First casting session!!

[zampilot]

It's now Grain Belt Premium time after a long sorta cold afternoon in the garage.
I cast about 130 Lyman Postel's with RotoMetal 30:1 alloy, ending up with 110 keepers. About 10 went back into the melter for wrinkles in the beginning, a few more later for some blemish or another. The mould seems seasoned now as dropping them out became easier and easier. Overall a good way to spend a couple of hours with the brand new drip-o-matic with the erratic temp control feature (?), and my dipper! Casting temps ran from 700-850, no apparent difference in the boolits, but when it was hotter I held them in the mould for maybe 45 seconds versus 30 for the 700-800 range. No visits from The Tinsel Goddess.
We'll see how they weigh tomorrow. WHo knows when I'll get to shoot some. Maybe at out Freeze Your Ass Off Match January 3rd.
I must give many many thanks to those of you on this board who have given me the impetus to do it, after 100 hours of reading over the last year or so. RMulhern's video was a great help also, I even proved that once again, a white guy can find rhythm!:drinks:

I just finished weighing them, one tray had 81% w/in 1.3 grns, 73% w/in 1 grn, the other try was much more varied. The pic shows a lot of flash wash, the edges really are clean and sharp!

[missionary5155]

Greetings Zampilot.... Casting is another step to Independence. Stock up on the basics and you will be a provider for many years to come.
My one son is in the Morristown area watching his toes turn blue and his drips freeze to his lips...

[Buckshot]

..............zampilot, very good, that's the way you get started. The vindication for doing it will be at the range. Casting can sometimes assume a kind of Zen thing, if Zen is what I'm thinking it is, HA!

...............Buckshot

[copdills]

sound like you got it down , good luck and Merry Christmas

[zampilot]

HAH! Today I went out to the garage and melted some lead bars into ingots and wouldnt ya know the drip-o-matic wouldnt drip much or even pour when required. Had to scrape the sides and bottom of the pot, skim, turn the heat up and stir like crazy to 'loosen' up whatever was in the way of the spout, not to mention turning the hole-plugger rod with a screwdriver. Did 50 lbs of lead into 1lb ingots. Now for some tin..........:???:

[Dale53]

Most of us have learned to use a separate "smelter" for making ingots. A good turkey fryer (need to have lots of BTU's) makes short work of smelting and keeps the "crud" from the interior of your bottom pour pot. Your pot will thank you for it and you'll have MUCH less frustration.

Keep it up and Shoot Center!

Dale53

[zampilot]

I figure I'll use the bottom pour feature for ingots only. Cant see using it with my mould, way too much PITA for that.

[JohnH]

..............zampilot, very good, that's the way you get started. The vindication for doing it will be at the range. Casting can sometimes assume a kind of Zen thing, if Zen is what I'm thinking it is, HA!

...............Buckshot

2x on the Zen thing. I would go so far as to say that if your casting does not assume a Zen quality, you are doing something wrong

[zampilot]

Zen?.....I have to sit on my bar stool just so, with each foot in the correct position on the casting table braces then pour, tap tap sprue cutter, sprue off into pot , tap tap tap boolit falls out, place boolit on tray bottom down...repeat as needed.
Glad this isnt the Haight-Ashbury days of long ago, it might not work right.

[JohnH]

The "You have to do this just right" stuff comes from those who don't understand Zen. Zen is that moment when all comes together; everything is in balance and the universe is in order. (Not the larger universe, the universe of you, the mold, the lead, the melt) You can't make this happen. You can set the stage. You set the stage by starting with clean oil free molds, clean ingots, a good working melt temperature, a rythme of filling, opening, emptying, refilling, adding make up ingots to the melt in an orderly way. When all is right, you are tranquil in the moment, you know the next thing to do and do it without hesitation. You are at peace with the process. An onlooker may see nothing but chaos. That belongs to them.

Yeah, it sounds kind of strange to think of casting in Zen terms, but there are really none better as the difference between a "noobie" (so to speak) and a master (so to speak) is an at oneness with the process that comes only through repetition.

If there is anything weird about it it is this, Buckshots Zen and my Zen are different. As are the Zen of each of us here. Each of us has a "feet in the right place, proper hold on the mold, location of the tools etc. That is why teaching the "right way" can only lead to frustration. I am not Buckshot, nor are you; he certainly is not either of us. Zen is about relationship. That is what Buckshot saw in what you described (least as I see it) You described doing the right things at the right times; you may or may not realize that.

There is an instinctualness about all that we do. It is often called beginners luck. Beginners do well, because they don't know how to screw it up. People in the middle stages of mastery are screwing it up because they are trying to do it right. Masters are doing it right because they've done it wrong enough times they don't worry about right or wrong anymore. Once you get there, the universe can be in order because you're not goofing with it and it flows in a natural way. You allow yourself to be part of the flow instead of the rock that obstructs the flow.

If all that is too much thinking, good. Go cast some boolits and don't think about it. Your Zen will unfold as it should. Enjoy the moment.

[zampilot]

In other words, "screw it, things work out the way I do it".:drinks:

[Goatlips]

Very well put, JohnH, I learned much the same thing years ago splitting wood. Can't do that anymore so I cast boolits. Both warm me twice.

Goatlips

[zampilot]

Pic posted in orig above.
Hey Goatlips, I used your pan lube tutorial, works great with my home brew Emmerts!

[cajun shooter]

Good Post there John H. I think at least for myself that age and life have alot to do with the ZEN in ones life. Just as Goatlips says about the wood cutting. He has as a few of us in that range reached an age where bullet casting is a form of reaching one's ZEN. In my 30's casting was somethiong that I HAD TO DO to have the boolits I wanted. Now in my 61 st year on this terra firma I have looked at casting as a true art form. Something that makes me feel warm inside by just doing it. Well I guess it's time for more ZEN

[Echo]

Man! WHERE ELSE on the web can we dig stuff like this!?!? We are blessed, and not only by the silver stream.