Morning Casting

[koehlerrk]

Normally, all of my casting has been done in the afternoon or evening.

Today, I woke up with that crazy urge to play with molten lead, so I went out to the garage, lit the pot, and came in and ate some breakfast.

After I ate, the pot was hot, so I commenced a casting...

and proceeded to cast about 15 pounds of the finest cast boolits I think I've ever made!

Just got "in the groove" and everything was running beautifully, even one of the molds I own that can be fussy.

Maybe it was because it was early morning and I was all fresh and relaxed, dunno, but man what a wonderful way to start the day!

[Tatume]

It's a good time to beat the heat too. I don't know where you are, but here it's roasting hot in the afternoon.

[45 Shooter]

Interesting how getting in the groove can produce some nice boolits. Once i'm there i'll cast for hours, non stop. On the other hand i've had sessions that I couldn't find the groove and just put it all away and threw a ton of rejects back in the pot.

[grumman581]

I usually cast in the evenings and during the cooler parts of the year. I don't cast in the mornings for a couple of reasons:


I'm not a morning person and by the time I have my caffeine level up high enough to consider working with molten lead, it's already afternoon (at least). :)
I consider my casting time a time to relax and have a beer. I don't drink beer in the morning. The earliest I will drink is late afternoon.

[10mmShooter]

I start by 730 am, 30 min for pot to heat, casting by 8AM...usually go about 4-5 hours and then break for lunch, usually like to cast 800-1000 per session. I like to be awake and sharp when casting, so morning is better for me.

[koehlerrk]

Well Tatume, I live in UPSTATE New York... aka, the 95% of the sate that gets forgotten about by the goons in Albany and NYC. As for weather, this past week we were above 90 and closing on 100... dang hot by any standards. It's cooled off a bit this weekend, so that's why I cranked the pot back up.

45 Shooter, I know what you mean. I hated to shut down this morning, but I had to go pick up my daughter from a sleep-over...

Grumman581, sorry, but I don't allow beverages near my lead pot... seems like too much of an invitation for a visit from the Tinsel Fairy. To each his own, but my normal timing of evening casting means I do like a brew after some time with the lead pot.

10mmShooter, you sir, are a casting machine. Most I can do is about two hours.... by then I need a break.

[grumman581]

Grumman581, sorry, but I don't allow beverages near my lead pot... seems like too much of an invitation for a visit from the Tinsel Fairy. To each his own, but my normal timing of evening casting means I do like a brew after some time with the lead pot.


I keep the beer in a can or bottle and it on a small table near the 5g bucket of water that I quench the bullets in. I don't put it on the same table as my casting pot.

[koehlerrk]

I keep the beer in a can or bottle and it on a small table near the 5g bucket of water that I quench the bullets in. I don't put it on the same table as my casting pot.

Ahhh, that makes more sense, thanks for clarifying that. See, I've only got the table I have my lead pot set up on, no other work surfaces nearby...

[cummins05]

The only time to cast here in Tx is before and after the sun comes up

[alfloyd]

"The only time to cast here in Tx is before and after the sun comes up"

So, that means that you cast ANY time of the day? :)
Or do you mean you only cast when the sun is not shinning? :kidding:"

Lafaun

[MaryB]

Did a 10 pound run today, ~6 pounds of 452 200 grain, a pound of 312 TL 160 grain to break in a new mold, and 3 pounds of 120 grain 356 TC. Got into a groove on the 452 and did a pound more than planned :razz: Fought with the new Lee 160 grain mold until I settled on hotter casting temps. The 356 mold has dropped over 5,000 boolits so far so that one is old hat other than one of the handles came loose and the wood cracked. Quick fix with a hose clamp to finish casting then after it cooled I did a better repair with gorilla glue and a smaller hose clamp that fit better. :redneck:

[ku4hx]

After I retired and caught up on my sleep, I would have casting sessions at 2:00-3:00 AM. Wife was working out of town and not retired yet so I did what I wanted when I wanted, within certain bounds, and casting in the cool and quiet wee hours of the morning was quite nice.

[grumman581]

Ahhh, that makes more sense, thanks for clarifying that. See, I've only got the table I have my lead pot set up on, no other work surfaces nearby...

It's nothing fancy... Just a small end table (think really short legged bar stool) that a previous deadbeat tenant left at a house that I had rented out. Maybe only 12"x12" on the top, but that's plenty of room for my beer, even if I'm drinking an oil can of Foster's Bitter. A couple of *real* milk crates stacked upside down would work just as well. It kind of looks like this design (but not as nice):

http://ana-white.com/sites/default/files/images/adirondack%20stool%201.png

I was going to throw it away with the rest of the junk that the deadbeats had walked out on, but I found that it was sturdy enough for me to stand on when I needed to remove some nails that they had left in the walls. Turns out that it is just the right size as an easily movable end table for beers while I'm casting and if I ever destroy it, I won't care... :)

[grumman581]

At one time when I cast, after I had dried off the bullets and separated out the rejects, I would count the bullets and put a known quantity in a zip-lock bag. That got fairly old after awhile, so I just use a higher capacity digital scale and measure out a constant total weight regardless of what caliber and weight each round might be. For the size zip-lock bags that I'm using, 100 oz seems to be about right -- that gives me around 795 rounds of .223 or 234 rounds of .45 in a bag.

[1Shirt]

I prefer to cast in the early morning also. Mind is clear, temps are down, garage is cool, and coffee is in a sipper mug. Life is good!
1Shirt!