Which lead melter to get?

I am looking to get a lead melter for some bigger sinkers.

Wondering what the pros and cons are for the different melters.

I have used the smaller type that requires a ladle, and that worked fine, just wondering how the others work with the spouts on the bottom.

I have 3 of these….

The only problem I’ve had is when some dirt gets in the pour spout. Always be prepared if the lead doesn’t stop when the handle is dropped. Just in case.

Make sure your mold fits under the melter. The first photo would concern me.

We have the older orange colored Lee pot with handle and a rack under it to support the Do-It mold. We made jigs to sell at bait shops. It worked great and never had any issues with it.

Gets my vote

I also have the Lee production pot such as Brian showed & it seems to work pretty good.But they can plug up a bit especially when using poorer quality lead or possibly not completely stop from flowing.If you use good lead without a bunch of impurities you wont have near as much trouble.A poor grade of lead will make a mess out of your pot!Having a flat screwdriver handy which fits in the slot on top of plunger or lead release mechanisim is necessary for those moments when lead might continues to flow when handle is released.Having a long bent piece of wire handy also for the moments when spout may start to plug or not allow lead to flow properly.I would suggest for any model you might choose,to wear some protection from the possibility of getting burned.Also be sure to only run your pot in a well ventilated area to help avoid the toxins which are associated with the handling of lead & fumes.

In my opinion the lee in the center is a waste of money I have had 2 of them and they both jammed up or open with the least bit of contamination and will wear out quickly if you use them a lot. The one on the right has worked much better for me and I poured a lot of lead in the past.

I also like the looks of the one on the far right, and it holds 20lbs of lead.
Anyone use a smaller one to clean the lead you get, or do most just use one melter for everything.
It would seem better to have one melter for making ingots and one for pouring the cleaned lead.

I used to have a used Lyman Mag 20-800 watt,then it started to drip hot lead ..SOLD it on ebay and then……..

I made my own,1100 watts with variable heat setting and it will hold 30 lbs plus and will melt the lead to working temp in about 20 minutes.I only use lead as pure as I can find,it also melts at lower temp and pours anicer looking product. When using less quality lead I have found out the the jig or sinker weighs less than intended weight.

I started out with the first pic, first taking it apart and bracing around the coil area to hold the weight of the bigger pot and adding a heavier cord, then ended up with the 2nd set of pics, built myself a square box to set my pot in (2qt cast iron pot,cut the handle off) wraped with fire proof insulation . I have used it for about 6 years now, thats 1000’s of jigs and sinkers ago. Total cost was around $75.00 , finally its time to replace the insulation due to extreme heat.I also added a ventalation system directly above it in my “mans room” in my basement.(no kids around when pouring) I use laddles to pour, 2 different sizes, you be surprized how fast you can pour with a laddle. 3 of us did 1250 jigs in 4 hours.

Just thought I would share with you smelters.

I have the Lee and the only time I’ve had trouble is when you let the lead level get to low, just about everything floats on the lead so if you skim often and keep the level up a bt they work fine.

I usually use a cast iron kettle and a home built stand for it with a converted water heater burner under it to do any large amounts.

You should see if anybody close to you has a set up and maybe car…er..lead pool ?

Al

I have two of the Lees shown in the middle. One is about 18 years old and the other is about 5. Both work excelent. As BK said, just be ready for it to not stop pouring. Getting a little crud in the spout can keep it trickling out. Also mentioned above is what I do. I use one for cleaning lead, and the other for making jigs. If you make any where near as many jigs as I do, you will appreciate having two. If your only making 1K or less jigs a year, one Lee pot will work fine.

I also have 2 of the middle one I use one to make ingets to have clean lead for my jig pouring pot. You can get alot nicer ones but uf your planning on makeing a few jigs for yourself they work just fine. Never used the one on the far right but it looks nice. About the worst lead you can run through them is wheel waits theres alot of impuritys in them that seem to plug up the spout.

I’ve got a big lead melting pot that works well. I use it to pour 1 oz. jigs with a premium hook for Dubuque rigging. 1 oz. jigs with a premium hook are hard to find. But… if you’re just going to be making some bigger sinkers, I’d suggest you save yourself the hassles, dangers, toxins, and cost and just buy them off of E-Bay. This is especially true if you have to purchase your lead.

Just type in “fishing sinkers” on E-Bay and you’ll get over a 1000 items.

Boone

Dan I think StCroixer would agree with you about ebay, but the sinkers he’s making will be “special”.

I too clean my lead by using a cast iron kettle resting on my gas smoker burner. All sorts of funny looking colored smoke comes out of less than pure lead.

fwiw, if you haven’t much experience with smelting lead, I’d do a bit more looking into before you start.

Lead is not very friendly, in fact its very dangerous to deal with, plenty of air circulation is needed, also protective clothing such as gloves and eye protection, and washing before you do anything that included food and touching your skin.

Few years back I knew two shooters (husband wife) who smelted bullets together and after doing this for awhile they ended up feeling sick, going to the doctor they found they were suffering from lead poisoning.
Appears they were eating while making bullets, and ingested lead that way.

Also, water and melted lead do not mix, pretty violent reaction in fact.

Al

Quote:

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Also, water and melted lead do not mix, pretty violent reaction in fact.

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You should see what a drop of sweat does in 10 pounds of 800* lead!

Pretty cool if your lucky enough not to get burned!

Good points Allen.

One of the things that St Croixer and I do is to melt the lead the first time outside. This burns up many of the impurities and is blown away by the wind. Sudden rain, sweat dew drops from overhead trees are all water sources that need to be considered.

Once melted, I use a mini muffin pan to pour my “ingots” These “pucks” fit nicely into the Lee melter above and while pouring, the lead level never gets below half full. In fact when I put the furnace away, it’s full of cooled lead for next time.

I keep a 5 gal pail of water close by in case I get melted lead on myself. I use it to immerse the body part that came in contact with the lead. The good thing about lead is that it cools fast and it only REALLY hurts for a while.

When I’m pouring my 4 oz sinkers, I’ll pour them in my garage with the windows partially open and generally a heater on. I pour in my off time (winter).

Pail of water, fire extinguisher (class C) Gloves, glasses and shoes are a must.

If someone wants to start makeing their own jigs/sinkers and such, I recommend finding someone that’s doing it and give them a hand for a hour or two. See how it’s done and if it’s really something that you want to get into.

Anyone catch Mythbusters last week? They dipped their hands in a pot of molten lead and came out unscathed. I woulnd’t have believed it if I wouldn’t have seen it!

Thanks for all the input everyone And all the concerns will be considered while smelting.

I too would recommend buying your sinkers online, but in our case we are going to customize some molds.

I ended up getting the “Lee Magnum Production Pot”. It will be used mainly for cleaning dirty lead. It holds 20lbs and has a 700w heating element. Perfect for prototypes with a ladle. If we end up doing a bunch, we’ll invest in a bottom pour unit.

Here is the ladle I am looking for, anybody know of a local source to the Twin Cities for these?

I think they will work a little better for the size sinker we are pouring since it looks to hold more lead the average ladle.

Let me know when I should send you the photo of my mug for BK’s No Rolls.

The Gunstop out by Minnetonka has a lot of reloading equiptment and supplies, they may have one.

Al