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Thread: this old pot

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    Mar 2011
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    Old Lee Pot

    I picked this up for $20 at a gun show this weekend. I need to get the lead out of the bottom to see if the bottom pour still works. Hopefully it all works out.


  2. #22
    Boolit Master OnHoPr's Avatar
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    Oct 2011
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    Has anybody tried affixing a wooden handled screwdriver type of apparatus to the top end of the flow control valve stem so the handle is above the pot. I think it could be a quicker way of controlling the drip art a touch faster, henceforth a better rhythm and better boolits.

  3. #23
    Boolit Buddy savagetactical's Avatar
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    Sep 2013
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    I think my old dutch oven cost me $5 at a flea market. It works great.
    Sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar eats you.

  4. #24
    Boolit Mold
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    Image missing

  5. #25
    Boolit Mold
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    Aug 2013
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    Stupid me .... I never thought of the dutch oven. Well it's Harbor Freight on the way home. I want to make or find a better way of making the ingots. I saw the homemade mold, but what did you use metal wise (type and thickness). I have the standard 1/2 to 1 pounders, but I would like to make 3 - 5 # ingots. I use the old muffin tins to get close to 2#, but they do not hold up long. I shoot a lot and need to speed up the process.

  6. #26
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
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    20
    Id watch this show. lol

    My "big" pot is a shorty 50 gal. water heater cut in half. I removed the valve and put a new one from homedepot because the one on it had to use a screwdriver to turn it. Holds about 2000 lbs full but I have never put in more than about 1k. I can use the valve as a bottom pour if I heat it enough but sometimes I have to use a blow torch to keep it flowing. I use a ladle a lot of times still. I use either wood or propane for fuel depending on my mood. Will post pics later. (dark out now)

  7. #27
    Boolit Bub Rick45Colt's Avatar
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    Sep 2011
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    Franklin, Indiana
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    I found and old cast iron pot at the flea market that I use for my rough melt to clean up my wheel weights. I also have a couple of Lee production pots that I tried using on Sunday with disappointing results. I guess I am going to have to use my cast iron pot from now on unless someone has a better electric pot than the Lee one.

  8. #28
    Boolit Grand Master GhostHawk's Avatar
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    Fargo ND
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    Well I just bought a small lee dipper pot. Wasn't looking for bottom pour. I've got a good dipper and I'm comfortable with it.

    So now instead of making a mess of my wifes kitchen I can just sit down in my man cave and make booolits.

    To top things off my sweet wife brought me home a nice big pewter plate she found at the second hand store.
    I figure I'll smelt that down this morning.

  9. #29
    Boolit Buddy michiganmike's Avatar
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    Apr 2012
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    Bob comes across as a pain in the keester, imo. Arrogant.

  10. #30
    Boolit Mold
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    Jul 2014
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    Any idea of what this is?
    Found this at a yard sale. It appears to be for melting lead, except for the threaded hole in the bottom. It also has the numbers 242 on the inside. Does anyone know what this is, besides a heavy cast iron pot with a hole in it?

  11. #31
    Boolit Master
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    NRA Patron Member
    Vet . 2nd of the 47th 9th.Inf. Viet Nam Mar. 67-68

  12. #32
    Boolit Grand Master

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    If you run across an old RCBS Pro-Melt pot that looks like it has had thousands of pounds of lead thru it's spout and you aren't sure if it's safe to use I have a solution for you. Send it back to RCBS and they'll put in all-new electrical components, pot and valve for about $100 plus sales tax, where applicable. Works like a new one, looks like it's been around awhile. I like that!
    Endowment Life Member NRA, Life Member TSRA, Member WACA, NRA Whittington Center, BBHC
    Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe
    I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call, Lonesome Dove
    Some of my favorite recipes start out with a handful of depleted counterbalance devices.

  13. #33
    Boolit Buddy Cold Trigger Finger's Avatar
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    I just scrounged a 8" long 6" dia piece of 3/16" steel pipe and a 1'×2' piece of 1/4" steel plate. Plan is to cut a 1'×1' square of plate and weld the pipe in the center for a casting pot . The flats of the plate should work well for warming ingots and pre heating molds.
    I think my old pick up camper will make a great casting room this winter. I plan on using the propane stove in it for a heat source. Its an old camper that has made its last trip on my trucks. Ive been thinking about hauling it to the landfill. But, I think it will make a great casting room .
    You are being watched.

  14. #34
    Boolit Buddy odinohi's Avatar
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    Apr 2009
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    Clyde, Ohio
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    I have a Lyman 61 that has developed a pretty good drip. I have looked at the rod through magnifying glass and it looks ok. What size drill bit to drill pour hole out?

    Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

  15. #35
    Boolit Master
    toallmy's Avatar
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    May 2015
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    easternshore of va.
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    Reference for later

  16. #36
    Boolit Bub
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    Oct 2015
    Location
    Mackay Queensland, Australia on the East Coast with the Great Barrier Reef offshore
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    Hi fellow casters,
    Whitesmoke from Australia here. It has been a while since I was here last.

    I have taken into my head to fabricate a bottom pour pot. I can see the time saving of a bottom pour pot where I can dispense with the dipper against the advantage of sliding a mold underneath and pulling a lever.The clean lead will be good as well.

    I have reviewed the pearls of wisdom contained in this thread, but still seek yet more information. Information on the best material for the seat and the valve to best resist against the inevitable corrosion is what I seek.

    I am hoping to use stainless steel and it looks from what I have found that 316L might be suitable for low temperatures typically found in a pure lead ball procedure though there is some corrosion at higher temperatures.

    The valve seat is of concern as being that it is not readily removed ( being welded in the the pot base )

    The valve face and stem is no problem, I think, and can be made of say some 1/4" or 5/16" round bar which can be made easily removable and able to be placed in my lathe chuck.

    The pot itself is a cut down 4.5 kilo LPG gas cylinder which will straddle a three ring gas burner. The pot will incorporate a shelf to hold my .535" round ball moulds.
    I don't wish to cast until it gets cooler as it is 95 degrees here at the moment. When it gets cooler towards May I shall cast my years supply which is about 2000 balls.
    If any one has had success with a stainless valve and seat, I would certainly appreciate hearing about it.

    Any other thoughts or advice on this which you can offer particularly regarding the valve /seat alternate material shall be appreciated.

    Thanks in advance

    Whitesmoke
    Last edited by Whitesmoke; 03-26-2021 at 01:27 AM.

  17. #37
    Boolit Bub
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    Mar 2021
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    Missouri ridge runner
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    59
    Wow, perfect setup for info.
    Thanks

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check