Water Quenched WW ...

[Willee]

Here is the setup I have used for my first cast water quenched wheel weight boolits.

Wanted to keep any water splash away from the pot and mold.

Willee
Corpus Christi, Texas

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i just used a towel with a slit in it your set up looks good

[geargnasher]

That's a creative setup.

A towl with a slit in the middle held across the bucket with a large rubber band or tape (drum-head style) works too, might be less likely to ding the soft boolits. But if it works, no argument from me!

PS the pot on a riser on a table kinda spooks me, but I'm probably a lot clumsier than you are.

Gear

[Willee]

PS the pot on a riser on a table kinda spooks me, but I'm probably a lot clumsier than you are.

Gear

That is one reason I chose to setup outside.
I have the pot elevated so I can see the spout and the lead flowing into the sprue hole.

The towel with a slit over the water bucket sounds a better way to set up.
I will try that next time I do some casting.

I cast half air cooled and half water quenched.
Will compare them this Sunday at the range and see if there is reall any need for the extra hardness.

Willee

[bobthenailer]

What i use is a 7 gallon bucket with a extension useing a cut off top half of 5 gallon bucket that fits nicely inside to the ribbed area, and removes just by lifting out, to give me a higher splash area , and only fill the 7 gallon bucket with about 6 gallons of water.I put the bucket on the floor next to my casting bench so i can open the mould so the bullets will drop directly into the bucket. or you could use one 5 gallon bucket with several extensions .

[imashooter2]

It's nice and all, but the boolits spend too much time cooling before they hit the water for my liking. I set the bucket of water on top of a second bucket for height and then place that ~90 degrees from the pot. The boolits don't fall far, so there is little splash. Any splash that might hit the mold evaporates right off before you can get the blocks closed. To get to the pot, a splash would have to travel about 2 feet vertical and 4 feet horizontal through my body.

[Lizard333]

I guess this leads me to wonder..... As anyone ever had I'll effects while water dropping? I do not have a towel over my water bucket and have never had water come from my bucket all the way to the top of my pot and then, get under the lead in pot to get the tinsel fairy to visit?

I remember reading a post back quite a while about a caster who used to pour water on top of his pot to get it to cool faster to prevent his curious cat from burning itself after he was done casting.

Not to hijack a thread, but it sees to me there might be some confusion as to how the tinsel fairy comes to visit..........

[41 mag fan]

I thought the set up of letting the casts rool while hot down a shute and into the water was to ensure they were fully round!! :kidding:

[Staestc]

That is one reason I chose to setup outside.
I have the pot elevated so I can see the spout and the lead flowing into the sprue hole.

Willee

Yeah, I noticed yesterday while casting that the pot needs to be higher than where you are dumping your bullets. I doing everything on the same surface, and I found myself constantly sitting to see the spout, then standing to cut the sprue and dump the bullets. I need to raise my pot and stool, or pick another area to dump bullets.

Travis'n'Texas

[fredj338]

I alos rasied my casting pot level. Sitting while casting is an accident waiting to happen IMO. I like to be able to move if I have to in a hurry! I also use the slit towel over the bucket, but the bucket is far enough form my pot to not be any issue w/ splashes.

[357maximum]

You can dump water on top of molten lead all day long it will harm nothing. It just jumps around steaming and roiling and cooling the melt below it. The chance of the tinsel fairy visiting while water dropping is slim.....unless....unless the water gets splashed onto a cool sprue or a future ingot or a tool and then gets put into the pot. Then you get water UNDER the surface of the melted lead....that's when a steam explosion entices the mean ol tinsel fairy will pay you a visit. I water drop into an open bucket directly between my legs with no fancy Rube Goldberg devices needed. Been doing it like that for many years. If you drop a sprue on the floor you would be best to leave it there until the next time you fire up a batch however.

I repeat....water on top of lead cannot cause no harm. It must be put under the surface of the melt to cause any malice. A water droplet by itself cannot penetrate the much denser molten lead without help or EXTREME velocity....you must make it go below the surface with another object. Most tinsel fairy visits are caused by moisture on the surface of ingots that get submerged into the melt.


I am not saying not to be careful but wanted to share some real facts. You could slowly dump a gallon of water into a 40lb pot of molten lead all you are gonna get is some steam burning your hand and a sauna like atmosphere in your casting area.

[just.don]

"It's nice and all, but the boolits spend too much time cooling before they hit the water for my liking"

+1

[MtGun44]

What cartridge are you casting for?

I'd like to hear back a report on water dropped vs not water dropped. I've
done this a few times with a few cartridges and have some results. I'd like to
know what yours are.

Bill

[lead chucker]

In the winter I fill a bucket with snow and then pour in water it makes a big slushy and the bullets don't seem to splatter water as much when the bullets get dropped in and it cools them real fast.

[geargnasher]

"It's nice and all, but the boolits spend too much time cooling before they hit the water for my liking"

+1

I thought about that too when I first saw the chute, but I don't assume that my drop timing preference would be the same as anyone else's. As long as they're all the same and end up in the hardness ballpark that's wanted/needed, no matter.

I cut the sprue by hand when still soft (it tears a little crater in the boolit base, one indication of extact boolit temperature if they all tear out the same way), and immediately swing the mould over the bucket and drop the boolits. If I use a multi-cavity, I've seen as much as a 2 bhn swing in hardness a month later if some of the boolits hit the water before others. When water-dropping, I find it important to get a good rhythm going and cast as many as 50 boolits on a towel until the mould and handle tongs get nicely heat-soaked and all the heat is evened-out, then start water-dropping. If anything causes even a slight break in timing, I cull the next two or three pours automatically before resuming the water-dropping of "keepers". Oven heat-treating eliminates most of these inconsitencies, but it's simpler to water-quench for my needs as long as I do it right.

Gear

[**oneshot**]

I use two t-shirts. Each is draped halfway across and is loose to form a "sort of" funnel. bullets drop through between the t shirts and the splash is contained.

I did float an inch or so of chainsaw shavings for one session. They worked great but were more a pain to clean up.

[tacofrank]

I am going to give the two T shirts a try.

[FergusonTO35]

I keep my melter on my work bench at roughly waist level, as far back as it will go to put some space between me and the pot. My quench bucket is a little off to the side, elevated on a small crate to create a space of about 16" between the mold and the water.