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Thread: casting equipment recommendations?

  1. #11
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    "best simple equipment for the money"

    I use/recommend a Lee Magnum lead pot. Holds 20 lbs of lead, no moving parts, unlike those that have a lower spout for pouring molten lead. Simply plug her in, and add lead... Costs around $60, but you can find better values, esp. if you hunt around, and use sites such as Ebay.

    Hope this helps!

    Semper Fi,
    Rob Freeman
    Col, USMC (Ret.)
    1987-2019

    The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. - Vince Lombardi

  2. #12
    jonk is offline
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    Again, it is a question of what works for you. I started with a propane torch and ladle for round balls when I was 14. I moved up to a Lee 5 pound dipping pot (electric) when I was 18 and ladle pouring. I moved up to a 10 pound Lee pot with bottom pour when I was about 25, and recently bought a 20 pound Lee bottom pour.

    I absorbed all of what was said about casting minies, you should ladle pour, yada yada yada. Here's my thought. Pure lead you use for minies oxidizes BAD in a very quick way at high temperatures, which is needed for good lead fill out. First pretty colors appear, then a crystaline gold sludge that can't all be fluxed back into the mix. With a dipper, you have no choice but to dip through this sludge for every bullet, which quickly fouls the dipper up royally.

    What causes oxidation? Exposure to air.

    With a bottom pour pot, all the sludge stays on the top. To reduce things further, as soon as the lead turns molten, pour about an inch of kitty litter on top. This seals the lead from the air, helps hold in heat, and stops oxidation. Hold the bullet mold right against the spout to let the pressure of 10-20 pounds of lead force fill the minie. This assumes a mold with vent lines.

    Ladle pouring I got about 50% rejects. Now when things are up to temp I get about 10% rejects with pure lead.

    Now, with alloys like tin in the mix, this oxidation isn't an issue.

    So: I keep the 20 pound pot with pure lead in it for minies, the 10 pound pot with wheelweights for smokeless bullets, and the 5 pound ladle pour pot for sharps and roundball bullets, cast of 3 parts pure lead to 1 part wheelweights.

    I agree, Lee pots are drippy. And the nozzles can clog. I keep a screwdriver on the bench to turn the pour stopper to ream out the crud that accumulates in the spout, and a dental pick to jam up in there if things get stuck.

    I've seen RCBS and Lyman furnaces. Very nice. But I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on one when the Lees work just fine with a little attention for 1/5 the price.

    On the other hand, I know many, many shooters who swear that ladle dipping is the only way to go- some of whom have responded here. I have no doubt they get good results. Each person's technique, and each mold is unique; you just have to find what you like.

    My advice is to get a Lee 5 pound electric and a Lee 10 pound electric both, which you can do for under $100 delivered. See what you prefer; having an extra on hand is good. Run both, when one gets low, you can top off and keep casting without having to re-fill the lead and wait for it to melt. Or sell/trade the one you decide you don't like.

    Nice thing about the electrics in general is, you can run them indoors.

  3. #13
    tony 1st regt is offline
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    for all those who use a bottom pour pot and have problems with them dripping from crud getting into the hole. Get a piece of bicycle derailer cable about 12" long flux and tin the ends so that they do not unravel. When the spout starts to drip take a pair of needle nose pliers and grip the wire about 1" from the end. Push it up into the spout from the bottom and with a circular motion move around the spout, very little lead will flow out and after a turn or two the dripping will stop. Discovered this over 15 yrs ago.. ++ on the lee 20 pounder, good pot for a fair price

  4. #14
    Ron/The Old Reb Guest
    The last thing you want to use to clean out the spout of a bottom pure pot is a dental pick or any type of steel wire. It can scratch the valve stem and cause it to leak. Then the only way to stop the leak is to replace it. You want to use a piece of brass or copper wire. My son used a paper clip to clean out the spout on my 20 pound Lyman pot and guess what, it leaked like a sieve. I had to drain the pot and replace the valve stem. It only takes a very fine scratch to make it leek.

  5. #15
    tony 1st regt is offline
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    the stainless steel wire alloy that is used for derailer cables may be softer than the spout material, as stated, 15 yrs of use without a problem, also there is little if any pressure exerted on the spout hole or plunger. try it if you care to.. I agree with not using dental pics or paper clips. If I could find some brass cable like the derailer cable I would switch to maybe avoid any problems, tried copper electrical wire but it wasn't stiff enough to do the job

  6. #16
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    When I have had particularly bad dribbles what I do is chuck up a flat-bladed bit in my cordless drill and spin the valve stem for several seconds.

    This seems to polish everything out and makes everything seal nicely again.

    Steve

  7. #17
    Ron/The Old Reb Guest
    I have been casting bullets with a bottom pore pot for at least 50 years. Still have the first Lyman furnace I bought that is a least 45 years old. I just used it about two weeks ago. I have all ways used a piece of, I think No. 12, copper wire without any problem. You can buy brass wire of different thickness at Ace Hardware stores. Flux the lead regularly use a stainless steel soup spoon to scrap the sides and bottom of the pot when you flux and clean off the dross. You will get a lot fewer drips.
    Last edited by Ron/The Old Reb; 08-08-2013 at 08:38 AM.

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