Cadence with three molds not probable

[ohland]

Tried running three moulds at once, 375248, 41-260-FN, and 45-300-FN. It doesn't seem to heat the moulds up enough, wrinkling... Before someone starts yapping about a hotplate, when you pay for an electrician to rewire my house, I'm all in.

Ran into an issue with the 375248, I sanded the split ring lock washer down, but the plate didn't seem to want to stay tensioned...

[runfiverun]

might need to try a wave washer after a little more sanding on the sprue plate.
otherwise a set-screw clean up is in order.

you might also wanna try putting a steel cover on your pot, this will add mass and a place to set those molds or your next ingot.

[Bzcraig]

I don't use a hot plate, when I need extra heat, especially for HP's I use a propane torch. A lot cheaper than a rewire.

[Bigslug]

Before someone starts yapping about a hotplate, when you pay for an electrician to rewire my house, I'm all in.

Extension cord to a plug on a different breaker. What with the pot, the PID, and the exhaust fans, this was necessary anyway. I have trouble seeing the possibility of three at a time without some additional heat to get them up past the fussy warm up stage. If you CAN pull it off, however, you might think of getting a pair of red tights and a sequined cape and performing the act for the circus - It WOULD be cool to see!

[bangerjim]

Rewire??????????? WHAAAAAAAAAT?

A cheap hotplate draws around mabe 800 watts. If your circuit will not handle that, it must be wired with lamp cord. Most homes for the past upteen years have been wired with 12GA wire for outlets and 14GA for lighting. And most have at least a 15 or 20 A breaker on the outlet circuits. All the several homes I have owned over the past 40 years have been that way.

A hotplate is really your only logical way to keep 3 molds in play. I persnally would never do that, but if you want to, have at it. Some mention a propane torch? Too dangerous to have an open HOT flame playing on some molds while you are concentrating on casting with another one! And way too easy to over heat them with the unattended flame.

So.........your plate draws mabe 800 and your pot draws around 700 (you didn't tell us) , so that is still just under the 15A breaker trip point. (if that is what you have). A new breaker will be more forgiving than an old one. Mine are all 20 A. Just make sure you do not have other stuff plugged into that circuit and turned on at the same time. Normally a room's outlets are all on the same circuit.


Check it out. You will probably be OK and will be able to keep all the molds at casting temp.

Or run a 12GA extension cord from anther circuit in another room as said. That would be another choice I would try. 800W is nothing for a 12GA 50 foot cord. That is all I use - 12GA cords.

bangerjim

[ohland]

Somehow, I'm not sure the old timers put their mold on a hotplate. Is a hotplate a necessity, or a crutch?

Do we have any account of the demigods of Lore (Pope, Mann, Louverin, Keith, et al) using a hotplate?

How did the manly-men, shooting off-hand in the big 1890s era matches cast their boolits?

My boolits cast fairly well, as long as the sprue plates swing free (last casting session I tried them a little tighter, they would not swing open if tipped up), the alloy is hot enuf, and maybe a little bit of mother's secret helper, tin.

To all the manly-men (and womanly-women) out there that cast from an iron kettle over a burner, using a ladle, good show!

:popcorn:

[ascast]

ohland - I have had success by resting the cooling mold very near the burner, in this case an electric kitchen cook top. Some times I would set a block of steel near and the mold on it so it would not cool off so fast. Also found that similar calibers would be OK with 3 or sometimes 4 molds, But with a 38 rifle in with a 41 &45 I can see it being a real cluster ...circus. I have always found that smaller calibers or more driving bands slow things down. Something like the Lyman 457121 will run along side your 375248 all day, or at least in IMHE. What? no use for the Lyman 457121? you just need another rifle! good luck

[bangerjim]

A hotplate is not a crutch..........it's just a tool you can have in your bag-o-tricks to make your hobby less frustrating and more time efficient. You can hang molds off the side of your casting pot (or whatever you use to cast from) and eventually get close to the temp you need. But why not just put it on a dial-controlled plate to get it there and HOLD it there until you are ready to use it???????????

Use one if you wish. Or not. Just depends on how you value YOUR time and the quality of YOUR boolits from the start. I, for one, will not start a casting session without pre-heating my molds (to full casting temp) and feed ingots on one. Saves lots of time and frustration by eliminating wrinkles and poor fill-outs due to an under temp mold. It only takes a bit of extra effort and it sure pays off in the end!

banger

[rsrocket1]

I apologize for being a little naive about this. Why are you running 3 molds and having a problem with cadence? Is it because it takes too long to wait for the lead to harden in one mold so you set it down and pour in the next? Once it hardens, does it then cool so fast that you are below optimum temperature to cast again? If that's the case (and it shouldn't happen), wouldn't 2 molds work better and if that cools too much, then use just one mold?

I do all my casting with just one mold at a time, however I use the Lee 4-20 bottom pour pot and either a 1, 2 or 6 cavity Lee mold. Once I get the mold temperature right, I crank away non-stop for about 15-18 pounds. Getting the mold temperature right used to be real quick with 6 cavity 230g 45ACP bullets and about 6 casts with 120g 9mm bullets, but once I started dipping the front edge of the mold in the melt, I could usually make good bullets right away. I do cool the big bullet molds on a wet sponge or simply dipping the edge in a bucket of water for 5 seconds (no, it really is safe so long as you pull it out before the water stops sizzling and you let all the steam evaporate).

Does the OP have a problem because these are steel or brass molds that would otherwise warp by dipping in lead and water?

Just asking. Thanks in advance.

[fredj338]

I have run 2-4 or 6cav molds & can keep a good cadence going. I would think once you get the 2cavs hot, keeping them going shouldn't be an issue unless you are setting them on a heat sink of some kind?

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Ohland,

It is a matter of getting the molds up to temp one at a time.

With other then when casting for my 45/70, I run 2 - 3 molds when casting by myself, and at least 3 - 4 molds if team casting with a friend.

Once the molds are up to temp, they will retain enough heat to allow you to rotate through the 2 - 3 molds.

I do set my molds close to the fire/lead pot as the alloy comes up to temp, but once they are hot they are good to go.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Bigslug]

Somehow, I'm not sure the old timers put their mold on a hotplate. Is a hotplate a necessity, or a crutch?

I'm not sure that many of the old timers tried to juggle three molds at once either.

I have a hot plate. I do not consider it "necessary", but we've probably all dealt with cantankerous molds that require the casting equivalent of a manual choke, ether in the carburetor, and a hand-cranked started to get running properly. Most of us here are old farts. At 43, I consider myself an old fart in training, and the simple fact is that I can only spend so long sitting at the casting bench before I've got to get up, move, stretch, or just stop for the day. Spending your first 50 pours either getting the mold up to temperature or burning out any remaining between-casts preservative oil counts toward that physical wear, but does not count to your productivity.

To that end, running three molds at once is going to be a physical ordeal. I expect your notion is to eliminate the perceived "down time" of waiting for sprues to cool, but that 20 second break each pour lets you go longer too. Running three molds is going to be like an endurance race that has the added strain of of mental focus too. Think of working a Rubik's Cube while running a marathon - kinda like that.

For what you're planning, while you're cussing and beating on one of your three molds to get it going, your other two will be cooling down out of their butter zone.

Dude. . .if you're gonna do this. . .hotplate.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

50 pours to get the mold up to temp??????? NO way! Ordeal????????????

Guess not! It is simply getting er done.

I use a single mold when casting for my 45/70, - 4 cavity mold - but other then that it will be multiple molds. Seeking a higher level of consistency for the rifle.

Get er done and go onto something else.

Even better is team casting with 4 - 5 molds. One person pouring the other opening and rotating molds.

Big pile of Boolits after 2 - 3 hours!!!!!!! :bigsmyl2:

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[trixter]

Wow, that looks like too much work to be a hobby, I use 1, 6 banger Lee at a time and just take my time and gauge the cadence by how the boolits fall out of the mold. Usually its 6 or 7 Mississippi's then cut the sprue, and 10-12-15 Mississippi's open the mold and drop them out, if they stick I let the mold cool a little before refilling, and sometimes I need to persuade the boolits with a couple taps on the handle bolt with the mallet to get a stubborn one out. If it keeps sticking, then I know it's time for a cool-down and good scrub. Keeping the molds clean is crucial for me.

[44man]

I do not understand, if you can cast you should be able to wire a new outlet. Do you fear electric? It is easy. Wire your whole house, give me a break! Do you call a plumber for a sink? Can you plumb?
Who ties your shoes?
Lack of knowledge of anything means danger at the loading bench. Wires are not rockets to mars.
I am in the position myself. Need gutters that do not block from leaves and maple seeds. I have to clean 10 times a year, sick of it and do not want to go on the roof anymore. I am getting the leaf guard gutters, expensive of course. But to get on the ladder for hours must stop, I am 77 and don't want to tip off the ladder or roof. But I am sure I can get you an outlet dirt cheap. Get off your butt.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Shooting is a hobby and FUN, and hand loading while enjoyable is a means to more shooting.

Casting is just a means to LOTS more shooting but not necessarily fun or enjoyable. It is hot and dirty work needed to get me where I want to be, shooting.

Casting does not rise to the level of fun. It is OK, I don't dread it, but there are other things much more fun/enjoyable so for the most part, I just try to get er done and do so ASAP with, and in other then the case with my 45/70 bullets, as many bullets produced in as short of a time period as possible. :castmine:

A mold cannot/should not be opened Immediately after a pour, so why not use those seconds of time to fill another mold? Works for me.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[44man]

I use two molds just fine but three takes more time to start. Hot plate as I cast with the others. Then swing in the third. I have a strip outlet with many plug ins on the front of my bench. Plug into the outlet and have many other outlets for all else. drill press in one and grinder in another plus Pots and hot plate. The thing has six outlets on it. Has it's own breaker too. I never popped the breaker with two pots and the hot plate going. There are those that plug into an outlet to extend two to four.
Of course all the wires I put in my house are no. 10 so they handle anything. I do not use 14 wires. I ran 220 to the garage and think they are six, now there is something to work with.

[William Yanda]

Sure you can get cadence.

Wait for it.......




It's just syncopated.

Duckin 'n runnin'

[MBTcustom]

I have carefully timed my molds to find the best spot to cast with them. So far, I cannot get good results unless I am running a total cycle time of 30-45 seconds.
With a 30 second cycle time, by the time the sprue freezes, gets cut, bullets are dropped, and the sprue plate is shut, I have only 5-10 seconds till it's time to fill the mold again. With the 45 second molds, I have about 20 seconds to wait. The thought of running three bullet molds at once bespeaks of someone who either loves wrinkly bullets, or has never tried it.
In the same way, brazenly calling a hotplate a crutch bespeaks someone who has never really tried to make really excellent bullets and care fore his molds like precision instruments, and doesn't see the value of learning from those of us who have devoted the better part of our lives to finding the best way to do things.

Looks to me like a guy who rides up on a bicycle and starts yapping at the guy who's checking the air pressure in the tires of his BMW, and starts lecturing the owner about how much smarter Henry Ford was, and how what you really aught to do is put two engines in that car because it would be better balanced.

Ohland, I'll put it to you like this: You go on ahead with your bad self and run three molds at once without a hotplate. But you have to throw all the wrinkled bullets back in the pot. I'll set up with my hotplate crutch and a single mold, and we'll see who has better quality bullets in 3 hours.

We had a fellow on the forum here who thought mold handles were an unnecessary crutch too.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?41217-Can-you-top-this-NOPE

[Wild Bill 7]

I cast with 3 moulds at a time. Lyman 45 cal 4 hole, RCBS 150 grain 38/357, RCBS 115 9mm, all are cast iron. First I turn my Pro Melt on and put some ingots on top to get some heat in them before the pot is up to temp. As soon as the lead is molten I add the ingots to melt and then I put my mould on top of the pot. By the time the lead is ready to pour I flux one more time with candle wax and then I start to make boolits. With our heat down here usually with the first or second pour I have good boolits. Yesterday after I was done with the cast iron moulds I loaded the pot up one more time and put my lee 6 cavity aluminum mold on the pot and turned the temp up to about 725 and after fluxing the third fill up of the mould I had good boolits. Made over 900 in a little over three hours. No interruptions or hic-ups really makes for fast casting.

[country gent]

The old timers (kieth, pope, Mann, Loverin) all at one time or another recomended preheating moulds on top of the lead pot or along side it. So while they didnt use a hot plate they did pre heat and used what they had the top of the molten lead pot. My lead pot is a big pot ( 100+ lbs capacity) and I do ladle cast everything. My pot is set up with 3 racks to hold 2 moulds along side it to pre heat them while the pot heats up. Once pot is up to temp steel moulds are ready to go my brass moulds may be a little to hot at start. If I have the need I cast with 2 moulds but I hate the extra sorting step seperating the 2 diffrent bollits so unsless running way short I cast 1 mould and a slower more relaxed pace. I have used bottom pour pots ( Lees) and ladle and perfer the ladle. Also when I cast I normally have a couple friends casting with me ( another reason for the big pot and extra mould racks). Makes for a nice morning casting and company and if something goes wrong theres help there handy. Oh and then when we finish up its of to the local resteraunt for lunch, 4-5 hours casting works up an appetite. Right now with this group lightest bullet is 312 grns and heaviest is 550 grns so with 3 of us casting we run thru around 50-70 lbs of lead in a session. If you dont want to run a hot plate make flat steel plate with cut out for rod on your pot and set it on top of pot to set moulds on. A hot plate with one heat source from the lead pot. Another trick would be a pipe stem on the underside to set in the lead allowing heat to transfer up and into plate.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Tim,

Your welcome to come by and check out my "wrinkly" bullets just any time you wish.

CDOC

[44man]

Tim,

Your welcome to come by and check out my "wrinkly" bullets just any time you wish.

CDOC
Me too. The secret is to leave the boolits in the mold. I cast with 2 or 3, two cavity molds. get them hot and cast one mold, as soon as the sprue flashes, set it on a board and go to the second and then the third. Go back to the first, cut and drop, fill, then to the second and third. I prefer 2 molds of course. I cast with a pot temp of 750°.
Put the mold on wood. Does not suck heat. I bring molds to 500° so I will cast with the first until the second is hot and use the two until the third is hot.
You will not get it right by casting each, must use the hot plate oven.