Area Prep for a Lee 4-20 Electric Bottom Pour Pot?

[guy_with_boolits]

get a hot plate to preheat and maintain your mold heat

you will wish you did

$15 from amazon

get a thermocouple to measure lead temperature or a PID control....lead temperature is a critical process control and the LEE dial is not precise or reliable

do not "dip the corner of the mold" into the pot as you may have seen suggested, this is a bad idea for multiple reasons (getting junk into the mold, including lead, being dangerous to do in a small pot, not heating the mold up enough, stirring up junk in the pot which will clog it, etc..etc..)

most of the middle of the sprue should remain liquid for a few seconds after you are done pouring..and thats the WHOLE sprue, not just the cavity furthest from the handle

check your lead smearing both on the underside of the sprue plate and on top of the mold halves after EACH pour..it should be minimal if any..if you see some, clean it off before proceeding with the next pour

if you notice ALOT of lead smearing and things are very shiny, and the sprue is taking a long time to solidify, things are too hot

be prepared to clean your mold. accidents and just normal non-perfect usage will get lead in between the mold halves and this will cause problems..I use a popsicle stick and strangely it works to push lead off the mold. copper wool might also work.

Do not assume your tools will do the job for you, they wont. The PROCESS is the critical element here and YOU are 75% of that. The LEE pot clogs easily and has poor temperature control, the mold is easily contaminated and needs awkward lubrication and inspection after each pour, everything needs to be in a certain window of temperature to work right (or you will get wrinked bullets or smeared bullet backs), and so forth...

[dondiego]

I have cast for over 50 years and have never used a thermometer or a hardness tester. Don't know how I did it. I am thinking that a PID would be a real good idea..........but naw, I have done well so far.

[Cast10]

Plastic table......

New guy here too! I have been casting inside my shop on my reloading bench (wood). I was worried about tipping over, dripping, etc. I found an old steel shelf that’s close to 3 ft long and 24” wide with angles all around the side. Turned upside down and placed on some brick pieces on top of my wooden top, I will capture anything spilled. It also allows my tools, hot plate, etc. on the same surface, without anything rolling off, etc.

[VariableRecall]

Plastic table......

New guy here too! I have been casting inside my shop on my reloading bench (wood). I was worried about tipping over, dripping, etc. I found an old steel shelf that’s close to 3 ft long and 24” wide with angles all around the side. Turned upside down and placed on some brick pieces on top of my wooden top, I will capture anything spilled. It also allows my tools, hot plate, etc. on the same surface, without anything rolling off, etc.

I've got some cinder blocks and a 1x4 board, but that does NOT provide enough lateral stability to make me confident in doing anything with it. However, just placing scrap blocks of wood between the table and anything hot seems like a much better solution overall.

[guy_with_boolits]

I have cast for over 50 years and have never used a thermometer or a hardness tester. Don't know how I did it. I am thinking that a PID would be a real good idea..........but naw, I have done well so far.

its not that you cant its that its much easier for a beginner to sort out their problems with better process controls

now that I know my process works I could probably get rid of the PID and thermometer and just go by how the lead looks and figure out a pattern of what the knob on the pot seems to do and it would be fine

for a beginner who may trust their equipment too much its another story..the pot knob adjustment is a complete crap shoot and beginners have no idea what looks right or how hot things need to be going just by appearance..measuring it and quantifying it cuts that whole learning curve MUCH shorter

[fredj338]

I would nt use a plastic table unless you are putting plywood or something under the pot.