MuskyGary Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 Jann's Netcraft has a soft plastic melting pot in its 2008 catalog. (page 44) Has any one used it? My wife won't let me use our microwave. So its either buy another microwave or try this melting pot for the garage. Thanks, Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuna230 Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 try thift shop i got one for $15 dollar at a humane society thift shop plus money helps pets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKEYqpHUNTER Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 if you get the melting pot you will still need the microwave to melt the plastic before you add it to the pot.i would get the microwave at the thrift store and still get the pot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallie Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 if you get the melting pot you will still need the microwave to melt the plastic before you add it to the pot.i would get the microwave at the thrift store and still get the pot. Is that true? I thought the Lee pots heated the plastic from room temperature to pouring temperature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longhorn Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Can't help but mentioning a third way of heating plastic which has some advantages: http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/soft-plastics/8943-pouring-table.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKEYqpHUNTER Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 some may put raw plastic in there lee pots ive allways nuked mine in the microwave then poured the hot plastic into the pot then add the color and scent then flake.maybe im wasting time but seems to work perfect for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squigster Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Search the forums for the preto pot stirrer. I just built one myself. It was fairly easy. Need to get a ball valve and tap the bottom. You can just stir by hand but I use the aluminum mixer with a motor. I put new plastic (liquid) in the pot and I never timed it but with my mixer I think its almost faster than the micro with 4 cups. I dont know if it would be as fast mixing it by hand though. Definetly the way to go in my opinion. I got about $140.00 into it. Pot $22 at Walmart. Mixing Motor $85 at Grainger. All thread $5 - 10. Aluminum Angle $10 Bolts and misc faterners, wire and switch $10. Ball valve $6.00. I used Pyrex for a little while and it beats the pants off of doing it that way. I probably pour 4 times faster now and dump it all in the pot and let it fly. It heats it fast, has good temp control and with the mixer keeps the salt and glitter in suspension. My senkos turn out consistent where as the pyrex deal I would lose salt and glitter if I didnt stir all the time. I will post pics if I can ever figure out how to shrink the file size for the forum maximum size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman2 Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Can't help but mentioning a third way of heating plastic which has some advantages:http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/soft-plastics/8943-pouring-table.html Not to off-track this post, but looking at the infrared heat lamps, wouldn't a microwave still be more efficient? and less expensive? I could wire this up myself, but it doesn't seem like the best way to do it. I certainly can appreciate the set-up though. I'm going to start pouring and was thinking a microwave would be the easiest way to start. On a side note, it seems like this set-up would be good for keeping multiple colors warm.... yes, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squigster Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 I should have mentioned that. If you want to do multiple colors a micro would be the better choice unless you have more than one pot. What I do for multicolors such as 2 color beavers is heat the tail color in the micro and pour the plastic to fill the tails or tips and then tap the pot for the rest of the bait. I am usually doing runs of 50 or 100 so I dont mess with the micro much unless a want to do swirls or two color baits. You could also split the pot, but then you have to lose the mixer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsnitro Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 I'm using one of the small lee melting pots. What is the ideal setting for these pots. I have been experimenting with the control knob but it seems like it's either too hot and burning the plastic on the sides of the pot when the plastics gets low or not hot enough and the plastic doesn't flow right. Any suggestions on a setting would be really appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadK Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 any of you guys using the Presto Pot.... Do you find that you get clogs if you stop the pouring for any length of time? Say 5 minuets or so while you demold several of your molds and get ready to start up again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 ChadK Funny you should ask that question as I was going to enter a tip on how to deal with just that problem. I "Choke Down" the reqular ball valve with a brass air hose connector which I have sawed off most of the tip and it is bad to "Stop Up" when left idel for a while. Well I just got into powder painting and got a heat gun to go with that but ..... it is the thing for getting your flow started back .... just give it a quick blast and you are off and running again. (Harbour Freight Tools had them on sale for 9.99.) JSC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
