Casting Difficulties

[Ken77539]

Being new to casting I was wondering if the size/caliber of the boolit had any bearing on the level of difficulty in getting a good cast. My case, I have three molds, all Lee 2-holers for my 9mm, .44 Mag and .45 ACP. All three were bought and prepped at the same time, in the same manner. I started casting for my .45 and followed up with my .44 and now have moved on to my 9mm. the 40's were nowhere near the problem that my 9 is. Tried to cast some boolits Monday and couldn't get a decent boolit even if I had gone to my local gun shop and bought a box. I finally threw up my hands, gave up for the day and went in to have some dinner. Next morning, I went out, cranked up the furnace and threw about 400 really good lookin' rounds before I had to go to work - and I have no idea what I did different.

[Bret4207]

Sometimes it take the moulds a few casting/cooling cycles to give up the fight and cooperate. Might have been oils in the cavities that burned off. That's common.Maybe you fluxed an impurity out of the mix. Maybe you smelled different, I dunno, but it happens.

[Calamity Jake]

It's MURPHY man--------------------Not the Murphy of this board--------------but you know---------------------

-------------------------------------MURPHY :-? [smilie=b:

[Moonie]

I've had similar things happen, one day cast 500 beautiful keepers and only half a dozen rejects, next week with the same mold set screws come out, boolits won't drop well, all the issues you can have. Week after that all roses again...

[theperfessor]

I've had a lot of NEW molds need one heating/cooling cycle before they cast properly. Probably due to any of several reasons. Rather than waste a lot of thought over it I just accept it and move on...

[HATCH]

You know one day the light just turns on.....

I am new to casting. I have only done 3 casting sessions.
The last time I cast, I could cast 4 good boolits every time.
It was all about timing, mold temp and lead temp.

[462]

I've resigned myself to the fact that all my moulds are smarter than I am, and are constantly conspiring against me. Some days I can catch them off guard.

[runfiverun]

you probably just had the heat higher and went faster. the bigger boolits can be done at a leisurely pace but the small ones you gotta keep lead in the holes of the little ones.
some molds are a treasure i have an rcbs mold i can let sit on the edge of the pot and pour a pair once in a while. and some i gotta work up a sweat to make work.
and others i need to use 4-5 times before they want to become consistent.

[mooman76]

Some people find smaller boolits are harder to cast but I'm talking about the real small like 22 caliber. I think because it's such a small amount of lead it is hard to keep the mould up to temp. I find it easier to cast large boolits. Some mould seem to be difficult no matter what you do.

[Ken77539]

Sometimes it take the moulds a few casting/cooling cycles to give up the fight and cooperate. Might have been oils in the cavities that burned off. That's common.Maybe you fluxed an impurity out of the mix. Maybe you smelled different, I dunno, but it happens.

I think you may have hit the ole' nail on the head. The following morning, I was too amped up to go to bed, so when I got home from work I went back out and got back to casting. Have almost 1K 9's in the coffee can now and only had 6 or 8 that had to go back in the pot. Who knows.

Hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving.

Ken

[6.5 mike]

The last 2 new lee molds I got cast better the second time around. Sometimes the "mold gremlins" just get ya :groner:.

[ricksplace]

You obviously have a female mold. Quite unpredictable. When you find out the reasons for the sudden changes, please let us know.

[btroj]

I have found with almost all molds that the first casting is only to heat the mold and break it in. I rarely get many is able boolits the first time. This is even after using comet and got water to scrub the mold clean. I have used break cleaner too. Nothing seems to work like a good heating via casting.
Glad to hear thingns have settled down.

[Mal Paso]

My only Aluminum Mold is from NOE. The instructions say to bring the molds up to 350 to 400 degrees 3 to 4 times to season them before casting. I did that with an oven and had no problems the first casting session. Not to say that will banish all gremlins.

[geargnasher]

The last new Lee mould I got I did the usual cleaning and then force-fed it with a Lyman rowel ladle until it submitted. Kinda like breaking a horse.

Gear

[MT Gianni]

When I did some cold weather casting I found the Lee 30x113fp would not keep warm. At the time it was only available as a sc mold and there wasn't enough heat to keep the wrinkles out. The same thing may have been happening with your 9mm. A bigger hole will hold more hot lead, decreasing warm up time and giving a better pour sooner.

[TCLouis]

I feel your pain.

Today I got an unused 6 banger out and was going to run 4-5 lbs for testing purposes, cast for about 1 1/2 hours and got 6 boolits . . .6.

Nothing went well.

Oh well I figure it is jinxed and so switched to two different molds I have not cast boolits with and got them set up for the next casting session. I sure hope it goes better.

[cbunt1]

I've learned to accept that my new Lee molds just won't make boolits the first go 'round. Every mold is a law unto itself (seems I've heard that before LOL)...

Some of mine like a hotter melt than others, some like to be run fast, some like it slower, others like it hot and fast with a wet sponge on the sprue....come to think of it, that works for more than moulds!!!

Dunno how much of it has to do with learning each mold's intricacies, and how much is the need for a heat/cool/heat cycle or three, but when a new mold makes good boolits the first pass, i figure Mercury is in retrograde, the moon's full, and I should have gone to Vegas...

[Ken77539]

Yep, I'm kinda counting my blessings that things worked out OK. Got a bit frustrated that first day - bet I threw back close to 150-200 boolits before I gave up for the day.

I did pick up an old cast aluminum electric skillet and lid at a resale shop the other day. I cut a notch in the side of the pan and am going to use it to pre-heat my molds. If nothing else it should help reduce the number of 'warm-up' rounds I'll have to cast each session.