Two new Lee Molds

[45-70 Chevroner]

Both molds are C309-150-F. I got to test them out friday of last week. It took a little while to get them up to temp before they would cast good boolits. My next casting session I will be using my new hot plate. Maybe it won't take as long to get them to drop good boolits.
I cast up a little over 300 of them. I had 59 visual rejects (wrinkles and not filled out). I know the reason for so many rejects was getting the molds up to temp. I started casting when the lead temp was at around 650, the molds started casting good boolits at around 850 and most of the casting was done at 900+. I have allways cast at 800 to 950 degrees maybe it's my cadence, I almost always use two molds in tandum. I have cast at lower temps like 750 but my results has always been better at the higher temps.
Of the remaining 200 + boolits cast that session the weight defference's was only 2.6 grs. On the low end, 152.2 gr. the high end, 154.8 gr. Of the 200+ weighed, one weighed 152.1 and two weighed 154.9, that could have been the digital scale.
I do have a question concerning the Hot Plate. Is there a temperature that should be used to preheat the molds, I mean like High, medium, Low, or is it a learning process?
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[RickinTN]

It's probably a learning process with the hotplate, as I doubt there is any consistency among them. They will probably vary within the same manufacturer, and even more so between manufacturers. I've tried taking the temperature of my molds while on the hotplate but can't tell you I've been particularly successful.
My hotplate came from Walgreens and was about $14. I'm sorry, I don't recall the brand. I've found that a setting on mine of just above "medium" works best for me. Even if this is not up to optimal temperature it will be much closer than a cold mold, and will shorten the number of bullets needed to get up to ideal temperature. I usually get good bullets on the second or third fill, if not on the first. Different molds react differently as well, and each has it's own "happy place" temperature wise.
My hot plate will get a mold too hot. When I first bought it I started on "High", and it would take the better part of a minute for the sprue to cool. Definitely too hot.
Good Luck, and hope this helps,
Rick

[Chicken Thief]

Dang you cast hot!

My 12BHN alloy pot runs @650degF with a PID.
I use a hotplate to get my moulds up in temp and cast them the wery last way.
At that temp i can run 2 2-bangers at the same time without breaking a sweat.

If you slap a PID on the hotplate it takes the guesswork out of that.

I stand my moulds on the end with the sprue plate to the side.

[RickinTN]

CT,
I was thinking the same thing. I try not to get above 750 so I don't cook out my tin. I'm usually between 675 and 725, depending on the mold and mix. I've not cast much pure, but could see a higher temp with pure or close to pure.
Rick

[Chicken Thief]

But pure Pb melts at @621degF.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead

[45-70 Chevroner]

Dang you cast hot!

My 12BHN alloy pot runs @650degF with a PID.
I use a hotplate to get my moulds up in temp and cast them the wery last way.
At that temp i can run 2 2-bangers at the same time without breaking a sweat.

If you slap a PID on the hotplate it takes the guesswork out of that.

I stand my moulds on the end with the sprue plate to the side.

I have always got my best results with the higher temps. This last session all my boolits came out nice and shinny except for a very few that had a frosted spot up on the rounded part of the nose. I was using a Lyman casting thermometer. My fill out is very good. If I start getting too much frost I just slow down a little on my cadence. When I fill a mold I wait until just as the sprew changes from shinny to a little dull then put the mold down and go to the next one, and do that ever time. I'm not using much tin usually about one oz., and thats from a 60/40 bar, per twenty pound pot. If the tin seperates I really can't tell. I'm from the old school that ones it's mixed it won't seperate. I get a lot of flak every time I mention that.

[BubbaJon]

Dang you cast hot!

My 12BHN alloy pot runs @650degF with a PID.
I use a hotplate to get my moulds up in temp and cast them the wery last way.
At that temp i can run 2 2-bangers at the same time without breaking a sweat.

Me too - I run my pot around 650-680F. I was just reading on Accurate Molds that their brass molds will warp if the mold temp gets over 350 or so. That tells me that the "normal" casting temp for the mold is substantially less than the alloy temp.

[BubbaJon]

I'm from the old school that ones it's mixed it won't seperate. I get a lot of flak every time I mention that.
Everything I've read says that's true - EXCEPT if the alloy temp gets too hot it will oxidize out. Someone posted an excellent clue that I have personally observed - if you see purple on top that's the antimony oxidizing out and yellow is the tin. maybe I got it backward but you get the drift - you see colors on top of your alloy you need to reduce heat and flux it back in.

[DLCTEX]

I was casting yesterday with an aluminum single cavity mould with the pot at 700* and was getting heavy frosting, so I cut back to 650* and had light frosting. This temp allows me to cut the sprue in 3 seconds. That is the same as my casting with a 6 cav. aluminum mould the night before, and a two cavity steel mould the same night. The alloy is straight WW.

[45-70 Chevroner]

My colors have not changed at all it stays about the same through out the casting session. Usually nice and shinny at first and then a little dull for the rest of the session. No color changes.

[JCherry]

I agree with 45-70 Chevroner concerning pot temperature though I normally run my melt right at 800. I use straight WW with no tin added most of the time.

I use a hot plate to pre-warm my molds and set it on a medium setting. I get well filled boolits within the first two or three pours.

Have Fun,

JCherry

[45-70 Chevroner]

Thanks Jim. I think some of the guys were thinking I was crazy or something. As for the casting session the temp was at 800 or just a little above until the level of the lead in the pot dropped below 3/4 full, the temp started to go up at that point and and buy the time I finished it was at 900+. I quit casting when the pot was at about 1/2 full, I ran out of light and time.

[john hayslip]

Like you, I usually run the mold at , or near, the top temperature. To heat the mold I usually just set it on top of the pot as it is heating up and it will usually cast good boolits on the 2d ir 3d cast. Occasionally before I start casting I take the prewarmed mold and dip the corner of it in the molten metal.

[runfiverun]

put some lead in that pot.
if it's half empty you will have a high temperature like that.
the temp will climb higher and higher the lower you go with your alloy.

I watch my thermometer as I cast with mine, and once it starts to climb I add a new ingot.
I end up walking a 25-f tightrope this way but my pot is usually near full all the time and my alloy temp is more consistent too.
950 is too high way too high.

[45-70 Chevroner]

put some lead in that pot.
if it's half empty you will have a high temperature like that.
the temp will climb higher and higher the lower you go with your alloy.

I watch my thermometer as I cast with mine, and once it starts to climb I add a new ingot.
I end up walking a 25-f tightrope this way but my pot is usually near full all the time and my alloy temp is more consistent too.
950 is too high way too high.

I usually start turning down the heat when it gets to that level in the pot, but I quit casting as I was running out of daylight and time. High or low casting temps are what works best for the person doing the casting. The high heat usually works best for me. I have done my casting at what I see suggested on this web site but I have better results with temps in the 800+ range. I don't know what I do different. When I'm casting I get the molds up to temp, and my cadence is set by how long it takes the sprew to start to solidify. When I see the color of the sprew change from shinny to dull I quickly put the mold down and go to the next one. I almost always use two molds. The pictures of the pile of 30 cal boolits (300+) took almost an hour and a half to produce.

[DLCTEX]

When I see the sprue go from shiny to dull I cut the sprue and drop the boolit on a folded towel, refill, and repeat. With the lower pot temp I do not overheat the mould as quickly and my production is twice that of yours. A too hot mould is touched to a damp sponge.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I think if my molds were to hot I would have frosted boolits. Speed is not an important factor in my casting, I'v been retired since 1992 and have cast upwards of 75,000 boolits, probably a lot more. I have given some of them away but I have shot the rest of them with the help of my son and grandsons and granddaughters.
I got to thinking about it and changed the 15,000 to 75,000 and that is probably a low guess, considering the amount of Cowboy shooting I've done.