First Boolits!!!! And mostly bad pours...

[DaveSpud]

Cast my first boolits tonight. Tried 3 different molds. 6 cavity Lee molds, using the Lee 4-20 bottom pour. One consistent problem was my pour. I kept getting overflow from one cavity starting into the next cavity. Many of the boolits looked "layered," either horizontally or vertically.

I guess I was pouring too fast, and probably tilting the mold a bit. I also had some 'mold too cold' issues, followed by some "mold too hot' as it was taking 10 seconds or so for the sprue to frost over.

I'll dial back the flow, and try to hold more level. Any other tips on how to get a good pour?

[Hawkeye45]

Practice, practice, practice.....had many sessions like that --- they get better with time

Mr. Ed

[CGT80]

Use a hot plate to preheat the mold. Yes, the flow is important. I welded an allen head screw to the screw head that adjusts the flow on the lee 20 pound. Now I can adjust the flow with just my gloved fingers. I was using an NOE 5 cav mold last, so my sprue plate may be different than yours. I think mine has individual tapers, so I just have to fill slow enough to not plug the next hole, but I did have problems. I like to build up a nice fat sprue, so there is a fine line between enough and too much. I keep the mold an inch or so below the spout, rather than pressure pouring. Your lead level will make a difference on flow. More lead puts more pressure on the stream. That is why I adjust as the pot gets low.

Too hot is when your boolits are super frosty and they crack as they cool. Light frosting is just fine. Hotter seems to make smaller boolits. If your mold is plenty big, or you use an alloy that doesn't shrink as much, then you could go on the warm side. I have heard of lee molds being small and in that case you would want to be more careful.

I really like having a PID on the pot and I also made a bigger shelf for the mold to rest on. It made it easier to get better pours.

Good luck. I am relatively new to casting, too.

96030

[JASON4X4]

I also have a paid and it makes things a lot easier. It does take time to get the feel down. You will get it.

[lancem]

I've found on my 6 cavity molds that if I tilt the mold slightly length wise so the first to be filled is lowest helps, the sprew doesn't want to flow uphill so that helps keep the next slot open, doesn't take much just a little, and all of the suggestions above too.

[Patrick L]

Hang in there, you'll develop the "feel."

Regarding the overflow running into the next cavity, I've found that if the flow hits slightly off center, the overflow will go AWAY from the direction you are off center. IE, let the flow fall into the mold slightly closer to the next cavity side of the sprue hole. The overflow will flow away from the next cavity. Then, move to the next cavity and do the same thing. This, along with holding the mold at a slight incline favoring the way you want the alloy to flow will avoid this problem. It took me longer to explain this than to actually do it. Its sort of a riding-a-bike type thing, you can feel it but can't really explain it.

Trust me, you'll get it. Welcome to the club!

[Shiloh]

+1 to above.

Took a while for me as well but it paid off. Keep after it ;)

Shiloh

[243winxb]

:o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ83PScVKP4 Go with the flow. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=711511&highlight=cast+lead+flow I have not tried it my self. What do you think??

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Welcome to the club. The above posts have it covered. Lead temp, distance from the spout, amount coming out of the pot, angle of the mold can be found out over some time pouring. Just don't get frustrated, be careful and keep reading.

[WILCO]

keep reading.

Get this book:

[snuffy]

Cast my first boolits tonight. Tried 3 different molds. 6 cavity Lee molds, using the Lee 4-20 bottom pour. One consistent problem was my pour. I kept getting overflow from one cavity starting into the next cavity. Many of the boolits looked "layered," either horizontally or vertically.

I guess I was pouring too fast, and probably tilting the mold a bit. I also had some 'mold too cold' issues, followed by some "mold too hot' as it was taking 10 seconds or so for the sprue to frost over.

I'll dial back the flow, and try to hold more level. Any other tips on how to get a good pour?

Dave, It's a timing thing. You didn't say what boolits you were casting, but if of different weights, then it took longer to pour the heavier boolits.

Concentrate on one mold/boolit weight. Learn just how long the valve has to be open to fill each cavity before you stop the flow. You can get real good at anticipating when to stop and move to the next cavity.

Flow rate has a lot to do with it too. That can be adjusted by how much the valve rod opens. Some of the lee six bangers I have, I can simply hold the valve open, sliding the mold under the spout until all 6 are filled.

Lee puts all boolit it offers in the same basic blocks. That means a 440 500 boolit has very little metal surrounding the cavity. It'll heat up quickly and get too hot, and loose heat slowly. On the other extreme, the 105 grain 38 SWC is tiny in all that aluminum, it'll take a long time to heat up if a hotplate isn't used to pre-heat it.

Lee's destructions say to dip the corner of the mold in the molten metal until the lead no longer sticks to it. I tried that at first, then had to deal with lead stuck between the cavities. Also, it takes quite a while for the heat to travel from the front all the way to the back.

[jonp]

Could someone clarify "use a hotplate to preheat the mould"? I can't find a thread of exactly what that means. Warm it up? Heat it to casting temp? How hot do you preheat it?
I keep reading about using a hot plate but no-one explains how hot the mould should be

[bangerjim]

Could someone clarify "use a hotplate to preheat the mould"? I can't find a thread of exactly what that means. Warm it up? Heat it to casting temp? How hot do you preheat it?
I keep reading about using a hot plate but no-one explains how hot the mould should be

Simple......put mold/s on an electric hotplate to pre-heat to almost casting temp. Very easy. I put my molds on the 700 watt plate at the same time I turn on the 4-20 and by the time the full pot is at temp, the mold is "spit-sizzlin" hot.....perfect slugs from the 1st pour most times!

I also put a few ingots of feed stock lead on there to have them ready to add to the pot. Preheating the lead saves time and eliminates any moisture that could be hiding in there. I use the lead to hold down the molds tight against the plate.

If, after heating, your sprue plate is not hot enough, use a butane grill lighter to give is a bit more heat. Is it also useful to heat the spigot to get the flow going after adding lead.

Overflow lead on top of sprue plate should be hard and frosty in 4-5 seconds. You should NOT have to pound and beat the handle to get the plate open. If you do, your mold and plate are too cold/lead too cold/you are waiting way too long to cut & drop.

Not rocket science. Just get yourself a hotplate and go for it!

bangerjim

[CGT80]

I think my hot plate is 1100 watts. I made a 3/8" thick steel mold oven to sit on the hot plate. the mold slipped inside and I could put ingots on top. Unfortunately, the molds didn't get hot enough. I find that I have to run the hot plat almost to the hot or max setting to get the right temp. I haven't checked the temps yet. Wrinkled boolits or hard to cut sprue pretty much tells me that it isn't hot enough. My brass MP hollow point mold needs tons of heat, especially on the HP pins. The NOE 5 cav aluminum also likes to be run pretty hot. The old two cav steel molds I use seem more forgiving and will run with less heat. I was afraid to leave the molds directly on the hot plate on a high setting, but it hasn't bothered them yet.

I do know that the hot plate is plenty hot enough to melt a 1 pound ingot that is set directly on the coils.........ask how I know[smilie=1: A piece of steel or aluminum works as a buffer between the coils and lead. I have used the 1 pound ingot mold as a dish to heat the ingots as well. They don't have to be molten, but even getting them to a few hundred degrees before going in the pot will make a big difference on keeping the pot temp up. Now I am thinking about mounting my lee 10 pound pot over the 20 pound like others here have done. It just sits up on the shelf not being used anyway.

[DaveSpud]

Shot the first batch.

255 gr. .452 shot beautifully. No leading in the Rossi 92. Some leading in the Blackhawk. Blackhawks are notorious for tight chambers that swage the bulllets too small for the bore. I'll have the cylinder reamed.

175gr. .401 not such good luck. Sub 2000 had leading just in the throat, and shot a couple keyholes. Might be a small mold or big bore. Accuracy was not bad, regardless.

Looks like I need to slug, and maybe beagle the .401 mold.

[lka]

:o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ83PScVKP4 Go with the flow. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=711511&highlight=cast+lead+flow I have not tried it my self. What do you think??

Lol, I do that with the buck mold.

[jonp]

Simple......put mold/s on an electric hotplate to pre-heat to almost casting temp. Very easy. I put my molds on the 700 watt plate at the same time I turn on the 4-20 and by the time the full pot is at temp, the mold is "spit-sizzlin" hot.....perfect slugs from the 1st pour most times!

I also put a few ingots of feed stock lead on there to have them ready to add to the pot. Preheating the lead saves time and eliminates any moisture that could be hiding in there. I use the lead to hold down the molds tight against the plate.

If, after heating, your sprue plate is not hot enough, use a butane grill lighter to give is a bit more heat. Is it also useful to heat the spigot to get the flow going after adding lead.

Overflow lead on top of sprue plate should be hard and frosty in 4-5 seconds. You should NOT have to pound and beat the handle to get the plate open. If you do, your mold and plate are too cold/lead too cold/you are waiting way too long to cut & drop.

Not rocket science. Just get yourself a hotplate and go for it!

bangerjim

Thanks for the answer. There are many threads that say to "use a hotplate" but do not say how hot to get the mold. I have one and am using it to pre heat but was not sure how hot to get it

[TXGunNut]

Good job! I've found a good initial scrubbing with dish soap and a nylon brush helps. It sometimes takes awhile to get the temps and rhythm down for a particular mould, seems some just won't cast on the first few attempts no matter what you do. I had one mould that refused to drop a decent boolit until the third session, hang in there!