Use a ladle and forget the bottom pours

[M. De Land]

I've used both and a ladle will do a better job over the long haul, especially with large bullets.
There are a couple of reason for this. First you are drawing lead from the center of the melt not the bottom and it make for more uniform heat.
Second you are far less likely to get any slag in your ball or bullet drawing from the middle of the melt.
Thirdly , you can always get the same head pressure with a ladle.
Fourthly, you can easily keep the ladle spout and bowl clean by simply bumping them on a wood block.
Fifth, melters are cheaper than bottom pore rigs.
Sixth, better control and flexibility over mold and ladle manipulation.It's easier to make good balls or bullets.
I've plugged up all but one of my three bottom pour pots and use a ladle for everything. MD

 

[matt denison]

I agree. I've come full circle from ladel to bottom pour and now back to ladle mostly for this reason:

"Thirdly , you can always get the same head pressure with a ladle."

And you can pour faster and this is 'specially important for larger balls.

One more thing is the potential for the bottom pour to keep pouring after you wanted it to stop. What a mess!

 

[nkbj]

Like when you turn the pot on to get hot, come back later and half the metal has flowed out the spout?
OH NO MISTER BILL!!! :rotf:

 

[Billnpatti]

I much prefer the ladle to the bottom pour pot. I had an electric pot from which I dipped lead and thought I'd move up to a bottom pour pot. I used and cussed my bottom pour pot for a few years and then one day, the thing stuck in the open position and I had hot lead running everywhere. Amost instantly it ran over the edge of the table and, had I not jumped up, I would have had it in my unprotected lap. The thought of having to go to the hospital to be treated for fried "gonyockolies" made me get rid of my bottom pour pot and get a regular ladle pot. Now, I am happy as a box of birds with my new pot. No more bottom pour pots for me. But, them as wants them can have them.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Like when you turn the pot on to get hot, come back later and half the metal has flowed out the spout?
OH NO MISTER BILL!!! :rotf:

You mean, like this? :shocked2:

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[Rifleman1776]

Actually, I prefer the concept of the bottom pour. But only if the pot is well designed. I successfully used, and liked, a Lyman for many years. Several years ago I got a Lee and completely dislike it. Not well designed and the shut off is unreliable. I now dip and find that method to be satisfactory.

 

[Maven]

"Actually, I prefer the concept of the bottom pour, but only if the pot is well designed."

I couldn't agree more. However, I never was able to prevent my Lee 10- and 20 lb. furnaces from dripping, or worse, leaking several pounds of hot alloy. That happened only once, which led me to remove the operating rods and plug both of them. Not 1 drip since then! Btw, I only had 1 bullet mould which cast better when bottom pouring than the ladle, but I later sold it as it was no more accurate in my CF rifle than others I already owned.

 

[Little Wattsy]

I am definitely a ladel fan.. Definitely :thumbsup:

 

[leslie]

I have used a Lee bottom pour for over 20 yrs.and after I learned to never pour below 1/3 full except when I am planning on cleaning it.I clean it out completely a couple times a year.No problems.It also helps to skim the dross thoroughly and to twist the screw on the plunger before you shut it down.I weigh the balls and have few rejects usually due to getting in a hurry.

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

I use a bottom pour ladle I bought a Buffalo Arms, what camp does that put me in? :grin:

 

[M. De Land]

Well, the discussion is what's fun. What a drag if every one agreed with me! :grin: I have heard of those ladles but think they are a solution in search of a problem, much like locking mold handles. MD

 

[swathdiver]

Ladle or Dipper?

 

[jamesthomas]

I would rather buy round balls than have to deal with a bottom pour, Ladle all the way. :thumbsup:

 

[M. De Land]

Ladle, I also have a flat spouted dipper but it will not give you head pressure like a semi- inclosed/hooded ladle will.
I use it more for pouring chamber casts and that sort of thing with cerosafe. MD

 

[Idaho Ron]

Nothing beats a ladle for big bullets. If all I did were balls or small bullets it might work but I switched years ago and I am not going back. Ron

 

[nkbj]

Like when you turn the pot on to get hot, come back later and half the metal has flowed out the spout?
OH NO MISTER BILL!!! :rotf:

You mean, like this? :shocked2:

[/img]

That looks like more than half!

 

[George T.]

I am a lazy man so I now buy swaged balls. However I used a lee bottom drop pot for years with no problems. My lee (which I still have) has a screw driver slot on the shut off rod. From time to time I would turn it back and forth a few times. I kept it and my molds for the just in case! After years of reloading and casting I try to limit my heavy metal exposure. Geo. T.

 

[rugersworld]

I have used a Lee bottom pour for over 20 yrs.and after I learned to never pour below 1/3 full except when I am planning on cleaning it.I clean it out completely a couple times a year.No problems.It also helps to skim the dross thoroughly and to twist the screw on the plunger before you shut it down.I weigh the balls and have few rejects usually due to getting in a hurry.

what Charlie said. My Lee 10 pot works great, an ocasional drip, keep it maintained, works great. I also only use cleaned casting material in it so I am not having to scrape out alot of dros.

 

[BrownBear]

I have used a Lee bottom pour for over 20 yrs.and after I learned to never pour below 1/3 full except when I am planning on cleaning it.I clean it out completely a couple times a year.No problems.It also helps to skim the dross thoroughly and to twist the screw on the plunger before you shut it down.I weigh the balls and have few rejects usually due to getting in a hurry.

what Charlie said. My Lee 10 pot works great, an ocasional drip, keep it maintained, works great. I also only use cleaned casting material in it so I am not having to scrape out alot of dros.

Basically the same here. Only time I run into "trouble" is balls and especially conicals over about 54 caliber. A faster pour is real helpful with the big stuff, but not enough to make me try to enlarge the pour hole in the LEE. I use the ladle for big stuff, but stick to the bottom pour for the small. Just a lot more convenient and a lot quicker for me.

Of course, the ladles folks are talking about here are waaaay too small for big lead-eating casts. I also cast halibut jigs and weights up to 32 ounces and downrigger weights to 10 pounds. Dig out the dutch oven for a lead pot and a 5# plumbers ladle for those jobs! If anyone is casting lead balls for cannon, I bet they know exactly what I'm talking about! :grin:

 

[USMCGrunt]

Well, I guess I'll be the voice of disention here. I started out with a ladel, cast iron pot and a camp fire making balls and bullets. I later went up to a Lee 10# bottom pour and while it worked, the capacity wasn't that great and it also suffered from a drippy spout. I eventually bit the bullet and went with an RCBS lead furnace and I haven't had much of any problem with it. I've cast everything from little .31 round balls to .58 caliber Minies and .38s to 535 grain .45 Postell bullets and they all came out fine. The only problem I would have on occasion is during the winter months when the spout would get cold enough that it would plug up but a few quick passes with the propane torch and I was up and running again.