first serious casting session.

[Greg_R]

Cranked up my new Lee equipment this weekend. Cast shotgun slugs, 2 weights of .309, 3 different weights of .356and 2 weights of .457. Some obversations.
1, much better than using a frying pan and a ladle
2, I actually like the bottom pour better
3, 10 pound pot is just barely big enough
4, fluxing is necessary

I was happy with my results except in 2 areas.
1, I bought a .459-405-HB. It's a nose pour. I did not get the first acceptable boolet. They were all wrinkled and they did not fill out. I cleaned the mould with alcohol, twice, smoked the mold, and lubed it with candle wax and a second time with permatex. My shotgun slug was a nose pour also. After the first 2 or 3, they were all acceptable. What am I doing wrong?

2, how do I clean the crud that accumulated in the bottom of my pot?

[paralaska]

1. Mold needs to be up to temp, after you cast a few . . . It gets up to temp. A lot of folks (myself included) use a hot plate to heat up their molds. I usually get good bullets on the first pour when the mold is preheated. . . .
2. Every so often you need to stir and skim off the stuff that floats on top, maybe even use a little beeswax when doing this. A lot of folks always leave about 1/4 to 1/3 fill in the pot and just add to fill for next casting session. If I'm changing my alloy mix, I try to keep the mix as clean as possible and dump it into ingot mold until pot is dry . . . After pot cools, I scrape with a spoon and vacume away any remaining crud. The next time out . . . I make sure to flux and scrape so any remaining crud floats up to be skimmed off.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

To cover your 4 points...Some people make do with a frying pan and a ladle for several reasons, but it is not the most convenient or smooth setup to work with. A bottom pour would make for a smoother operation....not to say that ladle casting is in any way not smooth or inferior. I still do cast with my ladles as do many folks and it produces perfectly good bullets. A ten pound pot works ok, but it runs out of lead quicker than a 20 pounder depending of course on how many cavities you are feeding and how quickly...something that you have to decide as time goes by. Needs change. Fluxing is absolutely necessary and a lot of people are still debating what to flux with. Lots of good opinions are around to read up on. Wrinkled bullets are caused by oil or some other hydro carbon based whatever that was used in the mold cavity...candle wax for sure will cause it....so don't use it for a lube. I never used permatex so cannot comment. Alcohol is not a good solvent...at least not anywhere near as good as acetone. I use acetone to clean my molds which are stored in oil or Cleanzoil and it works well...just use it in a well ventilated place as it is nasty to breathe. Wrinkles can also be caused by alloy/mold temp being too low so you may have to try raising the heat somewhat. Another possible contributing factor is that aluminum molds shed heat faster than iron molds so casting speed may be adding to the wrinkle problem. Another debate area is whether or not to smoke molds. Some folks believe in it...some don't. I never have smoked any of my molds and never had a problem so do some search and reading on the subject. Lastly...bottoms of pots have to be kept clean for a number of good reasons...the most important one is that the crud on the bottom will wind up sooner or later in the valve and causes leaks and/or stoppages. Periodically you have to drain the pot--turning it upside down and scraping the crud that sticks--completely out. Get a good pair of welders gloves and use them for this as burns aren't fun. Don't be afraind to do a little cussing, but hang in there....practice and experience will triumph. LLS