Just started...

[Ben-WSU]

Hello Everyone:

I am new to casting, and just finished my first attempt.

My setup is as follows:

Lee 4-20 Melting Pot,
Lee ladle (for stirring, not pouring),
Lee ingot mold,
Lee 6-cavity mold in 38 cal-158gr-SWC-Tumble Lube,
Frankford Arsenal Flux,
Lee Alox


The lead I have is from Ebay and was described as originating from Wheel weights. I figured I would start there and scrounge later.

Casting went okay. The lead I put in the pot melted and I fluxed it successfully. I smoked the bullet cavities using a match. And lubed the mold sprue plate and alignment pins with lee 50/50 beeswax alox lube and set it on top of the pot to warm up.

Starting to cast went okay, but definitely not great. Two problems stopped me. :violin:

My biggest problem was the sprue plate funnel over the cavity would fill up before the cavity was full. This was sometimes my fault because I was getting used to the bottom pour flow rate. I was not really able to get consistent filling. Any suggestions?

Then, the front alignment pin on the mold started to stick. I tried to re-lube it but fix the issue. This might have started after I put the end of the mold in the molten lead to warm it up to try and fix the first problem. At this point the light was fading so I called it a day. I will examine it more closely when it finished cooling.

Hopefully the next time works better. Any suggestions would be welcome. Once I get the 38 cal mold to work, for a 38 special, then I want to try loading for a 40 S&W and a 30-06.

Great forum, lots of great info here.

-Ben

[beagle]

Ben.....welcome to the site.

You're on the right track I think. Sounds like the mould's not hot enough and the melt is solidifying caused by the sprue plate not being hot enough. Aluminum moulds heat up pretty quick but that sounds like your problem. I have some wire mesh (rat wire I think they call it now). I have a piece that fits over the pot and when I plug it in, I set the mould on the wire over the melt. By the time the melt is ready, the mould's pretty close to the right temperature for casting. Then, a couple of casts to remove any moisture that has come out of the mould blocks due to condensation and it usually throws good bullets.

Check the alignment holes carefully for any lead or other foreign matter, bube the pins and you should make good bullets.

Sounds as if you're about to become hooked./beagle

[Firebricker]

Welcome, Ben. Sounds like you might just need to pre heat your mold a little more. It won't be long and you'll be turning lots of good boolits. FB

[sqlbullet]

More heat...Your sprue plate is too cold if the lead puddles and plugs the hole before the mold if full. You lead may have been hot enough. I am not saying you need to cast at 800°, but your mold was definitely too cold on top.

Cast faster....I have taught several people to cast. Invariably, they all cast too slow. They want to inspect the bullets, inspect the mold, etc. Speed is a must especially with aluminum molds. If you don't move quickly, then the mold looses too much heat between pours. I have a hard time casting fast enough.

I strongly recommend that you sit down and cast as fast as you can for 15-20 minutes. When you are done, you can inspect your bullets. Many guys here keep a hot plate on the bench to set the mold on, which allows them to inspect as they go. Once I get into my rhythm I find that I can inspect the previous drop for gross defects while the sprue hardens.

I have the best success with those lee mold running two in a 70-75° room temp. I pre-heat both, then cast about four rounds of junk bullets...they go straight in the sprue pan. Then I start the alternate. Fill a mold with a generous sprue, set it down, fill the other, set it down, cut the first, dump, fill, then cut the second, fill. I just keep alternating until I have a huge pile of bullets. I cast 401 and 358 when I run that way.

[MtGun44]

If you start with a cold mold, you need to cast as fast as you possibly can, dumping the
sprues AND boolits into your sprue collector until you have done about 15 fills of the mold.
Don't waste your time even looking at the boolits, they won't be any good and wasting the
time to look just slows down the time to get the mold hot.

Then take a SHORT time to look at the boolits that result from the 16th cast, if they are
filled out well with sharp, not rounded corners, then start keeping the boolits on your
towel and just cutting the sprues into the sprue can. If not, cast maybe 5 more times
as fast as you can. If the mold isn't up to temp by then, your metal is too cool, turn
up the heat on the pot.

Also, the best mold (not boolit) lube is sold by BullShop, who advertises below. Buy
a bottle of Bull Plate Lube and use a TINY amount to lube the pins and angled end
alignment features on your Lee mold. Shake the bottle and then open it and wipe the
lube from inside the lid with a Q tip and this is plenty to lube the mold alignment features
and the whole bottom of the sprue plate. Keep the lube out of the cavities.

More heat!

Good Luck, you'll get it right soon. Most newbie problems are too little heat.

Bill

[docone31]

I soak all my molds in mineral spirits for a couple of days.
I do not need to candle them after that.
Those six cavity molds need heat. I would go for too much heat, and then slow to where it produces perfect castings.
It is your first time, so do not walk away from it. We have all been there.
Keep at it, and you will be like us, then perhaps you can help someone.
It will happen.

[mooman76]

I agree with all on mould not being hot enough. Preheat it and it works allot better than starting out cold. You're kind of starting the hard way by starting with a 6x. It's possible to start from there but kind of like starting to ride a unicycle before you learn to ride a bike. The sprue needs to be heated as well as the block or you get what you got. The lead hardnes before it gets through. If it's still no heated enough after you heat it I will pour extra lead on the sprue when starting to help heat it up. Turn you heat up all the way til you get going good and then gradually turn the heat down as you get signs of being too hot. Have everything ready and close b so you don't have things that slow you down. Last thing you want is finnally getting going good and you run out of lead. I add a liitle at a time while I cast to keep the pot going and I put the rejects and sprue lead back in becaue it is already warm. Just keep practicing and you'll get the hang. The lead is reusable as much as you need so it's not like you are wasting it.

[MT Gianni]

Welcome Ben. I start all my 6 cavity's with an end in the melt for 2 minutes. I then pour 1 bullet in the end hole and dump it then repeat adding a hole every 2 pours. This ensures a warm mold and keeps the side handle from breaking on the sprue plate cam.

[wallenba]

I used that brand of flux. I don't know if it was the culprit...but my pot prematurely rusted. Just sayin'....

[blikseme300]

I also think it is a case of cold mold. This is what I use to pre-heat my molds: http://bliksemseplek.com/images/boolits/moldheat1_lg.jpg

Bliksem

[armyrat1970]

First welcome Ben. You are getting into something that will quickly become addicting.
I have found Lee aluminum molds take a little while to heat up to temps for casting but will cool rather quickly. My molds like to be run very hot. But if I slow in my casting for any reason I have to again heat the mold back up to temps. I need to get a hot plate to keep the mold to temps because I like to inspect my boolits after droping fifty or so, so I can throw the rejects and cut sprues back into the pot without having to wait long for the melt to get back up to temps. If you add cooled sprues, rejects or other ingots your alloy temp will drop. If you have to wait for the alloy to heat up with no way to keep your mold heated, you will start with a cool mold again. I just don't like dipping the corner of mine into the melt and heat mine over my gas stove until it is really to hot to touch.

[DLCTEX]

+1 on the Bullplate Lube for your mould. The beeswax/alox will cause a carbon buildup that will be almost impossible to remove. $4 for a 4 oz. bollte will last a lifetime of casting. Personally, I would also drop the FA flux and just flux by stirring with a dry hardwood stick or dowel or a paint stirring stick from a paint store.

[Ben-WSU]

Thanks for all the help!

The mold being too cold seems right. I was waiting a few seconds for the sprue to cool before opening the mold, which is probably the root cause of the cold mold. And, I am sort of slow given I have just started. I was also adding the sprue to the pot every third or fourth cast, which probably cooled the melt and contributed to a cold mold.

Thanks also for the good ideas for helping speed up. I will try starting with one cavity and then work out from there. I will also try the cast fast and dump into sprue collection. That will be good practice and help with my technique.

And my kit seems to be lacking. I will be adding a hotplate to rest the mold, a tray to collect the sprue separate from the bullets, Bullplate lube for the mold, and new flux.
I’ll let you know how the next try goes.

Merry Christmas.
Ben

[MtGun44]

Those changes will get you on track quickly!

Best of luck, Merry Christmas!

Bill

[leadman]

Ben, my last two 6 cavity molds bought in the last 3 months had issues with the steel inserts in the mold the alignment pins go into.
The end of the hole where the pin fit in was burred, probably from when they were cut off. The burr was on the inside of the hole, very slight but caused the pins to hang up.

I took a small tapered punch and inserted it in the hole with the half of the mold resting on the top of my vise so the punch could stick out the bottom. I then gave it a light tap and tried it on the pins of the other half. Did this a couple times until the pins did not hang up anymore.

You don't want to drive the bushing into the mold, just flatten out the burr and maybe just a smidgen of taper.

The guys are also correct on Bullshop's Bullplate lube. Great stuff for the pins and sprue pivot, top of the mold and underside or the sprueplate, and where the sprueplate slides into the stop bolt. Also use it where the handles fit into the mold and the screws.

[ghh3rd]

I was waiting a few seconds for the sprue to cool before opening the mold, which is probably the root cause of the cold mold.
Actually you should wait a few seconds for the sprue to cool before cutting it. If you cut it at the right time (I wait about 5-6 seconds) you should get a smooth surface on the bottom of the boolit.

If you cut the sprue too soon, the lead will still be molten and will smear and adhere to the bottom of the sprue plate. Using the sprue plate with the smeared lead on the bottom will cause galling, rubbing metal off of the top of the mold, looking like arc shaped gouges. If you get a few of these and they are minor, probably no problem, but don't let it continue or you can ruin your mold. Always remove any lead from the bottom of the sprue if you find any.

Bullplate sprue lube works wonders. I keep a very light layer on the bottom of the sprue plate. On the few occasions that I forgot and cut too soon all I had to do was rub the bottom of the sprue plate with my gloved hand and the lead slid right off.

Have fun -- this stuff will pull you right in before you realize it.

Randy

[WHITETAIL]

Ben, Welcome to the forum!
And as said, stay at it.
You will find that the guys
and gals here are great.
They have all been where you
are and did not forget that.
So ask away!:cbpour:

[XWrench3]

as most of the replies have said, MORE HEAT! lee molds like to be hot, rather, HOT! they just do not work correctly until they are there. everything that you pour, until the mold is up to temp is just scrap. no big deal, just put the scrap back into the pot and make good boolits out of it. as for the pins sticking, they need to be lubed while the mold is hot as well. use the lube VERY SPARINGLY! a little is all it takes, and more will just find its way into a cavity and mess up all the boolits from that one (or two, or....).

[Ben-WSU]

Well, I was successful today. Thanks for the great advice.

More heat worked. The outside temp was almost 50F, and I worked faster than before, so the mold heated up and stayed hot. The mold was noticeably hotter, with the bullets coming out frosted. About the time I stopped to refill the lead pot the most was hot enough that I was waiting for the sprue to solidify, watching the puddle get smaller as the bullets cooled, before I cut it.
I used a disposable aluminum casserole pan to collect the sprues. The lead didn’t stick and it worked great.

I also used parts of an old candle for flux, instead of the Frankford Arsenal flux I used before.
I have a Lee 4-20 pot. Any advice on how to get better control out of the bottom pour spout. I have it turned down so that it won’t drip. Do I need to turn it down more so that when I open it the lead pours slower?

You guys have a good one.
Ben

[WHITETAIL]

Ben, :shock:Welcome and you are off to a great start.
You will find a happy meadum on the adjustment for the spout.
If it drips alittle, well so what!
Just put a small can or cup under it.
you can always throw the dripps back in.:cbpour:

[armyrat1970]

I don't know if there is ever a way to stop the Lee pots from dripping a little and you will learn to deal with it. Try as you may, they will still drip at times. You seem to be doing quite well and can only learn more from experience as we all have. None of us knew how to cast a boolit until we got experience through trial and error. And many of us still have issues at times. That's what this site is for.