Old Cramer trio - need help

[Psypher]

Alright, some of you know I purchased a Cramer trio a little while back. I've cleaned this beauty and checked it out thoroughly. I'm to the point that I'm starting to call this mold the three-stooges mold because I cannot get it to stop swirling.

I am using a Lee 10 pound pot. My Lee and RCBS molds seem to be fine around 6.5 - 7 on the dial, 8 in the winter. I had my pot running at a 9 today and still couldn't get the Cramer trio to stop swirling. Ran for 30 minutes trying to get casts out of it after letting it sit on top of the pot while I ran 30 minutes of hollow points.

Given that it's an older mold, I'm assuming that it's of the construct that will take a considerable amount of temperature to get it to stop swirling.

Swirls in all 3 cavities
Lead isn't frosting at a 9 setting in this mold
Mold is clean, debris free, free of any gunk
Lead is a tire weight mix that's been great for versatility
NO other molds are giving me this kind of attitude

[Pb2au]

I am guessing that swirling is the same as wrinkles?
If so, then more temp in the mold is your friend. I have found that even parking my 6 banger molds on top of the pot really isn't enough to sink enough heat into them. So a hotplate for mold pre-heat may be in your future.
Also, keep your pace brisk as you are casting. No lollygagging about or gawking at boolits. This will allow for more heat loading to the mold, and less loss during recovery.
Good luck!

[Psypher]

Great. More gear to buy. I'm sure that will make the wife happy. If I buy a warmer for my lube, would that suffice as a preheater or should it just be a hotplate and get it over with? Yard sales might be my thing this weekend.

I'm a brisk caster. I don't like to lollygag at all. I'm a firm believer that I can pick through them rather quickly once they've cooled in the puddle and I've had a chance to dry them off. The baddies get tossed into the fodder to go back into the pot.

I'm kind of curious as to how long and/or how much temp these kinds of molds are taking to get to and stay at temp. It seems the Cramers have a bit of a learning curve going backwards, much like someone spoiled on an older mold trying to learn to cope with newer molds.

[Stonecrusher]

It took me almost thirty years of casting to "discover" the hotplate. Can't believe I never thought of it myself. It is the single best thing you can use to take aggravation out of casting. No more pouring lead to get mold completely up to temp.

[Piedmont]

Psypher, Dip a lower corner of the closed mold into the melt right before you get ready to cast for a couple minutes. Then dip the end of the sprue plate in for 20 seconds. Now cast. You might need to tweak times but that is about right for me and you don't have to buy a hot plate if you don't want.


The melt will stick to the cold mold at first but as the mold comes up to temperature lead won't stick to it.

I don't have a hot plate but warm my molds on top of the pot as the melt comes up to temperature, but my pot is a 20 pounder with room up top for this. Usually I don't need to do the mold dipping because my mold is warm enough, but it is a good trick to have and should work well in your circumstances.

[SSGOldfart]

Try a hot plate and a old coffee can,just cut out holes for your handles the can acts like a oven to heat your molds

[Psypher]

This was the end result of the total cool-down and re-heat on the Cramer 32. Ran a few hollow points as well. Complete cool, pot set to 8.5, opened the mold over as it all came up, ran 2 and it was ready to roll.

110407

[a.squibload]

Those look good.

+1 what Piedmont said, I've used a hotplate, that might be easier but
all I do any more is dip the mold, usually get good fillout first pour.
The sprue plate needs pre-heated too, it can cool the lead going in.

Also with dipping you can't get the mold any hotter than the melted lead,
kind of a safety factor there.