And So It Goes...

[BCB]

May I write freely?...

Started casting some 452490’s this morning—I had such a good outlook when I started…

But, it developed into the worst casting session I have had, I do believe, in my short casting career…

The Lee 20-pounder had a drip so bad that I thought it might need a prescription to stop it. It splashed lead all over my pants and my fuzzy sweatshirt….

I put an ingot mold under the spigot on the furnace and dump it on the floor to let it cool and then put the chunk of lead back in the pot. Must not have left it cool long enough—nice blister on my right thumb…

I absolutely could not regulate the temperature…

The vents in the Lyman mold filled with lead…

Under the sprue plate lead accumulated…

A chunk of lead got between the mold blocks. I have no idea how that happened. Many of the boolits got wings…

My red/yellow lab wanted in and out of the garage a dozen times—up and down to open and close the door…

Caught him chewing on a boolit that had gotten on the floor—one of many that hit the floor…

I drop the sprue puddle in an old cardboard box and then dump them back into the melt. Have done this hundreds of times. The box began to smolder this morning—never happened before…

That’s about all of the annoyances that I can remember…

But, I did start with about 12 pounds of lead, so I ended up with around 300 boolits without actually doing the counting…

And on the bright side, the last 10 boolits I cast were nearly perfect…

Rant over—I am feeling much better now…

BCB

[greenbud]

I would have to bet your lead was way to hot. My lead hammers cast first try if I poor then just as soon as the lead melts in the wood stove. But if I get distracted for to long and it gets even hotter. I might as well have used water to cast with..

[Fishman]

"May I write freely?..."


Well, I guess I can't stop you . . . :)

Look on the bright side. You've identified several hindrances to your casting success in just one session. Most are easily solved too.

Wear gloves, clean pot, clean mould vents with matchstick, ignore lab or give him/her a chew bone to keep busy, use metal sprue catcher on old towel, play favorite tunes on radio to get in the groove, cast boolits.

I had some problems while casting the other night too. It happens.

[gray wolf]

some days it's better to just have a BEER .......or two.

[mdi]

There's been times I took a perfecty good mold, heated my melt to the perfect temperature, pot clean and no drips, preheated the mold to perfect casting temp., was totally alone (except for a Bonny Rait cd) and could not make a decent boolit to save my life. So I turn off the fan, unplug the pot, switch to my chair from my casting stool, grab a magazine and listen to Bonny. Try again the next day...

[DonMountain]

some days it's better to just have a BEER .......or two.

What kind of beer is best when not casting? I mean instead of casting? When I am not in the garage at the casting bench tripping over all of my junk on the floor? [smilie=p: :bigsmyl2:

[Jon]

Some days are just like that. At least you're out there doing some casting. My pot has been cold for quite some time now.

[Sonnypie]

"Rant over—I am feeling much better now…"

Well, except for that thumb.... :D

[thx997303]

I've had that.

The last casting session I did, my Lee 20 lb pot was dripping so fast, I couldn't do anything but mess with it. Definitely had to quit before it made me mad.

[fcvan]

Sometimes you just have to empty the pot into the ingot mold, clean out the crud and let 'er rip. I've had less dripping since I started using old ground walnut for fluxing. I have a stainless camping style coffee cup under the spigot in case it starts dripping.

As far as temp control I watch the sprue cool and adjust accordingly. That and using a gloved hand to open the sprue, gives a better feel of when things are ready to open. Too hot and I add a cool ingot and turn it down a notch. Mostly I keep an ingot on the top of the pot rim to preheat it while I cast. I noticed that keeps the melt temp more constant.

I stopped using matchsticks for cleaning and started using wooden chopsticks from the Chinese buffet. Paint stir sticks were too wide. I never lubed my sprue plate until I read about it here. That sure made things dandy. I had a mold block get smeared and it was a pain. Now, not so much. Frank

[PAI-Scott]

Thats the way casting go!