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Rich22
03-06-2013, 05:14 PM
So tried casting for first time other day, problem I had was wrinkled bullets, every single one of them that I have looked at. From reading I need to likely

1. Keep mold hotter. I preheated to about 350 then casted about 50 molds full (5 cavity NOE 311 247). Same results at the end as the beginning

2. Keep melt hotter. This is likely, my thermometer read about 675. I will try increasing it.

3. Cast faster. I did about 3-4 per minute, is this too slow?

Mold is clean, used degreaser hot water etc and scrubbed the heck out of it. ingoted COWW for the lead source. Lee 4-20 pot. Fill out was not good but that I believe is technique issue on my part and the need to fine tune the pot spout and how fast the lead comes out.

Any other ideas, I am listening and would be appreciated. Thank you.

prs
03-06-2013, 05:29 PM
Your alloy temp is plenty hot. You did not say if you were bottom pouring or ladeling. Small bore moulds with lots of metal block are slow to come up to full heat. If the mould is new, give it a few sessions to break in. Recycle the wrinkled casts and practice. Your alloy could be lacking enough tin, about 1 to 2% should be adequate.

If the mould is really stuborn about wrinkles, clean it in scalding detergent water. I can't say enough good things about casting with Kroil, in fact I can say nothing good about it. Clean is best.

A too tight fitting spru cutter can encourage wrinkles. Some moulds like the bottom pour lead pouring in at an angle or off center instead of right down the middle. A mould is hot enough when the spru puddle remains moulten for a few seconds after the pour.

prs

454PB
03-06-2013, 05:30 PM
It sounds like you're doing everything right. What is your alloy?

I like to keep my alloy around 700 to 725 degrees, but it does depend on the alloy.

chsparkman
03-06-2013, 05:30 PM
Do the same as before, but try to drop them a little faster. It will help heat up the mold even better. Keep at it, they'll start coming out better.

Rich22
03-06-2013, 05:59 PM
Your alloy temp is plenty hot. You did not say if you were bottom pouring or ladeling. Small bore moulds with lots of metal block are slow to come up to full heat. If the mould is new, give it a few sessions to break in. Recycle the wrinkled casts and practice. Your alloy could be lacking enough tin, about 1 to 2% should be adequate.

If the mould is really stuborn about wrinkles, clean it in scalding detergent water. I can't say enough good things about casting with Kroil, in fact I can say nothing good about it. Clean is best.

A too tight fitting spru cutter can encourage wrinkles. Some moulds like the bottom pour lead pouring in at an angle or off center instead of right down the middle. A mould is hot enough when the spru puddle remains moulten for a few seconds after the pour.

prs

Bottom pour , COWW alloy, only thing at all on the mold is bullplate lube applied per the directions. I will try a bit hotter and a bit faster tomorrow

Fluxed
03-06-2013, 06:42 PM
I just started with a new NOE .45 230 RN 5 cavity. The bad part is I have to get it really hot and cast as fast as I can. The good part is I made a lot of very good bullets in very little time.

Watch the sprue, and when the last sprue shrinks in (indicating that it has set), knock the plate open. Don't wait. Then shake the bullets out and re-fill ASAP. I had to get really efficient with my movements, but once I did I was making bullets like crazy. Don't stop until you need more lead in the pot.

Charlie Two Tracks
03-06-2013, 06:42 PM
Try and see if you can get more lead out of the spout. You don't want it to spray around when the cavity gets full but you don't want to spend a few seconds watching it fill. Molds take awhile to heat up. You may also want to decrease the distance the mold is from the bottom of the spout. You'll get it. It just takes some experimenting. You may not be pouring into the center of the mold and then again, some molds you have to pour just off to the side of center. I really don't think that the pot needs to be hotter. Just try one of the recommendations at a time. If you change a bunch of stuff at once, you'll never know what the problem was.

geargnasher
03-07-2013, 03:02 PM
Wrinkles mean your mould is too cold. Cast faster. Your alloy is plenty hot at 700, 675 would be enough. Four pours a minute minimum for two minutes minimum is expected for heat-soaking the blocks and handles, even with a preheat. Get after it and stay after it, if you pause for even ten seconds to fiddle with something the heat is flying out of the mould and takes a few quick cycles to build back up.

Gear

454PB
03-07-2013, 11:11 PM
Two things cause wrinkled boolits......a mould that's too cold, and contamination. Any chance you got lube in the cavities?

nhrifle
03-08-2013, 01:10 AM
Melt temp sounds good, and I very much doubt that mould is giving that kind of problem. Sounds like one of two things to me. Cold mould, or some kind of oil in the cavities. Going on what you have said, I am leaning toward lube in the cavities. I'd spray them good with some carburetor cleaner if it were me.

williamwaco
03-08-2013, 09:14 PM
Wrinkles mean your mould is too cold. Cast faster. Your alloy is plenty hot at 700, 675 would be enough. Four pours a minute minimum for two minutes minimum is expected for heat-soaking the blocks and handles, even with a preheat. Get after it and stay after it, if you pause for even ten seconds to fiddle with something the heat is flying out of the mould and takes a few quick cycles to build back up.

Gear


+1

Cast as fast as you can do so safely. Dump the bullets and refill IMMEDIATELY. Do not wast any time looking at the bullets.
Pour as much metal into the sprue as the top of the mold will hold. This is not necessary during ordinary casting but during the mold warmup it adds significant extra heat to the mold.

Keep this up until you see frosted bullets. At this point, your mold is hot. If you are still getting wrinkles, there is something in your cavities.
Now you can slow down and begin to look at the bullets. You cannot inspect the bullets while casting and keep the mold hot. You can glance at them and toss really bad ones but you will not have time to carefully inspect each and every bullet.

MtGun44
03-08-2013, 09:20 PM
Too cold OR dirty mold. Scrub mold cavity with Comet and toothbrush.

Cast faster.

Bill