What can I expect?

[mugsie]

As some of you know, I've been reading the posts, purchased the equipment, read, re-read, re-read again the Lyman book on casting, smelted down about 30 pounds of wheel weights and this weekend I'm going to start casting (my mold got here yesterday - 44 mag Lyman). So, here's the quesiton:

What can I expect in the way of time? How much time for the spru to harden? How long between pours? On average that is. Do I need to stop periodically because the mold is getting too hot? What can I expect in the way of an hour or so session?

Thanks for all the great information and help.

[Saint]

I cast RB and Minnie for muzzleloaders and I can put out about 200 roundballs in an hour long session minnie I can cast about 150. Muzzleloader casting is a bit different though because I use nearly pure lead. I generally wait about 30 seconds for the sprue to harden but I cast at a higher temperature than most. You may need to stop periodically. If your sprues are taking to long to harden it could mean your melt is too hot. If your boolits are droppin frosty then your mould is probably a little too hot. Hot moulds can warp and cause misshaped boolits and in extreme cases the mould can be permanently damaged. Trial and error is going to be your best way to get results however. Casting technique is like a fingerprint. You will never see two people with the same one. Do what works best for you and have fun.

[Wayne Smith]

Casting technique is like a fingerprint. You will never see two people with the same one. Do what works best for you and have fun.

I agree, Saint. Truer words seldom printed. Mugsie, get out there a and do it and all these questions will be answered by your experience with your mold and your heat source. Mold, type of pour process, and heat are the major variables, and they are called variables because they vary. They will not even be the same across a single casting session, much less across several casting setups. You will note this as you do it and learn how your setup works. Change the setup and you have a new learning curve.

[waksupi]

Saint, have you ever actually had a mold warp from heat? I have never heard of a documented case. And, I don't believe you can do it, short of using a cutting torch on them.

[wiljen]

I preheat my molds by setting them on a hot plate while my pot is getting up to temp. It takes much less time casting before starting to get good bullets that way.

Not to take anything away from saint but frosting depends largely on the alloy in use too. I almost always get frosty bullets when using WW+2% and this is not a sign of the mold being too hot, its just the nature of the alloy. With pure lead or linotype, you can get pretty shiny bullets if you control the temp well, with WW it is much harder to get shiny bullets and the truth be told the frosted ones shoot just as well.

The other part of the equation that hasn't been mentioned yet is the mold itself. I have some that bullets fall out of like rain and others that require tapping the mold to get them to drop loose. This will effect your production rate as well.

You'll find that each mold requires its own technique and temp to cast its best bullets and the only way to find it is to keep trying until you do.

Good luck, have fun, Be Safe!

Wiljen
:castmine:

[45 2.1]

Saint, have you ever actually had a mold warp from heat? I have never heard of a documented case. And, I don't believe you can do it, short of using a cutting torch on them.

Ric, i've seen three molds warp. One Lyman SC and one RCBS which were still useable with slight warpage on one block and one Lyman 22 cal. SC, which warped badly and was unuseable thereafter. All of them were from the 60's and 70's. As in rifle barrels, not all metal is stabile.

[44man]

Well, you might warp a mold if you heat it with a torch and dunk half of it in water! [smilie=1:
You can bend a hot mold by wrenching down the screws that hold the handles on and those with large cavities can be bent this way when cold.
A common way to remove lead spatter on a mold was to heat it until the lead melted and wipe it off.
Mugsie, the best way is to see what will give you perfect boolits and not get in any hurry to make as many as you can. Relax when you cast. I feel 100 perfect boolits an hour with zero rejects makes me happier then sorting through 200 and tossing 100 back in the pot. The way to get more boolits is to increase the number of cavities in the mold.
Just remain calm when casting and as problems come up, figure out what is wrong, adjust to cure and keep going. Soon you will not have any more problems and we will call you a boolit master.

[Leftoverdj]

First thing you can expect are wrinkled bullets unless you have gotten every last speck of preservative off the mould. Nobody ever believes how difficult this is, and almost all new casters run into it.

Preheating does start getting good bullets faster, but most of us do it by leaving the mold on top of the pot while the alloy is coming to temperature. The correct setting for Lee pots is usually "7". Dunno about others.

I figger the sprue should take between 5 and 10 seconds to solidity after the mould is up to operating temp and tweak my heat to get that. I also figger I should be able to manage between 150 and 200 casts per hour. That does not vary as much as you might expect by the number of cavities I'm using. Even with six cavity moulds, the time spent filling is only a small fraction of the total cycle.

[Bass Ackward]

As some of you know, I've been reading the posts, purchased the equipment, read, re-read, re-read again the Lyman book on casting, smelted down about 30 pounds of wheel weights and this weekend I'm going to start casting (my mold got here yesterday - 44 mag Lyman). So, here's the quesiton:

What can I expect in the way of time? How much time for the spru to harden? How long between pours? On average that is. Do I need to stop periodically because the mold is getting too hot? What can I expect in the way of an hour or so session?

Thanks for all the great information and help.



Mugsie,

You worry too much. It will take what it takes. And you will have to learn how "you" get into a rhythm. The sprue changes colors right before your eyes and it takes what it takes. If it's too hard to break the sprue, you are still too cold or waiting too long. If you break it too soon, you will smear your blocks or have crappy bases.

Think safety at first. Forget about the quality of what you get. Walk before you run. Get your sequence down, learn how to protect your mold, get over your apprehension, and THEN concentrate on the bullets. So I would start with a cold mold. By the time it heats up, your fear factor should be gone and you can begin your database of that mold. You will learn your own tricks to improve / speed up your operation as you go.

One or two secessions and you'll be answering these questions for the next beginner.

[mroliver77]

You might throw ll your first session back. Thats fine. Clean your mold well. I would preheat a new mold for 1 hour prior to casting. I have found even without cleaning you can get good boolits eventually as heat will burn off contaminates. I figure when all is going well 10 seconds for sprue to cool. I use the Bruce B speed casting method with a pan with a wet cloth in it beside the pot. I havent warped a mold yet. I keep a lead bar in my right hand and mold in left. I can use bottom pour lever or ladle and keep bar in hand. After sprue hardens I hold over cake pan and rap sharply with lead bar to cut sprue. Drop boolits out, CAREFULLY close the mold and repeat. Dont forget to lube mold when up tp temp. Very easy to overdo this. I use a small screwdriver and a shaving of lube to briefly touch lube points. Have at it and throw all back you need to without bad feelings.
J

[44man]

Sorry guys, I always leave that out. :roll: Always close the mold gently. Guide them closed with the sprue cutting stick if you have to. Also never beat on the blocks to make a boolit fall out, only on the handle pivot.