PDA

View Full Version : Lyman single cavity hp mold



dolang1
10-07-2014, 12:06 AM
I've been casting for 6-7 years. Learned everything right here. All of my experience has been with Lee 6 cavity aluminum molds. How different could it be? It took 3 casting sessions and a lot of profanity to create the first pretty bullet. The nose just wasn't filling out right. Finally went to the Classics & Stickys and read everything there about hollowpoint casting. Tonight I made 200 beautiful bullets.
I did as I was instructed:
Turned the Hot plate to it's hottest setting.
Built a wire hanger so the hp pin could heat up in the melt.
Heated the lead up to 700f+
Stopped taking the hp pin out of the mold. At least as little as possible.
Put on gloves and eliminated the leather hammer speeding up my rhythm.
I don't know if all these things helped or one of them but I sure made some pretty bullets.
Thanks to everybody that contributes to the Stickys.

leftiye
10-07-2014, 05:52 AM
Since no one else has answered (I wasn't going to say this, but...). If you use a hotplate to heat your mold (mold heater), then you can control mold temp very closely. If you put an aluminum plate say 3/8" thick over your hotplate, it will flatten out the hot plate's temp swings as the thermostat cycles. If you put your mold on the aluminum pate will dump heat into your mold and heat it up fast. If your hollow point pin is in the mold (a hole in the center of the plate helps.) it will be up to heat also very fast. I take the wooden handles off of the pins, and don't have handles on the pins I make. Use a pair of pliers to handle the pins. Oh, and did I say that it will control your mold temp very closely.