How I did it

[LAH]

Not that anyone would care but I was thinking sprue plates and such this morning. Guess I'm bored since my casting set up is still packed. The new room is started so hopefully it won't be long now.

Anyway back to sprue plates or cutters. Most of Dry Creek's hand moulds were used with swinging plates. The hold downs were loosen just to the point the plate would close on it's own when the mould was tilted. I found this to be easier on the operator [me] and allowed the bases to fill completely.

I notice some posts about lubing sprue plates. At the end of each casting day the plates were removed, cleaned, and coated with Midway/Frankford whatever Drop Out. I didn't use this in my mould cavities but would lightly spray the top of the mould.

By using loose and coated plates I saw no wear to the top of the moulds or bottom of plates even though they produced tons of hand cast Keith. Well enough for one morning.............Creeker

[sundog]

Creeker, yes, sprue plates. One reason I like production run RCBS and SAECO is that they have heavy sprue plates, as do the new Lymans. They simply work better when adjusted swing bearly freely. I color my block tops and sprue plates with carpenter pencil. Dropout is limited to cavity swabbing with a q-tip only when needed. It cleans as well as leaves an ever so thin graphite deposit, as opposed to heavy coating when sprayed on directly. I also use Dropout or the NAPA stuff on the outside to help prevent rust. I've been replacing sprue plates with the heavy ones, one at a time, on my Lymans. They work much better. Some layer of something for them to ride on, pencil, lead, Dropout, or Bullshops Bullplate (others swear by but I have not tried) really makes a good mould produce world class boolits.

[44man]

The sad thing today is shipping and taxes. My wife just let me order a tool I need for my table saw because I make her furniture from wood I cut in my little woods. I got some nice oak from a tree hit by lightning. I don't have my own money anymore since I retired. Anyway, the shipping and taxes (Because the store is in state.) almost doubled the cost.
How I would love to make overtime in retirement!
I want a lot of Bullshops stuff, but alas, no money yet! I am almost out of powder, gas checks, primers, etc and am going to have to start begging the little lady. The price of checks scared me silly.
Not looking for sympathy, I am fat and happy and enjoy making stuff to save money. Been staring at a piece of scrap copper trying to figure out how to make my own checks.
Anyway, that is why I make my own sprue plates and molds out of scrap. I detest thin plates and when I have to use my Lee or old Lyman molds I can see such a huge difference in the ease or hardness of smooth casting that I will never understand why they were made so thin to start with. A good, thick plate doesn't need much lube and a lot of stuff works unlike the cheap, thin things that gall a mold. Takes more work to fix a cheap plate then it does to make a better one. Just haven't got roundtoit for a lot of molds.
One thing I have found is if the plate or top of the mold is real smooth, they don't work as good. Tool marks left are the greatest thing for smooth operation and also holds the lube better. So from all of my fooling around, being cheap and poor, I suggest you don't lap plates real smooth, leave some marks on them. Same with block tops. Leave micro grooves for lube and air.

[Dale53]

44man;
I have never liked Lyman's skinny sprue plates. I have had excellent results with their moulds, however, so I continue to respect their wares. A number of years ago, a fellow that I shot BPCR-Silhouette with, Bob Roller, made excellent plates for Lymans at a most reasonable cost. Alas, they are no longer available. I have several of his and they definitely work better. I think part of the reason a thick plate works better (in addition to the mechanical properties) is that, being thicker, the sprue hole holds more melted bullet metal to feed the mould as the metal cools. I believe that this is a GREAT help. When casting (I use a bottom pour exclusively) I always try to leave as much lead on top of the sprue plate as it'll hold. This keeps the sprue plate hot and allows the metal still be molten. As the lead cools inside the mould, it "draws down" this molten metal and you end up with better bullets (no voids). "Dipper people" do the same thing by letting molten metal run over the sprue plate until the dipper is empty.

So, yes, I DO like thicker sprue plates. I do believe there is a limit to how thick they should be. 3/16" seems to be a good thickness for best results.

FWIW

Dale53

[Sundogg1911]

http://www.castingstuff.com/gmw_products.htm

here are some nice looking sprue plate replacements. a lot thicker.
i'm trying to decide wether to get these or just convert my 2 cavity Lymans to work in my Master Caster.

[Dale53]

Those Cabine Tree plates look similar to the "Roller" plates. The neat thing is I paid $15.00 for the Roller plates many years ago. So, the Cabine Tree plates are a bargain.

Wonder what Lyman gets for their new thicker plates? I just looked. If these are the new heavier plates, these are a REAL bargain (less than $7.00). Wonder if Midway carries them?

Dale53

[Gussy]

Sorry, but the CabineTree plates are no longer made. Actually they were GMW plates and demand dropped to a point where they just weren't worth making so he quit.
Gus