Casting Problems... Ideas ?.

J

JensenDK

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This is my fourth attempt at casting bullets etc. So far I have successfully cast # 4 Buckshot and # 00 Buckshot. Slugs have been hit and miss. Some comes out really well and others not so. Bullets are a complete nightmare for me. They all come out looking pretty strange.

I have attached two links to two pictures for you to see and hopefully point me in the right direction of what I am doing wrong ?.

I am using a 10 Pound Lee Melting Pot (with the associated dripping problems !). All my molds are also brand new Lee Molds. My Lead is Industrial lead usually used to casting fine detailed Toy soldiers :).

However please take a look and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

http://s564.photobucket.com/user/sad_gamer/media/BulletCast.jpg.html?filters[user]=90388375&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

http://s564.photobucket.com/user/sad_gamer/media/SlugCast.jpg.html?filters[user]=90388375&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1

Jensen
 
The mold is cold
Heat up the mold before casting. I use a hot plate for that.
if you overheat it (and the lead runs between the halves), leave it aside to cool for a few minutes.
 
also agree the mold is cold or may have oil on it still.

have you cleaned the mold with soap and water yet?

once your pot is full of lead and ready to start pouring put the mold you want to use with the in the molten lead for a couple of minutes to heat the mold up.
 
Another way to heat the mold if you are on a budget is just keep casting for a bit and put the bad boolits back in the melt, this will warm the mold up. Don't be discouraged as it take a while to get the mold to temp, some guys even dip corner of mold in melt for a while. A good spot for info is www.castboolits.com, full of helpful guys and good articles.
 
To heat up my mold, I'll rest it on top of the pot till I'm ready to start casting . Then I'll start and dump the first 10-12 slugs back into the pot. By then it's hot and making nice clean casts
 
Pure lead or lead with low tin content is hard to cast with

to test lead you can us a pencil test
ht tp://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?75455-Testing-hardness-with-pencils

also if you can scratch the lead with a fingernail (deep) it is close to being pure and will be hard to cast with

from the pictures lead too cool
 
(ahem, bullet mould manufacturers didn't recommend submerging the mould in order to bring it up to proper temperature, rather rest it on the edge of the pot, some even have a shelf mounted for this purpose. Just sayin' )
 
Lee does reccomend dipping the corner of the mold in the melt for 30 seconds to preheat the mold, they used to say 8 seconds
 
I agree you have to warm your mold up. I have been molding for about 35 years and still have a couple of my original molds. I do put the mold corner into the pot to get the mold up to temperature. Never had any problems but just the corner. A layer of carbon from a match or candle into your mold cavities will get your mold to fill out really nice too. Good luck and have fun.
 
Muskyhunter1 said:
I agree you have to warm your mold up. I have been molding for about 35 years and still have a couple of my original molds. I do put the mold corner into the pot to get the mold up to temperature. Never had any problems but just the corner. A layer of carbon from a match or candle into your mold cavities will get your mold to fill out really nice too. Good luck and have fun.
Click to expand...


Try Lyman Molly lube as a release agent and thank me later. I dip my mold into the pot and when the hardened lead drops off you should be within two bullet castings away from good casts.
 
I've taken to heating my molds (gently and slowly over the course of about two minutes) with a propane torch - it just takes too long to cast and dump, and it's irritating to get lead stuck to the outside of the mold when using the "dip the mold in the molten lead" method.

Your next problem will be when the mold gets too hot (e.g. smeared sprue, sagging bullets). IMO the best remedies for that are: slowing down; running a fan at your workbench; or having a wet rag to run over the mold.
 
I preheat a lee 6 cav for 20 min on top of lee pot(to reduce thermal shock), then dip mold corner in lead for 40-60 sec(lead won't stick). Make good ones almost right away.
If alloy for toy soldiers is pewter, that's a problem(90% tin, way too light). Pure lead also may not cast well without a little tin.
 
Clean your molds. Not just the cavities. Gotta clean the faces too.

Soap and water and a scrub brush, Rubbing alcohol and a tooth brush, whatever. Clean.

Some guys had luck smoking their molds, I had nothin' but grief. Acted just like I had oiled the mold. Candle smoke is greasier than match smoke!

Clean your metal (flux and skim) clean your pot well (you didn't melt any painted soldiers in there did you?) and jack your heat up a bit at a time until you can cast a dozen or so in a row that come out good.

Keep in mind that the mold does have to come up to heat. So at least the first couple loads are going to be iffy.

If you are moving slow, the mold cools too. You need to maintain a cadence of operations and keep at the same pace as you go, which is why I am suggesting to run about a dozen casts before jacking the heat.

Want consistent results, ya gotta cast in a consistent manner.

The big molds are easy! Casting a 225107 single cavity ~39 grains was a right joy to figure out. Determined that by dropping a dime size puddle on top the sprue plate, the heat from the puddle would keep the mold warm to give me good results.

I cast using heavy gloves, sprues go straight back into the pot, and it takes a few casts after any stall or stumble in the routine to get the mold back up to heat, and that's with clean 2 percent tin wheel weight alloy.
I use a digital multimeter with a thermocouple. The meter was $10 at PA, the thermocouple I use is the one that came with it welded in to the end of some stainless tubing.

Cheers
Trev
 
Wow what an amount of good advice. I really thank you all and I think the mold must have been too cold. Anyway I will be cleaning the molds tonight before trying again. Thanks again I really appreciate it :)
 
Spent one hour casting tonight. Used two different molds both .309 one 155 and one 180. It was a great success. I cast more of the 155 flat nosed as I need more of those. But just heating up the molds in the hot lead made a huge difference. The first mold went slightly brown (!) I let it cool down and then started up. The second mold had a lot less time in the lead before I started - lesson learned :). I noticed that I was able to cast more lots of 155 than the 180. I guess the mass difference overheats the mold faster. I will be cleaning the molds again tomorrow and recasting all the .309 and the two different .312's bullets that I have cast at the previous attempts.

I used the Lead that I had fluxed last night and it cast nice silver bullets. However when I added more lead (British Line Infantry, British Command 1809 and some British Hussars all 28mm) I did notice that the bullets came out less silver. I guess I should have fluxed it again after adding 1/3 of new lead to the pot ?.

Thanks again for the great advices !
 
What do you mean by "less silver"?
Hotter lead will end up in frosty bullets but there's nothing wrong with them. Some say they hold the lube better.
 
Sort of more greyish (or smoked slightly grey) than silver.

Didn't think that Frosty bullets were good. Guess I will no recast the 5 I had which came out looking frosty from when the mold was too hot. Cheers for that :). Not to derail the post could I have used the bullets which was cast when the mold were too cold ?.
 
JensenDK said:
Sort of more greyish (or smoked slightly grey) than silver.

Didn't think that Frosty bullets were good. Guess I will no recast the 5 I had which came out looking frosty from when the mold was too hot. Cheers for that :). Not to derail the post could I have used the bullets which was cast when the mold were too cold ?.
Click to expand...

I would advise against it but it depends.
If the crease(s) are deep enough, the bullet may fragment in the air because of the spin.
If they're shallow, the bullet will be out of balance and you can expect poor accuracy.
If they're just cosmetic blemishes, go for it.
 
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