Are casting supplies now in a shortage?

I am under the impression that Lee makes a lot of their products in batch runs. This latest political run and the usual lack of purchasing casting stuff in the springtime caught them flat footed. Just watch or pre order and soon you will be fulfilled.

Got 'em here and on sale:

https://www.natchezss.com/lee-pro-4-20-pot-with-adjustable-mould-guide-220v.html

AJC1 said:

I live in a rental house so the only 220 I have is from the dryer which I do unplugged to run my table saw every once in awhile

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Sorry about that, I didn't notice it was 220V. I see that they are indeed out of the 120V model.

Nothing can get in from China. A lot of made in the USA items are really made in China and assembled in the USA.

yes seems that pots, molds, sizers are hard to get.

Did a little searching around. Plenty of the smaller production pots available. Looking at Lee's sight shows backordered, so very possible they don't make a lot, or they are popular and built/assembled in a location under shutdown.

I bought the 10 lb bottom pour Lee production pot 30 years ago and I'm still using it. I did just cast about 800 32 caliber SWC with it just recently. The only thing I can say about it is I've had absolutely no trouble with it in the last 30 years but the 20 lb pot would definitely be better for bigger runs.
For a beginner the 10 lb pot works well, after you want to up your production you'll find out you wish you had a larger pot.

The advantage to the larger pot is, especially if your running a 4 cavity or larger mold, is that you have to stop and refill it just about the time your mold is good and hot and easy to run. Then the mold cools down and you have to start all over with a cold mold.
The 10lb pot works really well with a 2 cavity mold and seems to be tailored to it.

I keep a 10lb cast iron pot under mine at all times, I had a piece of something get into the pour valve and emptied half the pot before I got it stopped. The cast iron pot earned it's keep that day. I set my mold on top of it to pour into it and that process works great. You can put it up against the nozzle also if you want but I have less incomplete fills this way.

I've seen it said here many times but I will repeat it again, Don't use your production pot for melting wheel weights or any other kind of dirty lead. That's what stuck the valve in mine and tried too empty the pot 30 years ago when I first got it. I had to learn the hard way.

I melt my raw lead down now, outside, in a pot over a fire and keep all that mess out there. What comes into my garage now to be cast are clean ingots and I haven't had that problem since. I still keep that pot under the valve because it catches the drips from the bottom pour valve.

Mine has had a slow drip since day one. That was why I put my 10lb cast iron pot under it when I first started using it. It's slow drip doesn't bother me a bit with the pot catching it.

It's been a great lead pot for me and I would recommend it to anyone starting out.

It's cold now but you can see a frozen drip under it right now. I got it back out and it full of cold lead alloy, so I could take this picture of it.

I keep it full when I store it. It's better for it when you decide to use it again. A full pot of cold lead will keep the element from over heating by pulling the heat from it when you decide to use the next time.

Check Midway. 4-20 110v is in stock this morning. They also have some molds now that were out of stock last week.

Check eBay.

tightgroup tiger said:

I bought the 10 lb bottom pour Lee production pot 30 years ago and I'm still using it. I did just cast about 800 32 caliber SWC with it just recently. The only thing I can say about it is I've had absolutely no trouble with it in the last 30 years but the 20 lb pot would definitely be better for bigger runs.
For a beginner the 10 lb pot works well, after you want to up your production you'll find out you wish you had a larger pot.

The advantage to the larger pot is, especially if your running a 4 cavity or larger mold, is that you have to stop and refill it just about the time your mold is good and hot and easy to run. Then the mold cools down and you have to start all over with a cold mold.
The 10lb pot works really well with a 2 cavity mold and seems to be tailored to it.

I keep a 10lb cast iron pot under mine at all times, I had a piece of something get into the pour valve and emptied half the pot before I got it stopped. The cast iron pot earned it's keep that day. I set my mold on top of it to pour into it and that process works great. You can put it up against the nozzle also if you want but I have less incomplete fills this way.

I've seen it said here many times but I will repeat it again, Don't use your production pot for melting wheel weights or any other kind of dirty lead. That's what stuck the valve in mine and tried too empty the pot 30 years ago when I first got it. I had to learn the hard way.

I melt my raw lead down now, outside, in a pot over a fire and keep all that mess out there. What comes into my garage now to be cast are clean ingots and I haven't had that problem since. I still keep that pot under the valve because it catches the drips from the bottom pour valve.

Mine has had a slow drip since day one. That was why I put my 10lb cast iron pot under it when I first started using it. It's slow drip doesn't bother me a bit with the pot catching it.

It's been a great lead pot for me and I would recommend it to anyone starting out. View attachment 908242

It's cold now but you can see a frozen drip under it right now. I got it back out and it full of cold lead alloy, so I could take this picture of it.

I keep it full when I store it. It's better for it when you decide to use it again. A full pot of cold lead will keep the element from over heating by pulling the heat from it when you decide to use the next time.

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Sometimes those drips can almost qualify as modern art.

Flintshooter said:

View attachment 908370
Sometimes those drips can almost qualify as modern art.

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I think you are on to something there!