And since there seems to be a ten pic limit here is where it all used to happen.
And since there seems to be a ten pic limit here is where it all used to happen.
Unusual pot there Mark. The Electro Melter. Nice stack of 311284s there. I'd take some pics of my setup, but I don't think you'd like seeing the mess. I have a homemade bench under there somewhere!
"If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny."
-Thomas Jefferson
It was one year ago this week that I got the Electro Melter for 40 bucks at a gunshow. Wow. Hundreds of pounds of alloy later what can I say but wow! If you eve find one grab it! 50 lbs of alloy at a whack.
I often cast smaller batches of boolits. It's easier on the old body, and still gives me a decent sample group to test a new boolit, new lube, or to work up a new powder load with.
Not very high tech, I am simply casting on the picnic table, and dropping boolits on a soft old towel. I set my hand held pot up on a fire brick. I have glued a wooden handle holder together, and have a piece of old plywood on the table top so as not to scar the surface. My mould and ingot pre-warmer is an old skill saw blade set on top of an inexpensive electric hot plate.
Here's a small batch of 100 or wad cutters I cast during a cool evening.
A photo of my electric hotplate mould pre-warmer oven.
(Thanks to JohnB_in_Glencoe for the handle idea)
It works great when there's a breeze or wind blowing while casting.
A container of 250 or so Lee 358-158-RF. Also cast using my little Palmer Hot Pot.
When I cast in small batches like this, I often use something called an Electric Ladle. Mine is a Palmer brand Hot Pot. I found this larger better image online, of a Palmer Hot Pot.
There are also a few other threads on Cast Boolits about their use. A quick search turned up this one.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...th-A-Hot-Pot-2
Basically the Palmer Hot Pot is a small hand held melting pot that you pour from like a giant electric plug in ladle. The downside is that it only holds a few lbs of molten alloy at a time, and requires a much smaller ingot.
I've found that mini muffin ingots work well with the Hot Pot, so I often custom blend up mini muffin ingots just to use with the Palmer Hot Pot.
I like to smelt my lead into ingots using a gas, or a propane Coleman camp stove and a cast iron pot. Here's a few images of me making a small batch of mini-muffin ingots on the Coleman stove from Dental X-ray lead backing film foils.
Melting down some X-ray lead foil backings. I flux and reduce with sawdust and paraffin. (I also stir & scrape the mixture with a dry hardwood stick)
Some mini-ingots for my small hand held electric pot. The ingots sure drop easily from my old rusty mini muffin pan.
Finished product: A handful of mini muffin ingots. Shown next to a few larger bottom of the pot ingots.
- Bullwolf
Due to where i live in the city, I think i will have to buy some clean ingots instead. Not sure i will be able to smelt any wheel weights eventhough i have a pretty big backyard & a garage.
I have been messing around with my hot plate and smelting just outside of my garage. If you get a pot with a base the size of the hot plate burner then this is doable. Do it at night when everyone is asleep, no fume complaints!
"The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."
- Samuel Adams
COTEP CBOB0736
Here's mine. Stacked pots with PID on bottom one. Fan box to cool sprue cutter (as needed, it's switched), removeable catch boxes for the sprues and drips from spout. Padded sloping shelves to catch bullets that eventually dump into boxes in the rear. Upper pot is reversed and has spacers to nicely clear bottom pot which can slide back for filling. Upper is lag screwed to unit, can't tip. Lower pot has smooth aluminum floor spacered to get proper clearance and rounded front lets you sweep the drips into that little catch box. LED to light up the sprue holes for visibility. Aluminum warming shelves on both pots to preheat the moulds and ingots to add to the top pot while casting. Everything there and minimum shuffling.
Mike
Benefactor Member NRA
Life Member Iowa Firearms Coalition
US Army Vet
There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation.
One is by the sword. The other is by debt.”
John Adams 1826
Mike that is a sweet rig! Lot of thought and energy went into it.
"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." --H. L. Menchen
Sweet well thought out set up Mike.
Cat
Cogito, ergo armatum sum.
(I think, therefore I'm armed.)
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 |