Its alive, Auto Master Caster

[shootinfox2]

Many thanks to Wymanwynn and Hatch.

577605776157762

I will try to upload the video thru youtube tomorrow.

[HATCH]

You got a clean shop....
You don't want to see mine. Its a wreck.
Good looking setup

[wymanwinn]

REAL Nice Fox....:)

wyman

[shootinfox2]

http://youtu.be/CeV1Pcra9Is

I hope the link works.

Fox

[HATCH]

it does.. nice setup

[wymanwinn]

http://youtu.be/CeV1Pcra9Is

I hope the link works.

Fox

VERY nice setup Fox.....:)

[Pete P]

I kind of want one of those. I have a little bit of carpal tunnel going, and on occasion my thumbs hurt. I want to avoid having to knock the sprue plate open when casting. Fortunately I don't have to deal with that using the Lee six cavity molds .I love the automation! That has me thinking, with a huge lead pot just turn it on and walk away.

[HATCH]

Well I wouldn't walk away from it.

There are no safeties in the design.
I know because I designed the controls for it.
It's pretty safe except for a stuck lead pour spout.
And there is no way to prevent that from happening if it were to happen anyway even in manual control. It hasn't happened to me. Yet..... In fact its so much of a common problem to the original design the Magma did a video object how to remove a stuck boolit.

The controls are based off the limit switch. If a cycle starts and you have a boolit that gets stuck 1/2 way out of the molds basically sandwiched between the 1/2s it will stop. If you get a stuck boolit in one of the cavities and the molds are able to close, then you will have lead overflow the top of the mold when it tries to fill a already full cavity. Normally when this happens the boolit comes out the second time it comes to the bottom to dump it. You just end up with a little bit of a mess to clear up.

The whole reason for the fully automation is so you can do something else while it works. Not so much for you to go take a nap for a couple hrs or go leave the building.

When its casting, i will size the boolits using the star or load some using my dillon 550b or even just watch tv (got cable in the cave) but i don't walk away for more then a few mins. Just long enough to use the restroom or grab a bite to eat or get supplies from my closet.

Its more of a tool that allows you to multitask.

[shootinfox2]

During the last session, I had two instances of the sprueplate not closing. wound up with twin bullets on a fixed base. It dumped on the next cycle and kept running. Never walk away from a molten lead pot.There are many post to that effect in this forum.

Like hatch said. It allows you to do two thing at the same time.load and cast,etc.

Remember. A watched pot will not boil, but an unwatched pot will always boil over.

Fox

[HATCH]

Fox, the twins as I like to call them, are cause by the sprue plate being tool loose. Or that is the case for me.

The sprue plate cap screw is too long and will hit the carrier (MC140 and MC150 if you have your book) or the locking nut doesn't "lock" any more and needs to be replaced.

I have that problem with a 40 cal mold. Either the cap bolt is tool long or I need to replace the locking nut.
The machine will run for about 15 mins perfectly then it will spit out a couple twins. After the twins it normally will open the sprue plate enough to where it doesn't fully return to the top position.
This isn't the fault of automation.
A lot of the molds I have were purchased from a guy that used them in a Ballisticast machine. The sprue plates are thicker then the standard magma ones. I never changed the bolts when I switched the plates.
I am placing a order today for new bolts and locking nuts. And no its not gonna be from Magma...

[shootinfox2]

I was not saying it was the automation. I am happy with the operation of the machine. I was just saying, don't leave the machine alone for long.

[Plate plinker]

What was the cost of the automation? I would like to do the same with mine.

[shootinfox2]

I dont have an exact total. I built it up over a year. Wymann gave me the info for the pneumatics and Hatch provided the automation with the air switches. I would guess around 500. If you shop around, you may be able to get better prices. Check the forum, some of the members found cheaper parts.

[Plate plinker]

Thanks, Dave

[HATCH]

Closer to $600
I can price it out.
I didn't use cheap parts.

I got around $2200 in my setup
$1200 in master caster with 1 mold.
$400 in automation (cheaper cause i had parts already) and $600 in 11 more molds

i don't think i could puchase a boolit machine that produces over 650 boolits a hr for less then that.

Now before anyone says that $2200 could buy a lot of bullets let me say that i have cast over 10k boolits so far and i am pretty sure someone would give me $2000 for my setup....so it retains some value