Two Questions

[VTDW]

Being new to this forum I have a couple of questions that I hope you can answer for me.

Is there a preferred temperature for your mould when casting lead bullets? If so, do you use temp sticks or something else in order to know your mould it the correct temperature? Oh yeah, a third question...what is the preferred temp for the mould?

Thanks folks,

Dave:cool:

[steveb]

Hi Dave and welcome to the forum. Im a newbie here to but each mold has its own personality. You will know when the mold is up to temp when you have nice fillout. I can tell you I run my melting pot around 800 degrees ,Im not sure of the exact temps of the mold but my Lee six cavity likes to be run hot with nice frosty cast bullets!:-D WELCOME:Fire:

[Ranch Dog]

Good to see you here Dave! I use a Lyman thermometer (I know, Lee doesn't make one) in my pots. My molds (Lee) seem to do best at 750F to 800F. I'm casting either 1 to 10 (Tin/WW) for pistols or 1 to 1 (Linotype/WW) for my rifles.

[VTDW]

Thanks for the replies. I have the Lyman casting thermometer also. Can I just open the sprue plate a bit and stick the thermometer in one of the openings?

Michael, I HAD to come here as you got me into Lee stuff and lead boolits too.:drinks: I tried your suggestion this morning and mixed the HardBall and 20:1 half and half and got a nice larger boolit. I did a bit of research and found (new to me) that the Antimony actually enlarges as it cools. I smacked on ot the boolits real firmly with a 4# shop hammer and the nose shattered a piece off. I will begin cutting the mix a bit and see if I can't make it suit me. Of course, if I hit where I aim it won't be a problem unless the hawg is coming after me. Being an old thermal composites guy, I am enjoying getting back to my roots.

Dave:cool:

[trk]

I've put a thermocouple into the cavities and the iron moulds cast better somewhere just over 400dF.

I will, someday, embed thermocouples into the iron (drill and seal).

BUT, it's just as easy to get the mould up to temp, by watching when the wrinkles disappear.

Is there an upper limit? Don't know. But if it's overly hot, it must cool to be able to drop out (not pour out) the bullets.

The important thing is repeatability. Build a pattern that gives you consistant results.

[StarMetal]

My God Trk, that's really anal. Geesh what's next hooking up continuity meter so you know when the molten lead has made contact with the mould. I hope I didn't give you any ideas. :kidding:

Joe

[beagle]

TRK.... Actually someone made these tests back a few years. You're right on the money with the 400 degree temp. That was the result of those experiments. His method was to drill a hole in the mould half that was a fairly precision fit with his thermometer probe and used that method. Bullets dropped and filled out better at around 400 degrees./beagle


I've put a thermocouple into the cavities and the iron moulds cast better somewhere just over 400dF.

I will, someday, embed thermocouples into the iron (drill and seal).

BUT, it's just as easy to get the mould up to temp, by watching when the wrinkles disappear.

Is there an upper limit? Don't know. But if it's overly hot, it must cool to be able to drop out (not pour out) the bullets.

The important thing is repeatability. Build a pattern that gives you consistant results.

[9.3X62AL]

Yeah, pretty heady stuff for this here social science major. I use the time-honored 1700's-vintage idea of whatever heat "stops wrinkles and doesn't form frost" works for me. Frosted boolits tend to be a little smaller than unfrosted ones cast of Taracorp (92/6/2).

[NVcurmudgeon]

VTDW, desired temperature for casting will vary for each caster. Each mould prefers a different temperature, many of us are using different alloys, casting rhythm will vary between individuals, aluminum moulds dissipate heat faster so need to be run hotter. blocks of different sizes retain more or less heat, etc. I use an RCBS lead thermometer and try to take temperature at the same place in the adding metal and fluxing cycle. I like to take temperatue by dipping the thermometer into the pot, without letting it touch the sides or bottom. When the teperatur indicated slows down, call it good. Use the same technique every time. I am not methodical enough, but try to remember to record temperature when I am getting a high percentage of keepers. Thermometers vary, but I don't think that matters a lot; it could be calibrated in foot pounds of energy or parsecs, as long as YOURS reads consistently and you can return to a desired temperature. I was very successful for many years without knowing temperatue. If castings wrinkle, increase temperature, if sprues take too long to harden and you are smearing lead over the top of the blocks, reduce temperature. Many of us PREFER frosted boolits, but you can get the alloy too hot and have spots on the drive bands that fail to fill out. Get a Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook and read it from cover to cover. Some of the information is a bit dated, but it will get you pointed in the right direction to start. Keep experimenting and asking questions here. Welcome to the forum, and remember that while casting is a science, there is a lot of art in the ececution.

[44man]

I put my mould in a mould oven on a hot plate set to 500 degrees. It does not get quite that hot before I start casting but the first boolit will be perfect. From then on, the pace of casting will maintain the proper temperature and I can run several pots empty without a reject. The temperature of your lead is more important then fooling with mould temperatures. Forget it, like Joe says, it is anal! I just weighed out 80, 530 gr boolits and three were 1/2 gr light and 1 was 1 gr light. All the rest were within 1/10 gr. I don't do NEAR the anal stuff most of the guys do. For instance, I drop the sprues in a coffee can and when I need to flux, I dump them back in the pot and add a pound ingot. Stir, flux and cast more. No bad boolits, no change in weight. If you want to enjoy casting, make it easy!

[VTDW]

Folks,

I really appreciate all your thoughtful and anal:mrgreen: replies. Glad Ranch Dog invited me to this house.

Dave