Some Observations From My Third Casting Session

[Jeff R]

I had my third casting session this afternoon. I made some big leaps forward. I had thought that I had a bad pot. I thought I had a bad thermometer. Lead stuck to everything. I had lead spatters all over the place. Reading about casting beforehand can only get you so far.

Most of my troubles were self inflicted. There is a learning curve and I guess you have to start at the beginning. Now, I think my pot is probably good, and the thermometer is probably good too.

I have made some general observations.

Flux early and often. I used paraffin wax and sawdust. In sessions 1and 2, I probably never got the mold hot enough. Don’t beat on the wooden handle of the mold to get the Boolits to drop out. Just because that’s how the guy on YouTube did it, it might not be so good for the wooden handle.

Adding some tin can really make a difference in filling out the corners of the mold.

If you are going to use lead x-ray foil, make it into ingots first. You can’t throw it in the pot fast enough to keep up your casting pace. It lets the mold cool off a little. Plus, you end up throwing in a few pieces of paper and plastic.

When things get going good, sometimes the boolits will drop out of the mold by themselves when it is opened.
You tell yourself, just one more pour, and I’ll quit. Five minutes later, you’re still at it. It’s like saying, “just one more cast” when you are fishing.

Cleaning the mold really good at the start is Huge. Today, I used carb cleaner. Today, I culled out boolits that I kept in the first two sessions. You quickly raise your standards. Practice will definitely make you a better caster. Here are some pics.

This is the mold I got off Craig’s List

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My pot seemed to work great today

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I got this spool of 40/60 solder for 50 bucks. It weights about 30 pounds. Did I get a fair deal on it?

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It doesn’t take long to get a nice pile of Boolits

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275 Boolits

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Here is my gallery load ammo, 11.0 gr. Of Unique. It is pointy enough to feed from the magazine of my Guide Gun.

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I also did my first smelting yesterday. In Minnesota, if you tell someone that if you were smelting, they would assume that you were trying to dip little silvery fish out of Lake Superior, under the influence of alcohol. I got 60 pounds of wheel weights from a scrap dealer, and some utensils from a thrift store. Sadly, I have to spend a bunch of time on some year end business stuff, so I will have to stay out of the foundry for a while. This forum is like having a personal trainer.
Regards,
JR

[clodhopper]

Looking good Jeff.
Those loobgrooves would make Waksupi's eyes light up!

[292]

If you do a search for my username you'll find a very similar post about a year ago. Welcome and keep up the good work.

[dragonrider]

"I got this spool of 40/60 solder for 50 bucks. It weights about 30 pounds. Did I get a fair deal on it?"

The price at my local hardware store is $40 plus for 1 pound, so ya you got a deal and then some. Good for you.

This just my humble opinion based on my experience only but I will not use any waxes, or petroleum products when fluxing my pot. In fact I seldom flux my casting pot at all. I flux heavily and often when smelting, two to three times per potful and I use only sawdust. by the handful. Sawdust will keep your pot clean, anything else will keep it dirty, and one can't get clean lead from a dirty pot. Your pot looks nice and clean right now, it also looks new. To keep it cleaner longer, use sawdust only. Also I did not notice in your post but hopefully you are not smelting in your casting pot, That will also crud you pot up real quick.

[1Shirt]

Nice looking batch of collar buttons.
1Shirt!

[wrench]

In Minnesota, if you tell someone that if you were smelting, they would assume that you were trying to dip little silvery fish out of Lake Superior, under the influence of alcohol.

LOL! Here I thought I was the only one who was thinking that![smilie=l:

[williamwaco]

Don’t beat on the wooden handle of the mold to get the Boolits to drop out. Just because that’s how the guy on YouTube did it, it might not be so good for the wooden handle.


You are new. You are off to a good start.

BUT-

You have already been exposed to you-tube.

PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THERE!

95% of the videos on there give you bad advice.
50% of the videos on there give you dangerous advice.
The worst videos are the ones about casting bullets.

At this point, you don't know enough to separate the wheat from the cyanide.

Somewhere on this site, there is a thread about recommended you tube videos.

Here is another recommended list.

http://reloadingtips.com/index-recommended-videos.htm

[Jeff R]

Also I did not notice in your post but hopefully you are not smelting in your casting pot, That will also crud you pot up real quick.
This was my smelting setup. Crude, but it got the job done. I picked up the utensils at the thrift store.
JR
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[45nut]

Threads like this reaffirm my dedication and I thank you for that, passing along what you learn only makes us stronger.

[P.K.]

Jeff,

Your results are great! Good lookin' Boolits. If you want any reaasurance on the fact that you are on the right track I posted a link to a video awhile back.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?133556-quot-Hulk-Smash-quot-form-of-Casting&highlight=hulk

[462]

Jeff,
Your post should be required reading by all potential new casters, as you mentioned many of their soon-to-be-made mistakes, and how quickly you learned to overcome or avoid them.

While the Internet has become an intregal part of our daily lives, and many seemingly rely on it as their only form of education, it has also brought the vainglorious idiots to the forefront, in their quest for their fifteen minutes of fame. The few You Tube casting videos that I've seen make me cringe, because of their unsafe casting methods and equipment mistreatment. In one, the caster was dropping six-cavity sprues directly into the pot, causing lead to splash about. In another, the caster was violently flipping the sprue cutter back into position, causing, I'm sure, much undo wear and possible mould damage. In still another, the caster was hitting the handle hinge with a steel hammer.