Oddest material you've seen someone make a mold out of?

[capt.hollis]

Just been wondering what you've seen used other than brass, steel, or aluminum?

[USAFrox]

Cast iron. ;-)

[375RUGER]

Who's molds are steel?
How about slug moulds made from sockets. Or a bored hard wood board for pouring a 12ga slug.

[capt.hollis]

Who's molds are steel?
How about slug moulds made from sockets. Or a bored hard wood board for pouring a 12ga slug.hard wood huh?

[capt.hollis]

Anyone ever try to make there own ?

[waksupi]

I have a round ball mold made of soap stone.

[capt.hollis]

I have a round ball mold made of soap stone.
Did you make that yourself

[NoZombies]

I was gonna mention soapstone, but Waksupi beat me to it. I've got a mold I made out of graphite. One maker (B&M I think) used to make molds out of solid nickel.

[Randy in Arizona]

In my misspent youth (the statute of limitations has long since expired) I made a 1" pipe cannon.
I cast the slugs using a couple of pine 2x4 chunks screwed together with a 7/8" hole bored from the end.
The slugs weighed 2500 to 3000 grains.
I forget the load but the recoil kept breaking the 2x4 the tube was strapped onto.
IIRC I was getting about 11" to 12" of penetration in old utility pole stubs out in the undeveloped area North of the housing development.
One shot at an old wrecked and crumpled car penetrated at least 7 layers of sheet metal.
I quit playing with the pipe cannon when I got a Savage 340 in 222 Remington.


67

[375RUGER]

Awesome. I'm glad you still peck at the keyboard to tell us about it.

[country gent]

Ive seen molds made out of materials you wouldnt believe in industry. For starting casting we used to use plaster of paris. Polymer parts were a rubber mold. I have used wood for molds using epoxys or fiberglass. Used carbon to make a mold for gold terminals at work also. Sand was the mold medium for quite awhile also. WIth sand the accuracy of the form and packing of the sand made how accurate the mold was. Alot of parts are investment cast a wax image coated in ceramic slurry then the wax is melted out and mold is filled with metal. Hmm maybe another use for powder coatings there. As to bullet molds Iron cast brass bronze aluminum have all been used. Some were carved from sand stone in the early years as it was easy to work with.

[waksupi]

Did you make that yourself


Yes, I made it myself. It's not perfect by any means, but will work for primitive outings.

[grumman581]

I've seen folks make ingot molds out of sand. They take a piece of wood, cut it down to the size they want for the ingots, and then press it into a large shallow "tray" of sand. Using standard masonry / play sand, it doesn't come out as well as the green sand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_sand_%28casting%29#Green_sand) type of casting, but it works well enough for them, I guess.

[bhn22]

I made a one-time mold from 3/8 kiln dried oak one day to prove a point. A friend had asked me what I'd do if I didn't have my casting stuff and I needed ammunition. He was hinting heavily about some sort of Goobermint confiscation, and I thought it might be time for an object lesson for him. I took the piece of 3/8 oak and drilled six 3/8 holes in it, then I clamped a piece of aluminum to block the holes on one side and I poured molten lead in the holes, trying to make them as even as possible. I popped them out when they cooled and rolled them between two files to reduce the diameter to fit through the throats of my .357 revolver. I ended up with somewhat misshapen wadcutters for my effort, textured to hold lube. I smeared a little grease on the sides of the bullets and loaded them with the squarest end down. I used Bullseye, but I could just as easily (almost) used match heads to rebuild the primers and for propellent. We took them out shooting, and they did okay out to about 20 feet or so. I didn't push my luck, but I proved my point.

[M-Tecs]

Plastic bottles filled with concrete for use in 1870 artillery.

[oldfart1956]

Would you believe...Styrofoam and sand? Long ago and far away in my misspent youth I found out that the little styrofoam balls that they sell in craft stores can be buried in sand and then a small dowel used to make a hole down thru the sand to the ball. When lead is melted and poured down said hole the ball magically disappears and what remains is a nice ball with a sprue that needs cut. A piece of pipe and a welder and a decided lack of judgement and whallah....we have a cannon. It is true God watches over drunks and fools, I am living proof. (sober now going on 8 years) Audie...the Oldfool....

[theperfessor]

When I was a kid my neighbor and I made a shot put mold out of a cocoanut. Drilled a hole to let the juice out, let it dry a few days, and then filled it with hot lead. It stunk up their basement and made a fist sized silver "brain". Fun to throw around as intended, not so much fun to catch.

[grumman581]

Would you believe...Styrofoam and sand? Long ago and far away in my misspent youth I found out that the little styrofoam balls that they sell in craft stores can be buried in sand and then a small dowel used to make a hole down thru the sand to the ball. When lead is melted and poured down said hole the ball magically disappears and what remains is a nice ball with a sprue that needs cut. A piece of pipe and a welder and a decided lack of judgement and whallah....we have a cannon. It is true God watches over drunks and fools, I am living proof. (sober now going on 8 years) Audie...the Oldfool....

I guess that would be called "lost Styrofoam casting"? :)

Quite ingenious...

What diameter projectile were you using?

What wall thickness pipe?

I've heard that a general rule of thumb for such things is that the wall thickness of the barrel should be the caliber of the projectile. Not sure if the chamber portion should be thicker.

[oldfart1956]

I guess that would be called "lost Styrofoam casting"? :)

Quite ingenious...

What diameter projectile were you using?

What wall thickness pipe?

I've heard that a general rule of thumb for such things is that the wall thickness of the barrel should be the caliber of the projectile. Not sure if the chamber portion should be thicker. Grumman this project originally started out as a way to make downrigger balls for fishing for stripers on Raystown Lake. We tried quite a few different sizes. The pipe happened to be just an odd piece found in the local dump...mebbe 3in. inside. Think it might have been a tool used to ram metal fence posts. I wouldn't wish anyone to emulate this stoopid trick as it is/was patently unsafe even with the low pressure of black powder. Now if one had a real cannon and was looking for fodder the casting method works and the balls are sold in many sizes. They sell them in craft stores to make Christmas balls or snowmen/etc. Be forewarned not to be peering too close to the pour due to fumes and flashback from the ignighting Styrofoam. It can take a while for eyebrows to grow back. Audie...the Oldfart..

[grumman581]

Grumman this project originally started out as a way to make downrigger balls for fishing for stripers on Raystown Lake. We tried quite a few different sizes. The pipe happened to be just an odd piece found in the local dump...mebbe 3in. inside. Think it might have been a tool used to ram metal fence posts. I wouldn't wish anyone to emulate this stoopid trick as it is/was patently unsafe even with the low pressure of black powder. Now if one had a real cannon and was looking for fodder the casting method works and the balls are sold in many sizes. They sell them in craft stores to make Christmas balls or snowmen/etc. Be forewarned not to be peering too close to the pour due to fumes and flashback from the ignighting Styrofoam. It can take a while for eyebrows to grow back. Audie...the Oldfart..

OK... I think I'll pass on that one... Sounds like you lucked out and didn't create yourself a pipe bomb in that experiment.

[capt.hollis]

I knew there would be quite a few different stories out there . Interesting guys very interesting.