15# of pewter Ingots Gone!!!! Cast in Lee .530 RB Mold (Practice and Alloy Later). Yep first actual cast(ing) session. Now for those that are curious, the mold states 224gr Lead, but with pewter it turns into 148.2 to 151.1 gr, my highest and lowest of 15#'s, which i believe is just about ONE PILL per # of lead in the pot for that 2% Tin stuff i keep reading about. I know there's some other metals in there but i'm pretty sure it will suit my needs.
Questions (FIRST TIME CASTER)
I was very happy with the results except a couple things.
-I'm hoping its just the mold and the nature of the Beast but All my Balls can pretty much sit right where the sprue plate cut was made (Flat cut).
-I didn't seem to get a variety of shiny, or frosted results just a dull chrome? (Pewter Remeber). I Cast (on purpose from 525F to about 625F, and 550F seemed best(BUT IM NEW)) Just to get experience and see differences.
-Should i have tried cooler temps? Higher Temps? As the temp dropped it seemed harder to get Balls to drop out of the mold, and the hotter it got it was harder to clear the sprue plate (Pewter would become like glue)
- I know this is a $25.00 mold but i was thinking it would be great to learn with and yet have another end game at the same time.
-Just how similar will a Lead Based casting be to Pewter almost Tin Casting, A new Temp i know but in general?
Don't want to change the OP but if you have some comments please PM me (ALL HELP IS WELCOME, I'm learning from CastBoolits.gunloads.com, Books, a PDF on Ingot to target and I hate to say it YouTube, But i know of No-One that does this personally) Sorry to all for the Long post.