My first post. "The first time in 18 years"

[Mr. S]

Hello,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this. So if it isn't, sorry about that. I haven't done any casting for eighteen years or so. I would help a friend of mine back then while he did the actual casting. I would mostly watch.

After we had some boolits cast, I would take them home and run them through the Lyman 450 I bought direct from Lyman. It was a refurbished unit. We split the cost on a Lee pot, moulds, sizing dies etc.

Well, we haven't cast together for a long time now. Lately, I have been kicking around the idea of getting back into casting on my own. All I had were some moulds, sizing dies and top punches and of course the 450.

Since we don't have the funds right now for an RCBS or Lyman furnace, I convinced my wife to get me a Lee Pro 4-20 early for Christmas ;-) It came late last week. I had also ordered an ingot mould, Lyman casting thermometer, dipper and a Lyman 452424 to use with my Ruger Redhawk in .45 Colt. I also ordered 50 # of Lyman #2 from Lead & Brass .Com. I don't have any access to scrap lead just yet, or even wheel weights. I had picked up a Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook about a month ago and have read it cover to cover I think. Plus, I have been lurking here for a few months ;-)

I put together a bench from scrap and left over lumber we had in the basement. It doesn't look too great; but it isn't going to fall down. I have a plan to vent fumes that I will work on over the next few weeks.

Well, after about three hours today, here are the results. I haven't counted how many boolits I actually managed to cast in that time yet. Less than I thought I would. They don't look too bad; I don't think... The biggest problem I had was with a lot of them getting frosty. I tried to slow myself down to let the mould cool a little; but honestly, I was having too much fun.

The boolits average 250 Gr and measure .453 in diameter. I am pretty happy with them. I might get some sized and lubed this week and give them a try on Saturday. The picture of my bench was about an hour after I finished casting today. It wasn't quite that messy while I was casting.

Thanks for reading this far.

Rick

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp130/Rickkster707/Casting/FirstCast1.jpg

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp130/Rickkster707/Casting/FirstCast2.jpg

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp130/Rickkster707/Casting/FirstCast3.jpg

[bootsnthejeep]

Looks like you're doing fine to me! You must have been watching your buddy pretty close.

[runfiverun]

wet rag and swipe the mold across it for heat control.
btw welcome to the board.

[Shiloh]

Beautiful Boolits!!

Your bench top however, needs burn marks, molten lead scorches, and some basis scuffs and scratches. It is TOO clean!! :kidding::D

Shiloh

[ghh3rd]

Nice boolits!

(By the way... does your wife know that you swiped her table spoon? ... and baking pan) ;-)

[Mr. S]

I just counted them, I managed to cast 225 boolits in that three hours. Seemed like a lot more ;-)

boots- I did watch very closely what my buddy was doing. He is an old foundryman. He said the moulds were just much smaller than he was used to.

runfiverun- Thanks for the tip on the wet rag. I think I forgot that one.

shiloh- Today was the first time that bench was used. I need a little more time to beat it up. I will though ;-)

ghh3rd- My wife is way too good for me. She actually brought me the baking pan. She said she doesn't use it. And she said take whatever spoon I want. She is a keeper.

[mold maker]

So you thought 18 years ago, that you had kicked the addiction???
Seriously, your boolits look great.
Welcome back into the habit.

[Gohon]

If they are dropping .453 from the mould I wouldn't even size them..........just lube, load, and shoot.

[Cherokee]

Weleome back to casting and to the forum. Nice bullets for your first go round.

[AZ-Stew]

Nice looking casts!

The ones that are frosty seem to be frosty in the area of the driving bands and associated grooves. This is where your boolit mass is greatest and the surrounding mould metal is least. You're running right on the edge of the mould being too hot for your alloy. You have a couple of choices - slow your casting rate a bit, lower your pot temp just a touch, or cool the mould a bit between castings. I consider runfive's suggestion to be a bit of a "brute force" method. I usually pucker up and blow some air through the mould cavities to cool them a bit (be careful not to get the mould against your lips!). Either way, you need to cool the mould a few degrees. Other than that, the boolits look great, with nice square base corners and excellent fillout on the rest of the features.

Let us know how they shoot!

Regards,

Stew

[kbstenberg]

Look for Bruce B speed casting discription. Very helpful

[454PB]

You done good!

Welcome to the forum.

Frosted boolits are just fine, and an indication that your alloy and mould are up to temperature. Once loaded, wipe the boolit nose with a cotton shop rag or heavy duty paper towel, all that frosting can be wiped off if desired.

[Leadforbrains]

:drinks: Beautiful boolits!!!

[Matt_G]

Outstanding boolits Ricky and welcome to the forum.
You're going to fit right in here...

[geargnasher]

Good looking boolits! don't worry too much about the frost.

Lyman 2-cavity moulds have a habit of running hot through the driving band area with .452" boolits of the ~250 grain flavor, not enough metal there compared to the nose. Try holding the mould upside-down for a count of 6-8 JUST after the sprue is solid enough to not pour off on the floor. This helps the heat even out to the nose and slows your tempo a bit. You can also hold the mould during that count over a fan blowing straight upward to cool the sprueplate but not the nose area of the cavities so much. Or do the water quench thing. I use a big, natural sponge (like for washing cars) and keep it halfway out of a pan of water so it keeps wicking moisture and is self-maintaining. Just turn over the mould as the sprue solidifies and hold the sprueplate on the sponge/rag/whatever for 1 second.

As has been mentioned, run your alloy as cool as possible, I would say even down around 700* once frosting occurs, with this particular mould. Also, I like mildly frosty (satin, not bead-blasted) boolits but I like to see that frost evenly coating the boolit. You may have trouble achieving this with that mould because by the time the nose area of the blocks are hot enough to make the boolit frost, the bands are so hot that they are causing poor fillout, rounded, pitted edges, etc. MOULD temp causes frosting, not POT temp. You can pour 1,000* alloy into a room temp mould and the boolits will be shiny and wrinkled with rounded edges. You can pour 680* alloy into a 500* mould and count to 5 before the sprue freezes. POT temp and casting speed controls mould temp.

Welcome back to the addiction! (we ARE a support group, but a rather ENABLING one :bigsmyl2:

Gear

[rwt101]

I just started to cast recently and you bullets look great. I wish mine looked that good.

Bob T

[Jjed]

Where at in sw pa, I live near Donegal Pa

[Mr. S]

Thanks for the welcome, comments, and all of the suggestions every one! I'll probably print this out for reference. I really did enjoy myself today and I am sure I'll be casting again very soon.

Jjed, I'm near Greensburg.

Thanks again,

Rick

[dominicfortune00]

I'm in Uniontown.

Funny how many people from SW Pa are on here.

Nice looking boolits by the way.

[winelover]

Mr. S
Great looking boolits---your well on your way. Don't worry about the frosting. Has no effect on accuracy. Welcome to the FORUM.:drinks:

Mrs. Winelover is from the Uniontown area ( Allison) I'm originally from the Wilkes Barre area ( Plains) of NW Pennsylvania. Soon to be relocating to the 26 acres I recently bought in Mountain Home, Arkansas. [smilie=w:


WINELOVER :cbpour:

[rugerman1]

I claim Beaver County as my designated wheel weight zone! :mrgreen:

[TAWILDCATT]

welcome:
great looking bullets,I like to run hot,and with Lee molds I have to.I think since you only have frost on the bands your ok or just a tad lower on the temp.you have a thermometer so check it.
I have a Harbor freight speed control in line.it controls the voltage,and since it is on all the time it does not fluctuate much.and less shock on the line.
the unit was $15.

[montana_charlie]

On a fairly regular basis you see this kind of thread where a guy displays the results of his first casting session. If the bullets don't look like absolute 'raisins', there are always plenty of compliments on the high quality of the bullets. It seems almost like there must be a traditional reason for telling the new guy he 'has it knocked'...even though the bands are barely noticeable and the base is so round the bullets need to be propped up for the picture.

The difference here is...that solo shot is a very nicely formed bullet.

You have done your homework well, but there is probably reason to give some of the credit to your alloy. It came to you clean and certified, and there is a good reason for it's existence.
If more first-timers would use certified alloy for their first session, they would have a better understanding of what a 'good' bullet really looks like...and they might even deserve the compliments they get.

I have no 'expertise' to offer, but I will suggest you might reconsider your choice of fluxing material. There are plenty of things to read on fluxing, so specific advice from me is not required. Here's one...
http://www.lasc.us/FryxellFluxing.htm

Here's hoping you can maintain that bullet quality as you experiment with other alloys...
CM

[HORNET]

Actually, Charlie, quite a few of the "First Time Casting" posts that I've seen lately have had some very nice looking boolits. The exceptions still seem to be the "What Did I Do Wrong" variety and some of those DO look pitiful. Maybe the rookies have started looking at the Classics&Stickies sections and have a better idea what they're doing than they used to have on their first posts. Anybody that can figure out how to post pictures on their first shot can't be too hopeless.....

[Mr. S]

Thanks for all the replies again everyone. Wow, I didn't expect so many folks from SW PA to be here.

rugerman1 - Beaver County is yours ;-)

CM - Thank you for that link on fluxing and fluxes. I found it really interesting. Sounds like I was probably losing some tin yesterday. I think I will try the sawdust. Is that what you use?

Also, I went with the commercial alloy for two reasons.

First, I was unable to locate any wheel weights and didn't have access to any other scrap lead etc., leading up to my first casting session after I decided to get back into it. I am going to try some other contacts and see what I can find for the future.

Second, I just thought it would be a good idea to use something of known quality for my first few casting sessions after being out of it for so long. I wanted to enjoy myself and if I could have a little less frustration, that helps.

When my buddy and I did this so many years ago, we used wheel weights that he was able to get from the people that serviced the foundry's trucks. We alloyed it with tin bars and I think some plumbers solder; whatever we could find. We even did some water quenching. Since he worked in a foundry, he had contacts for a lot of metal.

Well, the foundry closed down a few years after we started casting. He stopped casting due to health reasons a short time after that. I wish we would have stock piled a lot of metal, but at the time it was so easy to get as we needed it.

My wife was at the garage we go to getting the oil changed in her car yesterday. She asked the owner what they do with their scrap wheel weights since they sell and mount more tires than do mechanical work. He said when he bought the place about ten years ago, part of the sales agreement with the previous owner was to give him all of their scrap wheel weights! Wonder what he does with them... ;-)

Thanks,

Rick