I use a PID with my LEE 20lb. pot. I keep the temp at 630° F.I don't recall the exact temp but it's something like 700 degrees give or take a little. Also alloyed lead actually melts at a slightly lower temp.
I use a PID with my LEE 20lb. pot. I keep the temp at 630° F.I don't recall the exact temp but it's something like 700 degrees give or take a little. Also alloyed lead actually melts at a slightly lower temp.
Is your PID a relay output or a thysistor variable voltage type?I use a PID with my LEE 20lb. pot. I keep the temp at 630° F.
10-4. Just curious.Both actually. It has it's own relay which in turn triggers a SSR relay to send power to the pot. The SSR can be triggered with 5 to 32 volts. The PID can operate on up to 220v. I have since forgotten what the low end minimum power is. I've built about a dozen of these for friends over on Cast Bullet Assoc. Forum. Attached are pictures of one in progress of being built.
To get really hard lead for a K31 I used 1.5% silver. It worked great and helped keep the bullet from fracturing."Hard" lead for modern bullets is alloyed with antimony, a better (Harder) alloy has some tin in it.
See decent modern soft-cover books on casting bullets, maybe just reloading.
If you watch an ingot of your scrap lead freeze slowly, you may see some crystals form in the last stuff to freeze (center of the puddle).
Zink doesn't dissolve much in lead, it is not used as a means of making lead castings harder.
Jim Kelly, P.I.T.A. metallurgist.
Don't spend too much time worrying about lead fumes. The lead would have to reach blast furnace temps to ever get to the fuming point.I plan on getting a Lee production pot. I don't really want to use a cast iron pot because if you get the lead too hot, it can start to fume....or at least that's what I've read.
I have both 10 lb. & 20 lb. LEE bottom pour pots. The 10 lb. I've had for 20 years & replaced the heating element about five years ago. I've had the 20 lb. pot for about ten years. Both are money well spent! I cast for my Flintlocks, Modern Firearms and yes, sinkers for fishing!Also started with a coleman stove and a $2 pot for goodwill. Gas was too costly. Bought a Lee 20lb top pour, and never looked back.
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