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Thread: Would anyone mind critiquing my casts?

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Would anyone mind critiquing my casts?

    Sorry for the less than stellar pics, but I think you can see the two groups I sorted out. None of the casts are great, but the better ones aren't too bad, I think. The bad ones have wrinkles. From my searching I don't think I want to go higher temps so I'm not sure what my next step is.

    I have been away from casting for several months. I am using a 2 cavity lee mold TL358-158-SWC. In the past I've used 6 cavity molds for my 45, and 40 and it seemed a little more user friendly.

    I am having fill out problems, but it seemed to get better when I used a higher heat. My thermometer is staying between 700 and 800. Very few of the casts are falling freely from the mold. I have to give the casts a good push with a screwdriver on the base to release the casts.

    I'm wondering if I should add a little bit of tin to help with the fill out, or let my mold get hotter. I'm not sure of why I'm getting a shiny finish.

    My pot is the lee 4-20, and the lead is range lead.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Cold mould. Get it hot, keep it hot.
    A Lee 2 cav for that bullet needs to be run pretty quick to keep the mould temp up. Pour, let sprue harden, cut sprue, dump. No stopping to look at bullets. Just go, go, go
    You will learn far more at the casting, loading, and shooting bench than you ever will at a computer bench.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master MarkP's Avatar
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    Clean your mold cavities using an old tooth brush with hot water and dish soap. Dry your blocks using heat and once dried thoroughly, smoke the cavities with a butane lighter. Carefully re-lube the locate pins.

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
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    Thank you

  5. #5
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    Alloy looks contaminated and the mould looks like it's either damaged around the cavity edges or has a lot of trash stuck to the block faces and isn't closing properly. Plus what Btroj said.

    Gear

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
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    I'm learning here. What do you see that makes it contaminated?

  7. #7
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    I see lots of pits, inclusions, and the edges of the wrinkles look ragged. Just a cold mould with good alloy will show clean wrinkles and rounded edges, but yours looks like either it has a lot of oxide material mixed in, ash, or is contaminated with aluminum from wheel weight coatings. I assume bottom-pour pot here, I'd drain the pot, clean it with an SOS pad, and remelt your alloy in "smelting" pot and flux the tar out of it with pine sawdust and some bits of wax, then pour clean ingots and start over. You might be able to save what you have in the pot by taking a lot of time to scrape the bottom and sides repeatedly with a long tea spoon and flux a couple times with sawdust. If that is a six-cavity mould, you might consider getting a cheap electric hot plate and making a mould oven out of an old saw blade and metal can with a "door" cut in the side of it with snips. Preheating the mould will shave a lot of time/aggravation off of getting a six-banger going.

    Gear

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy
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    Thank you again. I can do that. Dumb question. When using the sos pad use water?

  9. #9
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    Yes, I'd recommend using water, reason is so you don't get the fine lead oxide dust from the inside of the pot airborne, breathing that fine dust is about the best way there is to get lead in your bloodstream. I'd also recommend doing that outside if weather permits, or in the bathtub.

    Gear

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
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    Thank you for the advice. Pot is empty and cooling. I'll scrub out after work tomorrow night.

  11. #11
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    check your other thread in the test section.

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Wow, did you come to the right place to ask that question
    I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled

    Fiat Justitia, Ruat Caelum

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy
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    I cleaned my pot 3 ways from sunday. I also tried cleaning up my mold, but it didn't make a difference in the casts. Pic attached. I think I have a problem with the mold. I'm going to send the mold back to Lee.Click image for larger version. 

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  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master
    white eagle's Avatar
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    did you try adding a touch of tin?
    looks like you may have a bit of fining going on
    check the mold and see how she closes
    check your handles make sure they are not loose
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  15. #15
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    ****. Forgot the tin, I'll try that as well. The mold looks good to me, but I am getting fins. I used the same alloy, and got these casts from my 2 cavity 44 mold. Fill out could be better, but no fins.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_0497.jpg  

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
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    the 3rd boolit from the left looks like your mold halves are not lining up. Is there a spot of lead on the mold face not allowing it to close all the way? Are the alignment pins loose?

  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Kind of looks like the mould halves are not mating correctly, as "roberts1" point out. Also, mould looks too cool. I usually dunk the corner of the mould in the hot lead for about a min, after warming it up on a hot plate.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master


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    The last picture you posted, middle bullet looks like some trash (inclusions) in the alloy. Also too cold on alloy and/or mold. What temp are you casting at? I typically run mine at about 725, but the mold needs to be hot and any trace of oil out of it. I typically heat it at least 350 before I start casting.

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by chutestrate View Post
    ****. Forgot the tin, I'll try that as well. The mold looks good to me, but I am getting fins. I used the same alloy, and got these casts from my 2 cavity 44 mold. Fill out could be better, but no fins.
    What alloy are you using? Assuming COWWs then it is antimony rich so add 2% tin and flux well. If range scrap then it could be even more antimony rich so add the 2% tin and see how it casts. You might want to add 1 - 2 lbs of lead to the RL to dilute the antimony before adding the tin.

    I use that same TL 38 mould along with 3 41 TL moulds and a 44 TL mould. They all cast excellent bullets with alloys I've mentioned.

    Larry Gibson
    Last edited by Larry Gibson; 03-08-2015 at 10:49 AM.

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master







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    Lots of words of wisdom, most all of which I agree with. Emphasis on hot mold and consistency in timing.
    1Shirt!
    "Common Sense Is An Uncommon Virtue" Ben Franklin

    "Ve got too soon old and too late smart" Pa.Dutch Saying

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check