Cast Boolits Ingot Mold

[Clinebo]

This guy might be able to do something.
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/...oading-blocks/

[midnight]

I havn't read the whole thread but we seem to be talking about CNC machining whatever ingot mold is decided upon. Has anyone suggested investment casting them using Aluminum as the mold material. I don't know if it is feasable or not but there must be someone on this forum knowledgeable about investment casting. There is a small foundry business a couple of miles from me . I passed it twice a day back and forth to work (back when I used to work for pay) and have been curious as to what they do. I think I'll stop and find out.

Bob

[jdam169]

Count me in if this ever gets going!

[bobthenailer]

If no one is willing to machine the ingot moulds for us ? a close friend who ownes a one man machine shop, has been slow since Obama has been president and military contracts have declined , im sure he would be willing to make them for us from aluminum . he has 4 cnc machines , his work will be top notch !
He just finished up a Goverment pulley job for airplaines friday and has nothing new comeing in for awhile. I will discuss this with him this monday .
Bob

I talked to my friend and he said he would be willing to CNC machine aluminum ingot moulds for us !
but the members will have to come up with a few designs so we can decide on which ones we want , ! Im thinking a 4 cavity ingot mould with each cavity producing a 2lb ingot as a compramise for everyone and keep cost low. however larger ones can be made on a custom basis or if there is enough intrest for the larger size , and a ingot mould could be made so it would fit a USPS Small FR box if wanted.
All pricing will depend on quanity sold of one size, since were trying to keep in the $25 to $30 price range. as commercial 4 cavity, 1 lbs ingot moulds are about $20.00

[Sasquatch-1]

I talked to my friend and he said he would be willing to CNC machine aluminum ingot moulds for us !
but the members will have to come up with a few designs so we can decide on which ones we want , ! Im thinking a 4 cavity ingot mould with each cavity producing a 2lb ingot as a compramise for everyone and keep cost low. however larger ones can be made on a custom basis or if there is enough intrest for the larger size , and a ingot mould could be made so it would fit a USPS Small FR box if wanted.
All pricing will depend on quanity sold of one size, since were trying to keep in the $25 to $30 price range. as commercial 4 cavity, 1 lbs ingot moulds are about $20.00

The measurments of a SFRB are appx 8.5x6.25x1.75. I personnally would like to see long slim ingots,either 2 or 4 to a mold (ingots going length wise in mold) with a handle. Handle is preferred but not necessary. For those who want heavier ingots it would be easy to leave out a petition or two.

[mold maker]

Anything much over 6 lbs total (filled) weight would become unwieldy to handle with molten lead. Most of us ladle the lead to the mold, and much over 5 lbs requires lots of dippers full.
Without handles the use of vise-grips, or such, become a safety issue.
Most all the commercial ingot molds have been near the same size to address the above issues.
I am very fond of the molds Blammer sold. The size and ease of use were well thought out.
I have several sand cast, iron molds that are too rough inside to release the ingot without being smacked with a mallet. It takes a lot of hand work to fix that problem.
It might pay to rough cast the mold and final surface finish by machining.

[rollmyown]

Great news. I am on board with the size gear and others have talked about. Similar dimensions to the originals, but twice as long. Maybe there could be a run of the original size too. I'd be in both. Excellent news about these being machined as the ones supplied by Blammer were of excellent quality. The handle configuration is great as it was in the first run. They pretty much only need tipping over to release. If one ingot sticks a gentle tap with a 2" stick will get it to drop.

[midnight]

I stopped at the "Precision Casting " place near my house today and indeed they are an investment casting business. I learnd quite a bit. They said they could cast molds for us if we provided a CAD something or other. It's a three dimensional computer drawing of the mold. The bad news is that he said we could probably get them cheaper by CNC machining them. So I guess my investment casting idea wasn't so great after all. The hang up was the graphics. Just the plain mold could be made for $25 or $30 ea. That was on a volume of one or two hundred molds. So I will just drop it and watch to see what develops.

Bob

[bobthenailer]

After some brain teasing ! we came up with a block of aluminum that would fit just the inside demensions 5.375 x 8.625 x 1.625 of a USPS SFRB as a start , and we could ship anywhere in the CONUS for $5.80.
We think we can make a possibly make a 4 to 6 cavity 1lb ingot mould or a 4 or 5 cavity 1 1/2 to 2lb lb ingot and i have extra material left for good heat transfer so the ingots will set up faster .
We could also make a ingot mould that would cast 2 larger ingots with a thin parting line that would keep the 2 halves togeather and fit in a SFRB and later be broken apart by the buyer im thinking it will weigh about 20 lbs total ? and either ship 1 SFRB or put several SFRB in a MFRB for shipping so its sort of double wrapped.
IF members would like to make there own handles we could maxamize the size & number of cavitys.
all you need is a 6 to 8 inch 3/8 bolt and cut the hex head off and secure a wooden file handel to the cut off end and screw the thredded end into the provided thredded hole and tighten a jam nut .
We are checking on the price of the aluminum bar stock today.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Wouldn't it be better to have the ingots fit nicely in a SFRB as opposed to the ingot mold fitting in a SFRB ? that is what I suggested several comments up.

like ingot size = 6.20 x 1.70 x however deep to acheive a 2lb ingot. I'd think 2 ingot per mold for this larger size.
Jon

[Springfield]

I wouldn't worry so much about the mould fitting the SFRB, most of us will buy at least 2 anyway so you will need a MFRB. I'm with Jon B, a 2 lb ingot is great, ,hopefully 4/mould. A 2 lb ingot is smaller than you would think, lead is funny that way.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Springfield,
IMHO, an ingot mold with 4lbs of lead in it, would seem like the right amount of weight to handle (one handed) during smelting...and ingot mold with 8lbs of Lead in it would seem fatiguing.
my 2¢
Jon

[ffries61]

If these get made from Aluminium be careful not to get the bottom too thin, this is info Blammer sent me when I was thinking about doing them.

From Blammer:here is the issues we had on the last GB of these.

If you have a WIDE mould that allows for a large bottom area, the alum will "melt" and stretch the mould and ruin it, as the lead pushes down on the mould and the heat weakens it.

I would LOVE to see this GB ran in Steel or some other metal that is a little more durable than the alum.

In the other GB the second run, the mould was about 3" square and the same depth you see in the sample picture from the previous buy.

Wooden handles and half threaded drill rod is the cheap way to go. Scout around and you can find them easy enough. The trouble with them is that if the mould is not filled evenly and you have to pick it up. the round handle on the round rod with the added heat, just turns and tips the mould to the heavy side. Quite dangerous if the lead is molten or hot. perhaps a better solution is in order, if it's cost effective.

[Springfield]

I have at least 7 angle iron moulds that have 4 ingots of about 2 lbs each and I don't find them unwieldy. I wear heat resistant Ove gloves and just grab them and dump, no handles needed. I like to run 6-7 moulds so that I can have about 55 lbs cooling while I melt more lead. But the time it is melted the moulds are usually ready to dump. I usually do 500-800 lbs in a day and I don't find them too fatiguing. Larger moulds means fewer dumps. I also run a 2 lb ladle so one trip to the pot per ingot. Smelting/alloying is just work and I have found this to be most efficient, I can usually do 150 lbs/hr.

[bobthenailer]

Wouldn't it be better to have the ingots fit nicely in a SFRB as opposed to the ingot mold fitting in a SFRB ? that is what I suggested several comments up.

like ingot size = 6.20 x 1.70 x however deep to acheive a 2lb ingot. I'd think 2 ingot per mold for this larger size.
Jon

The large possible 20lb ingot mould for shipping lead in sfrb would be larger and the finished size of the ingot would be very close to the internal demsions of a SFRB.

[338RemUltraMag]

The large possible 20lb ingot mould for shipping lead in sfrb would be larger and the finished size of the ingot would be very close to the internal demsions of a SFRB.

But then if you sell the lead the next guy would need to break it up, a solid ingot would work but only if it had some heavy score lines on it.

[Springfield]

I'm pretty sure most of us don't want this mould just so we can re-sell SFRB lead. I would like it to be a usable ingot that I can use with my lead pots. If the length is right you should be able to get plenty in the SFRB and we are both happy.

[jameslovesjammie]

I'm pretty sure most of us don't want this mould just so we can re-sell SFRB lead. I would like it to be a usable ingot that I can use with my lead pots. If the length is right you should be able to get plenty in the SFRB and we are both happy.

I agree with Springfield. I will be in for 4 of these, maybe more. I've got about 3,000 pounds of range scrap and WW that I need to render before I move back to Montana this Summer.

The ~2 pound stackable ingots sound about the best to me. I am interested in bulk storage, not small flat rate box shipping.

[Blammer]

Ok, I suspect I've been coralled into getting another ingot mould GB going.

I'm working with a supplier who looks like he will be able to do designs such as Ms Boolit and others stuff.

Once I get some specifics ironed out I'll start a new discussion thread about what you guys would like to have in the bottom of your ingot moulds.

I was thinking along the lines of "GOLD" in big letters.

[Travtastik]

Cool deal I am in for sure.