Preheating lead ingots?

[Schwing]

I think I know the answer to this but I just want to make sure I am not missing something. I use the 20 lb lee bottom pour pot. The biggest problem with it is that it takes so long to get back up to temp after adding new ingots that it really slows things down, especially since I have multiple molds I rotate through during a casting session. Since I don't spend much time waiting for molds to cool, the pot is the bottleneck.

I bought a toaster oven to screw around with powder coating and had an idea to put my lead ingots in there when I am casting and set it to around 350-400 to get them good and hot so they are not like ice cubes when I put them in the pot.

Any reason this is a bad idea?

 

[rcmodel]

No, not as long as you can trust the toaster oven thermostat not to go over the melting point, catch fire when the molten lead shorts out the wiring, and it burns your house down.

Or you get lead poisoning off your next box of Pop-Tarts?

I just set mine on top of the melting pot a while before I need to put them in the pot.
Then tip them in when needed.

On the other hand, maybe your ingots are too big to melt quickly?
Smaller ingot mold maybe?

I use Muffin Pan size ingots.

rc

 

[Schwing]

Or you get lead poisoning off your next box of Pop-Tarts?

Hehehe I figured the powder coating would be none too good either so the stove will cook poison only and do it outside. I have tried putting them on the top of the pot but, especially when casting .44s or something like 45-70s, it just doesn't keep up.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I have a dedicated toaster oven that I use for heat-treating bullets for hi-vel rifle use.

I never thought of using it to pre-heat, but it might work.
I usually use a fish-cooker to pre-melt my lead.... I have a large (~3gal) stainless steel crucible that was used at a closed down textile mill to melt babbit for bearings in the looms. When one of the mills closed down, one of the retiring engineers knew I was a bullet caster and gave me the crucible. It will hold more lead than I can handle, so I use it to smelt down my w/w's and pre-heat my ingots ! I pour the lead into cast-iron corn-bread stick moulds (~1.2-2lbs each). These will stack nicely in the 20lb Lee prod. pot.
The slim profile makes them melt faster.

Another trick with the Lee is to get a heavier gauge extension cord. I melted a small guage cord, once....I now use one intended for use on an r/v and an adapter plug (from dryer type plug to standard household 3 prong (w/ground). This allows more current to get to the pot and therefore heat faster... But it still is a ~20min wait for the pot to melt and bring to temp 18lbs of alloy.

 

[kelbro]

I use a hot plate that has a ceramic top. You can pre-heat several ingots that way.

 

[floydster]

I set an old saw blade on my hot plate and set ingots on it, works very good.

 

[luzyfuerza]

Pre-heating also makes sure that you have no liquid water on the ingots that go into your pot. Helps avoid visits by the tinsel fairy.

 

[IM391]

I have found the same problem with Lee's bottom pour pot and just don't use the bottom spout anymore. I got a cast iron ladle and pull the hottest lead off the top of the furnace. And you do want to keep your mold hot, just as long as you don't get a frosty appearance on the bottom of your bullets.

 

[41 Mag]

I picked up a double burner hot plate for about $18 out the door. I use the small side for smaller molds and the large side for preheating ingots. If I am using the Lee 6 cavity molds I just swap sides. I am using a cast iron cornbread mold or some angle iron molds to pour ingots with so either one will stack up really nice on either side of the hotplate.

Yep it only takes about 10 minutes to dump the 20# pot using the 300gr 6 cavity molds. The PID is great for this though, pour it down, add new lead, and swap out pans while things are being brought back up to the same temp. You don't have to mess with nothing, just set it and forget it.

 

[Schwing]

I went ahead and gave this a try over the weekend. While it decreased my waiting times significantly, it wasn't perfect. I really like the hot plate idea. I have one for making lube and never thought of using it.

I use muffin tin ingots that are just under 2lbs. In the past, I have noticed about a 70° decrease in my lead pot temp when I put a new ingot in. With the heated ingots, it still drops about 35°. Better... but still a big drop.

In defense of the lee pot, I cast with a friend. He pours the molds and I cut the sprue and empty the molds. We rotate between 3 molds while doing this. This weekend, we were using 2 125 grain six cavity 9mm molds and 1 405 grain 45-70 2 cavity mold. I timed us a couple of times and we were easily chewing through more than a pound of lead per minute when we weren't slacking.

My next session, I am going to try out the hotplate. I would think that, since the heating element will be in direct contact with the ingots, that it will work even better.

 

[twofifty]

I'll have to get into casting one of these days.
The process and the problem solving are mighty appealing.

 

[luzyfuerza]

Here's how the numbers work:

To transform one pound of lead alloy from a 60F solid to a liquid at its melting temperature (say, 650F), you have to add a total of 27.35 BTU. Of this total, 17.7 BTUs are required to raise the temperature from 60F to 650F (at 0.03 BTU/F), and 9.65 BTUs are required to melt that pound of alloy once it reaches 650F.

If you raise the temperature of your ingots from 60F to 350F on a hot plate or in your toaster oven, then this will reduce the total heat input that your pot has to provide by about one third (27.35 versus 18.65 BTU). At the production rates you mentioned, every bit helps.

 

[zxcvbob]

I would suggest running your Lee a little bit hotter, and don't let it run so low before you add another ingot.

A hotplate will be a lot more convenient than a toaster-oven, but either will help -- a little.

 

[788Ham]

I use a 40 lb. propane tank, hooked to an big ol' smoker burner, set an old cast iron kettle on it, wait for the melting to begin. Then dip out what you need into the molten lead pot, sure saves time.

 

[hartcreek]

I set up my sizer and once my lead is melted get to casting. Then when I need to refill my melting pot I am sizing the bullets that I had just cast while the lead is melting.

 

[kelbro]

Forgot to mention that I set the hotplate on med to med-high. High will melt the lead.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

When i cast i use two pots. One to cast out and one to heat lead. I dip lead from the second pot into the casting pot as i go and add that cold lead to the second pot.

 

[rsrocket1]

Don't waste too much time or money thinking about this. If you don't want to take a 20 minute break after casting 15 pounds of bullets, just buy a second pot They're only $70.

 

[doubleh]

My acetylene rig sits just to the side of the table where I set up to cast bullets. A pair of channel lock pliers to hold the ingots and a #2 victor welding tip makes molten lead in a hurry. Not fast enough? Put on a #4 and watch the lead flow. I run the pot almost empty, melt more lead into it, and go on casting.

Not an economical solution just for casting I know but I had the cutting/welding rig to make a living with before I ever started casting bullets.

A Bernz propane torch will accomplish the same thing for not much money. Not as quick but the fuel is a lot cheaper.

 

[GLOOB]

I would suggest running your Lee a little bit hotter, and don't let it run so low before you add another ingot.

I do it the other way. I drive until I'm almost on E, then fill it all the way up.

So, basically what Rocket1 said.

 

[41 Mag]

As mentioned there are various ways to go about it no doubt. I use some 8" x 8" x 2" deep cake pans to dump my bullets into. They seem to hold just the right amount for a full pot pour.

Like I mention above I set one side of the hot plate to heat molds, and the other to heat ingots. Like rsrocket1 said, I take a break when the pot is empty, which usually means my pan is full and those bullets need to be put somewhere, or another pan needs setting up. Either way, it gives me a chance to stretch my back, legs, or fetch a drink, while in the mean time my molds are either staying warm or warming up, as are the ingots which were piled on the second burner. I usually keep the plate temp on it around 350-400, so it isn't going to melt them, but at the same time, they don't take long in the pot either.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

another thing i like about my two pot method is neither pot ever gets empy. I like to allways leave my pots full when i shut them off so they dont rust and doing it this way i dont have to stand around waiting to melt the pot back full when im done.

 

[Schwing]

It hasn't escaped me to turn the lee pot to full power

Buying a second pot has been a tempting option a time or two. I like the idea of having a backup if one goes down. I have also considered using my turkey fryer and dutch oven that I cast ingots with to keep things rolling.

One of my concerns, whether a real one or just conceptual, is casting at consistent temps. I have fiddled around with bullets from the same alloy cast at different temps and they do, in fact, have different diameters, weights, fill-out, etc. I have started adding my own tin to get better fill-out at around 700° to 750° and it has helped. My reasoning behind this is that some of my molds tend to drop on the small side and some of my barrels are on the large side.

I was questioning maybe buying a 220 pot. Do any of you know if the 220 version is more efficient than the 110? I don't have a 220 outlet where I melt but I have the ability to put one there if needed.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I don't have the experience that many of you have. But what works for me is getting my full Lee 4-20 pot up to temperature, then cast about 100 boolits, crank the heat all the way up, put in another 2lb ingot, wait 15-20 seconds, cast another 100 boolits without touching the heat setting, add another 2lb ingot, cast another 100. It seems to keep my lead at a fairly consistent temp, nice uniform fill out, weight, and diameter. But I only cast with one mould at a time and 600 boolits is about all I ever cast in a session. I'm probably far from breaking any speed records but it keeps me at a nice comfortable pace and gives me good boolits.

 

[loose noose]

I've got a one burner propane camping stove, that I place my lead in a cast iron pot, I then flux my lead before ever placing it in my Lee Production pot. That way I can keep casting bullets and keep the temperature at an even temperature.