new to cast boolits, first home made bullet mold

[eggwelder]

new here, but not to casting. needed a mold for a .32 CVA, but didn`t want to pay shipping and other fees from the US.
this is what i came up with. soap stone and a cherry from my dremel tool. clip off the sprue, rolled them out on my cast iron table top, and they shot just fine. did take a bit of fine tuning to bring to round as i`ll get it.
http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad37/eesbye/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsf4cmhjfo.jpg (http://s919.photobucket.com/user/eesbye/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsf4cmhjfo.jpg.html)
http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad37/eesbye/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsab0qhzle.jpg (http://s919.photobucket.com/user/eesbye/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsab0qhzle.jpg.html)

[Yodogsandman]

Very nice first post...with pictures, too! Welcome to the forum!

[iron mule]

hello
will second the good picture opinion
and also welcome you here hope your stay is a good one
mule

[badbob454]

nice , never thought of soapstone for a mold . welcome

[MrWolf]

Interesting. Welcome to the madness!

[leebuilder]

Thats is so cool. Thanks for sharing.
have you heard of "Dragon bullit lube" google it. Roy will have what you need.
be well.

[mizzouri1]

WOW!! very impressive, good job and welcome to the addiction.

[pworley1]

Welcome, great job.

[finstr]

Welcome and thanks! great idea for casting fishing weights and downrigger cannonballs too!
love innovative ideas, that's why I'm here!:wink:

[bedbugbilly]

Welcome to the forum and what an awesome job you did! You can sure be proud of that! Soapstone was used for boolit molds in the 1700's (and earlier) as well as for other molds - works well as you have shown! Your cast balls look great! You "rounded" yours to take care of the sprue - just think of what they shot after sitting around a camp fire, casting in a single cavity "bag mold" and just clipping the sprue off!
Great photos and great post - hope to see more of your work! Have fun!

[bedbugbilly]

Woke up in the night and was thinking about this post - I think it's pretty neat that egg welder had a "need" and saw a way to solve it with the soapstone mold. It got me to wondering . . . . does anyone know where a person could obtain "soapstone" in small blocks of a size to make molds? Over the years, I've owned and sold a number of the soap stone "buggy heaters" which were usually about a 1 1/4" thick and maybe 9" X 12" - give or take. I suppose a person could take one and cut it up into small blocks but I'd hate to ruin an "antique". Anybody know of a source?

[Pb2au]

A+... I love it.
Welcome to the gang!

[Dframe]

Congrats. You'll find the folks on this forum REVERE innovation. Nice work.

[kf4zht]

Very cool, and I thought custom molds required heavy machinery

[eggwelder]

Woke up in the night and was thinking about this post - I think it's pretty neat that egg welder had a "need" and saw a way to solve it with the soapstone mold. It got me to wondering . . . . does anyone know where a person could obtain "soapstone" in small blocks of a size to make molds? Over the years, I've owned and sold a number of the soap stone "buggy heaters" which were usually about a 1 1/4" thick and maybe 9" X 12" - give or take. I suppose a person could take one and cut it up into small blocks but I'd hate to ruin an "antique". Anybody know of a source?

Thanks to everybody. i`ve been meaning to join here for a while. this is not an original idea, the vikings poured bronze into soapstone, but never crossed my mind that it had been used for bullet molds before. didn`t actually think about it. this is for my boy`s CVA .32 cal, and we`ve been clipping the front part off .303 brit cast bullets for the .32. thin lubed patch and you`re in business, but that is a lot of lead for such a little rifle. heres the balls rolled out but not sorted, some just don`t get round and go back to the ladle.http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad37/eesbye/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsxnsuy2pj.jpg (http://s919.photobucket.com/user/eesbye/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsxnsuy2pj.jpg.html)

Lee Valley Tools here in Canada sells soapstone blocks, but expensive. my pieces came from an artists studio in Newfoundland, where it is sourced locally there, but not sure where. i`ve also bought art pieces at garage sales, the more chipped and broken the cheaper they are. easier to cut up art if it is damaged as well. if the buggy stones are plentiful, bedbug, the world will not miss one, i don`t think. there are sources stateside that have soapstone, and i know it can be found in the Appalachian mountains.
the balls shoot pretty straight, they go where i aim them, but not necessarily where i intended. i`m not actively seeking a factory mold anymore, but would pick one up if i came across one.

[svr4]

Nice job, great idea using soapstone. Great first post with pictures, welcome to the forum.