think I'll try it out for a while....:drinks:

[WILCO]

.......and a little barbecue paint .....

Looks great!