more noobie questions

[bakrzdzn]

Hello All, I have been wanting to try my hand at this for some time, and I recently won 2 auctions on Ebay, one for a 2 cavity .45 and a set of handles on the other. I have a small cast iron pot/crucible and a ladle. I found a fryer thermometer at Ace hardware that goes to 750* for under 12.00. I had some scrounged bullets and some ww. I poured 5 times and got boolits each time. The questions are why was my melt grainy at 600-620*? how should I heat up my mold? why was my ladle getting sticky(dros) the more I used it? My crucible has dry powder in it after I made ingots with the rest. Is there some thing I can do to help condition it to prevent this in the future? why do my boolits weigh between 230gr and 250gr.? Now I need to get a sizing die. Thanks in advance to all that have come before, and know the whats and whys to our questions, and are willing to take the time to enlighten the less informed.

Roy

[462]

My mould oven is a 5" electrical box and cover, and as can be seen, will accommodate a Lee 6-cavity mould. It's a rare occasion that I don't get keepers, from the first cast.

Since the picture was taken, I've drilled a few holes in the cover so a thermomter can be inserted into a cavity.

[Grandpas50AE]

First, your melt is a bit on the cold side, the grainy look usually is visible until the temp is about 70 to 100 degrees over liquidus. Your ladle was probably getting stickier the more you used it due to spending too much time outside the melt. Leave it in the melt between pours and let it stay up to temperature too. The variance in boolit weights, as long as the mold cavities are the same, is more than likely due to voids or air pockets in the boolits because the melt is too cold and the molds are probably too cold as well. To heat the molds with your set up, dip them 1/4 of the way into the melt and hold them there until the melt no longer stick to them. These are just a few points, others can probably give more pointers.

[big dale]

Roy: It is good to see someone who wants to learn. May I suggest that you buy a copy of the latest edition of Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook. Mike Venturino wrote it and he is such a good writer and so knowledgable about the subject that you will learn a lot from it. His wife is an excellent photographer and that makes it easy to learn as well. I have been reading his articles and books for more decades than I care to remember at this point. A couple of weeks ago I re-read the book again while I was hiding from the 108 degree Texas heat. It is handy to have that book available when you want to re-read about something a year or so later and hou remember which book shelf it is on in your house. I find it much more difficult to find a thread on a board a year or so down the road. I started casting boolits back in 1966 so I am more forgetful than I once was but I still remember a bunch of useless stuff. It helps to have a natural curiosity as you tru to figure out some of the stuff in this hobby.

Have fun with this stuff.

Big Dale

[canyon-ghost]

I'd suggest leaving the crucible full, or your lead pot. The dross will rise to the top, ending up in the ladle. I use an old teaspoon with 1/4" holes drilled in it to skim the top. When the ladle wants to get drossed up, submerge it to the bottom, turn it over and slowly lift it out empty. I coat mine with parafin, same stuff I cast with. The thin silvery dross can sure plug up your pouring hole in the ladle.

If you reflux or re-burn the top, you can skim that stuff off. You can try stirring it back into the mix too.

Good Luck,
Ron

[500MAG]

Like Dale said, get the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook or The Lyman Reloading Handbook, it has a section on casting. This information obtained on this site you won't get anywhere else. That being said, you need the basics, and either of these books can provide it.

[MANGYCOYOTE]

Great "mould oven" 462! I'll be borrowin that idea!

[bakrzdzn]

Thanks for the insights. I thought that my melt was too cold, so I got it up to 650* or a little more. I like the 'oven' idea. will try again soon. I need to watch the wts for size/lube dies and maybe an electric furnace.