Hi, expanding my reloading hobby to casting, .45, .38 & 12ga slugs, i was wondering if anyone has any tips, I have lee melting pot & lee molds, it says to smoke the mold with a match but there must be an easier way then having a jumbo box of matches, maybe a candle or a different way. Im wiser now & have learned its better to learn from other peoples experiences(screwups) than to try to have them all myself. I know its easier to just buy the bullets, but thats not the point!.......... thanx for your input
casting tricks
- Thread starter mp5k
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You can buy flux from some sport shops. I use magma flux, but I cast as a business. You can use just beeswax as well, its probably the best for home use.
Get your pot up to temp, somewhere between 650-675 degrees. Cut a small chunk of wax about the size of a nickle. And drop it in the pot. Use a long handled spoon to stir in the flux, right to the bottom of the pot. This will help bring all the impurities to the top. Then with a tea spoon simply remove the black chunks of impurities from the top of the lead. Remember this is the really bad stuff, so dispose of it properly.
Don't forget proper ventilation if your casting indoors. And always wear eye protection. Keep any moisture away from your pot as well, lead and water do not go together. And wear a long sleeved shirt as well, lead burns hurt. Leather gloves are good to if you can work with them on. We use surgical gloves all the time while casting. Keep your hands and fingers out or away from your mouth, to avoid or lessen the chance of lead poisoning. And wash your hands often, before you touch anything after handling lead.
Your slugs will be a hollow base, so they will damage and bend easily if you drop them into box with any force.
Buy the LYMAN casting handbook, it has most of answers you're looking for.
Be safe, think ahead for your next step. And enjoy how much fun casting your own lead bullets can be.
Marc
OMA PRODUCTS LTD.
Get your pot up to temp, somewhere between 650-675 degrees. Cut a small chunk of wax about the size of a nickle. And drop it in the pot. Use a long handled spoon to stir in the flux, right to the bottom of the pot. This will help bring all the impurities to the top. Then with a tea spoon simply remove the black chunks of impurities from the top of the lead. Remember this is the really bad stuff, so dispose of it properly.
Don't forget proper ventilation if your casting indoors. And always wear eye protection. Keep any moisture away from your pot as well, lead and water do not go together. And wear a long sleeved shirt as well, lead burns hurt. Leather gloves are good to if you can work with them on. We use surgical gloves all the time while casting. Keep your hands and fingers out or away from your mouth, to avoid or lessen the chance of lead poisoning. And wash your hands often, before you touch anything after handling lead.
Your slugs will be a hollow base, so they will damage and bend easily if you drop them into box with any force.
Buy the LYMAN casting handbook, it has most of answers you're looking for.
Be safe, think ahead for your next step. And enjoy how much fun casting your own lead bullets can be.
Marc
OMA PRODUCTS LTD.
Use wooden matches to smoke your molds, Wax candles leave a oily residue that will cause your slug to have very poor fill out.
Warm you molds up before you start casting, first dozen you do should go back into the pot. Good ones will come after that....
Warm you molds up before you start casting, first dozen you do should go back into the pot. Good ones will come after that....
To flux stir your pot with a 1/2" square stick that you know is dry, very dry.
Good bullets will very with the mould and the temp. Some moulds seem to be more tempermental than others and just don't seem to want to cast a good bullet, play with your heat and when you find the sweet spot you are off and running.
Good Casting Ken.
Good bullets will very with the mould and the temp. Some moulds seem to be more tempermental than others and just don't seem to want to cast a good bullet, play with your heat and when you find the sweet spot you are off and running.
Good Casting Ken.
Quick lesson
1. heat up lead
2. heat up mold
3. Add 6 inches of pure tin, pipe soldering or wheel weights(pistol bullets)
4. put 1 tablespoon full of sawdust on top of lead to keep oxidation down stir.
5. lead is hot, start pouring.
6. toss first few back in pot.
7. third set drop into 3/4 full 5 gallon bucket of water, 1 1/2 feet from lead pot. keep water out of pot.
8. Tin and wheel weights add hardness to the bullets. Quenching the bullet does the same.
Shotgun slugs use pure lead..
have fun and think of the money your saving...
1. heat up lead
2. heat up mold
3. Add 6 inches of pure tin, pipe soldering or wheel weights(pistol bullets)
4. put 1 tablespoon full of sawdust on top of lead to keep oxidation down stir.
5. lead is hot, start pouring.
6. toss first few back in pot.
7. third set drop into 3/4 full 5 gallon bucket of water, 1 1/2 feet from lead pot. keep water out of pot.
8. Tin and wheel weights add hardness to the bullets. Quenching the bullet does the same.
Shotgun slugs use pure lead..
have fun and think of the money your saving...
Dropping them into water will quench(harden) them, but in time they will soften up to their orig. state. I use pure lead and add tin for the softer bullets and print metal/pure lead mixture for harder bullets, this way I can control the alloy and keep it consistent. I use handsoap w/stearate in it and/or marvellux for flux, and use an electric hot plate to prewarm molds. I cast with 3 or 4 molds at a time so I don't have to wait to cut the sprue, if using aluminum molds I usually only use 2 at a time. I do not use Lee molds as they are not robust enough for long casting sessions.
I don't smoke my molds because most molds are so close to the right size that smoking makes them under size. I have some unsmoked Lee 6 cavity tumble lube .452 200 grain molds that have cast 20000 bullets and are still going strong. I have 8 Lee 6 cavity aluminum molds none of which are smoked.
Steel molds smoke, aluminum molds don't smoke.
My 2 cents.
Steel molds smoke, aluminum molds don't smoke.
My 2 cents.
Ben... I was wondering if you could explain how after quenching the bullets and increasing there hardness they could loose this added hardness over time... I have seen your quite knowlegeable when it comes to casting on other posts. Just curious what you mean.
Things like tool steel once its been qunched and hardened it dosen't loose this hardness..
Things like tool steel once its been qunched and hardened it dosen't loose this hardness..
I am not a metallurgist, but it is fact , there are many explanations on the cast boolits website as to why this happens. Needless to say, if you use them right away they should be hard but let 'em sit around awhile and you will using bullets in various stages of hardness/softness. I avoid all that by not using wheel weights and not quenching them, i use tin and print metals to harden only. These retain their hardness, and have a ductile quality that allows expansion without shattering.
tigrr
Tin adds to the fluicity of the lead, if that is a word, what I mean is it aids in mold fill out but tin does little to add to the hardness of lead alloy.
For most pistol and rifle applicatications WW alloy is sufficiently hard.
Water quenching will take WW alloy bullets to about 22 on the Brintnel (sp) scale or about the same hardness as linotype which is really quite hard and harder than really required.
For your applications WW alloy is about the right hardness. As mentioned get yourself a copy of the lyman Handbook. You might also want to join this forum:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/
Good bunch of guys there with years of casting experience.
Good luck with your casting.
Take Care
Bob
ps Your Lee pot will eventually drip. The Lee pots drip, some more than others, but they do drip. If you ever solve the dripping, post it here.
Tin adds to the fluicity of the lead, if that is a word, what I mean is it aids in mold fill out but tin does little to add to the hardness of lead alloy.
For most pistol and rifle applicatications WW alloy is sufficiently hard.
Water quenching will take WW alloy bullets to about 22 on the Brintnel (sp) scale or about the same hardness as linotype which is really quite hard and harder than really required.
For your applications WW alloy is about the right hardness. As mentioned get yourself a copy of the lyman Handbook. You might also want to join this forum:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/
Good bunch of guys there with years of casting experience.
Good luck with your casting.
Take Care
Bob
ps Your Lee pot will eventually drip. The Lee pots drip, some more than others, but they do drip. If you ever solve the dripping, post it here.
I smoke my molds with a coal oil lamp with the chimney off. Failure to smoke the mold usually means the mold does not fill completely and you get rounded corners on the cannelures. I also splash a bit of acetone into the hot mold if there are any oil dimples in the cast bullets. Even the slightest trace of oil in a mold will form a vapour that leaves a dimple in the bullet.
To temper bullets you require a bit of arsenic in the lead and you get that from the wheel weights. And in answer to the question of battery lead --- it contains cadmium which is extremely toxic when inhaled as a vapour.
Almost forgot; I drop the hot cast bullets onto a pad about 16" square with 2" pink fiberglass insulation on the bottom and fiberglass roving (heavy cloth) on top.
cheers mooncoon
To temper bullets you require a bit of arsenic in the lead and you get that from the wheel weights. And in answer to the question of battery lead --- it contains cadmium which is extremely toxic when inhaled as a vapour.
Almost forgot; I drop the hot cast bullets onto a pad about 16" square with 2" pink fiberglass insulation on the bottom and fiberglass roving (heavy cloth) on top.
cheers mooncoon
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How to make your Lee pot stop dripping...(or at least it fixed mine)
Turning the valve rod eventually doesn't do it because there's a layer of crud in the bottom of the spigot. Remove the rod, turn the pot on, get it as empty as possible, then working from the inside (don't burn yourself) clean out the spigot hole.. Pissy, dirty, and easy to burn yourself... BUT pot works about 1000% better..
Turning the valve rod eventually doesn't do it because there's a layer of crud in the bottom of the spigot. Remove the rod, turn the pot on, get it as empty as possible, then working from the inside (don't burn yourself) clean out the spigot hole.. Pissy, dirty, and easy to burn yourself... BUT pot works about 1000% better..
Always smoke NEW Lee molds with a butane lighter, esp barbque type as they keep fingers from the heat. Definitely smoke Lee molds as per instructions as it "seasons" the metal surface so it will not bond with the lead causing the finished bullet to "stick" in the mold itself.
Before using, and intermittently during longer casting sessions "lube" the mold with Alox stick or equivalent to keep the mold halves and hanldle pivots from sticking.
Additionally be DAMN CARFUL NO WATER GETS NEAR MOLTEN LEAD!!! IT WILL EXPLODE SPLASHING MOLTEN LEAD ON YOU!!!
Sorry for the capslock, but it is that important. Especially if you are quenching bullets in water. Even a drop transfered to your melt pot is serious. Also watch out for condensation on lead which you may carry out of a warm house to a cold garage & add to a pot of melted lead as even one wheel weight sweated up with moisture can blow a lot of molten lead about. Use all safety equipment all the time.
Casting is a great pastime but not if someone gets hurt.
Cheers
Jaguar
ps I've never yet been hurt casting but yes I will admit to cleaning lead off of the garage wall.
Before using, and intermittently during longer casting sessions "lube" the mold with Alox stick or equivalent to keep the mold halves and hanldle pivots from sticking.
Additionally be DAMN CARFUL NO WATER GETS NEAR MOLTEN LEAD!!! IT WILL EXPLODE SPLASHING MOLTEN LEAD ON YOU!!!
Sorry for the capslock, but it is that important. Especially if you are quenching bullets in water. Even a drop transfered to your melt pot is serious. Also watch out for condensation on lead which you may carry out of a warm house to a cold garage & add to a pot of melted lead as even one wheel weight sweated up with moisture can blow a lot of molten lead about. Use all safety equipment all the time.
Casting is a great pastime but not if someone gets hurt.
Cheers
Jaguar
ps I've never yet been hurt casting but yes I will admit to cleaning lead off of the garage wall.
