wrinkled boolits

[VA Shooter]

started casting yesterday and my boolits were wrinkled Lee 6 cav at what temp should my alloy be just got Lyman thermometer

[docone31]

Gotta heat the mold.

[462]

Yep, problem is insufficient mould temperature, not pot temperature. Use a hot plate to pre-heat the mould.

Make sure the mould has been thoroughly cleaned and all machining oils removed. Also, it may take two or three casting sessions to "season" or "break in" a mould.

Lastly, if you haven't done so, read the Leementing sticky.

[Hardcast416taylor]

With a multi cavity like the LEE 6 holer you must run both the mold temp. and the alloy temp. higher than a standard 2 holer. Seeing as the LEE pots are at best a guessing game for setting a temp. it is good you have a thermometer to better set the temp. dial. You may have to go as high as near 700 degrees to make the wrinkles stop. Pre-heating the mold on top of the pot is a step in the right direction. Dipping the end of the mold into the molten lead for 30 seconds or so is also a step to pre-heating the mold. Don`t panic if the first few bullets have a galvanized metal look to them, this is merely a possible sign your mold or alloy is now too hot - the bullets are safe to shoot like this.Robert

[williamwaco]

Getting the temprature right is not rocket science.

But first, be absolutely sure you have the mold clean and degreased.

This method is specifically for Lee six cavity mold.

I start casting and cast as fast as I can without being wreckless or careless. I fill and dump without even looking at the bullets. I don't even drop them on my drop pad. When the sprue puddle remains liquid for two or three seconds, I mover over and drop on the drop pad. I keep casting fast until bullets begin to frost. Then I slow down to a normal cadence. Cast, wait for sprue to harden, dump, leave mold open while inspecting the newest bullets, then close the mold and repeat. This procedure takes about fifteen to thirty fillings of the mold depending on whether it is aluminum or iron. ( oh yes, during this warm-up, pour as large a sprue puddle as possible, The large sprue puddle will transfer a lot of heat to the mold.

Depending on your mold and your natural body rythms, you may need to speed this up or slow it down.

See:

http://www.reloadingtips.com/how_to/mold_warmup.htm

for visual example. Lits of Pics.

[geargnasher]

Check out WilliamWaco's link, it's a good one.

Understand that mould temperature is responsible for boolit quality, and the best alloy temperature setting is generally about 100 degrees above the point that the alloy is FULLY liquid with no grains or much remaining.

It is a common "mistake" to overheat the alloy when boolit moulds are throwing wrinkled boolits. There is good reason to not overheat the alloy, the shielding and "wetting" effect of any tin in your melt is destroyed at temps above about 750 degrees, so keep it below that for sure. Most wheel-weight alloy or Lyman #2 works best at about 675 or so at my house, your milage may vary. Most of my WW are fully molten at about 570, so anywhere between 650 and 700 works fine.

The solution like has been mentioned a couple of times already is to make sure your mould is hot enough, and you can accomplish this in several ways. The six-cavity commercial Lee moulds need a lot of help to get up to casting temperature, and I choose to preheat rather than hustling through the 20-30 pours it takes to get it hot just by casting culls, although that works fine if you don't have carpal tunnel syndrome like I do. I like to make every pour count so I use a hotplate with a "mould oven" on top to preheat all my larger moulds and brass moulds. You can use a 7.5" circular saw blade and a large bean can turned upside down on top of it and cut a hole in the side for the mould.

Here's a pic of my "oven":
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_89094e5ad65ae2e31.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=1966)

Gear

[VA Shooter]

Thank you for this great information

[G__Fred]

You can over-temp as well. If the boolits are grey or cloudy, the lead (and or mold) are now to hot.

[trixter]

started casting yesterday and my boolits were wrinkled Lee 6 cav at what temp should my alloy be just got Lyman thermometer

I too was plagued with this very problem. The fix is as easy as dipping the corner of the mold into the molten lead, count 60 (one thousand one, one thousand two). Another thing I learned and it was that my mold had to be spotlessly clean. I had applied a little too much lube to the mold and some of it got down into the air flow area of the mold and would not let it close all the way. Boy that stuff comes off hard, toothbrush and Comet, scrub a dub dubb. Lesson learned.

[Old Caster]

As long as the pot is full enough, I open the sprue plate and put the mould on the edge of the pot and stick the end of the plate in the alloy. 5 minutes later pull it out and wipe off the lead that is stuck to the plate with a rag and start. It will give good bullets immediately as long as it is clean and you have a sufficient amount of tin in your mix. -- Bill --

[Suo Gan]

Mold has oil in it, mold too cold, not enough tin, mold not vented enough. Check in that order

[cajun shooter]

Go to Wally World and buy the large single plate hotplate for around $20. I put my moulds on it at the same time I turn on my RCBS pot. Pours perfect bullets from first fill.

[fishnbob]

I don't know why but the Walmart's around here do not carry the single burner hot plates. I had to get mne from a True Value hardware store, BTW, how much heat do y'all put under the moulds? Is the burner red in color?

[zomby woof]

I keep the lead around 625 and the mold hot. I heat up with a hot plate and keep the pace up to keep the mold hot. Cool alloy, hot mold. Seems to work well.

[mold maker]

I have no way to measure the temp of the hot plate, but not red hot. The suggestion of a saw blade and a large food can with a window for the mold is a great improvement. You can preheat ingots on top of that at the same time.
The used saw blade eliminates hot spots in the mold, while giving better contact with the mold.
If you can't access a saw blade, any piece of 3/32+" flat metal will work. It just acts as a heat sink to transfer even heat to the mold.
Shortly after I bought a $10. hot plate from Wally World, they dissapeared from the shelves. The 1/4" mesh shovel shaped dipper did the same.
I've since picked up 2 hot plates at Good Will for a couple bucks each.

[MikeS]

Another place that has single burner hot plates is Walgreens. I picked up one there, and it was only $11.00! The only thing is mine has the old fashioned coiled heating element, rather than the newer style hot plates that have a solid metal burner (or is it just a metal plate over the actual burner?). I have a flat 12" square skillet (I think that's what it would be called, it doesn't really have sides, just a ridge that goes up maybe 1/4"), and it's kind of large for what I'm doing, so I was thinking if I can get a burner that has the solid top, I could put moulds directly on the burner.

[Bret4207]

FWIW Mike, the open coil burner types transfer a lot more heat. I cast with an open coil type.