DrCaveman
02-21-2015, 09:24 PM
Man, i dont know how i missed that tip with all the reading ive done here
Each time i see that a thread has begun about proper casting temperature, ive taken another stab at "pouring cool". My lee 20 lb production pot always works well around a 6 or 7 setting, when using 2-cavity lee moulds. I almost always cranked it to max while the lead was melting, and for the first few pours. Mould dropping frosted boolits meant: drop the setting to 6.
I bought a thermometer, a while ago now...learned that my temps were quite higher than those who are able to drop larger diameter boolits on command. I was operating around 800* during the good part of the run, and close to 1000* during warm up.
I tried pouring closer to 700*, but couldnt get the lead to pour from the spout. I unclogged it with a small nail/allen wrench, but the metal would not move. I gave up on the effort (multiple times) and settled for using the moulds that dropped the size i wanted within the system i was working with
------
Reading goodsteel's posts about consistency, i wondered what was meant by "priming the spout" (and i still may be unclear, please enlighten!)
I thought maybe he meant hitting it with some heat, in the form of molten lead or a torch. As my pot was warming this afternoon, i hit the spout with the propane torch when the thermo read about 640*.
The silver stream immediately poured! (yeah i still got some drip issues)
The drip stopped after rotating the spout-rod, as usual. I was able to repeatedly lift the spout arm and get a very nice, heavy flow of molten alloy suitable for casting!
Lowest temp yet!
Of course other things interfered right then and i didnt get to pour a run of boolits. But i will try again tonight, using the lee 358-158-rf which is sooo easy to get to temp and keep there.
Just thought id share this experience which is probably obvious to most of you but i dont recall reading about it.
Nutshell: hit your bottom pour spout with a propane torch right before starting to pour into your mould. It may allow lower alloy temps than otherwise usable
Each time i see that a thread has begun about proper casting temperature, ive taken another stab at "pouring cool". My lee 20 lb production pot always works well around a 6 or 7 setting, when using 2-cavity lee moulds. I almost always cranked it to max while the lead was melting, and for the first few pours. Mould dropping frosted boolits meant: drop the setting to 6.
I bought a thermometer, a while ago now...learned that my temps were quite higher than those who are able to drop larger diameter boolits on command. I was operating around 800* during the good part of the run, and close to 1000* during warm up.
I tried pouring closer to 700*, but couldnt get the lead to pour from the spout. I unclogged it with a small nail/allen wrench, but the metal would not move. I gave up on the effort (multiple times) and settled for using the moulds that dropped the size i wanted within the system i was working with
------
Reading goodsteel's posts about consistency, i wondered what was meant by "priming the spout" (and i still may be unclear, please enlighten!)
I thought maybe he meant hitting it with some heat, in the form of molten lead or a torch. As my pot was warming this afternoon, i hit the spout with the propane torch when the thermo read about 640*.
The silver stream immediately poured! (yeah i still got some drip issues)
The drip stopped after rotating the spout-rod, as usual. I was able to repeatedly lift the spout arm and get a very nice, heavy flow of molten alloy suitable for casting!
Lowest temp yet!
Of course other things interfered right then and i didnt get to pour a run of boolits. But i will try again tonight, using the lee 358-158-rf which is sooo easy to get to temp and keep there.
Just thought id share this experience which is probably obvious to most of you but i dont recall reading about it.
Nutshell: hit your bottom pour spout with a propane torch right before starting to pour into your mould. It may allow lower alloy temps than otherwise usable