Frosting

[walker77]

Im having a problem with frosting. No matter what i do it doesnt want to go away. Ive tried adjusting my temp between 650 to 750 and it doesnt seem to change it. Im using a lee 6 cavity mold. Any ideas?

[peter nap]

How are you preheating the mold?

[Doc_Stihl]

Frosting is due to your mold being to hot.

[theperfessor]

I've never found frosting to be a problem, Lee molds usually have to be run hot to fill out properly. If you're getting good fillout the frosting is just cosmetic.

[bedwards]

I can't get my Lee's to fill well if they aren't a little frosty. Someone will chime in here but I don't see a problem with it.

be

[walker77]

Ok, i didnt think it would be a problem. They seem to be filling ok, they just dont look pretty.

[theperfessor]

Some of us like brunettes, some of us like redheads, I figure pretty is as pretty does. If your loads shoot well what could be prettier than that?

[badgeredd]

Im having a problem with frosting. No matter what i do it doesnt want to go away. Ive tried adjusting my temp between 650 to 750 and it doesnt seem to change it. Im using a lee 6 cavity mold. Any ideas?

One thing I want to ask, what do you mean by saying you are "having a problem with frosting"?
Some frosting is not a bad thing at all. Frosting bad enough to give a crystallization look is excessive and is an indication your mold is too hot. A wet sponge or old towel to wipe the bottom of the mold on will help to control the excess heat. Also slowing your casting speed a little will help.

Edd

[walker77]

You mean the speed of the pour or my speed of dropping and pouring. Also, im dropping them in a bucket of water. Im assuming that isnt causing it. Thanks again for all the help guys.

[badgeredd]

You mean the speed of the pour or my speed of dropping and pouring. Also, im dropping them in a bucket of water. Im assuming that isnt causing it. Thanks again for all the help guys.

Your dropping and pouring speed. or cycle time, or rhythm. Basically allow a bit more time between your fills...but just a little slower...and the damp to wet rag helps a bunch too if your still having the problem. Like I said some frosting IS desirable because you'll have complete fill out of the boolits.

Edd

[PatMarlin]

Walker- think in terms of heat. The faster you try to make boolits, the more heat gets to your mold from molten lead, and it multiplies the sooner you drop and get back to the heat on the next pour.

Slow down and your heat doesn't build up as fast, but sometimes you just need to slow that heat down more and touch the mold on a wet towel to soak up some of the heat.

Simply trying to control heat on the pot is not enough. Control it with a wet towel in between, and soon you will find the best balance of getting it the heat just to where your bullets fill out and drop well, and not to hot with tons of frosting.

It may be that you find touching the towel between every 2 pours, may do it... or every other time, or less. Then when your towel drys out to much, it doesn't soak up enough heat.

Excessive heat = frosting.

Wet towel = heat sink.

[PatMarlin]

Some of us like brunettes, some of us like redheads, I figure pretty is as pretty does. If your loads shoot well what could be prettier than that?


Those are my 2 favorite colors ...:mrgreen:

[montana_charlie]

Fillout determines the quality of a bullet.
If the corners are sharp enough to feel sharp, and the surface has no wrinkles, pits, or scabs, the bullet mirrors the mould it came out of. It doesn't need a 'mirror surface' to do that.

Frosting is an indicator of temperature.
A mirror surface on a well-filled-out bullet says it was cast under near perfect conditions. The shine doesn't make it a better bullet, it just says you are doing everything as right as it can be done.

Different alloys have different characteristics. Those of lead and tin only never need to show frost on the way to good fillout. Antimonal alloys frequently do.

If you can get shiney bullets with the stuff in your pot, you can probably get shiney bullets that are well-filled. Keep the pot hot enough to get the wrinkles out, and cast slow enough so the mould doesn't run too hot.

If you are into six-cavity moulds, damp towels, buckets of water, heat dissipating fans, and sprue-freezing sponges...you probably don't have the patience, or the need, for shiney bullets.

CM

[snuffy]

I like plenty of frosting on my cake, also on my boolits. If I don't get some frosting on my boolits, somethings wrong! (unless I'm casting 20-1 alloy, that normally fills out well and results in shiny boolits).

YOU DON'T NEED SHINY BOOLITS. The frosted ones size better, and hold the lube better. Think about it, would grease stick to the mirror surface on that shiny boolit, or would it be more likely to stick to a frosted surface?

[walker77]

[QUOTE=If you are into six-cavity moulds, damp towels, buckets of water, heat dissipating fans, and sprue-freezing sponges...you probably don't have the patience, or the need, for shiney bullets.

CM[/QUOTE]

What is sprue-freezing sponges? I dont want to do anything to break another sprue handle. If i keep a wet rag to touch the mold to, will that warp the mold? How long should i leave it on the rag for? Thanks again. I really dont know what i would have done with out the knowledge on this forum. I really do appreciate your guys help.

[theperfessor]

Molds, bullet casters, and the methods they use all vary somewhat. What constitutes quality varies too. Some guys like to control mold heat with damp rags, fans, etc. and others don't. Some guys want maximum production, others don't like to hurry. It's all whatever you like - it's a HOBBY.

I try to keep things simple. With most of my Lee 6 holers I have found that using WWs for alloy, controlling my pot heat to keep the bullet just into the frosted range, and using BullPlate lube so I can cut sprues when they're still soft w/o smearing gives me good fillout and a production rate of 12 to 18 bullets a minute. If the sprues take too long to cool I just turn the pot down a smidge and put the mold down on my steel top table for a minute. Usually that's long enough to grab some more ingots from across the garage, or use the restroom, etc.

I don't mind frosted bullets as long as they're filled out, I work at a comfortable pace and get all the bullets I need. Find what works for you, there is a lot of right ways to cast good bullets.

[sagamore-one]

I may be thinking along a different path.... But, it has been my experience that if frosting develops ONLY in certain areas of the boolit that the alloy needs freshened up with a little tin or a little fresh lino type. If frosting appears all over, then it may be a temperature issue. I normally run my pot real hot, 800 plus, and cast with two 6 ,or two 8, or two 10 cavity H&G moulds. My alloy loves this method. Frosting along the groove area is my first indicator of a diminished or depleted alloy, thus requiring freshening up.

[badgeredd]

What is sprue-freezing sponges? A very wet sponge that you turn the mold upside down on AFTER the sprue puddle solifies for a second to hasten the sprue hardening for cut off. Note: a second so... one thousand one ...pull it off the sponge and cut the sprue. I dont want to do anything to break another sprue handle. If i keep a wet rag to touch the mold to, will that warp the mold? NOPE but notice iI said to swipe the mold accros the rag. It just cools the mold slightly and you're not after dunking the mold to cool it. Just a quick sizzle is enough. AND would we tell you to do something that would hurt your mold?:-D How long should i leave it on the rag for? JUST a sizzle worth! Thanks again. I really dont know what i would have done with out the knowledge on this forum. I really do appreciate your guys help.

That is what I love about this site too. I you have tried and have a problem most everyone will try to help you. GOOD casting to you.

Edd

[jonk]

I run right up until when I start opening the mold the bullets slump on their way to the quench bucket. Then I switch to another mold while mold 1 cools. Frosting? Good stuff.

[leftiye]

Some alloys cast differently than others. Some may even have impurities in them that make pretty, shiny impossible. This is not to mention that some of these alloys need to cast hotter than others because of their makeup. In general, what has previously been said here is right on, but there may be further issues in the mix. This has nix to do with whether these alloys can be made to cast good, accurate boolits. Most of my alloys will not make pretty, shiny - but they do make good.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Cooling the blocks by touching the bottoms to a damp sponge or touching the sprue with a sponge is ok to get the temp of the blocks down will reduce the likelihood of frosting. Also using two molds in tandem will allow for more cooldown time. Use of an aluminum heatsink under the blocks will also help. These are all timeproven ways that work well. Nothing gets warped or broken. Frosting, although esthetically displeasing to some folks is not an evil condition. It has absolutely no effect on accuracy whatsoever. Self-inflated gurus and quacking experts that seem to be present on every range always have some comment to make...best is to just ignore them. If you are nevertheless unable to avoid any frosting and it continues to bother you then get a few pads of #0000 steel wool and simply polish it off the noses of your finished rounds. It goes fast, no one will be able to tell the difference and everyone will live happily ever after. LLS

[dardascastbullets]

I am going to assume that you are not obtaining a great fillout on your bullets and therefore you are increasing the temperature to overcome the frosting problem? If this is true, then bear with me.

You will not gain any ground by increasing the temperature. Rather, I would suggest that you should focus on your metal. Do you know the exact content of your metal? There are many possibilities that are causing your problem. However, these possibilities can usually be narrowed down to two: a)stray metals, and b) lack of tin.

You are surely in the correct casting temperature range of 650-700 degrees F (depending on the bullet you are casting). So, if you are indeed experiencing what I am assuming, then either 'adjust' your alloy or obtain a known metal. You will then have keepers dropping from your moulds in little time.

[XWrench3]

Some of us like brunettes, some of us like redheads, I figure pretty is as pretty does. If your loads shoot well what could be prettier than that?

and after 50, their looks are pretty much gone anyways. the only thing that keeps them "pretty" is cosmetics and hair dye. lol. as for the frosting, i like a little frosting with my cake, don't you?
as for lee dies, frosting is pretty normal, at least as far as i have been able to do them. it doesnt matter if its a 2 hole, or a 6 hole die. they seem to frost a little less right after i cool them down a little with a damp rag between casts. but after 1 or 2 casts, they are right back to frosting. richard lee says that the frosting actually helps to hold lube. so i do not worry about it much.

[AZ-Stew]

Even frosting (dull gray appearance) all over the boolit works with some alloys, such as straight wheel weights. Uneven frosting FREQUENTLY indicates areas of the boolit surface that are recessed from the remainder of the boolit surface. This condition is NOT good.

If you cast PURE lead for muzzle loaders, you WILL get shiny boolits, be they round balls or Minie/Maxi styles. Doesn't matter how hot you run your system, as long as it's hot enough to eliminate wrinkles. The result will be shiny projectiles.

If you cast from PURE linotype, you WILL get shiny boolits and excellent fillout due to the high level of Tin in the alloy. And you can do this at relatively low casting temperature. If you get frosting with linotype, you're running too hot. Slow your cycle rate or lower the pot temp. Intentionally frosting pure linotype boolits is a waste of heat, in my opinion.

A shiny boolit doesn't mean anything, good or bad, if the alloy isn't taken into account. Neither does maximum frost, created by excessive heat. Shiny boolits can be completely filled out and have VERY consistent weight. Very frosty or partially frosty boolits can be incompletely filled out and have insonsistent weight. Again, it depends on the alloy.

For those who cling to the misconception that those of us who prefer something less than a full crystalization of the alloy are only interested in cosmetics, I challenge you to cast pure lead or linotype and come up with good boolits that are full-frost. Shiny isn't a cosmetic value. It is solely related to casting temp with respect to the alloy used. I prefer my boolits to be as near "shiny" as possible. I get good results from them. Doesn't have ANYTHING to do with looks. I don't give a CRAP what the guy at the next bench thinks of the LOOKS of my handloads. It's simply an indication of proper casting temperature, depending on the alloy used. YMMV.

Regards,

Stew