Got my hands on a couple mold cherries, Now what??

[mikenbarb]

I got my hands on a couple mold cherries and wondering how hard it is to cut a few molds with them? I have a decent shop and can set them up with a fixture to hold the mold blocks aligned but is it smart to start with aluminum blocks first to get the feel for it or just jump right in with steel ones? I can pour them but never cut one to hold what I pour. Is there any books or sites on mold making? Im lost with this one and can use some advice because I dont want to mess them up.

[44man]

I would just use aluminum and stay with it. Makes great molds.
You need a vice that will clamp the blocks very tight with jaws that move in together to the center. Left hand thread in one side and right hand on the other.
This is the one I made.

[mikenbarb]

I have a couple old Bridgeports that im going to design a mold block fixture for and give it a try and see how they turn out. It should be a learning experience to see what happens and hopefully I can turn out some good molds. Im already making some pretty nice stainless steel spru plates and will start cutting molds by weeks end and I will post how they come out.:-D

[longbow]

Here is a link to a write up on lathe boring moulds by theperfessor. No cherries involved but a good write up and maybe has some ideas you can use.

http://www.gunloads.com/castboolits/showthread.php?t=38573

Longbow

[mikenbarb]

Thanks longbow and I got lots of good ides from it.:drinks:

[Southron Sanders]

I have made a few bullet moulds by the "cherry" method. I AM NO EXPERT, but here is what has worked for me so far:

1. I usually use brass for my blocks. IF you dedide to go with a ferrous metal, make sure that it is a "soft" metal. If you ever drill into a Lyman iron mould, you will be amazed how "soft" the metal is! They use some sort of very soft iron for their moulds.

2. After milling out two identical "blocks", I use a fly cutter in the mill to cut "smiley" air vents on the face of each block. Each smiley cut is about of a 1/16th of an inch apart.

3. Clamping the blocks together in a vise, I drill and thread four holes in each corner of the blocks. Then I screw the blocks together to hold them in place while I drill out the starting of the bullet cavity.

4. I locate the "DEAD CENTER" of the screwed together blocks, then use a punch to indent where I will start my drill.

5. I use an undersize drill to remove most of the metal in the blocks of the future bullet cavity. (The diameter of the drill is undersize in diameter to what the smallest diameter of the bullet cavity will be.) CAREFUL DON'T GO TOO DEEP!

6. I remove the screws and mount the blocks in a vice I have modified. The vise has four long rods that I mount the two halves of the future mold on. The rods go thru the threaded holes I have drilled in the corners of the blocks and keep the blocks "alligned" while the vise closes on the cherry.

7. The cherry is mounted in my drill press. I run the drill press at a LOW RPM and slowly close the vise. Because the blocks are mounted in the vise, the cherry cuts into the blocks. As the vise is free to move on the drill press table, theoretically it "automtically centers" the cut being made by the cherry as I ...S L O W L Y... close the vise.

8. From time to time, I stop and remove the chips from the cavity.

9. When the vise is closed tight, then your bullet cavity is fully cut by the cherry. Stop the drill press, open the vise and take a look at your handiwork.

10. I install my "alignment pins" in those threaded holes when the mould is being finished up.

Like I said, I don't claim to be an expert because I have "botched" several moulds while I attempted to cut the bullet cavity. But...I have cut a few good bullet moulds and learn more each time I make (or attempt) to make another bullet mould.

Hint: Before drilling holes in your blocks for the screws that initially hold the blocks together, PLAN AHEAD and make sure: 1. None of your holes will come too close to the bullet cavity when it is finished. 2. Make sure that the hole that you will drill thru one of the blocks for the bolt that attaches your sprue plate WON'T intersect one of those threaded holes!

I DON'T CLAIM TO BE AN EXPERT, IF ANYONE ON THIS BB CAN SUGGEST A BETTER WAY TO CUT A BULLET MOULD WITH A CHERRY, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I AM ALWAYS LEARNING!

THANKS!

[Southron Sanders]

Oh Yeah! I forgot to include this in my posting above.

1. After the bullet cavity is finished, I mill out the channels on the outside of the blocks that the jaws of the bullet mould handles go in. Then drill and tap for the screws that will hold the mould in the bullet mould handles.

2. I ABSOUTELY DETEST SPRUE PLATES THAT BECOME LOOSE DURING A LONG CASTING SESSION. What I do is drill a hole all the ways thru the block that the sprue plate will be attached to. Then I attach the sprue plate with a long bolt THAT GOES ALL THE WAY THRU THE BLOCK WITH ABOUT 3/4 of an inch hanging down on the bottom.

3. Then I attach the sprue plate, and put a short coil spring on the part of the bolt that protrudes thru the bottom of the block.

4. Using High Temp Loc Tite, I screw on two nuts. This puts "spring pressure" on the sprue plate and keeps it from becoming "floppy" during a long casting session. \That being said, from time to time, check and make sure that the nuts don's "back off" the bolt during a casting session!

5. Unless you like to spend money, practice making your first few blocks using aluminum as "botching" a brass mould can get rather expensive.

6. How necessary are vent lines in a bullet mould? I understand that some have made bullet moulds without any vent lines and they work O.K. Then again, I new on fella that made his vent lines by cutting shallow, irregular vent channels with a few light strokes of a triangular file!

[mikenbarb]

Im in the process of making up the tooling for the blocks and gonna give it a shot this weekend. I got a bunch of scrap brass and aluminum in 1-2" thick plates that im cutting down into usable pieces. Thanks much and its definatly a learning experience for me and hopefully I will be dropping some great boolits with the molds I made next weekend.:drinks: