First Casting Attempt in 30 Years

[ColColt]

I finally tried my hand at casting again after many years. I mixed 4# of Hardball(50/50 lead-LT) with 6# of lead wanting to get a BHN 11 from it but after letting the bullets cool down and checking with the Lee Hardness tester they averaged between. BHN12.5-13. Not that I'm unhappy about that but it seems I need to add a bit more lead to the quotient.

I had a hard time initially in that after I started added alloy to the pot and had the Lyman on 650 degrees, I noticed the pot started developing a drip....drip....drip about every 3-4 seconds. That was a bummer with already about five pounds of alloy in the pot. I went through the entire casting session of about three hours contending with that dripping. It's not easy fixing that problem with an old Lyman 61 as you have to take the cotter key out of the plunger/handle and loosen the screw that holds the handle on the left side in order to get a screwdriver in the slot to turn it in hopes of stopping the leak.

I went by Lee's recommendation on their 158 gr .38 caliber mold where they specify not only how to warm the mold up but to put bullet lube in the "V" ribs and locating pin. I barely put much at all as I didn't want it getting inside the mold itself but kit still took casting probably 75 bullets or so before I got the temp and the mold where it should have been to start casting good bullets. My pot is way off in it's thermostat(about 60-74 degrees) and had it not been for the thermometer I just purchased I would never have known exactly what the melt was. For the most part I casted at 600-650 degrees as it varied depending on whether I added more to the pot or not. If it got too hot I added some of the spruce(very gently) and it cooled it back down.

Out of the entire three hours I think I got about 100 bullets or so suitable for resizing and shooting. I wasn't too happy about that or the initial problems but it took a while to get use to the "fine art" of casting again and to get in the proper rhythm again. I was real rusty! Most fell from the mold at 158.5 to 160 gr and miked .360". The lube groove could be a little deeper in this particular mold but I suppose it'll suffice. I took a couple of pics to show the aftermath of that three hour session. Not too shabby for a first time in about 30 years and suitable for resizing...for me at any rate

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x220/ColColt/Casting%20Equipment/_DEF3902.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x220/ColColt/Casting%20Equipment/_DEF3904.jpg

[HangFireW8]

Looks great! It's just your production rate you need to work on.

I preheat Lee molds so hot the first few come out frosty. Aluminum cools so fast it is easier to let it cool then cast until it warms up.

[462]

You're on the way...again. That's an excellent boolit design and will serve you well. Don't worry about the shallow lube groove, it'll work.

What HangFireW8 said about preheating the mould, too.

[ColColt]

I know one of the problems was I most likely didn't preheat the mold enough. Lee recommends dipping the corner in the mix but when you have a thermometer in the pot along with the seating stem in an old Model 61 pot, there's not enough room to dip a mold so, I just let it sit on top the pot's edge for awhile and figured I'd loose the first 25-50 anyway but it was more than that. Next time I'll do differently. I think their 20# pot would suit me better. The diameter must be larger than their Model 61.

[Three44s]

By-ute-iful!!!

I'd say that casting is like riding a bicycle ......... I'd say you have not lost your "knack"!!


Three 44s

[Doby45]

Colt, do me a favor brother and go to Walgreens or Harbour Freight and get you a single eye electric burner. It is cheap and it is a dream for warming your mold. I placed my little 358-124 RFN Lee mold on mine the other day as I was getting the pot warm. By the time the alloy was good and melted I pulled my mold and was casting keepers from the very first pour. Did not cast a single dud. If you had that little hot plate every one of those you cast you would been loading into brass. ;)

[ColColt]

I didn't know Walgreen's sold anything like that. At one time I had a two burner hot plate I used back in my younger days as the house I had just rented had no refrigerator or oven. To tide me over until I got both, I went to Penny's and found a two burner hot plate and it served me well. Too bad I gave it away. I sure wasted a lot of time(and bullets) by not heating the mold properly. I didn't think aluminum would take that long to get up to snuff so didn't prepare it long enough-lessons learned.

[gray wolf]

Nice work and welcome back into the group.
A little hot plate will do you just fine for the pre-heat and it's a very small investment.
Keep the mold clean of any lube and up to temp with a nice casting rhythm and it's off to the races. The bullets look great (( did you have fun ?? ))

[HangFireW8]

My local Walgreens is well stocked with everything else, but has no single burner anything, nor plans to carry such. Rite-Aid was more forthcoming, for $14.99 instead of $9.99, but the having is better than the saving but wanting.

Hmm it's currently on sale for $9.99 at RiteAid. Oh, well.

[ColColt]

Keep the mold clean of any lube and up to temp with a nice casting rhythm and it's off to the races. The bullets look great (( did you have fun ?? ))

I had the rhythm down pretty good-just didn't prep the mold properly. Fun? Not at the beginning due to the dripping. I was more concerned about that dripping at the spout and it distracted me. Seeing that my old pot is over 30 years old, I just bit the bullet(pun intended) and ordered a Lee Pro 4-20 today. So, another toy to play with in a few days.


My local Walgreens is well stocked with everything else, but has no single burner anything, nor plans to carry such. Rite-Aid was more forthcoming, for $14.99 instead of $9.99, but the having is better than the saving but wanting.


I haven't checked our Walgreen's yet but plan on doing so. If not, there's always Wally World.

One problem area with the casting was the bullets wanting to stick to the mold once the handles were opened. I had to whack the handles at the bolt for them to fall free. Maybe some BullPlate would have helped.

[EMC45]

That is a super bullet from Lee!

[montana_charlie]

One problem area with the casting was the bullets wanting to stick to the mold once the handles were opened. I had to whack the handles at the bolt for them to fall free. Maybe some BullPlate would have helped.
Bullets like to hang up on mechanical projections.
Examine the mould under good magnification, looking for burrs and such, especially around the edge of the cavity. Remove any you find using the most gentle means available.

Bullets shrink as they cool.
If your mould is mechanically perfect, but bullets still stick in the cavity, let them cool a bit longer before trying to dump them out.

Bullplate will reduce, or eliminate, various kinds od wear on the blocks, and will prevent lead from sticking to surfaces. But, it will not make bullets fall out easier.
To do that, it would have to be in the cavity, and you NEVER want Bullplate in a cavity.

CM

[TCLouis]

take a screwdriver and while pressing down on the flow valve, git it a few turns. that will crush the little piece of material that is in the valve seat.
That has always solved the dripping problem for me.

Those are some good looking boolits and I think you will find that they will carry plenty of lube.

[ColColt]

I didn't see a burr in the cavity edges-smooth as it could be. I did order some BullPlate so maybe that will help next time. I decided I needed a greater capacity melter so I ordered the Pro 4-20 and it came today. Lee sure don't give a great deal of instructions with their products. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering but do have a little mechanical aptitude but couldn't figure the valve handle out. You try to move it up/down and it doesn't move. It appears it's locked down with two bolts-one on the top they call the shoulder bolt and one on the bottom. I know I'm missing something here but to me it seems it should move freely to let the lead out of the spout. I haven't melted anything yet, just looking over this new pot and saw no instructions about the handle other than to screw the wooden knob on. This one operates a bit differently than my old Lyman.

OK-I'll take any heat dished out but, what am I missing about this? Does the pot have to have alloy in it and melted before the valve will move? The Lyman isn't like that. The valve assembly is shaped like a "C" and the bottom part is right up against the bottom of the pot so I don't see how you could possibly raise the arm. Maybe I should have started a new thread about this.

[Cherokee]

The edge of the hole in the top of the handle thru which the bolt passes may be caught under the shoulder of that bolt. Back out the top bolt some and wiggle the valve handle, it should come free. May also happen with the bottom one. The valve doesn't move much, dosen't need too, and rides up and down on those two bolts.

[ColColt]

They had the screw tightened down for shipping, I was told. After loosening it half a dozen turns or so it loosened up and moved. I think they could have mentioned this in their instructions. Some of us just don't get it sometimes.:redneck:

[canyon-ghost]

In the event that you don't have a way to preheat your mold, you can cast, wait til the sprue frosts (30 seconds) and dump them. About a dozen really fast casts will run enough lead through to start heating it. To further heat it, cast and wait longer but keep that mold closed as much as possible. Don't leave a mold open for a second more, or it starts cooling.

Good Luck and welcome back to the casters' table!

Ron

[ColColt]

It was recommended I get a single burner hot plate for pre-heating the mold and that sounds like a good idea. I checked Walgreen's the other day and they didn't have any so, I reckon I'll have to humble myself and go to Wally World to find one. Lee recommends dipping a corner of the mold into the mix and I guess that's another way along with taking a butane torch and play it around the mold a little. I have the torch but the hot plate sounds interesting. I'll just have to make sure it's got a rheostat instead of one that plugs in and just heats up to how hot no one knows.

[craveman85]

those look way better than my lee moulds seem to throw. watch out for the sprue plate screws backing out. some like to drill a hole and put a setscrew in to hold it in place.

[ColColt]

I had to actually back off a bit on the spruce plate screw as it was pretty tight-not much but just a touch to loosen it. This mold does throw a pretty decent looking bullet but it has just a very slight bevel to the base-just enough to get a minor amount of lube on it but, I can live with that. It's not as bad as a standard bevel. I'm anxious to try these out after casting them and I'll know in the morning at the range.