3 Important points for >>> New Casters <<<

[OS OK]

If you use a bottom pour pot and multiple cavity moulds...set up the pot so that you can see the melt coming out of the spigot and into the sprue plate...hit the hole centered, don't ricochet off the sprue plate.

If you fill the farthest cavity first then raise the back of the mould so that the excess overflow flows away from the next empty cavity to be filled.

If you start with the cavity nearest you reverse the procedure...lower the back end of the mould so that the overflow flows towards the rear and away from the next empty cavity towards the front.

Be generous with your puddles, as you get your timing right you can leave less sprue so that it doesn't overflow the plate sideways...it just takes time doing it many many times and it will all gel.



As your pot empties you may need to adjust your spigot more open as the pot pressure is dropping as it empties.

[Grmps]

#1) MOLTEN LEAD CAN BLIND YOU! ALWAYS wear eye protection when smelting or casting. Protective clothing is highly recommended unless you enjoy possible searing pain and scaring.

#2) NEVER put any ingot you didn’t smelt and know its life history in a pot of molten lead. Better safe than sorry.

#3) Confirm/double/triple check EVERYTHING you read on this forum. Post count and start date does not mean experience in every topic! It means they have been on the forum a long time and/or like to post. Some of us on this forum are getting older and our memory isn’t what it used to be. Because you see something is in writing does not mean it’s true.

[williamwaco]

1) Casting is as much art as science.

2) You don't need a $300 pot and a PID.

3) Cast. Learn the art.

1) Read all the above replys twice. They are all very good advice.

2) Then reread the post I quoted above.
This guy really knows what he is talking about.

3) Stay away from YouTube until you have absorbed all you can here. There are some very good videos there. There are some that are very bad and potentially disastrous. Until you have a good idea of what you are doing and how to do it safely. Don't go there.

4) (can't do it in 3) lasc.us go there immediately and read every word of it.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'll go at this, at a bit of a different angle.

After the beginner has read a good manual, like the Lyman cast bullet handbook #4
Here are 3 things I consider important for a beginner, that I learned from others and my own experience.

1. Preheating a mold, with preferably a hotplate, made casting much more of a Joy and less of a challenge.

2. Using alloy in the bottom pour furnace, that was previously fluxed and cleaned by some other means, will prevent most of the problems of clogged or partially clogged pour spout.

3. Develop a casting technique where you can maintain a precisely timed cadence. As you can't get uniform boolits with varied cadence timing.

[William Yanda]

Just one. Read! A wise man learns from the experience of others.