Lead melter decision

[Clovishound]

I have been using a small gas burner to melt my lead for casting. I want to try an electric furnace to save on gas, and for more precise heat control.

I have decided against a bottom pour, just to keep things simple. A LGS has the small Lee available, or I can order the Lyman for a few dollars more.

On the plus side for the Lee:
It is local.
It has somewhat better reviews online.
It is US made.

Negative:
Smaller size. (although 4 lbs should be plenty for the casting I do.)
Kinda funky looking.

On the plus for the Lyman:
Larger capacity.

Negative:
A couple of bucks more.
Have to wait on it.
Appears to heat more slowly from what I can glean from the reviews.
Made in China.

I am leaning toward the Lee, mainly due to the made in US, and local availability.

Opinions and experiences appreciated.

 

[OKFC05]

I use the Lee now and it is OK. The gas you are using probably will melt a fresh load faster than an electric, but I appreciate a little break after each pot. I learned on an old plumber's gas pot, which would go fast enough to keep two people busy pouring.

 

[venomballistics]

the Lee is probably one of the 4-10 flavors.
the 4 is inches of clearance the 10 is pounds of lead .. though it tends to be a bit short.

Most often I advise folks to get more spendy and buy their gear once.
In this case, the cost is so low that in the years you'll use it before replacing it, I feel that cost difference it offset.
You could get three or four lee pots for the price of an RCBS or Lyman, and grab a spare out of storage every 6 - 8 years of hard use and pretty much have yourself covered for life.
Given that pots tend to die a slow death of corrosion, I can't see how a Lyman or the like could make it past 12 years of hard use, so I see the Lees as being a 24+ year investment at the same price point

 

[Bart45]

I use the 20# Lee w/o spout, and it works very well. An extremely nice product and available at a decent price.

 

[jackpearl]

I have the bottom pour Lyman. If it died tomorrow, I'd get another one. I seem to find plenty to do while it heats up and when it reaches close to 800, I cast the whole pot with no troubles.

 

[Maximumbob54]

If you want to use a ladle then then buy a bottom pour Rowell ladle from Roto-Metals and call Waage (1-800-922-4365) and order the model K4757-1 and start of right and not buy twice.

If you do decide you want a bottom pour then Buy the RCBS Pro Melt (actually made by Waage for RCBS). The Pro Melt only drips if you don't have it adjusted right.

I've gone through a Lee Pro 4-20 and a Lee Production Pot IV. I never could figure how to stop the 4-20 from dripping almost all the time but I still enjoy the IV. But the IV is just tiny. Once you buy a four, five, or six cavity bullet mold then you will find you run out of lead way too fast. The Pro Melt uses a better valve plug design that hardly ever drips.

Lyman has a new model with a built in PID for keeping temperature of your lead consistent but really if you just buy a thermometer (Rotometals sells them) then it's not that hard to keep up.

 

[mikld]

You seem to have your answer. You want a small electric pot for dipping. You don't wanna spend a lot of $$$. You'd like one made in the USA. So, get the Lee..

 

[Tex1001]

The Lee is cheaper, but its heat control is weird (It works, but you REALLY should use a thermometer).

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[mkk41]

I have the bottom pour Lyman. If it died tomorrow, I'd get another one. I seem to find plenty to do while it heats up and when it reaches close to 800, I cast the whole pot with no troubles.

Yeppp!!!

Once ya use a bottom pour pot , you'll curse the time ya wasted using a ladle.

 

[Nframecollector]

I have a 60's vintage Lyman bottom pour and an RCBS promelt that I bought about two years ago. I use some Lee moulds and they're okay.......you get what you pay for. I have no experience with their lead furnaces. I know a lot of people use them but I prefer a higher capacity furnace. My Lyman holds 10 pounds and the RCBS holds 22 pounds!

 

[BruceM]

I have had a RCBS Pro-Melt for years and would recommend them in a New York second. It holds 10 kilos (22 lbs.), has a stainless steel bowl which resists rust, adjustable fill rate valve, a good thermostat and a mold guide for heavy multi-cavity molds. They're pricey-sort of like Dillon equipment but worth every penny. Mine is so old that the price, including shipping, was $104. Some folks say you really don't need the large capacity but I have to tell you, when you start casting fair amounts of 250 grain and larger bullets, the pot empties quickly and with this furnace, you can add a couple of ingots of alloy and the melt comes back up to temperature pretty quickly.

Bruce

 

[fredj338]

IMO, unless you are casting 22, 4# is not nearly enough. I started with a 10#, still use it a bit, but casting 158gr 357 goes thru 4# in a couple minutes (about 130 bullets to empty) & then you have to melt more alloy. All this does is waste time & money. It is easier to keep alloy hot than to get it hot. I would want nothing less than 10#, 20# is better & 40# is ideal. This will handle any casting chore you need done.
On the Lee pots leaking. I have an old 10# & newer 20#, they NEVER leak. The trick, don't empty them, ever. Don;t smelt in them, ever. DO those two things, the Lee pots won't leak. Lee makes very few things I recommend, but their 20# bottom pour pot is worth way more than they sell it for. The Lyman is better, the RCBS better still, but hard to knock it, all it does is melt lead.

 

[cal50]

The Lee pot works good and can be made better with a temperature controller. I ladle pour heavy slugs ( 500~600 grains) and ladle pouring produces better bullets than a bottom pour.

 

[Gunsnwater]

I'm suprised nobody mentioned that if you get the lee and then get a bigger pot you premelt lead in your first pot to feed the new one cutting out the waiting on temp after adding metal. Oh and I start off with a propane torch to speed up the initial melt.

 

[358156hp]

Given that pots tend to die a slow death of corrosion, I can't see how a Lyman or the like could make it past 12 years of hard use, so I see the Lees as being a 24+ year investment at the same price point

My Lyman Mag 20 is about 20 years old. It's the internet, you knew somebody was going to disagree with you.

 

[358156hp]

This is one of lifes great mysteries, Bob. I've known guys who have lapped the stem and seat with a drill and lapping compound. It seems to work for a while, then it leaks again.

I've gone through a Lee Pro 4-20 and a Lee Production Pot IV. I never could figure how to stop the 4-20 from dripping almost all the time but I still enjoy the IV. But the IV is just tiny. Once you buy a four, five, or six cavity bullet mold then you will find you run out of lead way too fast. The Pro Melt uses a better valve plug design that hardly ever drips.

 

[Frank237]

Do a search for WAAGE furnaces. made in NJ. I have a 20# model and it has been flawless for 4 years now. Set the temp on say 750...it IS 750 when checked with a thermometer.

Got tired of replacing the LEE garbage every few years.

 

[fredj338]

The Lee pot works good and can be made better with a temperature controller. I ladle pour heavy slugs ( 500~600 grains) and ladle pouring produces better bullets than a bottom pour.
]

I'm sorry, just how does ladle pouring produce better bullets? I have done 520gr 458 w/ a bottom pour & by pressure casting, easily keep wieghts with 2gr+/_.
Some of you guys work to hard doing simple things. If you want to keep teh Lee 20# @ a constant temp, just add new alloy more slowly. I find adding a 2# ingot to a 2/3 full pot dosen't drop temps at all. Kepe adding alloy like that, preheating anything is just not needed.
If you are a large bullet/volume caster, pony up for a 40# Magma. You can add 10# of alloy at a pop & never slow production.

 

[358156hp]

The ladle works better for me too. My weights are much more consistent that they are when bottom pouring.

 

[Tex1001]

The Lee pot works good and can be made better with a temperature controller. I ladle pour heavy slugs ( 500~600 grains) and ladle pouring produces better bullets than a bottom pour.

Cal:
what kind of a temp controller is that? I'm using a 1/4 DIN Barber Coleman. I also connect it to my RCBS lube/sizer when I run Blue angel lube.

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[Clovishound]

Thanks for all the replies.

Based on posts here, advise from my buddy, and a second look at the Lee melter at the LGS, I decided to order the Lyman melter.

The main reason was capacity. The Lee just seemed too small. I've been dithering about this for a while, now the week wait for it to arrive will seem rather long. Oh well, better to get the model I think will serve me, rather than settle for a too small machine and regret it at leisure. Just wish the Lyman was US made.

 

[GP100man]

I started out on a gas burner,iron pot/ladle.

Then aquired a 10# Lee bottom pour , I poured alot of boolits with that little pot, then bought a 20# & a thermometer, pouredthousands of boolits, 357 to 30 cal no problems once ya get the mold guides like ya want/need em.

Did I mention I`m a addict to the silver stream !! But I can quit anytime I want ,but I don`t want to !!!


Then came a good used Lyman , much gooder mold guide & narry a drip ever ,temp control is good capacity is enuff that I`m tired when it gets low. If the Lyman quit tommorrow I`d order another before dark.

I cast with 1 holer HPs to 6 cavity Lees, but my favorites are qwikly becoming NOEs 4 & 5 cavity molds, light precesion made & rarely a boolit hangs in the cavitys.

Just a couple of pics to get ya appetite up !





Put some thought into sizing & lubing em also.
Ya did`nt mention what calibers, but I found for more consistent/reliable ammo, sizing is desirable for auto calibers .

PS: If you like reloading you`ll love casting !!!

Go to : Cast Boolits for casting overload !!

GP

 

[Clovishound]

Right now I am casting .38 spl. I will be casting 9 mm as soon as I can get the right mold. I am currently pan lubing and using a Lee sizer. I will likely get a luber/sizer sometime in the future, but I have to be very careful with the money I spend on my hobbies, so I have to be patient and plan out major purchases. I don't mind spending the time pan lubing for now.

Right now, casting is more about saving money, and availability of components. It is satisfying when you finish with a batch of home cast bullets. I am hoping that an electric furnace will make things easier and more enjoyable.

My buddy and I have been sharing molds and sizers. Both of us are a little short of the green stuff right now. If I hadn't gotten into reloading last year, I would not be shooting at all right now. No way I could afford to shoot at the prices I see on available ammo these days.

 

[jtcarm]

If casting from scrap, be sure to smelt in something other than your bullet furnace.

 

[Maximumbob54]

Another bit of advice that may be similar to most things in life:

For the most part the more you spend the happier you will be.

 

[bbqncigars]

Mark me down as another guy who gets better results with my Rowell over my ProMelt when casting boolits over 500gr. Much higher reject rate when the ladle isn't used. Lesser boolits cast fine from the furnace, just not with the big ones (especially the NOE big fifty Rockrat boolit).

 

[cal50]

I'm sorry, just how does ladle pouring produce better bullets? I have done 520gr 458 w/ a bottom pour & by pressure casting, easily keep wieghts with 2gr+/_..

The ladle pour fills out the large cavity molds better than bottom pour pots. It could be the ladle fills the mold faster with a larger flow of lead or the velocity behind the pour. Smaller bullets do fine bottom pour but for large molds ladle pouring works best IMHO.

 

[cal50]

Cal:
what kind of a temp controller is that? I'm using a 1/4 DIN Barber Coleman. I also connect it to my RCBS lube/sizer when I run Blue angel lube.

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I can't remember off the top of my head, I will have to look at it but it was $19 off fleabay. The solid state relay was $5 and the temp probe was about $15.
The entire conversation was pretty cheap. Lee stuff works pretty good for the most part and melting lead is really pretty basic stuff, temperature control is the most important thing IMHO.

 

[cal50]

If you want to keep casting without having lead temperature drop from adding lead to the pot just preheat it. I have a $7 hotplate I use to warm my mold. I also set ingots on it to preheat (or melt) before I add to my lee pot. It's just a piece of steel on the hotplate and a tin can.

 

[Clovishound]

OK, after waiting a week for the "free" shipping, my Lyman melter arrived today. Was well packaged, and arrived in pristine condition. I unpacked it and read the brief instructions. Without fanfare, I fired it up, let the oil smoke off and put some lead in it.

First thing I noticed was that it cycles when it heats up. I assume this is normal. It does eventually come up to heat. Takes about the 15 minutes they recommend in the instructions. The other thing I noticed was that it probably should have some melted lead poured in when empty. It wasn't doing too much with the 1 lb ingots I put in empty. The couple of dud bullets I tossed in melted pretty quickly, but the ingots were stubborn until I fired up the gas and melted the couple lbs that were in my coffee can and poured it into the Lyman. Once it got a layer of lead on the bottom, things proceeded much quicker. I cast about a hundred 140 grain SWCs and then put it up to cool. After welding some hinges for a neighbor I came back and the pot was cool to the touch. I fired things back up, and the lead was ready in about 15 min. Still cycled off and on the whole time. This undoubtedly increases melt times, but may extend the life of the components. I was thinking that it would stay on until it came up to temp, then start cycling. This would also let me know things were up to temp. Oh well.

Temp seems consistent. I don't have a thermometer right now, but once everything got up to temp, things seemed pretty consistent. I played around with the adjuster, but seemed to need to be close to max. I'm still new to casting, and go by how long it takes the sprue to solidify. None of the bullets came out frosted.

Other than the long melt time, I really like it. Glad I went with the larger model. Can't imagine a 4 lb pot. I particularly like not have the heat and fumes from the gas burner.

Thanks for all the advise here. It really helped. Now I need to get a 9mm mold and start playing around with casting some of them. I may get a different ladle. Not happy with the little one I have. Doesn't pour that well, and doesn't hold enough metal. Feel like I need to dump and scoop fresh lead each bullet in order to keep everything hot enough. I made a really nice looking new wooden handle for the small ladle my buddy gave me. Ended up scorching it so badly the ferule came loose when I burned off some bullet lube that was on one of the ingots. I won't do that again.