wrinkles :(

[TrapperXX]

Hi all,
Poured my first bullets today. WW, LBT mold. (.460)
Started with my electric pot and cast a few dozen till my homemade re-wire job went up in smoke.
I decided to keep going with a small cast iron pan and cast a couple dozen more so the mold was hot.
I was pouring with a ladle. I could not get the wrinkles out although they did look a little better once the mold heated up. My thermometer read 650 F.
I washed the mold with dish soap prior to use.
So, what am I doing wrong? I am having fun and know I am in a learning curve so I'm not ready to quit yet, :-P
687546875568756

[runfiverun]

nothing, you are still pulling oil from the mold.
clean it again.
run it again.
your alloy could use just a click more heat.

[supv26]

Also, run your mold hot enough to start getting frosty looking bullets then slow down a bit to let your mold cool. You'll get the hang of it.

[R.M.]

I'd run the melt a bit hotter myself.

[sh00ter787]

as others have said, light wrinkles might indicate the mould still not quite clean (i normally am satisfied after 2 or 3 casting sessions with a new mould) the pic on the right though i would say is purely down to the mould not being hot enough - heating till you get frosty and then backing off as supv26 said is the way to go :)

[btroj]

I agree with Run, still a bit of oil in the mould. Wash it again, I like using Comet and an old toothbrush. That will remove more oil than normal dish soap.

I find that some Al moulds seem to need a few cleaning/ hear cycles to get rid of all the oil. They just seem to hold oil somewhere, somehow. The heat brings it out where we can get rid of it. I consider that normal for pretty much all moulds anymore. The first casting session is a trial run and is followed by another cleaning.

[TrapperXX]

Thank you guys for the advice. I appreciate each reply.
Will re-clean, bump up the temp and have at it. I'm looking forward to posting some perfect bullets. This forum sure has saved me a lot of trial and error.

[Wayne Smith]

Carb or break cleaner does a good job of cleaning oil off.

[Walter Laich]

I found that on the second casting session sometimes smoking the mold with a wooden match (no candles here) will help

[silverjay]

I use rubbing alcohol and q-tips on each cavity prior to heating the mold up. That really reduced the wrinkles I was getting.

[mt bwana]

lbt recomends dipping a corner of mould in the melted lead until the oil quits smoking

[TrapperXX]

Well thank you for all the new reply's. All duly noted.
I got a new Lyman pot to better control the temp and will clean the mold again.
Should have time Sat to give it another go.

[Cane_man]

new mold, cold melt.... no worries easy to correct

[TrapperXX]

Hi all, I cleaned the mold with comet and toothbrush. I also have my now Lyman pot now and was able to pour bullets at 785F
a couple clicks below max setting. Still some wrinkles but definitely better.
I am going to get some brake clean today and clean the mold again. Onward....

[OnHoPr]

Situations like that can also be caused by drinking to much coffee or mountain dew which could create unstable hands and bad pours or just need a little practice at pouring. Not saying this is the case in this situation but a possibility.

[R.M.]

As this was your first casting session, I'm wondering if you're trying too hard to not make a mess and pouring too slow. New casters tend to pour slowly in order to avoid spilling. Too slow of a pour can give you poor boolits. Put an old cookie sheet under your pot and go to it. Should you spill, the cookie sheet will catch it, no harm, no foul.

[Maximumbob54]

I agree with all of the above. Casting at 650 is when everything is running perfect already. As you found, that mold requires more heat for the speed at which you are casting. If you can hurry it up a bit you may find you can dial it back some. If you are getting bullets hanging up and you are taking time to rap the handles to get them free then detail inspect the mold for anything that would hold the bullets. Look for burrs or anything uneven and make sure the vent lines aren't clogged. I recently added a hot plate to heat up the mold blocks while the lead is heating up. This helped a great deal. And the comment about frosty bullets is the most spot on IMHO. Run everything at max until you start seeing those bullets have a frosty sheen to them and then dial it back some in small amounts until they look just right, but don't slow down as you do this. If you don't have a thermometer in the pot (like I didn't when I started) then you are just guessing at the lead temp. I don't even start casting now until it reads 800 and then I don't dial it back any until the bullets look right. Until my Pro Melt is fixed I'm back to the Lee 10# pot and I heat it up at 10 and then once everything is up to temp I usually start dialing it back to between 7 and 8 in slow increments.

[TrapperXX]

Success! 8-) I cleaned the mold with brake clean, rinsed it off with the pressure washer and put it on top of the pot as it heated up.
I do have a Lyman thermometer and waited till the pot was 750F. I then dipped the front of the mold in the pot till it started to smoke and left it in till it stopped smoking. The first pour was strange as the lead never hardened, just stayed liquid, even after 2-3 minutes. After that though it almost immediately poured wrinkle free. A little frosted so I turned the temp down one notch, watched the thermometer and at 720 or so it was throwing the bullets in the picture. No wrinkles, sharp bands.
I think my main problem was the mold was not hot enough. That was a big part of it.
I want to thank everyone again for the advice. I read and re-read each response.
Also, I want to encourage any new casters that may have problems the first few times casting. keep reading here and practice. You really do get a feel for what is going on as you do it.
LBT mold, Marlin Bullet, .460 400 gr. for 45-70
Bullets weighed in @ 402-403 and measure .461
69757

[Maximumbob54]

Outstanding!!! They look perfect!!! Now you have to take pics of the range review!!!

[Shiloh]

Carb or break cleaner does a good job of cleaning oil off.

Yes it does. Found that trick here at Cast Boolits.


I found that on the second casting session sometimes smoking the mold with a wooden match (no candles here)
will help

Candles leave and oily residue. I use fireplace or grill lighters from the dollar store.

Shiloh

[Smoke4320]

congrads TrapperXX.. thats some good looking bullets

Newbee question ...so how do you store your used steel molds so they do not rust

[MikeS]

Casting at 750F is a bit on the high side. I normally cast all my boolits at 650F, sometimes going up to 675F if need be. By going much over 700F you're loosing the advantages tin brings to the alloy, that being pourability, and mould fillout. The thing is, when casting at the lower temps, you need to cast fast, not stop to look at the boolits you just cast, go as fast as you SAFELY can, then look at the boolits later. The best casting temp is actually about 100F higher than the point where the lead melts fully. For my alloy (similar to Lyman #2) 650 - 675 works well. Control the mould temp by speed of casting, not temp of lead in the pot. Keep on going, you'll get it worked out, you seem to be doing good so far.

[TrapperXX]

Casting at 750F is a bit on the high side. I normally cast all my boolits at 650F, sometimes going up to 675F if need be. By going much over 700F you're loosing the advantages tin brings to the alloy, that being pourability, and mould fillout. The thing is, when casting at the lower temps, you need to cast fast, not stop to look at the boolits you just cast, go as fast as you SAFELY can, then look at the boolits later. The best casting temp is actually about 100F higher than the point where the lead melts fully. For my alloy (similar to Lyman #2) 650 - 675 works well. Control the mould temp by speed of casting, not temp of lead in the pot. Keep on going, you'll get it worked out, you seem to be doing good so far.

Thanks, I am going to watch the temp close. Things really came together this last session but I know I have a lot to learn. I couldn't imagine doing it without this board. This place really shortens the learning curve.