Bottom Pour Pots.

[ELFEGO BACA]

Years ago I had a Lee Production Pot. It worked great even with my first 6 cavity Lee mold but it drained the pot fast.

I then got a old beat up Saeco 20 lb bottom pot with an old Hensley and Gibbs 6 cavity mold. They both stayed with me for a few years.

I replaced it with a Lyman 20lb one that I got on a 'gun' trade. I still use it. About once a year I need to replace the cord. The contacts 'burn out' at the pot.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Hey, sounds like we got an electrician on board. Welcome to the board spottedpony.

Regards,

Dave

[cbrick]

My Magma 40# pot was hardly up to casting temp the first time before I couldn't believe I had ever used anything else.

A point that I didn't see mentioned in this thread is the value of 40 pounds of alloy at a time that is all the same. You can pour 20 pounds or so into ingots and add another 20 pounds to the pot. By recycling some of the already poured ingots back in you can blend several hundred pounds of alloy that is all of the same lot. If your looking for consistency in your alloy this is the way to go.

Rick

[kodiak1]

cbrick that is a good point that I hadn't even considered yet. I got nothing against the little lee it just empties out to fast. Sooooo if you are going to replace my theory is going big go bigger. Also 20, 40 or 90 pounds of all the same mix well there has to be something to say about that.
Thanks for the input and advice guys.
Ken.

[spottedpony]

Hey, sounds like we got an electrician on board. Welcome to the board spottedpony.

Regards,

Dave

Ive been called that, (among other things lol) but yes, ive been in the trade for over 20 years.

In addition to my previous post regarding circuit calculations, as an addendum, assuming a clean circuit, (no other load applied) any wattage combination not to exceed 1920 watts @ 120 volts can be used on a 20 amp circuit, though occasionally i've seen 20 amp breakers on the sensitive side that would trip at a max load. Generally speaking though one could run 2-700 watt pots + a 500 with no problems. Bear in mind in cases of GFCI protection, most installed devices are 15 amp, and may result in nucense trips due to this limitation. inadiquate extension cords can cause problems too


Sorry for the slow reply, i sort of lost track of this thread, & thanks to all for the welcome.

[9.3X62AL]

That Magma 40#'er sounds intriguing.....but I'm pretty happy with the RCBS furnace I have. One interesting factoid about them--Art Green, a metals dealer in L.A. that I've done business with, has several of these furnaces in his office/shop. He regards them highly, stating they are "impossible to break".

Slick's two-pot idea is a pretty good one, but much of my casting involves smaller boolits (75-150 grains) that don't empty out the pot as fast as do the 45-70 and 500 S&W slugs. I do have an old 10# Lee that could be pressed into service while the RCBS re-heats. I'll tell ya--casting up a 1# coffee can full of 95 grain 243 boolits or 72 grain 25-20 slugs with two-holers will take up an afternoon or two--and the breaks while the pot re-heats are a welcome respite.

[LAH]

1# coffee can full of 95 grain 243 boolits or 72 grain 25-20 slugs with two-holers will take up an afternoon or two

Those who cast small bullets are a different breed..........Creeker

[robertbank]

Other than my 9MM and .45acp mold all the rest are either one or two holers. I get around the time factor by always casting one of my rifle/revolver boolits when I am doing the 9 or .45. That way I am always accumulating boolits of different calibers whilst casting my volume rounds.

Take Care

Bob