choices

[bud in pa]

My plumbers furnace died. It's old and no parts are available to fix it. I am looking at buying a , gulp, electric pot. I am looking at the Lyman and Lee dipping furnaces. I have no experience with them, so any help would be appreciated. The only thing I I considered was the amount of lead that it can hold, as I cast for my smooth bore. Thanks

 

[oldwood]

I personally prefer lee furnaces. The price is good , and they keep up well when casting large size balls and slugs. ...oldwood

 

[mooman76]

The Lees work good for me, been using them for years. I have 3, all different sizes. Repair parts are available if needed. I've never needed yet though.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I have a Lyman I bought at Cabelas in the "bargain barn" many years ago and it has worked fine. I suspect you will be fine with either.

 

[hanshi]

I've had both the Lyman and a couple of Lee furnaces and prefer the Lee. They're less costly and are excellent quality. I've also dipped from an iron pot and did well.

 

[Walkingeagle]

I’ve only used the Lee. Seems to work fine.
Walk

 

[tenngun]

A little hot plate and small cast iron pot works well

 

[firestick]

I have the Lee that I dip from. Holds 4# of lead. Works fine casting big ol .58 logs from my Lee mold. I have no issues with keeping up. Once up to temp it melts and heats up muffin sized ingots just fine. Melts them at the start faster than I thought it would too. I imagine the 20# pot would take a bit of time to get that much lead up to melting temps but may hold casting temps a bit better if you were to cast fast from a double cavity mold.

 

[Greasecookie]

Waage makes a great lead pot, I have 3 of them, one for each alloy I use (unmentionables ya know). Not cheap, just great. Dipper only.

 

[firestick]

Amendment to my post. My Lee holds 20# not 4#. $3'r would be fine for .45 cal RB but casting .58 slugs I needed a bit bigger pot!

 

[hawkeye2]

Nothing wrong with a Lee and the price is right. I wouldn't go with a bottom pour model as almost all of my casting is with a ladle and I didn't care for the Drip-o-matic feature of the bottom pour Lee I had. If you are casting for a large bore gun I would say go for the largest one you can afford.

 

[Timber Wolf]

Old round bottom cast iron pot on a Turkey Fryer stand is my casting setup. I already had the Turkey Frier and the pot was a gift. I have a larger pot I purchased at a flea market for melting down lead roof boots. I can melt them in the smaller pot but I have to spend more time smashing them flat to fit. I pour the lead in the smaller pot and let it cool. I have a stack of these “pot sized” ingots waiting on there turn back in the pot. I do have one of the Lee “dip-o-matics” mentioned above, it just sits and gathers dust. I just pick a cool Fall or Spring day to sit on the back porch and cast balls/boolits.

 

[GANGGREEN]

I'm curious about something as it relates to this topic. I have one of the bottom pour models, but for some reason, that feature doesn't work, which is fine. I use a small ladle to dip with and I'm curious if you can get enough in that smaller ladle size for a decent pewter nose cap pour. If not, is there any issue with "double dipping" or must the pewter be poured in one consistent pour without a short pause in between multiple pours?

 

[oldwood]

Found an old iron plumbers ladle at a yard sale. It holds 'bout a 2" by 3" pc. of pewter. Knew if I used two pours on the nose cap there would be a wrinkle. Ladle used was sized to be heated by Burnzomatic (??) plumbers torch. Heavily dusted the card stock dam around the stock w/powdered graphite , heated the metal in the ladle, and poured in one shot. Still had a small wrinkle,and fixed it w/30 watt electric solder iron and silver solder , "tin". ........oldwood

 

[Rifleman1776]

Lee works and is disposable if it fails. They are cheap. Avoid the bottom pours. Lyman and a couple other brands are very reliable but expensive. Pick yer pizzen.

 

[NorthFork]

I prefer Lee when it comes to pots and molds. That said I own other brands of pots and molds- Lyman and RCBS and Palmer (and Do-IT for fishing tackle molds). All work just fine. I say pick the type of pot that suits you and in the capacity that you need at the price you are willing to pay and go for it. There really has not been a difference between pot brands in durability that I've found.

 

[mushka]

I've a lee I bought abut 82 or 83. Bottom pour I used for unmentionable pistol bullets. Now I pour .36 and .61 cal balls with it too. It holds about 10 lbs. lead and still does a good job.

 

[Many Klatch]

If you are going to be casting large ball for a smoothbore you will need a large pot. My lead pot is a Lyman Mag20. When I cast ball for my Bess I get 11 balls to the pound of lead. If I was using a smaller pot I would have problems keeping the lead hot enough as fast as I would be draining it. My Lyman pot was a bottom pour that used to leak. I finally got fed up with it and removed the pouring machinery and put a screw in the vent.

The lead ladles that they sell in most locations are too small for my purposes. The cast iron ladle is mounted to the handle with a threaded joint. After a while the joint gets loose and that becomes a pain. I haunt antique stores and buy old plumbers ladles that will hold a pound or so. Look for ladles that are one piece.

With the bigger roundball you have a problem with voids. Fill the mold with hot lead and as it cools it shrinks. If you don't have a pool of hot lead on top of the mold to fill that void you will have air instead. So I pour till the mold is full and then keep on pouring for a few seconds to make the sure the void is filled. This process is much easier with a bigger pot and a larger ladle.

 

[bud in pa]

Thanks to all who replied. I bought the Lee Precision Magnum Furnace.