Lee bottom pour melting pot is the way to go

[Kenk]

I picked up the 4 lb Lee melting furnace for starters to ensure I would actually like casting before getting the bigger Lee Pro 4 20 Lb Furnace. I?ve pretty much come to the conclusion the bottom pour pot is the way to go. The dinky one works fine for making a small amount of ingots, but between running out of lead too quickly, and having to use a small ladle for my actual casting, it doesn?t work all that great.

[sqlbullet]

I have a 10lb pot.  For many years a friend stored his 20# pot at my house and I used it with his permission.  The 20# pot is a great pot.  The extra capacity makes longer sessions a joy.

I run the 10# pot a little hot and manage temp with sprue going back into the pot.  I try to keep the temp of the lead between 625 and 675.  So, at 675, cut sprues get added back to the pot until it passes 640, which usually results in a 625 degree low point.  I try to anticipate when I will need to add lead and let the temp run up to 700 or 725 then drop a couple of 1# bricks into the pot.

But, with a 20# pot I could just run 10-15 lbs out then take a break while the pot melted down replacement lead.

[The_Shadow]

Hey Ken, I started out with the Lyman Pro 20 furnace which is a bottom pour setup and I has served me very well over the years.
I also have a LEE Drip-O-Matic 20lb bottom pour, I clip a small vice grip to the stem of the pin to add weight and can give it a twist to stop the drips.
It also has made many good bullets.  When I have a large amount of casting to do I use both pots with the LEE as preheating / melt that I pour into the Lyman so I don't have to wait on recovery times.
In this picture I was starting to cast the Lyman 45 caliber Devastator 185 gr HP's which is a single cavity mold with the hollow pointer pin in the bottom.


For large melting operations I use a plumber/roofer furnace that sits on top of its propane tank...

[Kenk]

Thanks guys, had I realized the 20 lb was only like $20.00 more, I would have gotten that one. This one?s just so darn small

https://postimg.cc/CBkjzM0M

[John A.]

I have the 20lb Lee production pot.

It's worked well for years.

I had a mouse get into my shop one winter and it chewed the wires while it was under the bench, but I was able to replace it with a 16 ga extension cord wire.  But I can't fault the pot for that.

It is handy to be able to pour straight from the pot into your mold.  And you can also sit your mold in the top of the pot as it's warming up too so you don't have as many cold pours when you are able to start making bullets.

[Kenk]

Thanks John!