ohland
07-26-2014, 05:03 PM
Fired up the Lee 4-20 and cast more boolits this morning. My dad wanted to cast up some 321297 after I got the pot down, then add some bar lead... More on that later. Have a 358315 that I picked up over a year ago. Never cast with it until today.
BUT... it was so seductive, after it came up to heat, I could drop a 358315 just by opening the handles all the way, no slamming, just open until they stopped. That slight bump was enough to drop the boolit.
111765
The boolits that are laid out are 358315, about 200 or so. Got an issue with the (un)lock set screw on the sprue pivot. The old school split washer does a heckuva job in slowly unscrewing the sprue plate screw. Between what I think is funny lead and the unscrewing screw, the sprue on some of them sticks out in the center and looks more like metal failure of a pot metal than the sheared surface left by a sprue plate.
111782
111783
111784
My technique is to ladle pour until it starts to come out. Wait until the puddle turns from shiny to frosted and the pour sucks back in a little bit as the alloy cools. Then it takes a little rap from the plastic mallet handle, the sprue plate whacks it off and then I open the mold.
What is up with the grain sticking out? Note the granulated part of the sprue is surrounded by a smooth circle. My assumption is the granulated circle is the sprue hole. Sprue plate too loose? Good fill out of the base....
BUT... it was so seductive, after it came up to heat, I could drop a 358315 just by opening the handles all the way, no slamming, just open until they stopped. That slight bump was enough to drop the boolit.
111765
The boolits that are laid out are 358315, about 200 or so. Got an issue with the (un)lock set screw on the sprue pivot. The old school split washer does a heckuva job in slowly unscrewing the sprue plate screw. Between what I think is funny lead and the unscrewing screw, the sprue on some of them sticks out in the center and looks more like metal failure of a pot metal than the sheared surface left by a sprue plate.
111782
111783
111784
My technique is to ladle pour until it starts to come out. Wait until the puddle turns from shiny to frosted and the pour sucks back in a little bit as the alloy cools. Then it takes a little rap from the plastic mallet handle, the sprue plate whacks it off and then I open the mold.
What is up with the grain sticking out? Note the granulated part of the sprue is surrounded by a smooth circle. My assumption is the granulated circle is the sprue hole. Sprue plate too loose? Good fill out of the base....