Sprue Channel

[Morgan Astorbilt]

It's been my custom to mill a channel between the sprue holes in my gang molds the way Cramer(or was it Hensley& Gibbs) does. All my molds are iron, made by Lyman, Saeco, RCBS, NEI. The only Lee molds I own, are those I purchased as a base for machining my own bullet design. Today, a fellow shooter asked me to do the same on his Lee 6 cavity molds. Is there anything that would make this unwise? I ask this because of the unique camming action hand opening feature they have. Can the sprue plate be removed so that I can mount it in the vise on my Bridgeport? Is it thick enough to mill a channel either with a ball end mill or a straight 3/8" mill? Any info regarding this will be appreciated.
Morgan

[IcerUSA]

I think you would be safe as long as you don't go past the end holes in the sprue plate , won't be able to go too deep tho as the sprue isn't that thick .

YMMV

Keith

[montana_charlie]

Oh!
I read the thread title, and thought cable was now offering programming for bullet casters.

[quasi]

I have troughed a LEE 6, worked fine other than the Lee sprueplate is very sticky stuff. Maybe a ball endmill for aluminum would work better. I have troughed Lyman and RCBS molds as well, works great but cuts the Ebay resale value by half , at least to my sales.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Thanks, I just use a standard 4 flute 1/2" solid carbide ball end mill, and go down about 2/3 the depth of the sprue plate thickness. I don't think he's interested in selling the mold on eBay. Besides, replacement sprue plates are available.

Morgan

[leftiye]

Anybody figgered out how to build a dam around the outside of the sprue plate yet? Could make yer own sprue plate out of overly thick plate and mill it out except the outside edges. I cast with a hot mold and hate it when the lead just runs off the edge of the sprue plate.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

leftiye, If you mill a channel as I do, you seldom have the lead run out of it and over the edge. I cast with a hot mold, using either my Lyman Mould Master, or Mould Master XX, running at 700ºF., by my RCBS thermometer. At this temp., when my 4 cavity iron mold is hot enough, I don't have to pause at each opening, the lead runs from one to the other, I just run along the channel, and the cavities are well filled out.

As it is, with the large one piece sprue, about one third of the lead(180gr. bullet), winds up as sprue, giving less bullets per pot fill than a non channeled mold. If the sprue plate was milled as you propose, that many less bullets would be cast.
Morgan

[trk]

Anybody figgered out how to build a dam around the outside of the sprue plate yet? Could make yer own sprue plate out of overly thick plate and mill it out except the outside edges. I cast with a hot mold and hate it when the lead just runs off the edge of the sprue plate.

Cool idea!

Extra thick and fire up the mill.

[garandsrus]

Morgan,

One trick I picked up from Bullshop was to drop the hot sprue right back into the pot. I have been doing this for quite a while and it works great. I "catch" the hot sprue in a gloved hand and drop it back in. That way you get 20 lbs of booits out of 20 lbs of lead...

John

[sundog]

Morgan, about removing the sprue plate. Yes. Been doing it 'forever'.

[leftiye]

trk,
Yep, that is probly the only answer. And I've got a mold that's driving me nutso dumping the sprue puddle cause I'm casting muy hot with it. Might have to do that, maybe mill a channel between the holes too.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Thanks, Sundog. I saw spare sprue plates for sale in the Midway catalog, and they looked like there was nothing about the shape to give a mounting problem in my Bridgeport.
Morgan

[bohokii]

sorry bout raising the dead

ive been casting 9mm now just tried 45 and its hard filling both cavitys at once

so i just cut a channel with a dremmel and a stone drum

and thought i'd check if anybody else does it

and wow like one year ago here is is

here is an example in the sprue goo


i'm sick of the lead running off the end i wonder if i could get someone to mig a little bead all around the top plate(without warping it ) anybody ever do that to contain the hot goo

[Buckshot]

.............Absolutely nothing to apologize about posting to an old thread. Sometimes what's old is still fresh and new for others.

The sprueplate on the 2 cavs is pretty thin.

..................Buckshot

[EDK]

Steve Brooks, the mould maker from Walkerville Montana, has been experimenting with sprue plates in his custom moulds. The latest idea has been to cut a trough in the sprue plate all the way to the edge so the overflow goes right back into the pot. Another guy welded a pipe ring around the sprue hole on single cavity moulds to make a bigger sprue. These were for Black Powder Cartridge Rifle competition...40 or 45 caliber and 400 grains and up boolits.

Cutting the channel between holes on a four or six cavity mould, like my elderly Hensley & Gibbs 6 cavity, will also give you more lead on top to be pulled into the cavities as they cool. I did a crude job with a die grinder and the little burrs at work...the TREE milling machine hates me and tries to eat every project I get near it with.

Thanks for the bullshop idea about dropping the hot sprues back in the melt. How come such a good idea...and so d--- obvious!...goes over your head for years! Letting the sprues accumulate to be melted later is wasting a lot of BTUs too.

[bohokii]

. Another guy welded a pipe ring around the sprue hole on single cavity moulds to make a bigger sprue.

Thanks for the bullshop idea about dropping the hot sprues back in the melt. How come such a good idea...and so d--- obvious!...goes over your head for years! Letting the sprues accumulate to be melted later is wasting a lot of BTUs too.

i wouldnt want to weld a straight wall anything when it comes to sprue since the lead would stick like dogfood in a can

the mig would leave a kind of little angle rib

i just started casting a month agot an ive been knocking the sprue back in the pan

i only saved that one cause i liked its looks

i'm a cheapskate
my casting rig consists of a coleman 425 e from a garage sale for $5 a 6 inch cast iron pan for $2 at a thrift store a table spoon from same thrift store 50 cents

a bag of candles left in the sun (free)

and a couple lee molds from natchez

and free lead from a confidetial source

i would like a bigger pot but when the pan is full of lead its really heavy and i dont want to mend the coleman grill when it gets red hot

i'm pretty slow when casting i guess but just as the fuel is running out the lead isnt deep enough to spoon any more lead so it all works out

end up with around 400 45 bools or 600 9mm s

[Red River Rick]

...the TREE milling machine hates me and tries to eat every project I get near it with.

EDK:

That's been an on going problem for many years now. Seems like almost all newcomers, begginers and apprentices are affected by this phenomenon. For the most part, even some journeyman have had this "Curse" bestowed upon them as well.



RRR

[theperfessor]

Just from general experience - I've had my share of milling machine projects crash and burn - I have never had much success with 4-flute ball nose endmills in aluminum, especially when making moderately shallow cuts. Seems like the chips clog up the nose too easily. Switched to 2-flute endmills and a good lube and haven't had any problems. You can't treat aluminum like steel. Lee 6-cavity molds have aluminum sprue plates.

This will help the love/hate relationship with your milling machine.....

[hiram]

Someone (can't remember) had a machinist make steel sprue plates to replace lyman's. The tang was longer, the plate was thicker. They were for sale here for $15.

What about, if someone remembers this person, have another run of sprue plates, slightly thicker plate, (the current plate is 1/4") and have a square area milled out around the sprue holes to create a puddle of alloy. This puddle would keep heat at the top of the mold and allow for good alloy shrinkage. Just an idea.

[leftiye]

You could probly just make a shallow (1/32") plunge cut around (centered on) your sprue holes in those 1/4" thick sprue plates with a large (say 5/8" or more) endmill. With any control at all in terms of not overpouring (not being nasty) this would keep your sprues where you want them. On a 4 or 6 holer just locate the first hole and plunge in, then traverse to the last hole and retract the mill.