Opinions on first cast boolits

[tking308]

Well, I've been looking around for quite a while and gathering necessary gear. I've even read almost all of the stickys:)
Below are a couple pictures from my first casting session. This is straight COWW, that I water quenched.
The first picture is the top of my pot as I was casting. It had a strange orange red color to it at first so I turned the temp down and it started looking like this. Is this just oxidation? Since I was using a bottom pour pot, I didn't mess with it, just cast about 80 boolits and shut it down. My first thought was that I need to flux and skim but wasn't sure.
The other 2 pics are of boolits. Do you see anything wrong? They look GREAT to me, but what do I know. Be gentle, I'm a newb.

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[leadman]

First question? Did you read the instructions that came with your pot (if new). Kinda vague but you do need to flux the alloy when first melted and when additional metal is added. Sometimes even during your casting session if you see dirt on your boolits. Wax based boolit lube and beeswax work very well. Sawdust from pine works also but I have some of it stay in the melt. paraffin or candle wax will work also. There are lots of threads on this so a search should bring up that info.
If you melted raw wheelweights in your pot, which is not recommended, this could be the source of the red color.

Can't tell much from the first picture but the second picture shows some dirt and driving bands that are not filled out and some wrinkles.
Proper fluxing may help this along with more heat. Try your pot set on 7 and see what happens. Do not be afraid of frosted boolits. I usually get more consistent weight and fillout with frosty boolits. If you tumble lube Lee recommends frosty boolits as it holds the lube better.
I would cast some boolits and air cool them on a towel so you can see how they are casting before you start water quenching. When I water quench I drop a mold full once in awhile just to make sure they are coming out ok. These can be added back to the pot later.

Did you degrease your mold?
I have seen much worse first casts so just a few things to do and you should be in business.

[Njal Thorgeirsson]

I'm a newb too, but I think they look pretty good. I've cast about 1000 9mm with the same pot. It is probably just oxidation- it is possible that you have your pot a bit hot too (about 6.5 works great for me), but having the knob at 7.5 is probably just fine. What did you use to flux it with? Also, with a bottom-pour like that, I don't really see any reason to clear oxidation/gunk from the pot unless it gets excessive, but you do need to flux occasionally.

Other than those remarks, I'll say that the boolits look pretty good! (Athe sprue cut on the bottom is smooth, flat and clean- I got rough divots on my first few because I wasn't letting the boolits cool enough before cutting the sprue). Just make sure you check all of your boolits for complete fill-out, and re-melt the nasty ones.

[detox]

Bullets look about right using WW lead. Do all your bullets weigh within .5 grains...if so...you are doing good. A wider weight varience would indicate inconsistancy.

I have discovered that Linotype alloy works verygood with my RCBS bottom pour pot. I can cast as low as 550 degrees and as high as 800 degrees with better fillout and very few rejects. Lino is a very forgiving alloy for beginner.

[AlaskanGuy]

When i look real close, it looks like the edges of the driving bands are not at well filled out.... Same with a couple of the bases.... But nice work for the first time..... Myself, i would add some tin to the alloy to get a sharper fillout... About 2 %...... Other than that, you are well on your way....


Make sure that you have scrubbed the heck out of your molds with dawn and a toothbrush... So that there is no chance of any packing oil or greese in there when you start casting.... And really heat your molds and cool them down a couple time to be sure..... That should take care of any "new mold" wrinkles as long as you are casting with a hot mold and have your pot set to 7 on the thermostat.

AG

[tking308]

THANKS everyone for your input. To answer a few questions asked of me...
I did my initial wheel weight smelting in a cast iron skillet over a single burner. I fluxed it during that initial melt with candle wax. I cleaned my mold (lee) according to their instructions and smoked the cavities. I had zero problems with boolits sticking. I weighed about 20% of what I cast and they are all within .2 grains of 158.5
I guess I'm going to have to buy some tin. I didn't even notice the bands weren't filled out completely.
If someone could make a sticky that showed pictures of boolits that are wrinkled or not filled out next to boolits that are perfect, it would be a great resource to newbs.

[wistlepig1]

If you have an old hot plate, they work well at pre-heating your mold, this can help. I bought a new one at Walgreens for $10 about a year ago. Martin

[el34]

Looks to me like you're doing great. There's a good chance that tin will help, we all spend time and bucks acquiring it because of that. Maybe you could find some solder to start with.

The temp knob does not regulate temp, there is no such thing as setting it to x for xxx degrees. A thermometer is a good thing to have, it'll help let you know when the knob needs adjusting. Whenever you catch your breath on all this new stuff getting a look at the PID threads might catch your interest.

If you stir your pot occasionally the junk will float and not come out the bottom spout. I quit worrying about the surface stuff but I cover it with a layer of wood chips (hamster litter) to help prevent tin oxidation.

Wistlepig pointed out something important, getting a feel for keeping the mold hot is important because a cold mold will usually cause voids.

Bill

[MtGun44]

Hotter metal and or casting faster will help fill out, as will addition of
1-2% more tin.

Bill

[tking308]

@el34 I've been looking at the darn PID threads... I can see how helpful it could be but I just can't justify the expense right now.

[Lead Fred]

I will hold my opinion until I sell the target you just shot them though

[Foto Joe]

I recently discovered the wonders of what adding 2% tin to wheel weight lead can do. It's worth a trip to Ace to find some 97/3 (tin/antimony) solder although you'll find that it's about $40 per pound purchased that way but worth it for the experiment. Once you've sold yourself on adding tin to your melt you can pick up popcorn tin at RotoMetals for $20 per pound. http://www.rotometals.com/product-p/tinflakes.htm