What happened?

[trixter]

I just started casting a few days ago. I have a Lee 452-200 SWC and a 452-228-1R.

The SWC mold put out some nice boolits the first time and I was pleased. Then I cast the round nose boolits and that went equally as well. I cast about 20 pounds of lead through the round nose over the past few days. Tonight I tried the SWC mold again. I put it on the hot pot rim and let it warm up about12-15 minutes and then cast my first bunch. ( don't expect too much from the first couple of passes) and then about the third pass I expect to see some nice boolits. Well no matter what I did there was no getting them to look right, They fall out of the mold just fine, the sprue plate cuts them off nicely but thy look like crap. No sharp edges and the noses are all wrinkled and awful. ?What have I done wrong and can it be fixed?

[2ndAmendmentNut]

First of all welcome to the madness.

There are a number of things that could be wrong here.

Wrinkles usually mean that you lead is not hot enough, or the cavities of you mold have some sort of grease or other contaminants in them.

Also what sort of alloy are you using? Pure lead or close to pure lead can be a little more difficult to cast with and often results in wrinkled boolits.

I would first wash your mould really well with hot water and some sort of degreaser soap (Dawn works great), and perhaps wipe the cavities with a q-tip dipped in alcohol. Smoke the cavities or spray some form of mould “drop out” on the cavities.http://http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=763758

What sort of furnace are you using? You could have an issue with the heating element as well.

Do you have a thermometer? This would be able to rule out if it is your furnace or not.

Fluxing once the lead is hot, but before casting yields better results for me.

Keep trying there is a learning curve to casting, but it is not very long or difficult.

[btroj]

I have found that Lee moulds sometimes need a few wash/cast cycles to get all the oil out of the metal.
I am assuming you used the same pot temp and alloy each time.
I wonder if the mould was hot enough. Did the bullets get better after 15 or 20 casting cycles? I find that sitting a mould on the pot rim gets it warm but not hot. A cold mould just doesn't cast good bullets.
Clean the mould again, get it good and hot, then see what happens. Even starting with a cold mould you should have it plenty hot by 15 fills or so. I like to set mine on the melt for 30 seconds or so once the pot is up to temp.
Hope things get better, nothing more frustrating than a mould that doesn't want to cooperate.

[462]

You are learning that moulds have unique characteristics...what works for one, may not for another.

If you gave both of the moulds the same initial preparation, the problematic mould probably contains more residual machining fluid, and needs further cleaning and more casting cycles. Aluminum moulds seem to require more cleaning and casting cycles, compared to iron moulds, before they come right.

I've never found a need to smoke a mould or apply a release agent.

[mooman76]

If you used it once and got good boolits, a guess would be that you lubed the mould and maybe some of the lube ran down into the mould as you were warming it up the second time. Like other said though, most likely it is temp or fluid contamination, those being the two biggest problems. Another is venting but I think we can rule that out since you already cast good boolits with it.
Casting can drive you nuts as what works on one mould or even the same mould may not work the next time so don't get caught into thinking that it is an exact science. You have to be fluid in thought when casting. First if I was still in the casting mode. I would turn the heat up some. You could try cleaning it before next time and if you have the same problem turn the heat up and keep doing so until you either get good boolits or you get signs that it is too hot. Not neccissarily frosting bu frosting to the point of getting poorly formed boolits. The turn the heat down until you get good boolits. Sometime the excess heat will burn of the fluid in the mould and it will start making good boolits.

[trixter]

Thanks for all of the good advice. Yes each mold is different. I took a soft tooth brush, hhoott water and dish soap, and a good scrub, then I did it all over again scrub-a-dub-dub etc. Then I sat down with a bunch of Q tips and rubbing alcohol and took almost all of the black sooty stuff from smoking them (I think I may have over done it a little) then I let it air dry about 2 hours. Plugged the pot in and put a couple of ingots in and then let them melt and then put the mold on the rim for 20 minutes. I took a couple of passes to get the sprue plate hot and cutting well, and then about the fourth pass I was making very pretty boolits. Whew, I thought I was a goner for a bit, then my friends came through.

Thanks all of you that helped. :razz:

[MtGun44]

Scrub with a toothbrush, hot water and Comet works great.

Clean and hot mold is required. If clean, turn up the heat and keep casting to heat
the mold. Fast casting, do not stop to admire your work. You add a "chunk of heat" with
each pour, lost heat steadily, so fast casting heats up the mold, slower casting cools
down the mold - independent of the metal temperature, which is another variable that
you control.

Bill

[jsizemore]

I hold back a couple of sprues from when I first start casting. When I'm through casting I unplug the pot and take those saved sprues and rub it like an eraser over any vent lines, top of mold blocks and sprue plate where any buildup of lead is on the mold. Then I finish up with a popsicile stick. It's a lot easier to do when the mold is hot. Insures venting when you start casting next time.

[leadman]

You can also heat the mold by dipping the corner of the closed mold in the hot alloy.

[rnelson11]

For me cleaning after each casting session is very important. I also find that with the Lee 6 cavity molds getting the sprue plate hot is as important as getting the mold hot. When the lead runs through the sprue plate without immediately drying is when I get my best casts.

[trixter]

Who says old dogs can't learn new tricks? Anyway I think I am on the edge of a great adventure.

Thanks to my new friends that it is going to be a gratifying trip.

[MtGun44]

Lube with Bullplate lube and you will not have any buildup of lead anywhere.

Look for Bull Shop bullet casting on the web search engines or PM "Bullshop" here
for info.

Bill

[trixter]

OK, so I took the toothbrush and comet to the molds. I could see where some of the lube had gotten down into the air vents and had build up there causing some problems. I got 99 % of it off and scrubbed the bullet holes out too, do I nee do resmoke the mold? I thought it was going well but the build up of the lube was just too much to handle and It had to come off, I am sure I will get back to sharper lines now, and all around better bullets.

[462]

No need to smoke a mould. If you've thoroughly cleaned the mould, the boolits should drop with nothing more than a slight love tap on the handle hinge.

Fire up the pot, make sure the mould is up to casting temperature, and cast away.

[Yance]

Lee moulds are haunted.<G> They react to the alignment of the stars and planets, phase of the moon, and who won last week's NASCAR race.<G>

I've had days when I couldn't BUY a good bullet from a mould that had cast great the week before.

Bottom line is scrub, then scrub again, degrease with brake parts cleaner, ( I STILL lightly smoke Lees), then stick the front edge in the melt for at least 30 seconds.

Using Bullplate does allow you to run a little faster so the blocks stay up to temp better.

[trixter]

I too find that when the sprue plate warms up everything goes a lot smoother, so I've been putting the mold on upside-down and that works great.

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