Let's Talk About Duel Wielding

[farmerjim]

I up my production by 30% with 2 6 cavity molds used together. It does take practice and coordination. One constant flow of motion where you are never not doing something.

[Conditor22]

I've done up to 5 molds at once, normally it's just 2 or 3.
2 cavity molds for large boolits (45/70, 430x310, etc.) take a long time to cool.

using a hotplate to get all the molds up to casting temperature is important

[WebMonkey]

i'll fill a mold 4 or 5 times then set it on top of the pot.
grab the 'other' mold off the top of the pot and fill/drop 4 or 5 times.

repeat.

that's only when i feel like producing for more than one cartridge at any one time since i don't have two molds for the same cartridge.

i've NO problems with anyone else's methods.

i'm so small time i've never been pressed for production time.

[reddog81]

To me, from a production standpoint, it seems less efficient than using mold 1 until you have all the bullets you want, then going to mold 2, which you've had warming on top of the pot.

This is what I do. I've tried 2 molds, but switching between them just creates inefficiencies. If I have to wait 2 or 3 seconds for a sprue plate to cool it still saves times versus juggling molds. It's also much easier to get into a rhythm with one mold versus multiple.

[CoolHandMoss]

I didn't read all the posts so this has probably been said, but to the OP I just wanted to point out that if you are double molding it to manage heat, you can keep the molds cooler by dropping the boolets from mold 1, then casting and dropping mold 2, then back to mold one. Leaving the boolits in keeps transferring more heat into the mold.

[gwpercle]

Here is my way ...
Everything is hot and moulds are pre- heated . Filling a mould includes leaving a generous sprue .

Fill mould #1 , set it down to cool.

While #1 cools , fill mould #2 , set it down to cool .

Pick up mould #1 , open sprue plate , dump boolits and refill mould , set down to cool

Pick up mould #2 , open sprue plate , dump boolits and refill mould , set down to cool

Keep repeating ... what I'm doing is letting the first mould cool and harden while filling the second mould . This works well with iron/steel or any moulds that tend to hold their heat a long time ,
Moulds that have small aluminum blocks and cool fast might not need to be cast like this .
But by using the two mould casting method you can keep a fast pace and not smear uncooled lead on the underside of the sprue plate ...
Gary

[AlHunt]

Here is my way ...
Everything is hot and moulds are pre- heated . Filling a mould includes leaving a generous sprue .

Fill mould #1 , set it down to cool.

While #1 cools , fill mould #2 , set it down to cool .

Pick up mould #1 , open sprue plate , dump boolits and refill mould , set down to cool

Pick up mould #2 , open sprue plate , dump boolits and refill mould , set down to cool

Keep repeating ... what I'm doing is letting the first mould cool and harden while filling the second mould . This works well with iron/steel or any moulds that tend to hold their heat a long time ,
Moulds that have small aluminum blocks and cool fast might not need to be cast like this .
But by using the two mould casting method you can keep a fast pace and not smear uncooled lead on the underside of the sprue plate ...
Gary

Part of what I found was that the sprues were getting too hard in the time it took to get back to it, if I employed your method. I can see where iron or brass molds might have made a difference.

In the end, 5 or 6 hundred leisurely bullets an hour is plenty for me. Ive seen a video or two of people wrangling multiple molds and it's just more frantic than I care to cast.

[country gent]

When you get into the big bullet there is a bigger time lag between solidify and solid thru. While the sprue may be solid the bullet is still hot and soft enough to be damaged hitting other bullets I also think the added "soak" time keeps the mould at a more even temp thru it. Its amazing what small changes can do when casting. A vented sprue plate can make a big difference in fill and consistency. Same with slightly modified vent lines or adding one to the top of the blocks with a fine stone. A small change in temp, fluxing. fill speed, cadence.

I opened up the spout holes on my rcbs and lyman ladles from .187 to .205 with a chamfer added to the inside. made a big difference. My rowel ladle #1 appears to have a spout opening of 1/4" ( hard to tell as its triangular shaped) Ive also modified a rcbs ladle to 2 spouts on the same center line as my moulds, fills both cavities at the same time. Havent gave it a good try out yet.

Experiment with different things and see what works for you with you equipment and set up, what works for me may not work for you.

[robg]

i cast with 2 cavity molds, 2 or 3 at a time .fill mold 1 put aside ,fill mold 2 put aside, fill mold 3.cut sprue om 1st mold drop boolits refill mold put aside cut sprue on 2nd mold drop bollits repeat.i run pot hot so by the time 2nd or 3rd is put down the 1st is cooled enough .lets you cast fast without having to wait for lead to cool so you can cut sprue.

[rbuck351]

I cast with only one mold at a time and cut the sprue with a gloved hand. I have a small fan that I direct close but not on the pot. When the boolits start to frost I open the mold in front of the fan. If the mold still gets too hot I redirect the fan to blow at the drop spout so the mold has a longer time in front of the fan. By opening the sprue plate by hand it is easy to tell when it is too hot or too cold and readjust the fan. This way there is no setting anything down and picking up something else and I can keep running a mold as long as I want. It speeds up the sprue hardening as well. YMMV

[Mike W1]

Lots of ways to do. My way works for ME. Only cast for handguns anymore but sometimes with 2 moulds, sometimes just one. Depends on what I need. No need to count cadence. Fill the mould and it's placed on the shelf which has the cooling fan above. With 2 in play fill the second, pick up the first and do the usual with it and refill. ETC. If going with 1 mould I'll let it sit there a couple seconds or so on the shelf and then the usual again.

Why I think it works without a bunch of extra hooraws. My everything's are PID controlled so they're repeatable. The hotplate is set to have the mould at casting temperature that I long since measured. First bullet is gonna be good. Weights have been checked numerous times before. If it looks good after the sprue is cut it's gonna be a good bullet! Have poured enough of them over the years to know if it doesn't look good it was because I screwed up the flowl I pour into the cavity without touching the sprue plate. The little fan keeps that plate from being overly hot so when I cut the sprue the base is flat. When using 2 moulds there is no wait time between doing something but with 1 mould a bit of a lag that extra few seconds ensure flat bases. If per chance the "feel" of cutting the sprue seems a little lighter I can "adjust" that in subsequent cycles. Generally not been a problem there at all. I EXPECT good bullets with each cycle and feel confident observing the cut bases still in the mould takes care of my inspection of them.

Everything in my equipment has been geared towards being as efficient as I can be. I might add that I only own DC moulds and how I do things may or may or may not work for larger moulds. Feel I get about as much production out of DC as one could hope for. I can't think of a single thing that I do that was originally thought of by myself. Ideas came either out of books or from forums like this one.

[plainsman456]

I set both molds on top of the melting pot.

When things are ready i fill one mold,set it down on my metal bench then fill the other mold,set it down,open the first mold and refill then the same goes on and on and on.

It makes 11 lbs of melt go fast and you wind up with a pile of boolits.

When the pot needs filling i set ingots on top of the pot while still casting a few more times,then put them in the pot and the molds go back on top of the pot.

Once you get the hang of it it is easy.

I usually do 9mm and 38/357 at the same time.121 and 158 grain.

If you are doing heavier it still works the same.

[Jim22]

A bit off topic but maybe not worth a separate thread: Something I have started doing once the mould is up to temp and the sprues are taking a while is to fill the mould, then while the sprue is wet, drop the mould down onto a hard surface like you're trying to get the bubbles out. I think it fills the mould more completely and the impact helps harden the sprue. I also keep a piece of steel plate below the furnace to rest the cooling mould on - especially with aluminum moulds. Seems it cools the mould a little. I don't need to wait so long for the sprue to freeze.