casting slugs

[richy2kool]

i started casting slugs with a lee 1oz mold... i should have done this a long time ago.. i spend about 2 hours making about 300 slugs and save alot of money.. A LOTTTT OF MONEY and it is so easy to do... a couple of things that i found out that i didnt find on the net... when useing the lee melting pot with the pour spout on the bottom make sure you stick a paper clip end in there every couple of slugs to keep the lead flowing.. keep the mold hot but not to hot every 5-8 slugs let it cool a min or 2... and i just got the lee 6 cap mold for 45acp and this thing is not built right at all its nothing like the slug mold.. so im going to have a friend add sum things to it...other then that i had a great time doing this and saving money

[docone31]

Your six banger takes a lot of heat! I have two banger and I am glad I do.
As far as the slug mold, turn up the heat and you will have less clogging issues.
Most of the time, if you have to constantly clean the pot spout, it is the infamous zinc! Two things you can do. Either crank up the heat and be more careful on wheel weight melting, or fire up the pot, keeping it cooler. The zinc should mostly rise to the top. It will look like oatmeal. Scoop it out, and crank up the heat. Dilute with plain lead and resume normal casting.
Myself, I like zinc. I paper patch my castings for rifle. Zinc is not a detriment for me.
I do like pouring molten metal.

[richy2kool]

i did crank up the pot and i was wondering of the stuff that was collecting on top... i scooped it out and moved on... the slug making is going very well but the 45 mold just isnt working for me

[docone31]

My 45 two banger is my sweetheart casting. It takes heat! I started too cool and got wrinkles, wings, voids. As the casting went on, it got hotter and the castings got better.
One of the things I have taken to do with Lee Molds, is to let them sit in mineral spirits for a few days. Lots of aluminum flakes, the spirits get brownish. It is definately cleaning it.
After smokeing, first cast was great.
With that six banger, you are going to have to keep the heat up. I find, letting the castings sit in the mold after desprueing helps keep the heat up also.

[par0thead151]

what temps do you guys keep your pots at when casting? i did a bunch of 1 oz slugs today and the pot was at 650-750F
what drawbacks are there of having a mould too hot?
i was pounding my 1oz slugs out like no ones business. also noticed that they are difficult to get off of the center void if the mould is cool. takes about 10 slugs to get it up to temp and releasing reliably.

[richy2kool]

i keep my pot about the same 650-700 and i dont have any problems with the mold but i did withe pots pour spout... so i started useing a laddle and that seems to work better... as for the 6 banger i didnt like just one handle i would have prefered 2... but the slugs are going great

[briang]

One handle? Did you get handles with your mold? You should have three handles total, two for the mold and one for the sprue cutter. The mold only come with the sprue cutter handle, you need to buy the mold handles separately.

[Pepe Ray]

He's gotta be joking!

Right??
Your yanking our chain!! Right?
Yeah, that's it, he's kidding, Have fun boys, be nice, don't fight.
Pepe Ray

[richy2kool]

that cant be right... i have to buy more handles... what the h@#$ i thought it came with all i needed

[briang]

All the molds Lee makes except the six cavity come with handles. Most makers don't include handles with any of their molds.

[richy2kool]

so i guess im getting handles

[docone31]

We had someone on the forum a while back, who cast without handles!
He went through quite a saga, but he did get about 50% keeper rate.
You have to have something to keep the heat in the mold.
I bet handles fix the issue.