cure time

[monge]

How long should I wait before I lube and size my fresh castboolits? Ive read on this site that cast boolits cure very slow and get harder with age ,is it ok to lube and size them the next day? Im new to casting and want to do things right 1 Thanks JOE

[geargnasher]

It depends. What alloy are you using, and are you water-quenching them or air cooling?

Gear

[HangFireW8]

You should size them asap if they are hard alloy or water dropped, because they will only get harder. The rule of the thumb is after they cool but before 3 days. You can do it after 3 days, it is just more work and there is more chance of deforming them.

If they are really soft I guess it doesn't matter.

HF

[williamwaco]

If they are dry, and if they are cool enough you can hold them in your bare hand, they are ready to size and lube.


Mine are never wet. don't water drop.

[runfiverun]

if you are sizing down .002 or more [or at all after water dropping] then i do it pretty quickly.
if it's just rounding things a little, or scuffing the boolit i'll let them sit.
i have some i haven't sized yet that have been sitting there for a couple of years.

[monge]

They are 90% lino and 10%ww air cooled I guess I should size them today or tomorrow.

[DLCTEX]

I'd size those as soon as they cooled enough. What are you shooting that needs them so hard?

[44man]

I'd size those as soon as they cooled enough. What are you shooting that needs them so hard?
Yes, that is very hard, never needed. 1# of lino to 20# of WW's is still very hard.

[prs]

They are 90% lino and 10%ww air cooled I guess I should size them today or tomorrow.

Sounds like a recipe for frangible boolits!

prs

[Larry Gibson]

They are 90% lino and 10%ww air cooled I guess I should size them today or tomorrow.

Yes, that is a very hard alloy. I would size and lube as soon as they are cool.

Larry Gibson

[monge]

new to casting friend that cast told me to use pure lino for rifle boolits? guess he was wrong.sized one today and the sizer from lee knocked them down to 458 do you think I can sand .oo1 out on my lathe to get them up to 459/ Thanks Joe

[DLCTEX]

IMHO it is a waste of good lino to use it that way. Save it to mix with lead or WW to sweeten the alloy for good boolits.

[Huntducks]

You have your numbers backwards, do it the other way around and you will have some good boolits.

You lost me with the sand up to .001

[runfiverun]

lapping a sizer die is a simple matter.
you should be able to find it covered already in many threads.

[monge]

Im a new caster and tring to get as much info as possible > Thanks for the help! Joe

[DLCTEX]

A lathe is not needed to open a sizer die. Find the threads on opening up a sizer die. Basically it's using abrasive paper or cloth wrapped around a dowel and then roll the die on your thigh or some other surface while holding level pressure on the ends of the dowel. .0001 will come out quickly, so check often. But, if you are going to change the alloy, do it before making any changes to the size die. The softer alloy may come out a different size.

[HangFireW8]

new to casting friend that cast told me to use pure lino for rifle boolits

Not so much wrong, it will work fine, but unnecessarily expensive. Back in the days of rapid decomissioning of Linotype presses, it may have made economic sense.

Now, Linotype contains lots of expensive Antimony and Tin while it is the scrap lead that is fairly cheap and available, so use lots of the cheap lead and alloy it with only as much Linotype as needed.

HF

[MtGun44]

Air cooled wwts will do much of what is needed in rifle boolits. If not, after testing, then
some added lino and/or heat treating might be helpful, especially if pushing the velocity.
As stated, high percentage of lino is not economical today and is not necessary.

I still see a few gunwriters stating that they use straight lino for semi-auto boolits. I am
in awe of the budget that this requires. Not that it won't work, but wow, it sure makes
casting for semi-auto pistols a lot more expensive than necessary.

Bill