Bottom pour pot etiquette

Mitty38

Well-Known Member
Just wanted to talk about how I deal with ending and starting bottom pour pot cast.
Kind of interested if anybody else does something different. And the thinking behind it.

Keep in mind I use 3x fluxed lead alloys only in the pot.

I Always scrape the crap off the sides as it is cooling..
Then
I leave a pound of lead in the pot when I am done with the crap and carbon left on the top. M ark what mix it was on a 3x5 card and throw it on top once it cools.

When I start up for the same alloy. I just let the small amount in the pot make a puddle, add the ingot till it is full and let it melt. Then push the crap from the last poured half way down a couple times , then Skim it off. After that I add enough ingot to get me to the 18 lb mark then throw some cheese wax on it, fold it in and when I have enough carbon floating . Start the pour.

Now when I switch from a hard alloy to a softer one like my Pistol mix, or 30 to 1.
The only difference is I add 1 pound of pure to dilute the hard alloy that was left a bit then fill the rest of the way with my desired alloy keeps me from having to drain and clean the spout.

When I go from soft to hard. ( The alloy in the pot not me). I get the pot hot, scrape the crap off the 1 pound puddle and drain it into ingot. Then clean the pot and spout well, then start from clean.
 

popper

Well-Known Member
Etiquette for casting? Don't have any. Actually I do pretty much what you do, but usually pot is half empty when it cools. Only have 3 alloys, pistol, rifle and hard rifle.
 

BudHyett

Active Member
Fill pot to the three-quarter level, scrape the sides, scrape the bottom, flux again until the metal is shiny, and let cool. I use corn meal for flux in the pot, Marvelux for flux while smelting. I may be the only person in the casting world who uses corn meal for flux, but it works.

Whenever we get three non-rainy days in a row, I'll smelt next year's supply of used linotype to have one consistent alloy for 2022 competition. I am fortunate to have a pot for linotype and a pot for Schuetzen, thus do not mix alloys.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I leave in my pot whatever was in it when I finished, and I usually finish by continuing to pour bullets until there's only about a half-inch of alloy left in the bottom. USUALLY. Sometimes I get interrupted and shut it off with as much as a full pot. The only time I empty the pot is if I have the intent of cleaning it, so I will drain out almost all of it through the spout into an ingot mould, and then turn the pot upside-down into a cake pan (while hot) - with a slight smack, but not too harsh - just enough to jar some stuff loose. Then, I turn it right-side-up and let it cool to clean it later. I don't/don't have to clean it often, but have gotten some gnarly "alloy" a few times, with which I do not wish to pollute the next batch.

One thing that I have learned over the course of 30+ years on the same two 10# LEE bottom-pour pots is that head pressure affects mould fill out a lot. Not so much at first, but after cleaning the spouts numerous times over the years, the orifice has gotten larger and it is very touchy. If I'm pouring 35 cal or smaller, I cannot fill the pot more than half way or the alloy rushes in so fast that I get some very crazy-looking voids in my bullets. Drove me nuts until I figured that one out.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
i got three pots i ain't ever emptied since the 90's.
i keep threatening to, but then i turn the pot on and cast with it and unplug it while it's still full.
sometimes i over fill them [oops]
i hardly ever flux,i mostly just scrape the stuff off the top and toss it in a bucket to re run out back with the other junk that needs cleaned.
but then more stuff forms on top again eventually making me wonder why i scraped the oxide covering off in the first place.
 

Matt

Active Member
Etiquette is close enough to protocol to work in this situation. Want your bottom pour to stop dripping? Empty it every casting session, use a wire brush to clean the inside of the pot, including the stopper rod. Once the pot is cool turn it over into the trash and dump the debri. Every so often remove the rod and clean it thoroughly. To get the pot empty easily set that back of the pot on a 1/2” high block when there is a about a 1/2 inch of alloy left. At that point turn the pot off so your element doesn’t burn itself out. I do this with my RCBS and Lee pots and they don’t drip. I’m then ready to fill the furnace with the alloy I want to cast with next session.
 

STIHL

Well-Known Member
I fill it up when I’m done. I may throw some sawdust in it to help with the oxides, I try to keep it fluxed, but end up adding back to it and that’s trashed. Or the wind blow and blows all my carbon off. So I usually just stir it around and scrape it and skim the crap off, sawdust it again snd go through the whole orocees again. I’ve emptied mine maybe 2 times. And really wider why I did it thay time. Seems to work for me.

Corn meal! I’m going to have to try that one.
 

Mitty38

Well-Known Member
Had an issue with excessive dripping , once.
When I first got the pot.
I cleaned it after the first session and it never dripped significantly again.except for a couple during warm up. And maybe A few times during a long pour.

Guess I am kind of a slob, cause a little drip coin the size of a half dollar, laying on the base don't bother me. I just pick it up and throw it back in the pot with the sprues.

I usually spill way more when filling the, mould then when I drip.

I never flux in my pot , with anything that is a true flux,. Ie. Sawdust corn meal ect.
I just use wax to pull up minor impurities and put a coat in on the top so I do not loose tin. All my lead is pretty much pre alloyed pre fluxed. So I really don't stir it either, just push the tin and antimony back down in the mix with the wax. So I rarely do not get a lot of crud down in the spout. I kind of take that as why my pot only drips 3 or 4 times during a pour. And don't dribble.

3 or 4 drips a pour does not bother me, Now if it started leaking so bad it ran off the base then maybe I would do some cleaning. But that is what the catch pan is for, right?.;)
You should see my catch pan after a long pour. Looks like I murdered a lead filled monkey with a stick. LOL
Sorry, OCD fellows.¯\_(ツ)_/¯


As far as etiquette I always talk to my casting pot nicely, and never touch it's handle till it is ready for me too.
I also put it away in its own box and tell it I love it and will see it later.┬──┬ ¯\_(ツ)
 
Last edited:

dale2242

Well-Known Member
I have only one pot, a Lee 4 20.
I completely empty and clean it each time unless I am not done with the alloy I am using each session.
When I am done with the alloy I am using I empty and clean the pot.
I don`t know which alloy i will be using next session.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Have four, all filed with different alloys. Use a China marker (grease pencil) to identify what alloy is in each. Write right on the metal housing. Erasable with a Magic Eraser. The only pot I keep low, approximately one inch of alloy, is the Lyman Mag 25..................I can't trust it. PID readout quit on me in the middle of a casting session. Frantically, dipped out the alloy, before it solidified. When I gotto looking into it, I found a blown mini glass fuse. Replaced it and it's been working for several casting sessions but for how long?

Lee 20# has pure lead for muzzleloading projectiles.

RCBS Pro Melt has my (RBA) Recovered Bullet Alloy. Lead recovered from my backyard range.

RCBS Easy Melt has 3-1 Alloy..........three parts pure to one part lino.

Lyman Mag 25 has 20-1 alloy.
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
I’ve recently modified my casting bench so the pots have more room around each pot. I was adding a RCBS pot to the lineup as the third pot. Two LEE 20# pots, first is a ladle pot that has 50/50 in it, the second has 30 to 1 lead -tin and the plan was COWW in the RCBS bottom pour. Haven’t used the RCBS yet other then to fill it. With the bench modification I added a second range hood and PID’s. Like the PID’s.
But, I don’t drain when done on the contrary I fill then with those alloys listed before shutting down.
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Oh yea, “Bottom pour etiquette” the RCBS is my first bottom pour pot, so I’m working on the etiquette thing. Never been very good with etiquette though.