What Lead Melter Style To Get For Beginner ?

[Crymdawg]

I'm thinking about pouring my own jigs and have everything except a melter. I have enough "Cabela's Cash" saved up to be able to not have any $$ outlay myself. They only offer the Lee's Hot Pot model 2 and a Lee's Production pot bottom pour type. There is not much of a price difference; so I'm asking for advice/suggestions. I plan on only pouring jigs and spinner bait bodies, not big weights or other "heavy items". Can the Hot Pot 2 be used with a ladle or MUST you pour from the melter itself ?

Lastly, The Flux powder that is used to get rid of the junk. Is that put into the melted lead then allowed to cool or does it coagulate the bad stuff immediately? How do you seperate the good lead from the junk ? Then what do you do with the junk, if anything ? Being enviornmentally conscious I'm inclined not to put it in the main stream trash.

Thanks

[cadman]

Here are my answers to your questions.

I'm thinking about pouring my own jigs and have everything except a melter. I have enough "Cabela's Cash" saved up to be able to not have any $$ outlay myself. They only offer the Lee's Hot Pot model 2 and a Lee's Production pot bottom pour type. There is not much of a price difference; so I'm asking for advice/suggestions. I plan on only pouring jigs and spinner bait bodies, not big weights or other "heavy items". If it were me, and I could afford both I would buy both. The reason being is this. On the Lee IV bottom pour pot, I think this is the best choice for pouring any and all jigs. It is safer in my opinion than using a ladle or a Palmer Hot Pot 2, because you don’t have to worry about over pouring in a mold cavity while you are holding the mold. The lead stream from a Lee IV is a lot smaller than pouring from a Hot Pot 2. With that said the Hot Pot 2 is better for pouring spinnerbait heads with the wire form sticking out in my opinion. Also if you have both, in the Hot Pot you can keep softer lead for pouring spinnerbaits, and harder lead in the Lee IV for jigs. However if you only have one choice get the Lee IV bottom pour pot. You can also pour spinnerbaits with that as well. I have (3) Lee IV and (2) Palmer Hot Pots and they all have their use for me and they are all work horses.

Can the Hot Pot 2 be used with a ladle or MUST you pour from the melter itself ? Yes you can put a small ladle in there. I have done that and it does work.

Lastly, The Flux powder that is used to get rid of the junk. Is that put into the melted lead then allowed to cool or does it coagulate the bad stuff immediately? Once your pot and lead is hot (melted) leave it on and flux with the heat on that is the whole point of it. Put your candle wax or beeswax (that’s what I use) and immediately throw a match in the pot. The wax (beeswax) will flame up, so be careful and don’t burn your hair or anything around you. While it is flaming up gently stir it with an old spoon until the flame dies out. You will then see a bunch of black crud on top of your clean lead. Carefully spoon it out and put it in a dry, small, empty soup can. Leave it there on the side for the next time you flux. I flux about every to hours, and repeat the cleaning process.

How do you seperate the good lead from the junk ? The bad stuff as you will see will float on top of the clean lead. Take an old junk stainless steel spoon and skim it off.

Then what do you do with the junk, if anything ? Leave it in a small can until you fill it up. You can then take it to a recycling area in your neighborhood.

Being enviornmentally conscious I'm inclined not to put it in the main stream trash. Good idea.

I hope this helps some. I’m sure there are some things I’ve forgotten to put down, also you will get a lot of good ideas from others here. These are just my opinions, so others may have some better ideas. Gather all the data you get here and make a decision based on what info you get. If you have more questions just ask here and someone will always help with an answer………………..Good Luck

[Peterjay]

I'm thinking about pouring my own jigs and have everything except a melter. I have enough "Cabela's Cash" saved up to be able to not have any $ outlay myself. They only offer the Lee's Hot Pot model 2 and a Lee's Production pot bottom pour type. There is not much of a price difference; so I'm asking for advice/suggestions. I plan on only pouring jigs and spinner bait bodies, not big weights or other "heavy items". Can the Hot Pot 2 be used with a ladle or MUST you pour from the melter itself ?

Lastly, The Flux powder that is used to get rid of the junk. Is that put into the melted lead then allowed to cool or does it coagulate the bad stuff immediately? How do you seperate the good lead from the junk ? Then what do you do with the junk, if anything ? Being enviornmentally conscious I'm inclined not to put it in the main stream trash.

Thanks

I've been using the Hot Pot 2; I pour large (1-4 ounces) saltwater jigs 2 at a time and I like it fine. Pouring from the pot has never been a problem once I got used to it. You'd need a pretty small ladle if you want to do it that way, but it probably isn't necessary.