Pot insulation

[abunaitoo]

I've worked on Lee, Lyman and RCBS pots.
I noticed that the Lee pot has no insulation around the pot.
Has anyone tired to insulate a Lee pot to see if it would help it keep heat in better????

[Beagle333]

No, but I been thinkin about tryin it. I bought "most" of a refurbished pot, but it doesn't have the aluminum housing, so I was going to insulate it somehow and make a wooden stand to hold it up.
So I thought I had better insulate the pot, both to help it hold heat and to keep the new wooden support structure from charring (or worse).

[tazman]

When I read this the lights came on. I had never considered insulating the pot or that it might not have insulation already there.

My job included rebuilding gas fired furnaces for a heat treating department as well as using them. One of the materials we used was ceramic fiber insulation otherwise known as ceramic blanket insulation. It is completely fireproof and has extremely high insulating properties. It can be purchased in many different thicknesses and widths. Getting such a small amount as you would need for this project might be a little problematic unless you know of a factory using it.
To demonstrate how well it worked we used to take a steel rod 1 inch square and and heat the last 6 inches of it bright cherry red. Then we would place 1/4 inch thickness of this insulating material on your bare hand and place the rod on it. You would not be burned and could hold it almost indefinitely.
This material is also a non conductor since it is ceramic. Quite easy to cut fold and shape. Made rebuilding the furnaces much easier and faster than the old firebrick we used to use. Feels much like dacron fiber padding. and handles much the same way.
This material would be perfect for this application.
One of the manufacturers named it inswool. Several different companies manufactured it, so it should be available.

[Beagle333]

I had never considered insulating the pot or that it might not have insulation already there.

Yep, it's just a heating coil wrapped around a bare metal pot sitting in a bare aluminum can.

[kitsap]

Small amounts of Kaowool insulation available here:

https://secure.anvilfire.com/

DougF

[tazman]

Yup. That is one of the brands we used from time to time.

[Beagle333]

Thanks Doug!!

[bangerjim]

All 3 of my Lee pots have for years work just fine without insulation. There is very little if any room in there to put it. The t-stat works off temps inside the metal housing (not the pot) and assume the standard construction, so that would change the settings you are used to.

Unless you are casting in the North Pole, the heat loss is normally negligible

But let us know what you end up with.

banger

[odinohi]

Thanks for the link. Reasonable prices too. Have several pots I'm trying to restore.

Small amounts of Kaowool insulation available here:

https://secure.anvilfire.com/

DougF

[imashooter2]

If you added insulation inside the can, wouldn't that limit the pot heating to a narrow band around the element? Seems counterproductive to me.

[William Yanda]

With the coil in direct contact with the pot, the Al can is warmed mostly by radiant heat. When I first disassembled mine that occurred to me and I grabbed some (shhh the nannys are listening) asbestos. Since I put it in before I used it I can't compare but it seemed like a no brainer to me.

I did not sniff the stuff-honest.