How the mould was made

[4060MAY]

I'll try to write this as best as I can, I'm not good at words in writing.

The mould blocks were made out of the test slip from a stamping die block, about 12 x 6 x 8inches, sawn into strips about 2" square. My part of the job is to machine the blocks to the required size, make them square, cut the slot for the handles, install the alignment pins using 3/16" hardened dowel pins.
The sprue plate is ordered from Lyman as a rebuild kit for $5.00 or so from Midsouth, includes all the hardware, screws etc. I don't like spring washers on the mould and use a metric washer to allow the sprue plate to swing.
The hard part is having a DRO Mill, enter my friend, Steve. Mould maker since 1963, mostly investment casting stuff.
In his shop we set the blocks up in a vise with stops to be able to insert the blocks back into the same place.

The Center is found and a hole is predrilled to allow the cutter to do the nose first, then the body is cut with another cutter ground for the dia required.

The cutter on the left is the large dia, in this case .399 which is .001 under my bore dia, allowing me to patch to groove dia of .408

After reading Brent's website about PP, it looks like a step is a good way to set up the patch, hence the nose cutter is made about .005 smaller in dia., the nose was kind of copied form a 311299.

Hope this helps.

Chuck

[4060MAY]

some better pictures of the mold

[zuke]

And how much will you be charging for these.....................:mrgreen:

[jhrosier]

Nice job Chuck, and good write-up.
How did you do the venting?

Jack

[4060MAY]

fly cutter set at .001-.002 deep, turning slow, and cranked the table, one side right to left, other side left to right.
Mould casts very easy, tap the handles and the bullets drop right out. the trick is to get it on center.

Zuke
not yet

[zuke]

Now if you could do a bit more figuring, what about making up an adjustable core weight mold?
You could cast a light 250ish or go as heavy as you can.

[4060MAY]

Zuke
That would have to be a nose pour and I'm not there yet.

maybe for the .38-50

Chuck

[Buckshot]

.................Great picts. Good writeup, but more questions.

What were the blocks made of? Don't just say steel or cast iron :-)

You did them on a vertical mill?

You setup the vise and indicated in one block face true, used that vertical axis for center, placed the other block and then bored, or what?

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

[4060MAY]

Buckshot
This particular set of blocks were made from a test slip I got from a friend who worked as a die maker for stamping dies. you know the 15' x 20' dies for bumpers, hoods, body parts etc. on the four corners there are u shaped pieces called slips, for lifting and when removed to verify the metal content and structure by a metalographer. So the answer is really fine grained cast iron, this is a s best as I can tell. I now have another source of iron, the tree from investment castings, with a known content.

The slips were cut into strips 1.5 x 3/4 x 8, and machined parallel, then I made sure the two mating surfaces were square, set the blocks up in the mill and drilled the alignment pin holes, reamed dia for 3/16 dowel pins and drove them in, then paralleled the rest of the block, now having two pieces making a block 1.5 x 1.25 x 8 with align. holes and pins, then cut the slot for the handles .320W x .300D, then cut the blocks into equal pieces on a saw, the mill the saw cuts square.

The blocks are hopefully square to all sides especially the mating halves.

Set the blocks up in a milling vise, indicate the center on both X,Y, and drill a clearance hole.

The hard part is I have access to a tool grinder and a person who knows how to use it.

using a two fluted mill cutter, he ground the nose with clearance, punched it to depth, then ground a straight cutter to the dia we wanted and punched it to depth.

This is for a straight sided mould. the GG moulds we made were done on a CNC lathe. when we do the next one I'll try to take pictures.

I have used old mould blocks to make different bullets using what I was told is a Dutchman, a lot harder holding any tolerance and the nose got flat because I wasn't paying attention, bullet shot OK at 200 on the chickens.
HTH

Chuck

[Buckshot]

.............Chuck, thank you kindly for taking the time to put all that down. The more ways you hear about doing a particular job, the eaiser it is to do when it's your turn :-)

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

[EDK]

The more you learn about cutting a mould, the more you appreciate the skill involved to make a good one.

I'm looking at paper patch moulds for my BIG 50 Shiloh and saw the pictures of the mould Rick Kalynuik contributed to the auction. I just got his brochure and it is impressive. I'm learning a lot from it and asking questions of co-workers who did tool-and-die work in the past. Right now, it is the "know enough to be dangerous" stage...and I'd like to get through that in one piece!

Thanks for your excellent pictures and text. Your mould looks great.

:castmine: :Fire: