I just posted a new article titled, Casting with a PID Controller. If you’re interested go to the following link:

http://www.texas-mac.com/Casting_with_a_PID_Controller.html

From now on it will definitely be a part of my casting process.

Wayne

Thanks, Wayne. At ~$140.00 for the DIY Kit, it is certainly appealing for those who want to pour very consistent bullets.

Ed

The "Make and Break" thermostats on smaller casting pots have ALWAYS been the weak, or erratic link.

That is really fine development, and you're right about the price.

GTC

Lookin at building a pid for a lee pot.

Picked up some beautiful mihec molds from a divorce sale this spring that I would like to put to use next month.

Looks like it would work well for pouring lead into those big brass molds.

Have heard a lot of glowing stuff about those PID's, but I can't help but wonder how we ever managed to cast good bullets with nothing but a cast iron pot over a fire of some sort and a ladle to work with.

They also rode wagons across country; road buggies, horses or walked to town and back, etc., etc., etc... I enjoy taking advantage of new technologies.

Wayne

Been using a PID for a few years.

Holds temperature to what is set.

Easy to change to change temps for different molds, alloys, ambient temps, etc.

One less variable to worry about.

Has it decreased the weight variation in your bullets?

Not a lot. A good casting cadence is needed for either method.

But what it has done for me, is allow me to cast more bullets from a pot. I throw the sprue back. Without a PID after about a 1/3 to 1/2 pot the temps would drop too much. With the PID, I can add the sprue back till the pot is too low to fill the ladle and the temp holds.

Lee pots were the worst for this. The Waage wasn't as bad. Now they both allow me to cast the full pot.

Excellent comments and mirrors my results during the short time I've used a PID so far. The one exception is, of the two pots I have, the "better pot" is a RCBS. The other is a Lee.

Wayne