What am I doing wrong?

[AR15Buffer]

I just purchased an Accurate mold to cast Boolits for my Martini Henry. In no way is this post against Accurate. The mold is beautifully made and is a work of art. I am extremely proud that I have a nice mold.

I know the following pictures is a result of my skill level and some unknown mistake that I am making. Upon arrival, I cleaned the mold with dawn dish washing detergent and a toothbrush. I then rinsed it off and let it dry. I then set it on top of the Lee Pot and let it heat up as I melted my lead. I then lightly oiled the screw and the alignment pins. The following is the Boolits I cast after approximately 100 throws at 700 degrees.
115915115916115917115918

I have cast for approximately one year now and really enjoy it when I have the time. I mainly use Lee pistol molds. I will sometimes get bullets that have that "stain" on it, but they are still usable for loading. I do not believe any of the bollits I cast today are usable and they are just plain ugly looking.

I can tell you that I am not happy with the way that these boolits turned out today. I want to get better at this, because my Martini Henry deserves better, lol.

Can anyone, by looking at these pictures, possibly help guide me on what I am doing wrong? The help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bryan Arnold

[Maven]

Bryan, It looks like your alloy needs more cleaning (fluxing) and perhaps a bit of tin. It may also help if you increase the melt temp. to 725 - 750 deg. F, dropping it back once you get perfect CB's. Just for laughs, I think I'd clean that mold again as we sometimes don't get all the preservatives out on the first pass. (Don't ask!)

[petroid]

Your mold is not hot enough or you may need to ladle cast for those big boolits

[DeanWinchester]

Get you a bic lighter or [I prefer] one of those long nosed grill lighters. Hold the very tip of the flame to the cavity, moving it around slowly until the cavity has a light layer of soot. Repeat for both sides, then try it again. I personally prefer to preheat the mold BEFORE doing this because of the amazonian level of humidity here in TN causes the cavities to condensate. You'll only need a very light discoloring of the cavity.

Try it. Don't listen to the nay sayers here who swear it's BS because it DOES WORK. Not every time, but often. VERY often I have molds that have little quirks and lightly smoking nips it in the bud. Best part, it does NOTHING permanent. If you want it out, a Q-tip will wipe it out with ease.

The little wrinkles in the nose will go away with a good smokin'!

[Tar Heel]

Using an acid brush or other SOFT brush, clean the mold with acetone or MEK and be sure you have all the soap out of it. Smoke it if you want to but mine release OK. The Lee molds work better smoked.

Get your alloy HOT like 725 degrees as suggested. If you are using a bottom pour pot, get the sprue plate near the spout and rapidly fill each cavity. Get your cadence going until you get frosted bullets. Once frosted, ease the thermostat back a bit if you want to. My large aluminum molds from Accurate cast better when I frost the bullets.

Tom will tell you that sometimes the aluminum molds take a few temperature cycles to break in. Your bullets look like alloy temp is too cold and the mold is cooling off too. Don't look at how beautiful they are, just cast those puppies.

[243winxb]

Use maximum heat till bullets frost. Dont do this
I then lightly oiled the screw and the alignment pins.

[Garyshome]

Heat up the lead!

[waco]

Mold not clean enough, mold not hot enough. Start casting and go at a good fast pace. Pour, cut spruce, dump, pour again. Don't stop to look at your boolits. You need heat in the mold.
I have never really seen the need to smoke the cavities. Doing that too much will build up a carbon layer in the cavities and you will soon start dropping undersized boolits. A mold of that quality does not need to be "smoked"

[williamwaco]

I suspect mold temperature.

If the sprue puddle solidifies in less than three seconds the mold is not hot enough.

After filling the mold hold it steady for three seconds then tilt it to the side. The sprue should pour off the sprue cutter like water. If not, cast faster until it does.

[AR15Buffer]

Thanks for all the replies. Tomorrow evening I will try it again. I think part of the "fun" is figuring it all out. Reflux, raise heat, cast faster until frosted, cut back.... think I got it. Thank you gentleman.

[gray wolf]

Take a look at the top right picture, the bullets are shiny and the grooves are showing incomplete fill out. Sometimes they will even have a frosted look in the incomplete area.
The mold is not hot enough, sprue to small, casting to slow, stopping to look at the bullets, ---

700* should cast any WW metal as long as the mold is at and stays at the correct Temp.
Hot water and Dawn is a good mold cleaner and should work but sometimes a new mold may require a little more of an aggressive cleaning, IE repeat the dawn routine a few time to be sure it's clean.

You put the mold on the pot to heat up and then lubed it, well that works if your very careful about how much lube and what kind of lube you use. + sometimes a mold on top of the pot just don't get hot enough and if the casting is slow it may NEVER GET UP TO TEMP. and yo keep pouring hot metal in a cold mold.

Lube on a hot mold can migrate quickly to mold cavities, and sometimes go unseen, while it may be unseen it may still be reactive in that it will flow.

Try cleaning the mold well and cast a few with no lube and the mold hot enough, you should be able to do this for a few bullets without hurting the mold. If bullets come out showing an improvement stop Lube the mold at the pins very lightly and the underside of the sprue plate. Wipe off any extra lube, it does not have to look wet to work, a little goes a long way. Get the mold up to temp again and cast on.

Did I miss the kind of mold you have-- Steel, Aluminum, Brass,and the # of cavities ?
Also how did you determine 700* ? Thermometer or the # on the pot. ( just asking )

Sam

[kens]

My vote goes to dirty melt and/or oil in the mold.
The bases at the sprue cut appear to be sharp & filled, so the temp is real close. (yaa up the temp a little, ok)
I see dirty melt and wrinkles in otherwise ok temp, look for oil in the mold.

[docone31]

More heat in the melt, more heat in the mold.Six seconds to freeze. Less, too cold, more, too hot. Also, use vegetable oil as flux to get the spotty lead out. I had that happen once. Got some wheel weights that had some stuff in them.You need more heat. Aside from the wrinkles, the round edges are the indicator.

[ubetcha]

More heat in the melt, more heat in the mold.Six seconds to freeze. Less, too cold, more, too hot. Also, use vegetable oil as flux to get the spotty lead out. I had that happen once. Got some wheel weights that had some stuff in them.You need more heat. Aside from the wrinkles, the round edges are the indicator.

Vegetable oil as a flux? Never heard that one before. Not doudting your word though. I will have to try that

[canyon-ghost]

Candle wax or paraffin, as its called, is good to flux with. If you light it to get rid of the smoke, you get foot high orange flames! It burns everything down to black ash. Gulf canning wax is another variation of paraffin. I don' t clean molds as much as I heat them up and burn them out.

[country gent]

Flux you melt good with sawdust wood shavings and or parrafin good. May take a couple times. stir and work lead thru flux agent and scrpe sides bottom of pot. If you have a thermomenter for lead use it to track temps. Heat mold and start around 725* casting at a brisk pace working up mould temp. Heating the mould on top of the pot will work as will a hot plate. Pour a big sprue and keep it molten for 5-7 secs giving time for full fill out. You might clean the mould again also. work steady and systermatically. Keep notes from session to session documenting what works and what doesnt.

[Wayne Smith]

You "lightly oiled" with what oil?? Sprue plate lube is the only thing I would use, and that is wiped as clean as I can get it after it is added to a hot mold.

[hickfu]

Heating your mold on a hot plate helps get the mold up to temp better. I used to use the top of the pot but I purchased a hotplate from Target or Wallyworld (cant remember) for like 20.00

I turn it on at about 3/4 full and put the mold on it at the same time I turn on my pot... When the pot is at temp the mold is plenty hot enough.. I get good casts from the first one.

Doc

[John Boy]

The little wrinkles in the nose will go away with a good smokin'! This statement is Pure Horse Dung!
The OP has a dirty mold and is not casting with a pot & mold temperature so the sprue puddle frosts in 5 seconds

[runfiverun]

throw them back, clean it, and do another run of 100 or so.
throw them back, and clean it again.
the mold will get better and better with a few [4-5] heat cycles through it.....

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I would suggest working with increased heat and getting 1-2% tin into the alloy after making sure that the mold cavities are well cleaned. I would use a good solvent like acetone to make sure that any hydrocarbon based substance is thoroughly removed from the cavities and the mold block faces. Making sure that the melt is fluxed and well cleaned also helps. Molds should be pre-heated prior to casting and a number of casts are necessary to get things up to speed. LLS

[AR15Buffer]

Thank you for all the great responses. The mold is a single cavity aluminum mold. I use a Lyman thermometer that sits in my Lee pot. I was using 2 cycle engine oil as a lubricant.
I will definitely put to use all of the suggestions on the cleaning of the mold, increased heat, and slowly get it right.
I spoke to a friend earlier this evening about picking up several lbs of sawdust from him tomorrow evening. I will put that to good use.
Bryan

[Moonie]

Thank you for all the great responses. The mold is a single cavity aluminum mold. I use a Lyman thermometer that sits in my Lee pot. I was using 2 cycle engine oil as a lubricant.
I will definitely put to use all of the suggestions on the cleaning of the mold, increased heat, and slowly get it right.
I spoke to a friend earlier this evening about picking up several lbs of sawdust from him tomorrow evening. I will put that to good use.
Bryan

Sawdust is great to use, I also use one of the commercial size paint stirrers you can get at the hardware store.

[AR15Buffer]

Today I got back on the horse. I brought the pot up to temp. Added cedar sawdust that I picked up today for free from a business that builds custom doors and windows. I let it smolder until it was all burned (black), then I stirred it in and then removed the dross that formed on top. There was quite a bit. I did that twice, then put sawdust on top and let it sit throughout the casting session. I only did approximately 10 lbs of lead before I called it quits. I ran the temp a little hotter than on Tuesday. It seemed to help quite a bit.
Prior to casting, I once again cleaned the mold with dish detergent. I will look at the boolits in a few. I may have to pick up some acetone to really clean the left side of the mold. That side is the one that seems to leave a shadow on the bullet. I will sort that out given time.

[AR15Buffer]

Attached are pictures of today's casting session. 116027116028116029116030116031 I still have some work to do to get where I want. It was rewarding that I saw an improvement over Tuesday's casting session. I will hit it again tomorrow evening. Thanks for all the detailed replies and suggestions.

[Tar Heel]

Well done. Just remember that even after 30 years of casting, some days just don't work. The casting Gods are conspiring against you sometimes! When you have one of those days and you start chasing your tail, just turn everything off, clean up, and come at it the next day.

[Psypher]

A wise member here told me this...

Temp up until frosting of the bullet occurs, then back it off and you will be just right.

[Pilgrim]

It looks like you have gotten most of the crud out of the melt as I don't see the inclusions that were showing in your first photos. However, fluxing again wouldn't hurt. If your band edges are not sharp, it is often due to a venting problem. Make sure the vent lines are as clean as the cavities. I occasionally use a razor blade to "trace" the vent lines just to make sure they are open. It doesn't take much blockage to screw things up. If the base of the boolit is not sharp all the way around, the sprue plate may be too tight. The boolit base is vented between the mold blocks and the sprue plate. Finally...you might have to take up peeing on flat rocks as that[smilie=w:sometimes is necessary to ward off the lead gremlins! FWIW Pilgrim

[jimb16]

When I saw you mention the 2-cycle oil, I figured that was the problem. Jt thins out and gets into the mold. Those bullets looked like they had oil "pollution" in the cavity. It will eventually burn out, but it is better not to get any oil into the cavity in the first place. The shadow on the boolit may be caused by residue from the burned oil.