Ladle cast

[Floydster]

Does anyone ladle cast with a six cavity mold?
if so, what are some pointers.
Thanks,
Smokeyloads

[NoAngel]

Ladle everything.
I've had a couple bottom pour pots. I despise the things.

[tazman]

You just need to keep your mold hot and preferably have a large enough ladle to handle all 6 cavities in one pour.

[NavyVet1959]

I have a 20 lb Lee bottom pour pot and it sometimes either leaks or clogs up. Just for curiosity, I decided that I wanted to try ladle casting, but I didn't like the traditional ladle that is pouring from the top of the lead pool where there might be some oxidation. What I did was to take a stainless steel 1-oz condiment ladle and drill a 1/16" hole in it (the same size as the Lee bottom pour pot). I wasn't exactly happy with the flow rate, so I went to the next drill size up (3/32") and I was quite a bit happier with the flow rate. I was using a 6-cavity 230 gr bullet mold and it filled up all 6 cavities and still had plenty left in the ladle so that I wasn't getting any of the possible flux or oxidation that was on the surface. It only cost me about $1 for the condiment ladle at the restaurant supply store. I *think* that once I factor in the time that I sometimes end up having to spend on the leaky bottom pour pot or when it clogs up, the ladle might be slightly faster.

[bangerjim]

Preheat the 6banger to casting temp before even starting.

Get a larger ladle. I have one of those cast iron bottom/side pour RCBS ones that holds enough to do ~6 holes of 9mm and smaller 38's. Larger cavities take more lead and it runs out very fast!

I have a few molds (2 cav) that I use the ladle on, but do all the many others with a Lee4-20 bottom pour. I have never had any drips for either of them. Excellent way to fill 6bangers effieicnetly and accurately.

banger

[nrdewalt]

Could see why that would be easier than dealing with the clogs but I would burn the mess out of myself.

[NavyVet1959]

Could see why that would be easier than dealing with the clogs but I would burn the mess out of myself.

Well, I wear the gauntlet type welding gloves and a leather apron, but I haven't had a problem with lead spilling yet. Of course, my design ends up with a ladle that is pouring lead as soon as you elevate it above the casting pot, but I do not find it to be an excessive flow rate and I keep it over the casting pot and move the mold underneath it. It only costs about $1 to give it a try, so if you don't like it, you haven't wasted much money.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Way back in the day when 4,6, 8, and 10 holers were called "gang molds", common practice was to use a soup ladle type dipper with a kind of pouring groove on one side and you had to pour from it onto the top of the sprue plate. Usual practice was to pour going uphill. It worked, but it took quite a bit of practice to get it right....and of course there was a lot of splashing and the sprues were huge and grotesque until you got the hang of it. But the bullets were good. You can check this out in the cast pics repro of the article from the NRA Handloading Book showing the process. You wore gloves. LLS

[MT Gianni]

Get a Rowell ladle.

[btroj]

Get a Rowell ladle.

Exactly. I use a 20 pound RCBS pot and a #2 Rowell ladle. A 6 cav mould is no problem with that ladle.

Make sure you pour lead into each cavity for a second or so after it is filled to ensure good base fillout. Just pouring onto the plate and letting lead flow into a cavity doesn't give good bases even with a hot mould.
I hold the mould over the pot at a slight angle. Pour the lowest cavity first then move up. Excess lead flows off the mould into the pot. I put sprue back into the pot every few casts to keep the lead level up. I also add an ingot when needed to keep the pot nearly full.

[NavyVet1959]

Get a Rowell ladle.

I had considered it, but wanted to determine if I liked ladle casting first and the stainless steel condiment ladle was a cheap experiment. Now, after examining it a bit, I have to think that this might actually work better for me than the Rowell ladle would due to the angle of the handle. Dipping from the bottom of a tall narrow casting pot with the condiment ladle is not a big deal, but I don't think you would get a full ladle with the Rowell design in such a situation. I'm thinking that with the Rowell ladle, you would need to keep the casting pot pretty full all the time. Using the modified condiment ladle, I can easily let the level of lead to get down to an inch or two before adding lead to the pot if I really wanted to. From a practical matter though, I don't let it get lower than half empty, but I'm thinking from looking at the Rowell ladle design that in such a situation, the Rowell ladle would not get a full ladle of lead when you dipped it in the casting pot when it was that low. I'm thinking that the Rowell ladle design would be better for larger mouth casting pots than what I'm using (or for people who keep the pots nearly all the way full throughout the casting session).

One thing that I have noticed with this method is that the mold heats up quicker since you can pour a large sprue initially and put more heat into the mold if so desired. Any excess liquid lead just runs back into the casting pot. If you use this technique with the bottom pour pot, you end up with lead you have to clean up underneath the pot.

[Floydster]

Thanks guys for the input, I have a Rowell #2 ladle, am going to step up to a 6 cavity Lee 120 gr. TC mold, my 2 cavity in this bullet has cast a lot of bullets that I use in my 9mm's and 38 Spl. Loads.
thanks again, Smokeyloads

[montana_charlie]

Dipping from the bottom of a tall narrow casting pot with the condiment ladle is not a big deal, but I don't think you would get a full ladle with the Rowell design in such a situation.

The handles on smaller Rowell ladels consist of a simple threaded rod with a lock nut.

It would be very easy to make one yourself, and bend it to any configuration that suits your pot.

CM

[NavyVet1959]

The handles on smaller Rowell ladels consist of a simple threaded rod with a lock nut.

It would be very easy to make one yourself, and bend it to any configuration that suits your pot.

Perhaps, but then you are having to rotate a ladle that has a crook in the handle and it is not as straightforward as rotating one with a straight handle (pun not intended). Letting the lead flow out of a hole drilled in the bottom of the ladle with a handle that goes close to straight up just seems to work better for a casting pot that has a relatively smaller mouth and deeper sides in my opinion. To say the least, I was rather surprised that it turned out working so well.