Mould Juggling

[grullaguy]

I normally work with two moulds, alternating from one to the other. In the hopes of upping my output further, I am going to attempt to juggle three moulds around the melting pot today.
l ladle pour, so it is going to be a very busy workspace needing my full attention.

Anyone else out there using multiple moulds? When does it become unmanageable for you?:holysheep

[mooman76]

I can't see it for myself anyway. I am constantly moving and only have toe wait a few second for the boolits to harden. Besides I don't shoot as much as I like and don't need a mass output but when I do I use the Lee 6 cavity and they crank out fast. I ladle pour also. Maybe if I used more steel moulds that hold the heat, I would be able to better but I use the Lees and they cool pretty quick.

[raingauge]

with the steel molds I can do three, and yes, you are busy. Without a distraction I can make it work, things have to flow smoothly. Can sue use up a lot of lead.

[stubshaft]

Three molds are the limit for me and usually only when casting boolits over 300grs. This gives me time to let the boolit cool and not over heat the mold.

[grullaguy]

I was up to four moulds for a little while using a hotplate to keep them warm while waiting. I started off with a .50 REAL and a .350 single cavity, then when #3, a .490 ball was warmed up, I moved it into the rotation. Next was a .45 REAL.
Then the sprue screw came loose on the .490 and I had to pull it out of the race. Things went pretty good till the lead ran out. When the pot was almost empty, the heat was turned way down and I was only filling the .350 mould.
It was fun.

[williamwaco]

I was up to four moulds for a little while using a hotplate to keep them warm while waiting. I started off with a .50 REAL and a .350 single cavity, then when #3, a .490 ball was warmed up, I moved it into the rotation. Next was a .45 REAL.
Then the sprue screw came loose on the .490 and I had to pull it out of the race. Things went pretty good till the lead ran out. When the pot was almost empty, the heat was turned way down and I was only filling the .350 mould.
It was fun.


You might pull it off with a hot plate but with a ladle, I couldn't pour fast enough to keep the molds hot.

[Gunslinger1911]

I regularly juggle two Lee 6 bangers, get the right cadence and the moulds stay perfect temp Tried 3 a few times but the pot ran out awful quick ( Lee 4-20). Boat load of boolets in a hurry !

[44man]

I have used 3 with the ladle but it gets hectic, 2 are easy and relaxed.
Just getting each hot is not worth it. I have one hot plate so I quit with 2 molds.

[blikseme300]

I regularly use 2 Lee 6-bangers when casting. A large capacity bottom pour and a hot plate is used.

Bliksem

[cajun shooter]

It's my belief that casting should be another fun and enjoyable part to the shooting sports.
While employed in a gun store in the early 70's I took on the casting of bullets that the store sold to our customers. I had four Lyman pots for heating the alloy all in a line. I was given 4-6 cavity H&G moulds along with others to cast many at once.
I can tell you that I became very tired of casting and it left a bad taste in my mouth to ever do it again. The hobby had moved from something that I enjoyed to something that I despised.
It was hot and at the age 24 I was wore out for days at a time.
It was five years after leaving this job that I went back to casting anything more than a hundred at a time.
My entire point is that I shoot 150 rounds of ammo each week in SASS matches and my use of two moulds while casting is more than enough. I have a huge reserve supply and enjoy my casting sessions.
Total production is not a factor when doing something for fun. You may cast 20 or 100 what does it matter as long as it stays "FUN"

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'm not even sure why I'm responding here.

One mold at a time for me.
Jon

[HeavyMetal]

Ladle casting is cool when your doing single cavity HP's but move up to multiple cavity molds and or more than one and your really working to hard for what you get.

If production and quality are what your searching for it's time to move up to a bottom pour, or two, lead pots.

were I starting out today, doing the match IPSC shooting I did in the 70's and 80's I'd call Lee and do three things:

1 Purchase two of his 20 pound bottom pour pots.

2 attempt to buy two 6 cavity molds cut as consecutively as possible by the same guy.

3 I'd go to Wal Grens and buy an exposed coil hot plate to keep the molds at casting temp. You'll also need a nice piece of 1/4 inch steel pate to set on the coil.

I'd do what I have already learned to do: mount the two lead pots in a stand one on top of the other and use the top pot as a feeder / melter to keep the bottom pot at a consistant fluid level, meaning never let it get past half full, while casting.

I use this same basic set up with pots I've picked up over the years and it is amazing as to both quality and production once you work through the learnng curve.

Done correctly you'll have a hard time telling ladle cast from the ones made from a bottom pour. The trick is to make everything works at the correct height for you so that every action you make durng the casting session is comfortable and safe!

I spent plenty of time "mocking up" my casting area, and I double check it before I heat the pots every time I cast, so that I have no "kinks" in the work flow.

I cast with both a ladle and a bottom pour pot system. For Me it's about what I want to make and how many. Quality s First, comfort is second, quantity is third.


Hope I helped some.

[grullaguy]

It's my belief that casting should be another fun and enjoyable part to the shooting sports.
While employed in a gun store in the early 70's I took on the casting of bullets that the store sold to our customers. I had four Lyman pots for heating the alloy all in a line. I was given 4-6 cavity H&G moulds along with others to cast many at once.
I can tell you that I became very tired of casting and it left a bad taste in my mouth to ever do it again. The hobby had moved from something that I enjoyed to something that I despised.
It was hot and at the age 24 I was wore out for days at a time.
It was five years after leaving this job that I went back to casting anything more than a hundred at a time.
My entire point is that I shoot 150 rounds of ammo each week in SASS matches and my use of two moulds while casting is more than enough. I have a huge reserve supply and enjoy my casting sessions.
Total production is not a factor when doing something for fun. You may cast 20 or 100 what does it matter as long as it stays "FUN"

I have to agree. I only began bullet casting this year and picked it up pretty quickly.
Right away people were interested in my bullets and I sold a few. I prefer to cast a few hundred at a session for my own use. In this case, I had a rare break in the rain and an order for 1000 bullets waiting, so I decided to take it on as a challenge.
If I had to do this every day, the enjoyment would go pretty quickly. I have had other hobbies that became businesses and the need to work long hours soon became drudgery. The most notable being a brass foundry which I built all my own equipment for.

As far a production goes, Heavymetal has got it figured out.:-)

[geargnasher]

If you ladle-pour, I don't see how it could possibly be advantageous to use more than one at a time, but to each their own.

Even with a bottom-pour, if you run your alloy at the right temp and mould at the right temp it's a brisk undertaking to keep one aluminum or brass mould going well. Steel, especially large-caliber, two-cavity moulds, can overheat and I've alternated two of those on more than one occasion, but again, never witha ladle. That's just me though. If I wan't production, I just budget more time for sessions. It doesn't all have to be done in one shot to get a large quantity of consistent boolits.

Gear

[mpmarty]

I typically use a six hole pistol and a two hole rifle mold at one time, alternating between them to keep the temps where I need them.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

grullaguy,

How many molds I am running depends -----------------

If I am casting for my 45/70, 465gr boolit from a 4 cav mold made by Bruce. I will likely cast with one mold. I am hoping to up the quality and the 4 cav mold still keeps the production rate reasonable.

However, for handgun boolits. I like to team cast with a partner where we will be running 4 - 5 molds. Minimum of 2 cav cause I just don't have a bigger one, but as much as possible 4 - 6 cavity molds.

I use an old Colman white gas stove and a pot of 40 or a bit more lbs capacity, and a Rowell bottom pour ladle.

I use the same pot and ladle eather way.

With the large pot, I can add ingets or the sprews back to the pot and keep right on casting with out stopping more then once in awhile to flux and skim the pot..

With team casting, the large pot, and good heat source, a couple sessions gets me a years worth of shooting for the handguns.

With a lot of the testing now behind me on the 45/70, I suppose a couple sessions by myself with the 4 cavity mold will get me a years supply of sorted and weighed boolits.

I'd much prefer to have multipal molds - all the same - for the 45/70 and again team cast. Likely one 2 hours session would put me in good shape for a number of years of shooting with that rifle.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot