Arceagle
04-11-2012, 11:46 AM
I thought I was beginning to figure this stuff out but am still having a few problems.
Most of my casting has been in small amounts to test before I made lots of boolits that just had to be remelted. I would cast 100 to 150 and cull 30% to 40% and sometimes it was as high as 50%. Most of these would be due to wrinkled noses - the boolits not mine. The rest of the boolit would not be wrinkled just a small C shape near the nose would not be filled out. I think this is being caused by a leaky valve on my lee lead pot. A small amount leaks thru just enough to hang a single drip from the spout. That drip is hanging long enough to be cool when I fill the first cavity this is a big problem when only using a 2 cavity mold. Most of my casting so far has been 115gr. and 135 gr. boolits.
My second problem. Yesterday I tried casting 500 boolits in one session with a 2 cavity mold. I have to keep my pot around 700 degrees to keep the valve from plugging. I was dropping these in water and using a 50/50 ww/lead alloy. I had severe frosting, the frost would wipe off but left a less than smooth surface underneath. Could this be from too hot a mold? Pot too hot? Both? I try to keep up a quick as pace as possible so my lead in the spigot/spout doesn't cool.
Would insulating the spout on the pot help?
Do I need to slow my pace and let the mold cool a little between fills?
Final count after casting - less than 50% good boolits. Are boolit casters allowed to cry?
Most of my casting has been in small amounts to test before I made lots of boolits that just had to be remelted. I would cast 100 to 150 and cull 30% to 40% and sometimes it was as high as 50%. Most of these would be due to wrinkled noses - the boolits not mine. The rest of the boolit would not be wrinkled just a small C shape near the nose would not be filled out. I think this is being caused by a leaky valve on my lee lead pot. A small amount leaks thru just enough to hang a single drip from the spout. That drip is hanging long enough to be cool when I fill the first cavity this is a big problem when only using a 2 cavity mold. Most of my casting so far has been 115gr. and 135 gr. boolits.
My second problem. Yesterday I tried casting 500 boolits in one session with a 2 cavity mold. I have to keep my pot around 700 degrees to keep the valve from plugging. I was dropping these in water and using a 50/50 ww/lead alloy. I had severe frosting, the frost would wipe off but left a less than smooth surface underneath. Could this be from too hot a mold? Pot too hot? Both? I try to keep up a quick as pace as possible so my lead in the spigot/spout doesn't cool.
Would insulating the spout on the pot help?
Do I need to slow my pace and let the mold cool a little between fills?
Final count after casting - less than 50% good boolits. Are boolit casters allowed to cry?