How to water quench?

[TORCHrider]

What is your process for water quentching? Just open the mould and let the boolits fall into a bucket of water? Away from the main pot of course.

[44mag1]

Thats how I do it

[RobS]

Your proceedure is of the general norm........some people ease the bullet fall by putting a towel with a slit in it so the bullets hit it and then slowly fall towards the bottom. Others have done other methods and they are all here somewhere on the forum.

Note though to have more consistent results concerning BHN (bullet hardness) run your alloy at the same temp each time and take note to it. A hotter bullet dropped from the mold will harden more than a cooler bullet.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Yep, float an old bath towel in the 5 gal bucket.

Then every once in awhile reach into the bucket with a stick and pull the towel up again.

The bullets with settle to the bottom but by then they are cool and hard.

I tried the water quenching without the towel and found that the bullets dented up quite a bit when they hit the bottom or each other.

Works good.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Wireman134]

Antimony in the alloy is needed for any hardening to occur in any way.

[Dframe]

Thats how I do it
Same here.

[HORNET]

Sponges will stay afloat better than a towel...

[S.R.Custom]

Yep, float an old bath towel in the 5 gal bucket.

Then every once in awhile reach into the bucket with a stick and pull the towel up again.

Same here.

[DLCTEX]

If you get to casting fast and hot at a consistent pace your boolit hardness will be pretty uniform. WW boolits cast this way are plenty hard for any purpose I've tried so far.

[40sandwfan]

Funny how I was going to search for a thread on this exact subject to find out the same information and it's the first one I see when I get on the forum.
Thanks guys. You've helped me out too!!

[helg]

Important part of the process, I think, is to quench the bullets at consistent temperature. Dropping them earlier, when they have higher temp, results in bigger hardness, and vice versa.

To reach the consistent hardness with my Lee 6-banger and bottom-pour 4-20 pot, I try to pour a bit more in the first caves, so all the caves will solidify at about the same time. After seeing the solidifying I count to 5 (for 9mm 124gr, this definitely depends on the mold and the caliber), then break-open the mold above a bucket with water that stands on the floor. Pffff, and 6 good bullets are born.

[charger 1]

What is your process for water quentching? Just open the mould and let the boolits fall into a bucket of water? Away from the main pot of course.

Thats it. Try to run your setup warm enough that the bullets come out a bit on the dull side as opposed to shiney. Lay out 10 bucks at the local feed store and get one of those rubber, never freeze water trays for animals. Lots of guys rag the bottom. You buy one of those you dont have to goof around and you got it for life

[handloder]

I agree with Hornet. Start with a 5 gal bucket, fill 3/4 with water. Then when starting to heat the casting pot, put in a 1/2gal or 1gal plastic milk jug of water (prefrozen in a deep freeze). Add a large car wash sponge and get it thoroughly soaked (it will float at an angle on top of the milk jug(s)). When you're ready to cast keepers, just cut the sprue and drop the hot boolits on top of the sponge where they will roll off into the chilled water without splashing. It looks like alloy bullets need to drop below 300degrees or so to prevent dinging when they hit the bottom of the bucket. I don't know it that's true for pure lead round balls for muzzleloaders.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Yep, spnges float higher/better then an old bath towel.

However, unless you have a very large sponge, hitting it with all the bullets will be iffy at best.

Plus, because the sponge tends to float high and partly out of the water, the quench is not as complete or rapid as dropping onto a partly submerged towel.

This is of course just IMHO.

Will probably have a bit of a casting session today, as my new RCBS 405gr. GC mold arrived from Buffalo Arms yesterday, co I am the proud owner of 250 Starline 45/70 cases, mold, sizing die & top punch and 2000 - 45cal gas checks.

Loading dies should be here soon.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[snuffy]

Well, what happens as the water heats up? Also what happens when a boolit sticks in the mold cavity, dropping after cooling? In both cases, your hardness will vary.

Best way is to oven heat them to a uniform temp, then dunk all of them at the same time.

I just skip all the mess, go with air cooled.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I will dip out some of the water when it gets to a warm temp., I will add a similar amount of cold tap water as I dipped out to keep the pail temp. about the same through the cast session. I used to keep a thermometer tied to the pail lip, not any more, I just use my finger to gauge temp.Robert

[Wayne Smith]

The change in temp from almost liquid lead to water temp is enough, 20 or 30 degrees of water temp difference won't make any difference.

Be very sure to keep your bucket away from/lower than your pot. They can and do splash!

[HORNET]

To clarify, I said and meant sponges, as in the plural of sponge. Use a bunch of small sponges. They'll break the boolit's momentum and then roll it off into the water. Another member on here used a healthy layer of packing peanuts for the same purpose.
I almost always just run air cooled and oven heat treat in my little toaster oven by my bench if I feel an overwhelming need. Better uniformity, higher hardness potential, less hurry to size them before they turn to concrete 'cause I size them first.

[Dennis Eugene]

I cover the water with a thick layer of them styraphome packing peanuts slow the bullets and stop the splash. Works like a champ. Dennis

[stubshaft]

To clarify, I said and meant sponges, as in the plural of sponge. Use a bunch of small sponges. They'll break the boolit's momentum and then roll it off into the water. Another member on here used a healthy layer of packing peanuts for the same purpose.
I almost always just run air cooled and oven heat treat in my little toaster oven by my bench if I feel an overwhelming need. Better uniformity, higher hardness potential, less hurry to size them before they turn to concrete 'cause I size them first.


+1 - I have an old coffee can filled with cut up sponge rubber anout 1/2" square. I just put this in the bucket an give them a squeeze to soak them.

[RobS]

What I ment by the towel thing was to drap it across the bucket and down in the water about 4 inches so it hangs like a basket in the bucket. Make sure to tie the towel down to the side of the bucket with tarp strap or something so the it doesn't fall to the bottom. The bullets will then hit water first and then funnel down to the slit in the towel and then slowly fall to the bottom of the bucket.

[warf73]

Just open the mould and let the boolits fall into a bucket of water?

Yup thats the way its done.

[FAsmus]

Gentlemen;

My method is to cast normally, dropping the bullets on my cushioned bench top. From there I pick them up, inspect them for no more than 1 or 2 seconds and then drop them carefully into the typical bucket of quench medium.

Since it is winter and things out in my casting shed remain well below freezing most of the time I usually go to the 50/50 mix of automobile engine coolant so that the quench will remain liquid.

This works well but does require a cleaning cycle to be added to the procedure.

Good morning,
Forrest

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

WOW -------------------------

You guys better be kerfull or Al Gored will be putt'in ya up fer some kind of "green" award as the first folk to find a way to reeeeeeeeeecycle pack'in peanuts.:D:D

I can see it all now, ya prowdly walk'in up to the platform, your favorite handgun mounted high in a left side, butt forward, cross draw holster and your 45/70 Sharps in the crook of yur right arm!

Yep, I'll be right prowd to say I knEw you and might even get by ta visit, once they let me out. ;-):lol::lovebooli

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot:wink: