Sprue plate temp

[trixter]

I have 6 cavity Lee molds, I place the one I am going to use on the top of my RCBS lead melter and leave it there for a while. The mold seems to get hot alright, but the sprue plate seems to take about 4 castings before it cuts with ease. I was thinking about putting the mold on upside down and get the sprue plate hot first. Or should I just leave the mold on longer?

[Marlin Junky]

I have 6 cavity Lee molds, I place the one I am going to use on the top of my RCBS lead melter and leave it there for a while. The mold seems to get hot alright, but the sprue plate seems to take about 4 castings before it cuts with ease. I was thinking about putting the mold on upside down and get the sprue plate hot first. Or should I just leave the mold on longer?

I would just leave it on there longer assuming the entire surface of the mold rests on the hot surface of your RCBS pot. If not, I would make a trip to Wally World and purchase their finest imported electric hot plate.

MJ

[madsenshooter]

Don't go to Wally world, Harbor Freight has the imported electric hot plates cheaper! Unless of course you need something from Wally World, like the bread that's raised with the same chemical used to make foam rubber. In that case, no sense making two trips. Oh, the chemical, azidocarbamide.

[birdadly]

To add a question to 'trixters' question... is it okay (safe) for the mould, to put the sprue plate directly on the heat source? Is there a chance it would warp or anything like that? Also would the heat transfer to the mould well thru it to heat the mould?

I mostly ask this in regards to using a cramer-style mould with the pins reversed for Solid Point boolits (no HP). -Brad

[Iron Mike Golf]

To add a question to 'trixters' question... is it okay (safe) for the mould, to put the sprue plate directly on the heat source? Is there a chance it would warp or anything like that? Also would the heat transfer to the mould well thru it to heat the mould?

I mostly ask this in regards to using a cramer-style mould with the pins reversed for Solid Point boolits (no HP). -Brad

I have Mihec's 200 gr .432 cramer HP mold. I pre-heat with a hotplate and circular saw blade. With the pins reversed to make FN bullets, the penta points stick out the bottom of the mold, so the blocks won't rest flat on the hotplate that way. The sprue plate bolt keeps the sprue plate from resting flat if I flip the mold upside down. So, I set the mold on the hotplate with the handles standing up. That seems to work just fine to heat the blocks, pins, and sprue plate. First cast of a session are keepers.

[Boolseye]

I dip the corner right into the alloy for upwards of 50 seconds with a six cav. Perfect bullets on the first cast. I start casting immediately, even though the mold has dropped the alloy temp somewhat. It soon recovers. Works beautiful for me. The sprue plate should not touch the alloy–no reason for it. Just the bottom corner of the end of the mold blocks, 1-2" deep into the alloy. The heat will conduct throughout the mold–I wait 'til I see it start to smoke a bit from the lube burning (about 50 seconds). Good luck,
-jp

[birdadly]

That's exactly the circumstance/mould I was talking about Iron Mike! Thanks! I only cast once with this it (or any mould actually, it was my first) and I didn't think of putting it on end! Sweet. I plan to try that this weekend!

[Iron Mike Golf]

That's exactly the circumstance/mould I was talking about Iron Mike! Thanks! I only cast once with this it (or any mould actually, it was my first) and I didn't think of putting it on end! Sweet. I plan to try that this weekend!

Happy to help! I used to run the hotplate WOT (wide open throttle), but found that I would have to let the mold cool a bit. Now I run it at about the 1/3 setting. It still might take me a cast or two until the sprue plate is hot enough to open with my gloved hand, but the bullets are keepers right out the gate.