Casting Problems... Ideas ?.
- Thread starter JensenDK
- Start date
I looked at your toy soldiers on your photobucket page and was impressed by the fine detail of your work. How do you handle incomplete fill out with toy soldier molds or do you buy them premade?
In any case, fine work and a fine hobby. I'm sure there is a large learning curve about uniforms and equipment of various troops.
In any case, fine work and a fine hobby. I'm sure there is a large learning curve about uniforms and equipment of various troops.
Gun5tuff I purchase them premade. The metal figures these days are spin cast to ensure a proper fill out. However most manufacturers are switching to plastic injection moulding. In theory should make cheaper models but they roughly cost the same still. So the benefit is easy to convert figures and a variety of manufacturers. Downside is the weight of the miniatures. Plastic is so light to pick up whereas metal/lead figures have some weight to them which feels better to me. Thanks for the nice comments though especially as I am only a medium painter lots of people out there are much better at painting than I am
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I heat my molds by floating them on top of the molten lead until it doesn't stick. If it sticks I put back in until the lead drops off. Then I start casting with that mold while preheating a second one. I don't even look at the first few, they can go in the sprue box. When the second mold is ready I run them both at the same time; fill one and set down, fill second, set down and dump the first one and refill. It's almost mesmerizing when the rhythm is set.
I know what "they" say about not heating molds in the lead, but I also know what Veral Smith and Ross Seyfried say about it. If a mold can't take a bit of heat it wasn't much of a mold. Any trace of oil has to be removed with brake cleaner or there will be wrinkles from that to. Smoking sometimes works, but if you use candle you may as well pump it full of grease.
I know what "they" say about not heating molds in the lead, but I also know what Veral Smith and Ross Seyfried say about it. If a mold can't take a bit of heat it wasn't much of a mold. Any trace of oil has to be removed with brake cleaner or there will be wrinkles from that to. Smoking sometimes works, but if you use candle you may as well pump it full of grease.
I would suggest getting a thermometer to keep your melt at a consistent temperature. I cast bullets for years before I broke down and bought one, and boy, does it ever tell me where my temps are at! I can also rough guess what my alloys are by what temperature they melt at: Monotype and Linotype melt at about 50 to 100 degrees difference. etc.
You can also keep your temperatures consistent if you water drop your bullets. 650 degrees this week, 650 degrees last week, and 650 degrees next week, all help to keep things consistent and less "willy nilly".
It's all a learning curve, and I'm still learning about this darn hobby every time.
I'm having fun, and that's important.
You can also keep your temperatures consistent if you water drop your bullets. 650 degrees this week, 650 degrees last week, and 650 degrees next week, all help to keep things consistent and less "willy nilly".
It's all a learning curve, and I'm still learning about this darn hobby every time.
I'm having fun, and that's important.
eaglesnester
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
as others have said, Yur lead has to be hot enough for a good pour as does yur mold. Also do not use the bottom pour if your lead furnace has one. The pour is not fast enough and you will get mucho wrinkles and air cavities in your bullets and they will look like crap. For the life of me I don't know why the manufacturer even puts a bottom pour spout on their furnaces as they are useless. Use a lead ladle to pour with and do a pour just as fast as U can. Inspect your bullets when they are released from the mold and throw all the bad ones back into the furnace. Your first 10 or so pours will be no good as your mold will not be hot enough. Also get yourself a lead furnace thermometer so U know what lead temp is. I cast 54 caliber lead shot and 54 caliber 460 grain great plains bullets and by carefully keeping track of my lead temp and mold temp I get good casts. This is the most critical part of your bullet casting.
The reason that manufacturers have been making bottom pour pots for the last 50+ years is because pretty well every commercial bullet caster in the world and 75% of the hobby casters use bottom pour pots to make excellent quality bullets without any problems. It's faster than ladling if it's done right.
Either the mold is too cold or it is contaminated.
fOR A COLD MOLD: Preheat the mold or cast really fast to bring it up to temperature. Don't waste too much time looking at the bullets: pour, wait until the sprue hardens then count to 5, drop the bullets; close the mold quickly and pour again. Keep going and mold will warm up. Delaying or stopping to look at the bullets will just make the mold stay colder for longer. Faster casting speed = warmer mold. When your mold gets up to the right heat you will have to slow down to allow time for the bullets to harden. You can also start your pot out at a higher temperature to warm up the mold, and back off the temperature when the mold heats up. You really need a pot thermometer to do it right.
FOR A CONTAMINATED MOLD: if the mold is new it may be contaminated with dried cutting oil residue that won't come off with regualr soap and water.
1, Scrub the mold and especially the cavities with solvent such as Varsol, diesel fuel, etc. NEVER use sandpaper, steel wool, or any abrasive on the cavity iteself - an old toothbrush works perfectly.
2, Now scrub the entire mold and cavities with soapy water (5 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp dish soap) and the toothbrush, to get rid of the solvents. Rinse with clean water.
3. Put the washed mold in a deep bowl and pour at least a liter of boiling water over it, and leave it submerged for a minute or more. Drain and let it dry before using - NOTE: if you use the boiling water just before you start casting it will preheat your mold to almost 200 F., which is a good start.
I scrub and use boiling water treatment on my molds EVERY time before I start casting and I usually get good bullets from the first or second cast. Proper cleaning and maintenance saves a lot of headaches and wasted time.
fOR A COLD MOLD: Preheat the mold or cast really fast to bring it up to temperature. Don't waste too much time looking at the bullets: pour, wait until the sprue hardens then count to 5, drop the bullets; close the mold quickly and pour again. Keep going and mold will warm up. Delaying or stopping to look at the bullets will just make the mold stay colder for longer. Faster casting speed = warmer mold. When your mold gets up to the right heat you will have to slow down to allow time for the bullets to harden. You can also start your pot out at a higher temperature to warm up the mold, and back off the temperature when the mold heats up. You really need a pot thermometer to do it right.
FOR A CONTAMINATED MOLD: if the mold is new it may be contaminated with dried cutting oil residue that won't come off with regualr soap and water.
1, Scrub the mold and especially the cavities with solvent such as Varsol, diesel fuel, etc. NEVER use sandpaper, steel wool, or any abrasive on the cavity iteself - an old toothbrush works perfectly.
2, Now scrub the entire mold and cavities with soapy water (5 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp dish soap) and the toothbrush, to get rid of the solvents. Rinse with clean water.
3. Put the washed mold in a deep bowl and pour at least a liter of boiling water over it, and leave it submerged for a minute or more. Drain and let it dry before using - NOTE: if you use the boiling water just before you start casting it will preheat your mold to almost 200 F., which is a good start.
I scrub and use boiling water treatment on my molds EVERY time before I start casting and I usually get good bullets from the first or second cast. Proper cleaning and maintenance saves a lot of headaches and wasted time.
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 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 !
I have found that you can mostly eliminate the mould overheating problem by using two moulds and alternating them. This allows them to cool down sufficiently to avoid frosted bullets but not so much as to give wrinkled bullets. It allows you to cast more bullets than casting slower or holding the mould in front of a fan or wiping with a wet rag. Just have two pans for dumping the bullets, one for each bullet design (put a towel in each pan to avoid denting the bullets when they're dropped).
I use a fan to cool my mold. Then I can regulate mold temperature by adjusting the time that I hold it in front of the fan. For some molds that need to run cool(er) to work well, using the fan can more than double my output. If the mold is running hot you can also safely drop the pot temperature, but you need a pot thermometer to do this properly.
I use a piece of cardboard cut to fit in the bottom of a cookie sheet to drop bullets on. It doesn't move around like a cloth towel does and it stays cleaner than a towell.
Do you smoke your moulds ?
Do you soak the cardboard? If not, doesn't it burn and leave ash stuck to the bullets?
