Road to 1000 boolit batch

[shootinfox2]

I used two lee pots with some modification. I built a mold rest from scrap lumber that holds the mold in alignment with the spout. Slide the mold in, open the spout and pull tye mold out slowly, filling the cavities. Set it aside, fill the second mold while the sprue on the first cools. Repeat. Timing is eveything.

[guy_with_boolits]

I used two lee pots with some modification. I built a mold rest from scrap lumber that holds the mold in alignment with the spout. Slide the mold in, open the spout and pull tye mold out slowly, filling the cavities. Set it aside, fill the second mold while the sprue on the first cools. Repeat. Timing is eveything.

oooh sweet

what angles (side to side and up and down) and distance did you find optimum for your fixture?

[guy_with_boolits]

hot plate is here! Its quite a nice little deal for $18

anyways heres the conditions of my mold after casting only 75 or so hollow points

this is not going to cut it...

Job 1: clean the molds of all lead, burnt junk, etc..

Job 2: do not let them get this way again

I noticed on setting "1" with nothing on the plate, the IR thermometer said 377F...

I set it to "4" and put the mold blocks and sprue plate on top of a piece of alum foil on it...

Hopefully this gets them hot enough to where I can easily remove the lead while they are on the plate still..making for a tidy, easy cleaning process

[AlHunt]

hot plate is here! Its quite a nice little deal for $18

anyways heres the conditions of my mold after casting only 75 or so hollow points

this is not going to cut it...

Job 1: clean the molds of all lead, burnt junk, etc..

Job 2: do not let them get this way again

I noticed on setting "1" with nothing on the plate, the IR thermometer said 377F...

I set it to "4" and put the mold blocks and sprue plate on top of a piece of alum foil on it...

Hopefully this gets them hot enough to where I can easily remove the lead while they are on the plate still..making for a tidy, easy cleaning process

Are you whacking the sprue too early? That seems like a lot of smear to me.

[guy_with_boolits]

Are you whacking the sprue too early? That seems like a lot of smear to me.

I got the mold hot enough to where the sprue would take 3-4 seconds to solidify, then I would wack it..is that too short?

So right now I am trying to clean the mating faces of the mold. There are microscopic amounts of lead in the trochoidal vent lines but it seems I can push them out with a popsicle stick.

I wish there was a faster method but it seems I am almost done.

for the faces of the mold that dont do anything (outside faces not including sprue face) I'm going to get as much lead off as possible using the stick, then maybe steel wool or scotch brite pad clean them up

For the sprue plate Im going to do similar but be very gentle on the mold side of it

Not sure yet about the pin holes..going to give them a close look to see what needs to be undone

[AlHunt]

I got the mold hot enough to where the sprue would take 3-4 seconds to solidify, then I would wack it..is that too short?

Hard telling. Your alloy temp will effect it, too. For me, a 3 count is where I whack it. But that's me, at my mold and alloy temp. I have a very similar mold to what you're showing. I just went and looked at it from the last time I cast and there's nothing on the mold top or bottom of the sprue plate.

I do know that when I get to anxious, I get smearing. Looks like they're all doing it for you to some extent so I don't think it's any kind of rough spot.

Maybe give it a 5 count or lower your alloy temp slightly? I'm kind of guessing here ...

[country gent]

The big thing when "Production" casting is to examine your set up. everything where it needs to be when its needed. With repeated casting comes muscle memory this promotes speed. You find yourself running by memory not thinking about it.When everything is located right and the "memory" is there you can reach for things with out looking and find them. Get in a comfortable position a couple inches up down or side to side can make a big difference in your stamina. Set up is a big part of production, why a new line in a factory has many working on it just deciding the ergonomics process and order, then the lay out.

When your casting cast when your sorting sort dont do the 2 together. Or add in extra steps.

Knowing your mould ( pre heat temp, cool time ect) makes things easier. I normally pre heat the moulds then the first 10-15 drops get thrown back in the pot just for general principle. After that Im off and running casting bullets. when done and everything is cooled down and put away, I sort visually for defects. For me casting with 2 2 cavity moulds a 1000 bullets is about a 4-5 hour run. but I ladle cast and use a bigger pot (120 Lbs). The bullets I cast may be 13 to the pound so a 10 lb pot dosnt go very far.

Examine your set-up elimanate excess extra movement and do everything the same everytime.

[guy_with_boolits]

So while cleaning the molds right now I noticed something:

-the "touch the spot with lead" method doesnt seem to work anymore..the lead just melts to the block...makes me wonder how cold my molds were when that DID work (during casting)
-a popsicle stick and toothpicks seem to be safe tools to scrape/push lead off relatively quickly..it made quick work of cleaning up the sprue plate..the vent lines were slower but seemed to work..the blocks are cooling off right now, then I will give them a good scrub to get all the charcoal out

I was tempted to try solder wick..in theory that would work great and you could just wash off the flux residue...opinions?

Next question: I'd like to lube the mold, both the actual pin/sprue plate lube, and also smoking the cavities. I have the small bottle of lube that came with the mold, but I dont have a good sooty flame source I am aware of. Any ideas?

Also what is the actual proper procedure for lubing the mold? I have seen a million things. Now that I have a hot plate, I can get the mold up to a specific temperature then drop the lube in the right places. And how do I know when I need to re-lube it during molding?

AlHunt: thats great info, I think maybe my sprue pivot got loose at some point. From now on I'm going to shoot for no residue under the sprue plate as one measure of how my process is going.

[guy_with_boolits]

all cleaned up...

[45-70 Chevroner]

For those spits of lead stuck to mould face I use a small gas torch to heat them and wipe off with a charred piece of wood like a pop stick. I don't dip mould's into lead pot to heat as it is a certain way to screw up a mould. I keep a bottle of water close at hand for thirst and any burn and also a damp towel to wipe the brow every now and then. I love casting and a 1,000 is a slow day for me. just work out a system that works for you and time will fly. Regards Stephen

When you dip the corner of a mold into molten lead it will not heart or damage a mold. You only hold it in the lead long enough so the lead does not stick to the mold, at that point the mold is hot enough to cast boolits. I did this for many years until I started using a hot plate. That being said you never dip the whole mold in the lead.

[guy_with_boolits]

When you dip the corner of a mold into molten lead it will not heart or damage a mold. You only hold it in the lead long enough so the lead does not stick to the mold, at that point the mold is hot enough to cast boolits. I did this for many years until I started using a hot plate. That being said you never dip the whole mold in the lead.

I think the problem is that:

a) arranging things so just the tip is in the lead, especially as the lead level changes, in a 4lb pot, is not a very reliable thing
b) if its just the tip it doesn't seem to heat the mold up enough (in my situation for whatever reason)

I'm not saying it can't be done, obviously it works for tons of people, but I am not a fan of it..I'm eager to use the hot plate instead

[Burnt Fingers]

A long butane BBQ lighter is what I use to smoke molds.

If your brass mold is properly seasoned it shouldn't need to be smoked.

[AlHunt]

A long butane BBQ lighter is what I use to smoke molds.

If your brass mold is properly seasoned it shouldn't need to be smoked.

This is a great question. Did you heat cycle it a few times before first use?

After my great #2 pencil fiasco I went back to not lubing my molds except the pins.

The cleaned mold is looking great, by the way. If you scrubbed the mold face at all, I'd suggest going back through the heat cycle process. It builds a patina that you may have removed. My brass MP mold drops bullets like buttered biscuits without any lube in the cavities.

[guy_with_boolits]

Okay I very carefully prepped the mold as follows:
-smoke ONE cavity with butane lighter until it was very dark
-warmed up mold blocks (no handles) on hot plate
-took construction pencil and rubbed on ONE HP conical pin (casting surface only)
-using 100% cotton makeup remover pads, dribbled some MP lube on them and then carefully wiped the alignment pin holes and pins
-wiped guide screws of HP pins (cold)
-assembled mold blocks with HP pins and sprue plate
-put assembled mold on hot plate and got it hot
-filled mold with lead
-wiped sprue plate mold side and mold sprue plate side with lubed cotton pad
-put a couple drops of lube on pivot pin
-Then I let it got hot again until it stopped smoking.

I began my first casting session, 5 minutes long (roughly)

I produced 64 boolits, heres the stats:

-mold temperature approximately 500F preheated on hot plate
-lead temperature 750F (a few were done at 710F)
-lead is basically range scrap with maybe some tin added from a 111 solder bar

-ZERO wrinkles..seriously ZERO
-10 rejects, for the following reasons:
**4 with radiused base edge
**1 severely under-filled (not sure what happened)
**1 with dent on base (not from impact)
**4 with what seemed to be unusual porosity in sprue face

-Boolits dropped right from the mold. At most I needed to tap the HP guide pins with my gloved finger (and I mean tap)..dont even need to knock the handles with anything.
-I think the smoked cavity produces boolits with a kind of frosted/mottled appearance (acceptable)..
-It would seem smoking/graphiting is not needed here.
-Sprue is taken 5 seconds or more to solidify. I guess I should go down in lead temperature.
-I'm dropping them into a water bucket but its making big splashes....any good ideas to reduce this? On at least one cast water was in the mold when I went to pour.
-The main time consuming factor here is waiting for the sprue to solidify. How can I tell if I've hit the sweet spot? I dont want to produce wrinkles by lowering temps too much.

So at this rate I could produce 700+ an hour. But Im not going to push it that fast. 1000 in a couple days would be fine with me.

Pics show random 5 that are "good" and then the rejects

[AlHunt]

Okay I very carefully prepped the mold as follows:
-smoke ONE cavity with butane lighter until it was very dark
-warmed up mold blocks (no handles) on hot plate
-took construction pencil and rubbed on ONE HP conical pin (casting surface only)
-using 100% cotton makeup remover pads, dribbled some MP lube on them and then carefully wiped the alignment pin holes and pins
-wiped guide screws of HP pins (cold)
-assembled mold blocks with HP pins and sprue plate
-put assembled mold on hot plate and got it hot
-filled mold with lead
-wiped sprue plate mold side and mold sprue plate side with lubed cotton pad
-put a couple drops of lube on pivot pin
-Then I let it got hot again until it stopped smoking.

I began my first casting session, 5 minutes long (roughly)

I produced 64 boolits, heres the stats:

-mold temperature approximately 500F preheated on hot plate
-lead temperature 750F (a few were done at 710F)
-lead is basically range scrap with maybe some tin added from a 111 solder bar

-ZERO wrinkles..seriously ZERO
-10 rejects, for the following reasons:
**4 with radiused base edge
**1 severely under-filled (not sure what happened)
**1 with dent on base (not from impact)
**4 with what seemed to be unusual porosity in sprue face

-Boolits dropped right from the mold. At most I needed to tap the HP guide pins with my gloved finger (and I mean tap)..dont even need to knock the handles with anything.
-I think the smoked cavity produces boolits with a kind of frosted/mottled appearance (acceptable)..
-It would seem smoking/graphiting is not needed here.
-Sprue is taken 5 seconds or more to solidify. I guess I should go down in lead temperature.
-I'm dropping them into a water bucket but its making big splashes....any good ideas to reduce this? On at least one cast water was in the mold when I went to pour.
-The main time consuming factor here is waiting for the sprue to solidify. How can I tell if I've hit the sweet spot? I dont want to produce wrinkles by lowering temps too much.

So at this rate I could produce 700+ an hour. But Im not going to push it that fast. 1000 in a couple days would be fine with me.

Pics show random 5 that are "good" and then the rejects

Nice work. Methodical, measured, exactly what you needed.

700/hr is a good number. I wouldn't mess with success. Cast for 3 hours, you'll have twice as many bullets as you wanted.

I don't water drop myself but I seem to recall people saying they float a sponge on the water to reduce the splash.

If you're PCing, the water drop probably isn't needed.

Here's a monkey wrench ... when we PC are we annealing the bullets anyway? I don't know the answer.

Congratulations.

[guy_with_boolits]

Nice work. Methodical, measured, exactly what you needed.

700/hr is a good number. I wouldn't mess with success. Cast for 3 hours, you'll have twice as many bullets as you wanted.

I don't water drop myself but I seem to recall people saying they float a sponge on the water to reduce the splash.

If you're PCing, the water drop probably isn't needed.

Here's a monkey wrench ... when we PC are we annealing the bullets anyway? I don't know the answer.

Congratulations.

Thanks. From what I can tell this range scrap might be 2 BHN too high or 2 BHN too low to be perfect for this mold. So....I am really water dropping just so I dont drop hot boolits on each other, and I guess I'd rather the boolits be too hard than too soft.

But yeah, for PC, I would think thats true about annealing. 400F for 20mins?

I may seriously ALOX though. It might be alot easier. I'll do 50 and see if I get leading, if not, then I might do ALOX the whole batch.

I might try the sponge thx.

I'm not sure how many I will make today. Probably a few hundred. The hot plate was a BIG deal.

[shootinfox2]

pics for reference.

[guy_with_boolits]

pics for reference.

nice thx..I definitely could enjoy that setup.

in fact I'm going to do that right now!!

[dverna]

If you feel the spruce is taking too long to solidify, I have used a damp towel laying on the bench and flip the mold to touch the spruce plate on the towel for about 3 seconds. That allows me to run the mold hot, maintain bullet quality and a high production rate.

[Mk42gunner]

My hat is off to you for even contemplating a run of 1,000 good boolits with a four pound pot. I don't think I would attempt it with a ten pounder.

As to the lead smears on the sprue plate, I have used both graphite from a pencil and at other times soapstone. Both seem to work equally, so it is whichever comes to hand first for me. I'll even scribble over the top surface of the mold; may not be needed, but it seems to help.

You need to figure out just how you are getting lead between the faces of the mold, then stop doing it. Dipping the mold to preheat it doesn't cause it.

I wear leather gloves while casting and the first thing I try to remove smears is to simply give it a quick rub with my thumb. It often works, if not sterner measures are required.

Robert