Bullet casting furnace question.

[Mike from OK]

Mike

Just please be careful with that pot and not tip it over when you have hot lead in it.

There is a guy that I shot with in WI, a few years ago he tipped his pot over and severely burned his foot.   I try to wear a pair of pull on boots that are leather when I cast now.   I can get them off in a hurry if needed and they provide better protection then a pair of boots that has an open front and not 100% leather.

Fleener

Yes sir. I usually "glove up" quite a bit. Always try to be extra careful. But as the old saying goes... caca occurs.

Mike

[R.J.Bruce]

I have a bottom pour pot that is sitting under the bench.   A bought a Waage years ago.   You might have to call them regarding their pot made for casting bullets.   Might not be on their website.

I like it.   The key to good casting is temp. control.   For that you need a pot that does not have wide swings in temps.

Fleener

Fleener,
              What is the capacity of your Waage pot? Does it have the P.I.D. temperature controller? Does it have a model number that can be used when calling for pricing?

Thanks,
              Bruce

[Nazgul]

Always wear heavy gloves, eye protection, cotton clothes or an apron, heavy leather shoes.

The man that was teaching me to cast 50 years ago was talking to me and dumped a full ladle of molten lead into his boot. Learned right away to wear proper clothing.

Don

[R.J.Bruce]

Full cap steel toed boots with the thick leather flap that covers the laces, a leather apron like a blacksmith  would wear (made it myself from bullhide purchased from Tandy Leather), long sleeve shirt, and leather gauntlet gloves.

I only had to drop molten lead on a pair of regular 10" leather boots once to convince myself to take greater precautions than wnen I first started casting at age 17 with no one to mentor me.

[snapper]

My Waage I think holds right around 20 lbs.    I cant answer your question regarding the controller.   You can see the model number in one of the pictures.   I dont know how long I have had it, but it has been a few years and I like it.    Might be me, but I think it holds the temp very well, and that is IMO one of the keys to throwing good bullets.

Also since I was taking pictures, a picture of my fume hood.   I bought it at the University surplus sale, I like it because it has a light built in and I vented to the outside of my shop.   The thick plastic keep me safe.   I dont wear any safety glasses, simply no need.

I keep the pot  when casting quite a ways from the edge.   I have to reach in to get a dipper of lead.   Little chance of tipping the pot over.   I also use pieces of cement fiberboard siding around the pot.   That stuff just does not burn well.

I also use a surplus scientific hot plate for pre heating my mold.   I start casting good bullets from the start.   Steel molds take longer to get up to temp then a AL one.

I have a dedicated spot on my work bench for the casting setup.   I rigged up the hood so I can store it all the way up next to the ceiling on ropes and pulleys, however I never do that.


Fleener














paypal pic

[Daryl]

That's a cool pot, Fleener. I also wear heavy work gloves when casting nowadays as I open the sprue with my hand and only tap the hinge screw if needed
to drop a ball or bullet from the mould.
I've worn out a Lyman pot, suffice to say my old cousin had used it for 20 years first and he was a prolific caster and shooter of cast bullets. I think he only shot jacketed
for hunting & he was a 3-position shooter.
I've also worn out 2 Lee 10 pound pots and thought I had my first Lee 20 pounder until I opened it up and simply re-wired it. That is why I now have a hard lead 20 pound
Lee pot and a soft lead 20 pound Lee pot.  I should have done this eon's ago.
Take note boys.
 

[R.J.Bruce]

My Waage I think holds right around 20 lbs.    I cant answer your question regarding the controller.   You can see the model number in one of the pictures.   I dont know how long I have had it, but it has been a few years and I like it.    Might be me, but I think it holds the temp very well, and that is IMO one of the keys to throwing good bullets.

Also since I was taking pictures, a picture of my fume hood.   I bought it at the University surplus sale, I like it because it has a light built in and I vented to the outside of my shop.   The thick plastic keep me safe.   I dont wear any safety glasses, simply no need.

I keep the pot  when casting quite a ways from the edge.   I have to reach in to get a dipper of lead.   Little chance of tipping the pot over.   I also use pieces of cement fiberboard siding around the pot.   That stuff just does not burn well.

I also use a surplus scientific hot plate for pre heating my mold.   I start casting good bullets from the start.   Steel molds take longer to get up to temp then a AL one.

I have a dedicated spot on my work bench for the casting setup.   I rigged up the hood so I can store it all the way up next to the ceiling on ropes and pulleys, however I never do that.


Fleener














paypal pic

Thanks  very much for images of the pot, and your casting bench set-up. That fume hood is a great idea. When I started at 17 it was in my mother's kitchen on the 4-burner gas stove  that was butted up against the rear wall of the row house in Baltimore City. The 1950's exhaust fan was installed in the rear wall of the kitchen directly above the stove at about 6' high. I used the front burner nearest the exhaust fan, a cheap aluminum pot, a ladle made from a commercial serving spoon with the handle sandwiched between two pieces of juniper harvested from a tree in the backyard, and a DGW scissors mold for .445 balls. A pair of dikes to cut off the sprues, and an old bath towel to drop the cast balls onto.

That's all I started with, until common sense prevailed, and that first drop of lead on my boots. Fortunately, boots were all I wore in those days, unless I was playing sports.

[45-110]

Take a look at the RCBS easy melt furnace that has the PID controller. I love mine so far and that is based upon 50 yrs of casting with Lyman's, Lee, camp stoves and the old style Saeco pots. The Rcbs is not a bottom pour and controls the temp well. Its also reasonably priced.
kw

[wmrike]

For years and years I used a pot on a Coleman stove.  Last Christmas my wife got me a ten-pound (I think) Lee bottom pour.  I had no idea how good life could be.  It's neat and clean, very stable, and incredibly quick to temperature.  As was noted earlier, any system brings its own learning curve, but that's part of the fun.