snow flakes on the surface of my boolets

[gray wolf]

Well I have another ? :roll:

I was casting some very clean range lead yesterday and had this problem.
Think it was a temp thing. the mold was my #68 4 banger, my pot is a bottom spout lee 10 pounder that seems to hold about 7 pounds of metal :roll:
I don't have a thermometer and with my stinkin retirement check from the Fed's.
It doesn't seem like there is one in my future.
Anyway pot was on # 6 and mold was hot. I was getting good fill out and the
bullets were dropping fine. But the bullets come out with a crystalline like surface, Like snow flakes or star burst like ice on a window. It rubs off with a soft towel.
I am thinking to call this a dendrite surface or some kind of grain raising thing.
I hope I am saying this correctly. This has happened with WW metal also. But not with pure lead or a mix with a lot of lead.
Mold to hot?? metal to hot??. Any thoughts on this??

Thank you

[jonk]

Antimony would be my guess. Frosted bullets. Rather common- I think that you are just seeing it in starbursts because either there isn't much antimony in the metal, or on a 6 setting you are not melting it enough to distribute it evenly through the mix. There was an interesting read on why bullets frost not long ago, perhaps someone can point you to it?

[gray wolf]

Just looked over some old post and found the word Galvanized This best describes what I am trying to say. I may add that I am getting little small whiskers of lead on the mould faces under the cavities.

[ron brooks]

GW,

I think jonk nailed it, you are seeing a frosted apperance like from running hot. That is also what is causing the whiskers, sounds like the molds vent lines. You are getting good fill. :-) You can always slow down your casting speed, turn down you lead pot, or cool your mold.

Ron

[gray wolf]

OK I turned down the pot, Added a little pure. Pot is on #4 1/4, a little over #4.
Now I have a dull shine good fill and no frosted bullets. But I still have the little whiskers below the cavities. So next I will slow down a little. The whiskers are on the mold not the bullets. Yesterday I was casting on #6. So it looks like my temp. dial is just a round handle and only a reference point. Well that's OK that's why the sell temperature thing's. But I do pretty good figuring it out. When I need help you guy's are there with the answers, and that is great.
I don't mind saying I don't no and you guy's don't mind helping.

B T W I cast 500 shooters this afternoon. Got to get it done, Oct. is bird season.
Then the snow falls and then it's deer season. Man there just ain't enough time.
Sometimes I am amazed here I am 65 years old and I am the same guy I was when I was 16. Hunting, fishing, shooting, fly tying, casting, and still got Jeans on and a sweat shirt. My wife Say's I am still a pain in the ass too.

[leftiye]

G.W.
Those whiskers are in the vent lines of the mold? Are you holding the mold against the spout of the furnace?

If the "whiskers" are in the vent lines they indicate that your mold was some hot and casting was happening under pressure. Can also happen when mold isn't held against the bottom of the pot if flow is fast enough. Clean out vent lines, pour with maybe 1/2" between spout and sprue. If it still happens, turn down furnace a little. Or close down the stream some. Or if they were to become attached to the boolits you could just scrape them off with a fingernail. Also check and be sure that the mold is closing properly.

You might want to read Joe B's two threads on mold and lead temps (in Shooter's right now). there's a few references to frosting. Your "dull but not frosted" results probably are near to as good as you will get with that alloy- excellent fillout.

[gray wolf]

I will look at the thread you mentioned. The whiskers are not on the bullets
They present as little flecks on the mold blocks. They clean up when I prepare for the next casting session. They don't seem to effect the bullets, but they bug me and should not be there. If you look at the bullets they show no reflection of this.
Yes I am bottom pouring from a lee pot the stream is fast and hard. I would say a fare amount of head pressure. The mold is about 3/8 below the spout.
Should I soften the delivery of the lead?? Should the mold be lower ??
I have some pictures of the bullets and the mold I will try and post them
in a little while.
Just an Idea but I was thinking, When I look at the mold the little lead marks don't seem to be coming from the cavities. COULD this be from dropping the bullets and having them hit the hot mold blocks???
Look close at the blocks ------ what do you think ??

[gray wolf]

O K here are the bullets and the lead spots I am talking about.

[Single Shot]

Sometimes I am amazed here I am 65 years old and I am the same guy I was when I was 16. Hunting, fishing, shooting, fly tying, casting, and still got Jeans on and a sweat shirt. My wife Say's I am still a pain in the ass too.

I thought that was the real goal of the American Male.

Success is not measured in a $ figure.

The quote is the true measure of success.

Nice boolits in the photo. Is that saeco green?

[Single Shot]

Those almost look like calcium water spots from dropping into water too close to the mold.

If you are dropping into water, raise your drop height.

[gray wolf]

NOPE-no water drop

[Single Shot]

My Misunderstanding, I forgot you said lead wiskers.

I enlarged the pictures this time.

Any indication of a seam line on the bullets? Even a faint one?

It looks almost like the mold is just a hair from closing and you a getting a spray pattern from the bullet tip.

Try cleaning the alignment pins and sockets. Or are there any chips at the bullet noses? If you enlarge the picture quite a bit it all seems to start at the noses and spray down.

[gray wolf]

The bullets have no indication that any lead is leaking out , no fins.
When I close the mold I can't see any daylight.

[Springfield]

Well, you seem to be getting some damn fine looking bullets, so I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You may just be getting some very small fins on the bullets under the sprue or elsewhere and they break off when you open the mould and some end up on the mould face. Just wipe them off and keep going.

[gray wolf]

I guess you are correct about that. I just thought I was doing something wrong.
The bullets shoot well also. So I will just clean it off and KEEP CASTING.

[leftiye]

Second that about nice looking boolits. Your picture looks like little flecks of lead that have been semi melted to the mold blocks. Only guess that I'd have would be that when you were casting real hot some small bits of molten lead got mashed between the mold halves. I guess you've cleaned them off already? When I've had these, they've been hard to remove. Sharp knife, maybe even sand paper might be necessary. See if they don't stop happening when you are casting cooler. Maybe turn down the flow a little in case it is spatter. This alone will act just like you turned down the temp, so you may have to adjust the heat.

[gray wolf]

No Single shot that is my home brew lube.

Bees wax 50%, 20% Mineral oil, 20% Vaseline, 5 % lanolin, and 5 % none petroleum based oil. I mix this up, color it and put it aside.
Then I take bees wax like a 1/2 pound, melt it and then add from the first mix.
I start with a 1" square of the mother mix and add it to the new bees wax.
What I am looking for is a mix I can squash between my fingers.
It works for me for the 45 auto. no leading to speak of.