Made a HP spud, sorta

[Bret4207]

My recent acquisition of a 45/70 led me to hunt up the 457122 HP I bought a while back. The HP spud was missing. Well, being the panicky sort I had to make something to make boolits. A #28 drill bit, shank end fit the spud hole fine. A countersink for wood drill bits was found that fit the drill shank. The counter sink might have damaged the mould so the search was on for a washer to guard the counter sink. A pop-rivet washer fit fine. A hunka broom handle for a grip and it looks like it'll work fine. I went for a flat nose profile and got a slight dimple, but thats cool. I can always get another drill bit and make a HP spud.

Buckshot the Master Machinist I ain't, but it'll work.:mrgreen:

[Buckshot]

...............Sounds like it orta work. How are you holding the handle and pin to the bottom of the blocks?

..............Buckshot

[Bret4207]

The washer fits under the stop screw. Gonna try it. Might need some tweaking. If it works okay I will hunt up some brass rod and make a more permanent rig. The drill bit spud was the biggest question for me.

[Bret4207]

It worked. Pretty good too.

[Bret4207]

Yesterday was a cruddy day, family issues. But I did cast 30 or so up. The mould is one of those easy to use Ideals that probably has a zillion boolits through it before it came to me. The spud, pin I suppose is the more common term, worked fine. I do need to make a more permanent set up. The pin leaves a dimple in the nose about 1/16" deep, maybe 3/32", and is about 1/8"+/- wide. I'll have to invert a term for the dimple and patent it. "Martins Marvelous Mushroom Masher" or something along those lines. Veral, Beartooth, Buffalo Bore probably tremble at the thought.

The only thing I found is that I have to use a different set up for casting. My bench is too high to dip off of. I have a small table that should work fine. At least I got some casting time in.