i want 2 learn 2 cast

[con10der]

I don't know if i am in the right forum if not i apologize.anyway i have been thinking of casting my own for quite some time,and i have been lurking here for a while,but honestly the longer i lurk the more confused i get.i am very interested in beginning this process so where do i start i need HELP. any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.jim

[Blammer]

First run down to a tireshop, anyone will do, ask for all their old used Wheel Weights.

Once you got that, then you got a start! :)

do you have any equipment for casting?

Melt pot? Dipper? Mold?

What caliber are you going to start with? What gun?

[charger 1]

I don't know if i am in the right forum if not i apologize.anyway i have been thinking of casting my own for quite some time,and i have been lurking here for a while,but honestly the longer i lurk the more confused i get.i am very interested in beginning this process so where do i start i need HELP. any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.jim

Blammer's right, preferably old tire shops with pales of them gathering dust. You'll feel better about stock piles of consumables

Secondly, which should be firstly dont try to go cheap on equipment. Oh I'm not sayin go crazy, but little things that dont cost a lot make a lot of difference. A casting thermometer. After a while you'll learn to read your pot, but at first that thermometer in invaluable. The one decent thing Lee makes is a bottom pour pot. For a few bucks more than a normal pot, ladle, burner etc etc your pouring off the bottom with consistancy. Now about molds. If all your prepared to buy is lee wittle your own out of wood. Seriously. Preferably custom to your application but lyman atleast

[madcaster]

I used a old cast iron cooking pot and a Coleman stove when I first started and a Lyman dipper,a lot of us probably did.
First,wear safety glasses,long sleeves,do this outside and keep water,moisture and sweat away from hot lead....
Read a few of the posts here,and buy the Lyman book on bullet casting and reloading with cast bullets..

[con10der]

keep the info coming guys i am taking notes and i enjoy all of the expert advice.thanks in advance,jim

[wills]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=6774

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=6520

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=6203

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=6108

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=6059

[arkypete]

Get Lyman's book on cast bullets.
Then get Wolfe Publishing book on cast bullets. Wolfe publishes Handloader and Rifle Magazines.
These should give you a running start.
Jim

[Whitespider]

WHOA MAN, DON’T DO IT! I lurked here for a spell, and like you I asked THE QUESTION! Now I think I’ve become (oh my god) ONE OF THEM!

I’ve got so many buckets of wheel weights standing in the garage that my wife can’t get her mini-van in anymore. I’ve got “flat spots” on my pickup tires from skidding to a stop every time I see a WW lying next to the curb. I’ve got ingots of lead stacked up like cordwood. I go to antique stores and garage sales lookin’ for cast iron cookware. When I go to a “home improvement” store, the first thing I do is check out the price of 95/5 solder. My truck won’t drive past a tire store or scrap yard. I stare at the wall dreaming of bullet lube ingredients, lead alloys and fluxes. I’ve just about ruined every bit of clothing I own from hauling scrap lead, even my Sunday go-to-meetin’ jeans.

Now these guys have me standing in my driveway, over a lead pot, under a full moon, in the nude. I had to go buy a thong for the upcoming Harvest Moon. My daughter’s afraid of me now because, out on the porch I’ve got Newt Eyes drying in the sun.

I spend hours on the net drooling over molds (moulds?) and lube sizers and melters and..... I think my wife is real close to having me committed (her sister is a lawyer and they look at me and whisper a lot now).

AND I JUST CAST MY FIRST BOOLIT TEN WEEKS AGO! Man, life as you know it will end when you start playing with molten metal! But why am I tellin’ you this, it’s too late for you, ‘cause you already asked THE QUESTION! Welcome to the fold, you’re gonna’ need a support group for the addiction, but you’ve already found us.

Oh, and try not to spend the milk money on a new mold, the wife gets kind’a upset.

:kidding:

[VTDW]

Jim,

Pay attention to Whitespider dude!! I have been trying to learn to cast for about a year and a half and am still trying. Something has got into my bloodstream. It ain't hard but it is a deep subject to say the least...just like reloading.

I shoot big bore Marlins and have settled on hardcast boolits so my alloy has become 50/50 wheelweights/linotype for simplicity. I also shoot the same boolits in my Redhawk .44Mag.

I am waiting on a group buy mold ..... Be forewarned, the madness never goes away.:mrgreen:

Dave

[USARO4]

Jim, ignore Whitespider. His symptons, while quite severe, are only the initial stages of lead addiction. He will soon pass into the next phase of his affliction and will become oblivious to everything around him that is not remotely related to cast boolits and all the accoutrements necessary for their care and well being, ie, more guns, more reloading equipment, gunsmithing tools, etc. At this point he will degenerate into actually encouraging innocents into his addiction. I have been following his case closely and can say without reservation he is one of us.

[RayinNH]

Whitespider, it's not you man. It's just the rest of the world that's crazy...Ray
:castmine:

[Dale53]

Con10der;
Here is a web site from one of our members that explains very well the stuff that you are looking for:

http://goatlipstips.cas-town.com/index.html

Dale53

[Char-Gar]

Buy a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. There is plenty of information, and more, to get you started in casting. After you have read that, ask plenty of questions here, to clear up any grey areas or go deeper into the subject.

[MT Gianni]

Forget what whitespider said about the lube. That is another question that you won't even need to ask for a couple of months. We are not all crazy it's just that I have yet to meet the sane one. Gianni.

[montana_charlie]

i have been lurking here for a while,but honestly the longer i lurk the more confused i get.
That's cuz you want to know everything before you even start...and much of what you read about makes no sense until you have cast some good and bad ones.

Unlike the fighter pilot (who can learn it all in two hours with an Xbox) bullet casting is an incremental learning process where you build on what you found out last time.

If you know for sure that you are going to be a bullet caster, go buy the best from the start. Then set your mind to learning enough about casting to justify the cost.

If you are not sure...and just want to get your feet wet...do it cheaply.

Example of 'cheaply'...
Get (borrow) a used hotplate, and (buy) a small castiron pot. Pick up a Lyman dipper someplace, and get an old spoon for skimming.

If you know what caliber you will try first, find a four-dollar round ball mould in that size...with some handles. (You can always use the balls to slug barrels.)

Melt a handful of wheelweights in your pot and skim off anything that floats to the top. Keep skimming until the surface is shiny and clean. Let the dipper float on top of the metal while you are cleaning it, and heat the mould on the edge of the hotplate burner for a few minutes before trying your first ball.

The mould doesn't have to be at the right temperature. You really need to cast some ugly ones, so you can learn how to fix that.

When you drop the first ball out of the mould, don't touch it! Don't touch any of them until you're done.

When the pot gets too low to dip from, shut everything down and let it all cool. Go wash your hands and have a sandwich while you think about it. Consider everything you just did. Take note of those things that seemed to make sense, and (perhaps) jot down anything that didn't.
Once you are pretty sure you know how you feel about the job...go look at the results.

If you laid those balls out on your towel in the order they were cast, you now have a record of what happened as you progressed.

If the last one is just as ugly as the first, maybe you don't want to cast bullets.
But, if there was improvement, you might (now) feel like this is something you would like to learn how to do.

If the last ball was smooth, round, shiny, and feels kinda 'sexy' as you roll it around in your palm...you're probably hooked...and you might have some talent.
CM

[axman]

Here's a couple of suggestions if you start casting. I'am sure the books will tell you these things.
Always wear safety glasses.
Always have good ventilation.
Always keep moisture away from molten lead.
Always wash hands after casting.
No smoking while casting.
Last but not least always ask questions if you don't know.
This great site was not around when most of us started out fumbling with casting.

[**oneshot**]

Where in PA are you from? I'm in a small town just outside of Susquehanna Pa. I'd be happy to give you some lessons and show you some of the equipment you'll need.