Ballisti-Cast 10 cav mold and my Cam acion sprue cutter

[finishman2000]

Well I finally received my mold. It has been a long ride, over a year since ordered and returned twice for corrections. First was sprue plate was made wrong (thing it was old stock that they assumed would work. It's holes weren't even close to center of the cavities. I returned it and the new one was perfect. Next the mold would not close all the way. it was close and I thought it may not effect the bullets but it did. Off it went back again.

Back it came and all looked good so I fired it up. Man does this thing crank out the boolits.
I didn't want to be hitting the sprue with a lead hammer because I find this the most tiresome part of working with big molds. I thought it out and came up with a cam wheel that with a lever very easily and quickly cuts the sprue. Another bonus is that I used a large piece of aluminum plate as the base which seems to help keep the mold temp under control. I've been casting hot, about 750' and the plate gets very warm as I'm casting. I didn't get any frosting and was able to keep a steady quick pace.
Anyway, here is a link to my youtube vid of both in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1bp8Cl3L8A&feature=youtu.be

[HeavyMetal]

When I click'd on the link I figured I was going to see some montroisty bolted to the side of your mold, LOL!

This is a very impressive, and creative, way to work the sprue plate.

It could be used, with some small adjustments, on Lyman 4 cavity molds as well.

It looks to me like you just put the molds in the handles "backwards" and apply pressure as usual to the corrct spot on the sprue plate.

Used with a two mold rotation, be they 4 , 6, 8 or 10 cavity molds production would be staggering to say the least.

You'd also have arms like King Kong!

Nicely done by the way.

[Tatume]

Very nicely done. Thank you.

[Hamish]

Great idea on the stationary cam. I would think that the two pound sledge is overkill by about a pound and a half though:p

Really enjoy when guys post video like this to show their set up!

[aviator41]

Fantastic video. I'm still a very new to casting bullets, this setup has me in awe, especially after going to their site and seeing what it all costs. incredible!

Love the cam-plate to cut the sprue.

So how much does the mold weigh empty?

[finishman2000]

Great idea on the stationary cam. I would think that the two pound sledge is overkill by about a pound and a half though:p

Really enjoy when guys post video like this to show their set up!

You haven't worked with the big ole' H&G molds have ya? They need a pretty good hit or three to open as well as it's hard to place the mold it hit the sprue without it hitting the bench or something else.

The new set-up has me actually holding the mold very little which extends the casting time that I can handle.
The sprue plate on this mold isn't up to the old H&G standards of the past. It actually was getting damages by a brass 3lb hammer though they said they did harden it. If they did they don't know what they are doing because the non hardened wheel of the cam is ever so slightly damaging the sprue plate. I don't care because if it ever gets bad enough I'll just tig some weld and reshape it.

As far as how heavy the mold is empty....I really don't want to know, ignorance is bliss lol

[Echo]

Great video, and great idea. And GREAT production!

[Beau Cassidy]

I am not sure what caliber his mold is but my 10 cavity H&G .38 mold is 7 lbs. His should be close to that.

[Leatherhead Bullets]

Pretty good work out! Glad you got the bugs worked out!

[finishman2000]

well here is a pic of a couple good hours of casting. I increased the cam wheel diameter so the sprue is easier to open after "camming". With the bigger wheel it is completely cut and requires little effort to swing it all the way over.

[LenH]

Nice set up. I need to come up with something like that. I have an 8 cavity H&G and have use a lead hammer to open the sprue plate.
It does get tiresome. I work for a steel fabricator and could possibly come up with something close to what you made.

[Fluxed]

That is a great idea and well executed!

Love the pic of the huge bucket of boolits.

[finishman2000]

I may cast up another 5 gal pails worth and sell the mold. 2-5gal pails will be a lifetimes supply (I can't pick the one up in the pic at about the 4gal mark) and figure I might as well pass it on to the next 9mm shooter.
I bet Ballisti-Cast is in no hurry to do another ten cavity, mine was the first done since 1990.

[62chevy]

Love that idea, now to send 4 gallons of boolits down range.