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phishfood
09-30-2009, 12:21 AM
Over this last weekend I finally got the ladle made, and so tonight I came home determined to try my hand at casting.

I rigged up some light and a fan set to blow across the top of the smelting/casting area to keep the smoke and fumes out of my face. The sideburner of the grill was my heat source (last time I do that), and while the cast iron skillet was warming up I arranged the bottom layer of WWs so that they were all laying as flat as possible.

Once the weights finally melted, skimmed the clips, and shaved some candle wax into the mix. Skimmed again, and then tried to cast. I really tried to. I couldn't get the sprue cutter to operate with a light push as the mold instructions said it should. Multiple sharp smacks with the wooden handle of the ladle were required to make it operate. The half pound of lead running down both sides of the mold couldn't have anything to do with that, could they? But then again, letting the pour cool for 30 seconds might have been the culprit.

After about 10 drops, I got those problems hashed out. But the boolits still weren't right. Worls starting on the nose and running down in to the grooves culled 90-95% of my first 30 or so. Plus, one of the cavities was consistently not getting a full fill.

Adding the culls back into the pot, I decided to reflux. The amount of crud I skimmed off was surprising. But I still wasn't getting a good fill of the cavities every time. I started pouring, cutting the sprue, and dropping them back into the pot if both of the cavities weren't full. Then I noticed that the edges of the melt were starting to get a little stiff, so I turned the heat back up. While waiting for the melt to heat up, I held the bottom of the mold in the molten lead till it didn't leave behind a hardened impression when I lifted it back out. Wouldn't you know, I got full fills EVERY time, the molds released the boolits much easier, and the rejection rate went through the floor. I don't think that I tossed back 1 out of 10 of the last batch that I cast.

What I THINK that I have learned:

1. Find the burner for the turkey frier. She who is to be feared will not like the mess I made on the grill.

2. Flux, skim, reflux, skim, reflux, skim.

3. Keep it hot! Hot melt, hot mold, hot ladle.

4. Find the leather gloves BEFORE you burn your bare finger. 'Nough said, Stupid.

5. Prepare a bigger area to drop onto. It stinks to drop 10 times, then have to stop to sort out the culls as your mold gets cold again.

6. Cast when you are not so tired. Towards the end, I kept putting good ones in the cull pile.

7. A taller, narrower pot would be better than an 8" skillet. But then again, this one was free.

Mold was a Lee #90463, which is a .452 200 grain SWC, meant for tumble lube. I sprayed it with brake cleaner, then let it dry for an hour or so, then used a pencil lead to coat the entire inside of the cavities. It seemed to release OK, though it could have been better.

I probably cast 300-400 boolits, but only ended up with 100 keepers. Most of those were from the last few batches. Now all I need is some lube and some powder, and maybe I can afford to shoot my 1911 again.

Anyway, any comments or suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated.

carpetman
09-30-2009, 12:32 AM
phishfood---I'd say make your melting (commonly misscalled smelting here ---smelting has to do with removing lead from ore--a different process) anyway make the melting and casting two separate operations. You get a lot of smoke from the melting( wheel weights for example have all kinds of stuff on them). This operation is best done outdoors and a Coleman stove works pretty good. Once you have ingots that have been fluxed you are ready to cast. I started out casting using the Coleman stove and the same small pot I melted in and a ladle. Several years later I bought a Lee bottom pour and I like everything about doing it that way much better than the old. You mentioned the excess lead running down the sides--makes it sound like you don't have a casting ladle---if you don't get a bottom pour pot, atleast get a ladle if you don't have one. Gosh afterall the free bullets ares going to save you so many $$$$ you can afford a ladle.

qajaq59
09-30-2009, 06:58 AM
I'd say you got several lessons for free there. Which were just about the same ones that we got when we started. ;-) And you can toss the culls back into the pot. Not bad for your first try. And I agree with Carpetman on the smelting outside and the bottom pour pot. But if you are going to stick with the ladle try to get one that is easier to handle so you don't drown the whole mold when you pour.
Other then that, welcome to a fun hobby.

Bret4207
09-30-2009, 07:15 AM
You're off to a good start. I wish I had pics of my first few attempts! Nothing wrong at all with a ladle, I've used one for 30+ years. Make your "smelting" of raw WW in one pot and melt for your boolit moulding in another. While everyone rushes to BP Lee pots these days, I found nothing wrong with a heat source, pot and good ladle. Lyman and RBCS both make good ladles, but you can form one from a soup/gravy ladle that will work every bit as good.

You did learn the important stuff- a hot mould is a happy mould. Pot temp is relatively unimportant compared to mould temp. Better to be running your pot 50 degrees hotter than you really need than to have it 50 degrees cool though! The mould temp is the important thing and you regulate that through casting tempo. Don;t be afraid of a hot mould and frosty boolit. Quality of the boolit is the important thing, complete fill out is the aim.

Sounds like you're off to a good start.

snaggdit
09-30-2009, 11:15 AM
Mold was a Lee #90463, which is a .452 200 grain SWC, meant for tumble lube. I sprayed it with brake cleaner, then let it dry for an hour or so, then used a pencil lead to coat the entire inside of the cavities. It seemed to release OK, though it could have been better.

After you spray it with brake cleaner, use a q-tip and wipe it off. Do it a second time with a clean q-tip. Solvents loosen oils, but then they evaporate, leaving the oils behind again.
Do I understand that you "colored" the inside of the cavities with pencil lead? Get yourself a bic lighter. Just a light coat of carbon is enough, and then only if you are having issues with the mold dropping. A layer of graphite like you inferred would change the size of the boolit.
Way to learn as you go! Sounds like you are on your way. Welcome to the addiction. Good luck on that being able to afford the 1911. Now you will need the pouring ladle, then a bottom pour pot, then a different profile boolit mold in .45 ...:kidding:

phishfood
09-30-2009, 09:19 PM
Yes, reading on here I have noticed that many separate the melting/fluxing operations from the actual casting process. I only had about 2 gallons of WWs, and I am by nature impatient. But if my source for WWs works out, I will most definitely do things two stage. And I can definitely see the advantages of a bottom pour pot, but budget constraints and all...

Anyway, my ladle is one that a friend and I hammered out on his anvil after heating some 1/8" plate in his forge. The biggest problem seems to be the pouring divots that I hammered into the edge with a crosspeen hammer. They are too shallow and wide, and don't have enough angle on them. I am trying to come up with an idea for adding a pouring tube to it as I have seen in pictures of commercial ladles, but nothing that I am thinking of seems workable.

Yes, I did actually color in the whole inside of the mold with a pencil. I read that somewhere on here, but I do see the point of possibly shrinking the inside of the mold. And good thought on wiping out the mold after the brake cleaner loosens the oils. I never considered that.

Thanks for the input, and I hope to put it to use soon.

runfiverun
10-01-2009, 01:47 AM
phishfood... p.m. me your address, i should have an extra ladle for casting laying around.

qajaq59
10-01-2009, 07:29 AM
I'm not crazy about using chemicals for much, so when I need to clean a mold I just use dish detergent, a tooth brush and the hottest water I can. It likely isn't as fast as break cleaner but IMO it's safer.