Jeff R
02-08-2013, 11:43 PM
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
60748
60749
My pot seemed to work great today
60750
I got this spool of 40/60 solder for 50 bucks. It weights about 30 pounds. Did I get a fair deal on it?
60751
It doesn’t take long to get a nice pile of Boolits
60752
60753
275 Boolits
60754
60755
60756
Here is my gallery load ammo, 11.0 gr. Of Unique. It is pointy enough to feed from the magazine of my Guide Gun.
60757
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
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
60748
60749
My pot seemed to work great today
60750
I got this spool of 40/60 solder for 50 bucks. It weights about 30 pounds. Did I get a fair deal on it?
60751
It doesn’t take long to get a nice pile of Boolits
60752
60753
275 Boolits
60754
60755
60756
Here is my gallery load ammo, 11.0 gr. Of Unique. It is pointy enough to feed from the magazine of my Guide Gun.
60757
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