Howdy all -
Still a newbie getting up to speed. I'm very happy to finally be keeping some of my boolits to load up instead of remelting everything after every casting session. It's been a difficult journey that started last spring LOL. No matter, I'm having a LOT of fun with all this boolit casting business. I started out casting with a Lee 2 cavity mould casting boolits for my 444 Marlin & 44 mag revolvers. The last week or so I have been casting boolits with a new Lee 6 cavity mould for my 35 Rem casting a 190 grain FP tumble lube boolit. This is a custom Lee mould from Ranch Dog and I like it very much. I now understand why people claim the Lee 6 cavity moulds are a much better mould (design) than Lee's 2 cavity mould.
I am having some trouble with it though, the sprues are sticking after being cut and not dropping off the sprue plate. This gets worse as the mould gets hotter. I am ladle casting with a Lyman ladle if that makes any difference. I am pouring with the ladle pour spout smack on the sprue hole, and then rocking the ladle off the sprue hole, overfilling the cavity and letting the excess lead run off the side of the mould.
The only thing I can think is maybe the chamfer for the sprue hole needs to be polished? Does anyone ever polish the sprue hole chamfer? The only time I don't have trouble with the sprue falling off is when first starting out for about the first 4 pour cycles, after that the sprue sticks and I have to pull it off by hand. I lapped the bottom of the sprue plate before starting to use this mould, so the bottom is flat. The sprues seem to be cutting well. I don't know what else to do other than live with it. That's OK I guess but it's a bit of a PIA and complicates getting a good casting rhythm going.
Ohh and by the way, are tumble lube boolits harder to cast well than conventional groove boolits? Sure seems that way...