Anodized boolit mould

[geargnasher]

I finally got it all together and did one. The discussion started in this thread: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...hlight=anodize

For those of you who were interested, here's a pic of the results. It came out a bit dark but is quite nice. The oxide layer didn't amount to much, it looks like this mould will be about a half-thousandth smaller by the parting line and about the same perpendicular to it. I did dress the alignment "Vee" notches and the faces slightly beforehand in anticipation of the added thickness "Beagling" the mould slightly, which it did.



When I get it put back together and get a chance to cast with it I'll give a full report.

Gear

[Thompsoncustom]

That's really neat, Ive anodized stuff before but a bullet mold never even crossed my mind.

[btroj]

It sure is pretty

[snuffy]

Cherry color huh? You'll have to call the boolits "cherry bombs")!

Looking forward to the results.

[MikeS]

I'm real curious how this makes the mould cast. Also would it help make the moulds last longer? If it helps the way the mould casts, and/or helps it last longer, I wonder if it would be something some of our custom mould makers (NOE, Accurate, etc.) could look into, as I would imagine if a mould is anodized during production it would be much easier to do, as it could be done before alignment pins are put in place, etc.

[Mal Paso]

Finally! Color Coordinated Casting!

[TheBigBang]

I wonder about durability, especially under the sprue plate...

[GP100man]

I want blue 1s !!!!

Kool job & look forward to a castin report !!

I thought the same thing a snuffy , cherry color, Hhmm Cherry Bombs !!

[geargnasher]

It was supposed to be bright Lee red, but that's the way it turned out.

The point here is just to see if boolits fall out easier and if the coating on the block faces keeps lead bits from sticking to them. A properly "leemented" mould without any ridiculously deep lube grooves or narrow draft angles usually casts fine if the user does their part, but I wanted to see if the anodizing really helped prevent lead stickage. I'm not too concerned with the top part, I figure the coating will wear off eventually, but it might also hold sprue plate lube like a Parkerized steel finish will hold oil. If it does hold oil, that would be a huge bonus.

I polished the sprue plate too, so hopefully that will minimize wear on the finish.

Gear

[SciFiJim]

Very interesting. I am in to watch on this thread.

And there are people that say that casting is old fashion and there is nothing new to learn.

[geargnasher]

I got it all back together a few minutes ago, it looks like the coating hasn't affected the alignment much at all. Bullplate soaks into this finish very nicely, so I went ahead and treated all the critical points cold. Hopefully I'll have time to cast some with it in the next few days and give you folks a report on how it does. I can tell one thing already, the coating is much harder than the aluminum itself, so it IS sort of an armor plate for the delicate alignment points. This might end up being the most expensive Lee two-cavity mould in history.

Gear

[BulletFactory]

You should have patented this first.

[theperfessor]

Really interested in this thread, and such a pretty color. Good job so far, Gear.

[popper]

If it works good you just found a second job. Does she do packing and shipping?

[dpaultx]

Did the steel alignment pins reinstall without difficulty? Were they still tight in the slots?

Just curious . . . Doug

[Chicken Thief]

Unfortunatly the colour will fade with temp.
The pigment degrades.

[geargnasher]

Did the steel alignment pins reinstall without difficulty? Were they still tight in the slots?

Just curious . . . Doug

Went right together with some gentle persuasion (plastic mallet + cupped steel punch). Slightly tighter than when new, very good fit. You have to be careful not to let them get crooked and stretch the small supporting area. I started the pins in and once the tips were through the hole and would engage the opposite block, I clamped the mould together in a vise with hardwood blocks and drove the pins in the rest of the way and peened the hole.

Gear

[L1A1Rocker]

I'll be darn. Looks great Gear. I'm also curious about how the alignment pins came out.

[Doc Highwall]

Anodize is about 80 Rockwell. But it is also only about .001" thick before you break through it.

[paul h]

Unfortunatly the colour will fade with temp.
The pigment degrades.

True enough, but it's the hard oxide outer layer that does the work, the coloring is purely cosmetic.