Only half filled out.

[kentuckyshooter]

I have 2 lee molds. 1 is the 124 grain tl for 9mm the outher is the 230 grain in 45acp. About half of the rounds i am casting suffer from poor fill out on one side. I am getting good bullets out of both molds though. The good ones are perfect. I am ladel casting with a camp stove. I make shure to poor till the mold is full. All my issues are with the bands. And ideas?

[243winxb]

Try getting the alloy hotter and cast faster so the mold doesnt cool.

[Mike W1]

I'm a poor choice to give advice as I don't ladle cast plus never had a lot of success with Lee Moulds but it's almost a safe bet you're not keeping the mould hot enough.

Actually ordered a new Lee 2Cav the other day and plan on figuring out how to make it work just because I'm stubborn. If I gain any insights I'll probably blab it on this forum.

[lobowolf761]

I smoke the cavities in my Lee moulds and preheat them a bit while bringing the melt up to temp regardless of whether I'm using a ladle or one of my bottom pour pots. You may want to try filling the cavity your having problems with first and see if that may work. When I have the same problem during casting I will either raise the temp of the melt or heat the mould up a bit or both.

[Boolit_Head]

I've got the 6 cavity 120 9mm and it takes some heat to fill them out. Both in the mold and the melt. Judging from the 2 cav molds I have preheat them and keep them hot. Casting slow can let them cool down to fast. With the ladle you may not be casting fast enough.

[Beef15]

2 cav or 6?
I ladle cast a 2 cav Lee 120TC with a pot on a hot plate. My thermo says my pot temp is just shy of 700 (not convinced it's accurate), casts WW alloy beautifully, I don't put the ladle tip right in the sprue like many instruct. If the mold gets cold I get poor fills, and I'll dip the corner for a few seconds to make things right. Steady production seems to keep it right where it needs to be, I set it on the pot rim if I need to take a break, add an ingot, whatever.

[kentuckyshooter]

There both 2 cavity. Thanks for the advice. Very well may be my tempo letting the mold cool to much. Ive always been woryed bout overheating the mold as many casters on here refrence needing to let theirs cool between poors. Maby im just slow.

[lobowolf761]

With more casting you will develop your own system. Speed will come with practice. Most of casting is trial and error even with those that have been doing it for years.

[jcren]

I have the lee 230 and only had problems when I had Brown burnt lube on the mold faces(clogged the vent lines) I also have gotten in the habbit of "rolling" the top edge of the mold by running the shaft of a smooth skrewwdriver across the edge at a 45 degree angle. Not hard, just barely break the edge to improve base fill.

[roberts1]

When you say you are only getting good fill out on one side I am wondering if you are having a venting problem also. Maybe loosen the sprue plate screw a bit if the problem is the hole nearest the pivot or relieve the edge of the block to allow air to escape easier. Boolits will appear frosty when things are getting too warm. Also the sprue puddle will take a long time to harden like maybe 5 seconds or so when the mold is really hot. You can still shoot the frosted ones btw.

[jcren]

Y'all are fast typers! Speed wise, if you can't cut the sprue easily with a gloved hand, too cold. If the sprue puddle runs off easily and it takes more than 5 or 6 seconds for the sprue to frost, too hot

[RogerDat]

With a ladle when I find (or suspect) the mold may be getting a bit cool. I just tilt it slightly and let some extra lead flow off an end or side, as I get to the end of the ladle I tip back level and let the sprue puddle up.

Usually it seems there is one area or another that is not a problem with having a little lead running down it. Do avoid letting the lead flow into the end of the sprue plate or pivot points etc. Don't tilt so lead flows places where that last little bit that may harden on the mold would be a problem. Any run down left on the mold just flicks off.

[Motor]

I don't ladle cast either but all my molds are Lee. I preheat with a heat gun (it's just convenient) and run them on the hot side and pour quickly. When they start to frost I'll cool the mold with a damp cloth or sometimes use 2 molds and let one cool while casting with the other.

Motor

[Motor]

I'm a poor choice to give advice as I don't ladle cast plus never had a lot of success with Lee Moulds but it's almost a safe bet you're not keeping the mould hot enough.

Actually ordered a new Lee 2Cav the other day and plan on figuring out how to make it work just because I'm stubborn. If I gain any insights I'll probably blab it on this forum.

Please do report back. Even send me a PM if you don't want to post. The reason is I'm curious to see if all their new molds are made with the trimmed down blocks like my 440gr .501 mold.

Another thing I noticed with this one and the 210gr .41 cal. mold is they both drop boolits that are on the small side. All my other Lee Molds drop big. Big is just fine small is not.

The biggest problem with the 440gr .501 mold it is nearly impossible to keep it in a good casting temperature range. It's always either too cool or frosting. I blame the new lower mass blocks. Yeah I'm sure those huge cavities don't help but...........

I am very seriously considering adding metal the blocks to create a larger heat sink.

Motor

[bangerjim]

I will also bet your fill problems are a cold mold and/or under temp lead. I have never cast with a camp stove and controlling the temp has to be very tricky.

Using the Lee 4-20 bottom pours with the temp set right and an electric hot plate set to FULL casting temp, I get perfect drops from the 1st pour. Correct temp is definitely the key.

Poor venting could add to the problem. The air needs to get out quickly.

I use a LOT of Lee 6 bangers and have over 15 2 bangers. All work perfectly if at the correct temp B4 starting.

I also use brass molds and they need to definitely be HOT!

I really believe low temp is your enemy here. Casting tempo with a ladle is key also. I have not ladle cast in several years because it is just too slow for my needs. Once you see the quality and quantity you can get with a bottom pour and 6 banger molds, you will never go back!

Good luck finding your solution.

bangerjim

[Beef15]

Please do report back. Even send me a PM if you don't want to post. The reason is I'm curious to see if all their new molds are made with the trimmed down blocks like my 440gr .501 mold.

Another thing I noticed with this one and the 210gr .41 cal. mold is they both drop boolits that are on the small side. All my other Lee Molds drop big. Big is just fine small is not.

The biggest problem with the 440gr .501 mold it is nearly impossible to keep it in a good casting temperature range. It's always either too cool or frosting. I blame the new lower mass blocks. Yeah I'm sure those huge cavities don't help but...........

I am very seriously considering adding metal the blocks to create a larger heat sink.

Motor

Hate to drift a thread, what do you mean by trimmed down? My mold, 2 cav 356 120 TC, was bought new and delivered last week.

Drops smaller than I expected based on what I'd read before ordering. Almost exactly .356 doesn't quite get full circumferential contact in a .356 sizer. I'll be giving beagling a go whenever I score a larger die for my lube sizer.

[Motor]

Beef15. The aluminum blocks that the mold halfs are made of are lighter than my older Lee molds. There is less material therefore less mass and less heat sink. So the mold heats and cools faster which makes it harder to keep it in the right temperature range for best results.

The effect is extreme with the larger cavity mold. BTW: For diameter I ended up using air craft aluminum tape (600 mph tape) on the mold faces of the .501 440gr mold. The .410" mold drops .410" and my Blackhawk likes them so they are ok but for the revolver I'd rather want to size them.

I'm not sure how to post photos here. If you want to PM me a email or cell phone number I can send you pictures of the Lee molds.

Motor

[kentuckyshooter]

Got the chance to do a little casting befor work today. I had the gas turned to about where i normaly cast but kicked up the tempo. Diped my mold in the melt to make shure it was up to temp and started casting. Just to try it i cut the sprue almost as soon as it was solid. Dumped the mold and filled again. This keep the mold nice and hot and i got nice sharp bands. My only problem was when i inspected them some looked like they hit the cloth and water befor they were fully solid. Didnt get any frost on my boolits though. I think i might about have it figured out now. Thank u to everyone who responded.

[bangerjim]

Personally I like frosty boolits! They are always totally filled out. And seem to make the PC stick even better.

You do NOT want to have them hitting each other when you dump them. Make sure you water is deep enough. I use a 9x12 cake pan with an old hand towel in it to cushion the fall. Water is within 1/4" of the rim. And I move them over when the underwater pile gets too high. The freshly cast ones always settle down on the submerged cloth towel.
banger

[Motor]

Frosted holds A-Lox nice too. I use a 2 gallon bucket about half full with a hand towel in the bottom. The 440gr are can still dent from hitting another bullet in the bucket. It's a lot of lead to cool.

I never have any problems like this with lighter boolits. They are pretty hard by the time they hit the bottom of the bucket.

Motor