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Old December 1, 2012, 11:01 AM   #5
snuffy
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Join Date: May 20, 2001
Location: Oshkosh wi.
Posts: 3,055
It depends on what alloy you're using. If you have an alloy that has tin in it,(most good alloys do), then 800 degrees is too hot. The reason is; tin oxidizes at anything over 700 degrees. Running at 800, your tin is oxidizing at the top surface of the melt very rapidly. It would appear as a grey scum that could be skimmed off, or fluxed back into the alloy. Skimming it off results in loosing the tin that's needed to make for well-filled-out-boolits. Also the hardness of the boolit will decrease, be softer.

Using a 4 pound capacity melter means you have to spend time waiting for it to melt more lead, then get it up to temp. I doubt that it has any thermostat, so it's wide open to whatever temp it finally reaches.

The lee 4-20 pot is a very good entry level furnace. The thermostat is a bit flaky, it will have a temp swing of usually about 50 degrees. The knob has numbers on a scale, but they don't really mean much. Like set to seven does NOT mean 700 degrees. Therefore, you need a thermometer. Best part of the lee 4-20 is you can use the bottom pour feature, or use it as a ladle pot. I use mine both ways, depending on which of the dozens of molds I'm using.
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