My first dozen of cast boolits, ever....horrible!

[Blood Trail]

Ok, this is my very first stab at casting boolits. I using the 1 oz Lee keyed slug mold. My results were less that awesome. I suspect I failed to properly prep my mold. I did the lighter to make spot thing. But in the directions, the picture looked like they put a ball of allox in the mold, which is what I did. Also, don't think I have the proper pour rate. At any rate, I'm all ears for pointers. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/23/yjuny3y3.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/23/uvahu6an.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/23/asesemep.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/23/uva9u2u6.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/23/ypyvy7uq.jpg

[stubert]

Your mold is way to cold or still has oil in it.

[hermans]

You should spend a few hours reading up on this forum about how to prepare your mold, also about the correct temperature of the mold and alloy before you start casting. This should give you the right "tools" to get a much better yield from the outset.
I agree with Stubert all the way on the mold being way too cold as well as not prepped properly.

[Maximumbob54]

With an aluminum mold (never with brass or iron) dip the mold in the lead and see if it sticks or not. If the mold dips into the lead and the lead just cleanly falls away then both the mold and the lead should be hot enough. If the lead sticks to the mold then one or the other isn't hot enough. You can use a solid top hot plate (bought mine at walmart) and set the mold blocks on that to heat up. I use mine at about three quarters strength and that's worked well enough. Depending on alloy and casting speed I find that I cast best at between 700 and 800 degrees. If your bullets start dropping and instead of a shine to them they have a dull frosted look then you are casting a bit too hot but they will still be just fine. I use that as the tell tale sign of when to lower the furnace temp. Aluminum gives up heat really fast but also takes it in fast each pour. Pour as fast as you can and as much as you can and leave a good amount of puddle for the sprue plate to keep up temp as it will draw out heat from the mold. If you are using the Lee dipper then while yes it will work it's very small and doesn't hold much lead. A rowel side pouring ladel will work much better. If you are using a bottom pour then keep the lead level as filled as you can for gravity to do the work of forcing the lead out at a steady flow and not to slow down. You want the mold blocks as clean as you can get. Scrub them with Dawn dish soap to remove any oil at all. Ignore the alox trickery you saw. The one and only trick I've found to work well is use either a wooden match or a butane lighter to give a bit of soot coating to the inside of the mold being sure not to clog the vent lines in the mold. Don't over do this trick though or it will lead to more trouble. But really a mold that is up to temp with lead up to temp should just drop the bullets with minimal effort on your part. Never strike the mold blocks to knock out the bullet, instead strike the mold handle where the bolt holds them together. Last, check the mold for burrs that need to be gently smoothed down. Lee molds are great and even better for the price but sometimes do need a little love to really work well. Search the forum and there are dozens of tricks on making them run even better. I'm forgetting to mention that since that's such a large amount of lead per pour that you may need to run it just a bit hotter then usual so the lead doesn't cool too fast.

[Tom Myers]

But in the directions, the picture looked like they put a ball of allox in the mold, which is what I did.

I have found that cleaning all of the oil or grease from a mold is the single most important problem I have with a new mold. The cavity must be squeaky clean. After cleaning with a solvent such as mineral spirits, I brush the cavities thoroughly with a tooth brush and dish soap, rinse, boil in water and then, just maybe, all the oil, grease and crud is gone. Before casting, I preheat the mold on a hot plate or on the rim of the smelting pot to around 380 ~ 400 degrees . The mold should then begin to cast well and I can start experimenting with pouring and casting techniques that work best with that particular mold.

Hope this helps.

[Bullshop]

With all those wrinkles you must have gotten a batch of very old lead. Try to find some young lead. If you cant find young lead maybe an application of wrinkle cream to the mold would help.
Avoid smoking as smoking can cause premature wrinkles.
Mayhaps the best advice I could give is to avoid all advice I have given and listen to the tons of better advice I know you will get.
Perseverance is the yellow brick road to success!

[docone31]

I soak the molds in mineral spirits for a day, then, when casting, I heat soak the mold. To do this, I set the mold on my melt and heat it up.
In general, six seconds to freeze on sprue. Too slow, too hot, too fast, too cold.

[Wayne Smith]

I once had a mid-term Philosophy test with the last question a paragraph long. The last line of the instructions said "Do not answer this question." I think maybe three of us didn't. Yeah, ignore the wrinkle cream suggestion.

Tom is right - get all that alox out of the mold. It should be bare naked metal. I use brake cleaner. A good soap and hot water will often work, and alcohol can too. Scrub it with a tooth brush to get the solvent into all the crooks and cavities in the mold. Let it dry.

Now get your pot heat up to about 650-670 degrees and put the mold on a hotplate while the lead is heating. If you are using a bottom pour get a good ladle (RCBS or Lyman will work) and dip out of the top of your pot. You are probably right, you are not getting enough lead in the mold fast enough but if the mold is not clean that won't matter.

[jdgabbard]

With all those wrinkles you must have gotten a batch of very old lead. Try to find some young lead. If you cant find young lead maybe an application of wrinkle cream to the mold would help.
Avoid smoking as smoking can cause premature wrinkles.
Mayhaps the best advice I could give is to avoid all advice I have given and listen to the tons of better advice I know you will get.
Perseverance is the yellow brick road to success!

Bullshop, you crack me up, man.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

carefully clean the mold. (no smoke, no alox)
then pre-heat your CLEAN mold before you start casting.

that'll solve your problems

[osteodoc08]

Clean with brake cleaner, preheat, and retry. You WILL have better luck and it WILL get better.

[trucker76]

First, yeah get all that **** out of your mold. I use a spray degreaser, it's actually action cleaner for my guns. Then I set my mold sprue plate down on top of my furnace while it's melting the lead. My first dozen or so casts go right into the sprue pot. After that it's smooth sailing.

[snuffy]

Okay, you picked the most hard-to-cast boolit made by Lee for your first try. They CAN be made well;

103009

103010

103011

That mold HAS to be hot. It also has to be clean, and NOT smoked.
I think Lee has smoked something he shouldn't. Once those conditions are accomplished, it does not matter how fast the alloy is poured. Mine does fine at the same rate as with any other mold.

[Pb2au]

That mold wants the heat.
Snuffy is absolutely correct. That mold can be a bear to get to behave.
Once you get the heat up on the mold, you may run into the slug hanging on the core. I found with mine I had to polish it carefully, as it was burred heavily. Once I did that, it started to cooperate.

[montana_charlie]

the picture looked like they put a ball of allox in the mold, which is what i did.
Don't Do That ...

[bangerjim]

Okay, you picked the most hard-to-cast boolit made by Lee for your first try. They CAN be made well;

103009

103010

103011

That mold HAS to be hot. It also has to be clean, and NOT smoked.
I think Lee has smoked something he shouldn't. Once those conditions are accomplished, it does not matter how fast the alloy is poured. Mine does fine at the same rate as with any other mold.

Agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Most difficult Lee mold to use of them all. I have one!!!!!! It took me several tries to get it to drop perfect slugs. Your are waaaaaay too cold.

Cleaning might help..........I am not a fan of cleaning the heck out of a mold...........but some are......try it.

Get your temp of the lead AND the mold up and keep trying!

I assume (no arses involved) you are casting with pure lead (and not boolit alloy), which is highly recommended for SG slugs? Pure lead has to be hotter than our standard boolit alloys and since there in no tin in there, fill-out is tricky. You could add some Sn, but I have never had to if the temp is correct.

that mold DOES work.............and works very well!

Welcome to the madness!

banger

[762 shooter]

Those wrinkley boolits are pure art. I can't stop looking at them.

762

[HABCAN]

+20 on 'the hardest mold to use'!!! At one point, mine dropped its core piece and needed it riveted back on. Lately, it's decided not to drop the slugs off that core: it retains them 'fiercely', LOL. I run my LEE pot at max and when the mold wants to cooperate the slugs come out just fine, but you really have to want some!! When casting for 'penetration' I use COWW, WD'd. They work. Other alloys make no difference in the casting, just in terminal effect at the target.

[MT Chambers]

The other suggestions are right on, for hollow pt. or hollow base molds you need to cast fast so that the pin does not cool off between pours, the pin cools faster than the rest of the mold for both Alum. and iron molds.

[Walter Laich]

a bit off topic....
I have the same problem with hollow point pistol molds: the bullets tend to stick to the points in the mold when the least bit cool. Heat is your friend

[Shiloh]

Your mold is way to cold or still has oil in it.

+1

Shiloh

[jdgabbard]

Personally I think it's heat as well. There have been many times I've not even cleaned a mold. Simply got it up to temp and soon or later the boolits start coming out nicely.

I usually sit the mold on the edge of the pot while the alloy is coming up to temp. Once the lee drip-o-matic starts to drip, I start pouring. 2-3 pours in I'm at temp.

Now I've never specifically used this mold. But that technique has worked well with every mold I've ever casted with. I currently own about 25 molds...

[gwpercle]

Don't get discouraged and don't give up. Getting out all the oil sometimes takes 2 or 3 cleanings and casting sessions to "season " it. Make sure to pre-heat the mould and have the alloy nice and hot. I find pre-heating the mould to be just as important as everything else to get good boolits dropping. I didn't get good boolits with one particular Lee mould until the third session. And 12 ga. slugs are not the easiest ones to do either...keep at it , the good ones will come.
Gary

[Blood Trail]

Those wrinkley boolits are pure art. I can't stop looking at them.

762

I was kinda thinkin the same thing...

[6bg6ga]

By now you have had aproximately 20 people telling you the mold is either too cold or dirty and cold. Your first half dozen tries should have told you the same thing. Casting is something you learn. You learn it the hard way generally. The good thing is this... you can throw them back in the pot and re-cast them. Nothing lost.

Clean your mold as directed. Crank up the heat, Toss back the cold ones in to the pot. Repeat this process until you get good bullets.

[slim1836]

Do not re-melt them, set them aside so you can look back and get a good chuckle once you learn the process.

It's a learning experience and once you get the hang of things you will appreciate them. Good luck.

Slim

[Recluse]

The worst--and most common--mistake new casters make when using a Lee mold for the first time is:

A. Reading what passes for instructions from Lee, and

B. Believing what they just read.

As my casting brethren have pointed out, cleaner mold, more heat for both the alloy and the mold, and. . . I have that mold and use a ladle to get good slugs from it. Haven't been able to get consistently good results by bottom-pouring, but in all honesty, haven't spent too much time trying as the overwhelming majority of all my casting is done with a ladle.

:coffee:

[Maximumbob54]

[QUOTE=Recluse;2751263]The worst--and most common--mistake new casters make when using a Lee mold for the first time is:

A. Reading what passes for instructions from Lee, and

B. Believing what they just read.
QUOTE]

Yup... That was me a while back... :veryconfu Learned the same hard way and got the same advice here. :mrgreen:

[Blood Trail]

Ok, my second batch came out better. Not perfect, but usable. Thanks for the great tips, fellers!http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/25/8equpeqy.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/25/jemy8u6e.jpg

I think I'll slightly hollow the tips.

[williamwaco]

Ok, my second batch came out better. Not perfect, but usable. Thanks for the great tips, fellers!http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/25/8equpeqy.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/25/jemy8u6e.jpg

I think I'll slightly hollow the tips.


OK, now it is your turn. . .

What did you do different?

[Blood Trail]

I wiped down my mold with acetone, got that joker hot (too hot at first), and adjusted my flow rate a little faster.

[williamwaco]

I wiped down my mold with acetone, got that joker hot (too hot at first), and adjusted my flow rate a little faster.

Yes. The two primary causes of wrinkles.

( Well, except age. )