Guardian
03-24-2014, 01:03 AM
Maybe my forum name should have been Glutton for Punishment. Note the date I joined the forum and the date of this post. It's taken me a while to get to this point. Anyway, here's how I spent my weekend:
My Darling Wife ordered me a Magma Master Pot for Christmas. 12 weeks into a 6-8 week wait, the pot arrived last week. In the past 14 months, I managed to acquire other tools needed and think I've got a decent setup. Items include:
fish cooker,
a Roto Metals skimmer (it didn't look that big in the picture),
various cast iron cookware for ingot molds,
welding gloves,
face shield,
above mentioned Master Pot,
Roto Metals thermometer,
Frozone PID (bought primarily for muffle furnace for swaging, but double duty),
Mihec 185/190/200gr 10mm mold,
Mihec 75gr 5.56 Nato Heavy mold,
NOE 95gr 380 mold,
handles for each of the above,
COWW ingots,
pewter ingots,
lead ingots,
60/40 solder ingots,
various pans and containers,
sprue plate lube,
bucket o' sawdust from the woodworking neighbor,
stainless steel spoon for skimming (skimmer above won't even fit in the Magma pot),
and various sundries.
The only thing I didn't have that I wanted was a hot plate. More on that later.
Saturday afternoon, I got the motorcycles out of the garage to get to the one bench area I had room left to set all this up. I finished putting the Master Pot together and noted the mold guide seemed AFU to me. Why would I want to hold the mold the entire time instead of resting it on a shelf? Nevermind that the cutout in said shelf wasn't big enough to allow a 4 cavity Mihec mold to fit and the mold guide on the right side was hitting the pins sticking out the side of the mold. After studying it a bit, I decided to turn the shelf around.
My PID has a 20 amp plug on it due to its intended use with the muffle furnace for annealing bullet jackets. I don't have an extension cord with a 20 amp plug. This isn't an issue with the furnace, as it sits on the floor near the 20 amp wall outlet. I didn't feel like making a trip to the hardware store, so I just decided to do without the PID. I built a bracket out of brass flat stock to hold the thermometer or thermocouple about an inch inboard from the bottom pour spout.
Plugged the Master Pot in and began putting ingots into the pot. About this time, I realized the pot does not have an on/off switch. The walls of the pot were getting warm. Noted. I filled it up with COWW ingots and put a 1/2 lb pewter ingot in it for good measure. Maybe the extra tin is overkill, but it made sense to me to make it as easy on myself as I could (at this point, remember that later).
I noticed the edge of the pot was also getting quite warm. Ok, here's a built in mold warmer. I put the prepped Mihec 10mm mold on the edge of the pot and went to swaging bullet cores while waiting on everything to heat up.
Once melted and showing 700 degrees on the thermometer, I added a handful of sawdust to the melt and stirred it in. A ceiling mounted fan was directed at the pot to blow the smoke out of the garage. Magma included their brand flux with the pot, so a cut off a pea size bit of that as directed and threw it in the pot for good measure. I put on my gloves and face shield and stirred the melt good, being sure to get the bottom and sides of the pot, then skimmed off the **** and threw it in an old coffee can.
Alright! Time to get going. The pot is sitting too low. I can't see the pour spout! I drug out my short stool and adjusted it so I'm at eye level with the spout. My sprue container and bullet container with towel are on the floor, since I didn't have a table of appropriate height. I got the mold off the edge of the pot and went to pouring. Darling Wife is watching with anticipation. The first pour sticks to the sprue plate. I didn't even have half a bullet out of a 4 cav mold. ****! The mold is nowhere near temp. How the heck do those CB people cut the sprue with just a gloved hand? "Darling wife, grab that rubber mallet." Hit the sprue plate, get it open, throw everything in the sprue container. I lost any temp I had gained in that first pour and was probably lower temp than when it came off the pot. Try again. Similar result. Finally, after 4 or 5 more pours, I get to the point the sprue plate is hot enough not to block off before the mold is full. Now we're getting somewhere.
Ok, we'll start separating bullets and sprue.
DW - "Why do they look all wrinkly?"
Me - "'Cause the mold ain't hot enough."
DW - "how do you know that?"
Me - "I read it."
DW - "Well, what are you doing wrong?"
Me - "I don't know, this is my first attempt at this."
DW - "Well, how long will it take to make good ones?"
Me - "I don't know, again, this is the first time I've tried this."
DW - "Well you don't have to be........."
At this point, she decided to leave me to it. I was appreciative. Suddenly, frustration turned to elation! They weren't perfect, but my castings were beginning to resemble a bullet!
I nearly drained a 40-lb capacity pot and I may have had a dozen keepers. Those still had some imperfections, but they weren't terrible in my mind. I put all the bullet sized ingots back in the pot and repeated the process. By the end of the second pot full, I had discovered that frosty is fruitful. I also discovered how to cut a sprue with a gloved hand! It's gotta be hot! That Mihec mold was rockin' and rollin'. The imperfections that were present now were from me dropping the things a foot to the floor. Finally, I didn't throw everything back! After sizing (later) with a Lee sizer, this is what I had:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=100371&d=1395630671
OK. Let's try that other Mihec mold. It took too long to warm that 10mm mold up. I'll try dipping the 5.56 mold in the melt to get it up to temp faster. Folks, brass and lead don't part ways easily. I remembered that about the time the mold touched the melt. Oh well, done it now. I just as well get the benefit. Noted. I need a hot plate.
I got it smokin' hot, then started casting. Those that can't stand to hear or read of a mold being abused, skip to the next paragraph. The first pour, the sprue wouldn't solidify. ****! I waited and waited. Finally, it cooled and then I couldn't open the sprue plate with a gloved hand. Back to using the mallet o' understanding. When I opened the mold, not a single bullet fell out. No big deal, a little tap on the hinge bolt and they'll fall out. Yeah, right! Not happening. After much banging, they all fell out. Try again. Same result. Ok, lets turn a little more heat to the melt. I bumped it up to 750 and kept the mold moving as fast as I could. This is a 6 cavity mold. The center 4 got to the point they would fall on the first strike once I got the mold hot enough I could cut the sprue with a gloved hand. The one on either end wasn't cooperating. I hate to admit this, but by the time I gave up, the Mihec handles were bent from me hitting them with that mallet. I didn't notice until I sat it down. Most of what I cast was trash.
The sprue and obvious culls went back into the pot and some fresh ingot were added. Remember that rubber mallet? Apparently, bits of it were flaking off as it was in use. I dumped that in the pot with the sprue and about ran myself out of the garage! Oops. Noted. A rubber mallet is not the proper tool for this job. I called it a day and began sorting out what I had not thrown back. Here's what I kept of the 5.56:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=100372&d=1395630683
Day 2 began with the search for a hot plate. I located a 900 watt one a Target for $20. I also picked up a large sheet cake pan to drop the bullets into. Back at home, I plugged the pot in and got it warming up. I unboxed the hot plate, set it up, plugged it in, and put the NOE 95gr 380 mold and Mihec 5.56 mold on it. I went to swaging bullet cores while waiting for everything to warm up. Not 5 minutes later, the lights go out. ****! I didn't think about how much I was putting on one circuit. Noted.
I checked the breaker panel, no breaker was tripped. WTH? Knowing the other weird wiring in this house, I guessed a relay must have been installed by the previous owner. I drug out the ladder and made my way into the garage attic. Sure enough, there's a 5 amp relay. How I had not fried it previously, I have no idea. The show must go on, so out come the extension cords. This time, I made sure I was on different circuits.
I finally got everything warmed up and resumed my casting lessons. I lubed the sprue plate on the NOE mold and got started. The first pour wouldn't solidify. Well, no big deal, I know what causes that. Let it cool a bit. Now it won't open by hand! Ok, a little faster. Darling wife notices my frustration with bending over from my stool to the containers on the floor. She brings me a 20mm ammo can. Why didn't I think of that yesterday? I don't know why the Good Lord saw fit to put us together, but she certainly got the short end of that stick. :bigsmyl2:
The 380s started dropping nicely fairly quickly. I ran a couple hundred and then swapped back to the 5.56 mold. It ran better today, but it's still sticking on the end cavities. A couple whacks with a leather mallet get them to fall, but it's hard work to get them. I've about decided to abandon the idea of using these to replace 22LR and just swage bullets for rifles. I've got a mold coming from 338RUM that I'll try, but maybe 5.56 isn't worth the effort.
I switched back to the 380s and finished off the pot. Here's a pic of the 380s before sorting:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=100370&d=1395630656
I loaded up the pot again and switched back to the 10mm. I forgot I had turned the pot temp up yesterday and my first cast was still slushy when I opened the mold. When that hit the towel in the container, it was like they had been shot into a steel plate. I turned the pot back down to 700, eventually ending up at 675 to speed things up. I emptied the pot again and had a low percentage of obvious culls, but I still need to sort them.
It was a fun learning experience. I'm hooked on casting for pistols. Maybe the rifle caliber casting was just a bit too much.
Thanks to all for the wealth of information on this site! I've learned a lot, even from the "first cast" posts. We'll see where it goes from here.
My Darling Wife ordered me a Magma Master Pot for Christmas. 12 weeks into a 6-8 week wait, the pot arrived last week. In the past 14 months, I managed to acquire other tools needed and think I've got a decent setup. Items include:
fish cooker,
a Roto Metals skimmer (it didn't look that big in the picture),
various cast iron cookware for ingot molds,
welding gloves,
face shield,
above mentioned Master Pot,
Roto Metals thermometer,
Frozone PID (bought primarily for muffle furnace for swaging, but double duty),
Mihec 185/190/200gr 10mm mold,
Mihec 75gr 5.56 Nato Heavy mold,
NOE 95gr 380 mold,
handles for each of the above,
COWW ingots,
pewter ingots,
lead ingots,
60/40 solder ingots,
various pans and containers,
sprue plate lube,
bucket o' sawdust from the woodworking neighbor,
stainless steel spoon for skimming (skimmer above won't even fit in the Magma pot),
and various sundries.
The only thing I didn't have that I wanted was a hot plate. More on that later.
Saturday afternoon, I got the motorcycles out of the garage to get to the one bench area I had room left to set all this up. I finished putting the Master Pot together and noted the mold guide seemed AFU to me. Why would I want to hold the mold the entire time instead of resting it on a shelf? Nevermind that the cutout in said shelf wasn't big enough to allow a 4 cavity Mihec mold to fit and the mold guide on the right side was hitting the pins sticking out the side of the mold. After studying it a bit, I decided to turn the shelf around.
My PID has a 20 amp plug on it due to its intended use with the muffle furnace for annealing bullet jackets. I don't have an extension cord with a 20 amp plug. This isn't an issue with the furnace, as it sits on the floor near the 20 amp wall outlet. I didn't feel like making a trip to the hardware store, so I just decided to do without the PID. I built a bracket out of brass flat stock to hold the thermometer or thermocouple about an inch inboard from the bottom pour spout.
Plugged the Master Pot in and began putting ingots into the pot. About this time, I realized the pot does not have an on/off switch. The walls of the pot were getting warm. Noted. I filled it up with COWW ingots and put a 1/2 lb pewter ingot in it for good measure. Maybe the extra tin is overkill, but it made sense to me to make it as easy on myself as I could (at this point, remember that later).
I noticed the edge of the pot was also getting quite warm. Ok, here's a built in mold warmer. I put the prepped Mihec 10mm mold on the edge of the pot and went to swaging bullet cores while waiting on everything to heat up.
Once melted and showing 700 degrees on the thermometer, I added a handful of sawdust to the melt and stirred it in. A ceiling mounted fan was directed at the pot to blow the smoke out of the garage. Magma included their brand flux with the pot, so a cut off a pea size bit of that as directed and threw it in the pot for good measure. I put on my gloves and face shield and stirred the melt good, being sure to get the bottom and sides of the pot, then skimmed off the **** and threw it in an old coffee can.
Alright! Time to get going. The pot is sitting too low. I can't see the pour spout! I drug out my short stool and adjusted it so I'm at eye level with the spout. My sprue container and bullet container with towel are on the floor, since I didn't have a table of appropriate height. I got the mold off the edge of the pot and went to pouring. Darling Wife is watching with anticipation. The first pour sticks to the sprue plate. I didn't even have half a bullet out of a 4 cav mold. ****! The mold is nowhere near temp. How the heck do those CB people cut the sprue with just a gloved hand? "Darling wife, grab that rubber mallet." Hit the sprue plate, get it open, throw everything in the sprue container. I lost any temp I had gained in that first pour and was probably lower temp than when it came off the pot. Try again. Similar result. Finally, after 4 or 5 more pours, I get to the point the sprue plate is hot enough not to block off before the mold is full. Now we're getting somewhere.
Ok, we'll start separating bullets and sprue.
DW - "Why do they look all wrinkly?"
Me - "'Cause the mold ain't hot enough."
DW - "how do you know that?"
Me - "I read it."
DW - "Well, what are you doing wrong?"
Me - "I don't know, this is my first attempt at this."
DW - "Well, how long will it take to make good ones?"
Me - "I don't know, again, this is the first time I've tried this."
DW - "Well you don't have to be........."
At this point, she decided to leave me to it. I was appreciative. Suddenly, frustration turned to elation! They weren't perfect, but my castings were beginning to resemble a bullet!
I nearly drained a 40-lb capacity pot and I may have had a dozen keepers. Those still had some imperfections, but they weren't terrible in my mind. I put all the bullet sized ingots back in the pot and repeated the process. By the end of the second pot full, I had discovered that frosty is fruitful. I also discovered how to cut a sprue with a gloved hand! It's gotta be hot! That Mihec mold was rockin' and rollin'. The imperfections that were present now were from me dropping the things a foot to the floor. Finally, I didn't throw everything back! After sizing (later) with a Lee sizer, this is what I had:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=100371&d=1395630671
OK. Let's try that other Mihec mold. It took too long to warm that 10mm mold up. I'll try dipping the 5.56 mold in the melt to get it up to temp faster. Folks, brass and lead don't part ways easily. I remembered that about the time the mold touched the melt. Oh well, done it now. I just as well get the benefit. Noted. I need a hot plate.
I got it smokin' hot, then started casting. Those that can't stand to hear or read of a mold being abused, skip to the next paragraph. The first pour, the sprue wouldn't solidify. ****! I waited and waited. Finally, it cooled and then I couldn't open the sprue plate with a gloved hand. Back to using the mallet o' understanding. When I opened the mold, not a single bullet fell out. No big deal, a little tap on the hinge bolt and they'll fall out. Yeah, right! Not happening. After much banging, they all fell out. Try again. Same result. Ok, lets turn a little more heat to the melt. I bumped it up to 750 and kept the mold moving as fast as I could. This is a 6 cavity mold. The center 4 got to the point they would fall on the first strike once I got the mold hot enough I could cut the sprue with a gloved hand. The one on either end wasn't cooperating. I hate to admit this, but by the time I gave up, the Mihec handles were bent from me hitting them with that mallet. I didn't notice until I sat it down. Most of what I cast was trash.
The sprue and obvious culls went back into the pot and some fresh ingot were added. Remember that rubber mallet? Apparently, bits of it were flaking off as it was in use. I dumped that in the pot with the sprue and about ran myself out of the garage! Oops. Noted. A rubber mallet is not the proper tool for this job. I called it a day and began sorting out what I had not thrown back. Here's what I kept of the 5.56:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=100372&d=1395630683
Day 2 began with the search for a hot plate. I located a 900 watt one a Target for $20. I also picked up a large sheet cake pan to drop the bullets into. Back at home, I plugged the pot in and got it warming up. I unboxed the hot plate, set it up, plugged it in, and put the NOE 95gr 380 mold and Mihec 5.56 mold on it. I went to swaging bullet cores while waiting for everything to warm up. Not 5 minutes later, the lights go out. ****! I didn't think about how much I was putting on one circuit. Noted.
I checked the breaker panel, no breaker was tripped. WTH? Knowing the other weird wiring in this house, I guessed a relay must have been installed by the previous owner. I drug out the ladder and made my way into the garage attic. Sure enough, there's a 5 amp relay. How I had not fried it previously, I have no idea. The show must go on, so out come the extension cords. This time, I made sure I was on different circuits.
I finally got everything warmed up and resumed my casting lessons. I lubed the sprue plate on the NOE mold and got started. The first pour wouldn't solidify. Well, no big deal, I know what causes that. Let it cool a bit. Now it won't open by hand! Ok, a little faster. Darling wife notices my frustration with bending over from my stool to the containers on the floor. She brings me a 20mm ammo can. Why didn't I think of that yesterday? I don't know why the Good Lord saw fit to put us together, but she certainly got the short end of that stick. :bigsmyl2:
The 380s started dropping nicely fairly quickly. I ran a couple hundred and then swapped back to the 5.56 mold. It ran better today, but it's still sticking on the end cavities. A couple whacks with a leather mallet get them to fall, but it's hard work to get them. I've about decided to abandon the idea of using these to replace 22LR and just swage bullets for rifles. I've got a mold coming from 338RUM that I'll try, but maybe 5.56 isn't worth the effort.
I switched back to the 380s and finished off the pot. Here's a pic of the 380s before sorting:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=100370&d=1395630656
I loaded up the pot again and switched back to the 10mm. I forgot I had turned the pot temp up yesterday and my first cast was still slushy when I opened the mold. When that hit the towel in the container, it was like they had been shot into a steel plate. I turned the pot back down to 700, eventually ending up at 675 to speed things up. I emptied the pot again and had a low percentage of obvious culls, but I still need to sort them.
It was a fun learning experience. I'm hooked on casting for pistols. Maybe the rifle caliber casting was just a bit too much.
Thanks to all for the wealth of information on this site! I've learned a lot, even from the "first cast" posts. We'll see where it goes from here.