Lead will not flow into mold cavities

[Possum Lickaa]

Forgive me if this question been asked a thousand times. I have searched the forums, and the Internet without success.

Here is the issue:
I am using a new Lee 200 gr SWC mold, and I can't get my lead to flow into the cavities. I am sure that my lead and temperature are not the cause, because I can cast great bullets,with a Lee 150 gr LRN mold with the same alloy in the same pour, but when I pick up the new 200 gr mold, the lead just seems to sit on top of the sprue plate. Some of the boolits turn out ok, but most do not.,The mold is hot, hot enough to cast frosty boolits. I have noticed that the hole in the spruce plate of the new Lee mold is not quite as big as the one on the old .38 cal,150 gr mold that gives me such nice boolits. Any suggestions?

[243winxb]

Pressure cast. Bottom pour pot spout in contact with the mold.

[Possum Lickaa]

I am ladle pouring

[Boolit_Head]

Does it have vent lines on the face of the mold? Maybe you are blocking the path for the air to escape?

[Possum Lickaa]

Yep, sure does.

[Possum Lickaa]

Maybe I'll try cleaning them again and see what happens. Really a bummer. I was planning on knocking out some .45s tonight.

[roberts1]

I am guessing the air cannot get out of the mold. Some go as far as to file a small bevel on the top of the mold edges to allow air to escape (harmless if you are going to size them anyway). One thought is to loosen the sprue pate screw a tad and give it another go. Much easier to undo than beveling the mold blocks. Also maybe try altering your pouring technique. I get partial fills even with a bottom pour furnace if im not paying attention to what im doing.

[Possum Lickaa]

I'll look into loosening the sprue plate. It seems very well adjusted, but what the heck. Easy to tighten it back down if it doesn't work.

[Possum Lickaa]

Not sure what to change about my pouring technique. Self taught, and this is the first time I've had any trouble.

[scottfire1957]

Any Sn in your alloy?

[44man]

How do you ladle pour? Do put the spout in the plate and turn up or do you just pour from a height?
I would file the bevel, it is just a swipe with a fine file and will not show on the base. More of a burr removal swipe.
Good idea about tin too. Aids flow. I know you have a hot mold but is the sprue plate hot enough?

[Possum Lickaa]

Mold and plate are hot. I pour from a height. I will look into filing the plate. Also going to check out the vent lines and see if some anti-sieze has gotten in there.

These are all good suggestions. I have been spying on this site for a while, and am glad to be a member now.

[matrixcs]

You could swap the sprue plate with your other (working) mold to see if that is the issue.

[Possum Lickaa]

Any Sn in your alloy?

Yes. I am using WW, which have a little Tin and antimony in them already (I think). I also add a little tin just for good measure.

I can pour this same hot alloy into a different mold, and it is perfect, so it seems to me like a mold issue. But I am brand new to casting, so I don't put a whole lot of faith into what I think right now.

[Possum Lickaa]

You could swap the sprue plate with your other (working) mold to see if that is the issue.

Good Idea, but I don't have another mold to mess with. I only have an older, single cavity, 150 grain .38 mold (Lee), and this new 2-Cavity, 200 gr .45 mold (also Lee).

[Spector]

I opened up the sprue plate holes in my old 2 cavity Lee 200 grain SWC mold. In fact I did that to most of my old Lee molds. It worked, but since so many other casters get good boolits and do not do that I'm pretty sure it simply compensated for other issues I had in my casting technique. Still it is an option..........Mike

[Leatherhead Bullets]

Have you tried pouring off center of the hole? I have a couple that need to run into the mold rather than direct poor. This will assist in letting additional air out. I find this necessary with some of my long 30 cal and big 45's.

Just a thought.

[Possum Lickaa]

Have you tried pouring off center of the hole? I have a couple that need to run into the mold rather than direct poor. This will assist in letting additional air out. I find this necessary with some of my long 30 cal and big 45's.

Just a thought.

I have tried that already. That's what my .38 mold likes. This almost looks like a surface tension issue when you watch it happen. Except, like I said, the other mold has no issues.

After all this good advice, I am starting to think it could be a venting issue. I did have to wipe some anti-seize off of the faces of the blocks last evening. There was quite a bit of it on my blocks after they heated up. I probably used too much. Going to check it out tonight and see what i get.

[reddog81]

You could use the appropriate sized drill bit or counter sink to increase the hole if its too small. I've never tried this but I have heard of it being done. Make sure to clean up any burrs on the bottom of the sprue plate if you go this route. I would think this would be a better option than taking a file to the mold.

[robg]

Try pouring without sprue plate off the mold ,if it still won't fill its a vent problem ,if it fills then its the plate.