Rookie Getting started casting

[erief0g]

First post!
If you read the whole thing I commend you. I would like to thank any responses and apologize for the long winded post.

I'm a few weeks away from getting my new part of reloading going. I have been reloading straight wall pistol for a bit over 6 years now on a dillon xl650. Pre-pandemic shooting was 1500-2000 rounds a month between the wife and I. Costs and shortages have brought me to a new understanding of how shortages feel and it's time to move forward onto a venture I've considered for a long time... casting boolits.

I'll document what I've already got "in the mail" and also paste in some of my initial thoughts as I continue my buying spree.

Even though the cost is not easy to overcome I've found that repurposing has helped me. I took a hard look at my gun safe and found things that were no longer needed. I was able to put them for sale and due to current conditions the prices were more than I expected which is allowing me to reinvest.

I plan to focust my casting on 9mm at high volume, 45acp at moderate volume, and 44 mag at low volume. Obviously that's all relative to my free time but with a wife in the high risk category we are doing much less and other than my regular 60 hour weeks I have considerable time to get to know my lead pot.

Below is what I've got going on and some of my questions.

Items already purchased

Lee Pro 4 20lb bottom pour
Lee 6 cav mold 452-230TC #90289 for 45acp 1911 usage
Lyman 4th edition cast bullets handbook (update my 1980's thriftbooks used purchase, very yellowed)
Rowell #3 3” bottom pour ladle
3” steel casting skimmer
Rotometals 6” casting thermometer
Have a few hundred pounds of ingots from Dad. Also have a good source of 12BHN lead at $1.50/lb or less.

things I need along with questions about them

1.) what is a good value flux? Candles? parrafin? purchase specific? What's recommended?

2.)Bullet Lube: Shot lots of missouri bullets 185gr buttons out of my 1911 so considering buying the Hitek powder for lube(missouri bullets or hi-performace bullet coatings) Agreeable or better option?

3.)Do I need a hardness tester?: what about art pencils? does that trick work? If it's generally agreed that little trick doesn't really work then I have the lee hardness tester saved in my cart as my next best affordable option.

3.) ingot mold: muffing tin or the real thing? I'm green.. rookie. will I get frustrated with lead sticking in a muffin pan vs just outlaying the $25 or so for a decent one that lasts a lifetime?

4.)hotplate? Helpful? Only $16-17 many places

5.)mold handles Found a few places with the Lee commercial large ones and unless y'all have a better option they are affordable and look to suffice.

6.)mallet of sorts

7.)bullet sizer if needed and once all barrels slugged. This item needs more research on my end to confirm the need. I ... assume.. if I slug my barrels and then buy a mold cut to exactly what I need I "should" be good? This topic may spill into the quality 9mm mold option below.


8.) mold question. Bought the 45acp 6 cavity mold already and that was a whim as at $36 shipped new it seemed very fair. My main concern is the mold I decide to get for my 9mm. I shoot high volumes through a cz sp01, cz shadow 2, springfield xds, HK vp9, and cz Scorpion. They all get fed a consistent diet of Rocky Mountain Reloading TC 124 grain full metal's. (they call them matchwinners)
The question as it is: If I slug my barrels. Then add .002 or .003 to slug size and purchase a "high quality" mold do I also need to size the bullets after? I have a single stage that I can mount up and dedicate but wasnt sure on the need yet accuracy is something I really enjoy out of my 9mm's.
With all that said, I see that arsenal has a profile that very closely matches what I shoot now. : Arsenal 9mm mold (http://arsenalmolds.com/products?product_id=150&limit=100)

again, thanks for reading and any input is greatly appreciated.

[Mk42gunner]

I'll try to answer your questions, if I don't know the answer I'll tell you.

The first thing is to not expect success the very first try, but that is the neat thing about casting -- mistakes can be remelted and done over.

1. When smelting outside, I use sawdust leftover from cutting firewood with a chainsaw and stir with a dry stick from the yard. Inside with the electric casting pot, candles or old bullet lube works fine, can be a bit exciting when it catches fire and flares up.

2. I don't know anything about powder coating, but I think it could be the way to go. Right now I use an RCBS Lubamatic and homemade FWFL. Its not all that hard to make and works well.

3. Ingot molds are their own separate can of worms. I got frustrated with a light set of muffin tins for pretty much the reason you stated and made my own from angle iron three or four set next to each other (VVVV)and welded works fine. I don't like trying to use cast iron cornbread molds, I broke one dumping it.

4. Never used a hot plate, I preheat my molds by resting them on top of the pot. I can see how the hotplate would be nice, but I'm living in an old farm house with semi-questionable wiring so I don't want to over load the circuits.

5. For your six cavity Lee mold, you will need compatible handles. Check to make sure they are aligned, lately I have heard of some that aren't.

6. For years I used an eight ounce dead blow hammer, til I destroyed it (non casting related destruction), now I can't find one just like it. A rawhide mallet works fine and lasts.

7. Yes you will need a way to size boolits. This is another can of worms. The reason I think is the cost of sizing dies, the only ones that interchange are the Lyman and RCBS. The Star and Seaco do not.

If you are going to powder coat, the Lee sizer dies used in a single stage press seem to be the way to go.

For the volume you stated, I would go with the Star or powder coating. The Lyman/ RCBS are in and out sizers, meaning you put the unsized boolit in the top then take the sized one out from the top. It works, but is slow. I have no idea of the Seaco, but the Star will chug right along.

8. Molds. No personal experience casting for a 9mm or .44 Magnum, your .45 is somewhat popular. I use a Lyman 452460 for most of my .45 ACP, it is a ~200 grain SWC. The last time I weighed mine they came in at 207.

Finally, Good Luck. It can be a daunting task starting out casting, but millions of people have done it successfully. As I have said before: casting is a skill, skills can be learned.

Robert

[hawkenhunter50]

things I need along with questions about them

1.) what is a good value flux? Candles? parrafin? purchase specific? What's recommended?

I use sawdust gathered from the table saw and also leftover bullet lube

2.)Bullet Lube: Shot lots of missouri bullets 185gr buttons out of my 1911 so considering buying the Hitek powder for lube(missouri bullets or hi-performace bullet coatings) Agreeable or better option?

I use homemade Bens Red. Info can be found on this site for how to make it

3.)Do I need a hardness tester?: what about art pencils? does that trick work? If it's generally agreed that little trick doesn't really work then I have the lee hardness tester saved in my cart as my next best affordable option.

I've never found the need to use one. Doubt you'll need one at least just getting started.

3.) ingot mold: muffing tin or the real thing? I'm green.. rookie. will I get frustrated with lead sticking in a muffin pan vs just outlaying the $25 or so for a decent one that lasts a lifetime?

If you get muffin tins, scuff them up with some sandpaper and set them outside to rust up a little bit. Otherwise the ingots will be stuck in the tin. I found that out the hard way and was taught how to fix that by members here.

4.)hotplate? Helpful? Only $16-17 many places

I use one and find it handy, although not a necessity, mold can be warmed up on pot while heating up.

5.)mold handles Found a few places with the Lee commercial large ones and unless y'all have a better option they are affordable and look to suffice.

I use a lot of the Lees and they work fine for me. Can search here and someone made a handle/mold compatability chart so you can make sure they'll work with your mold brand. I have also modified a few that wouldn't fit initially.

6.)mallet of sorts

I use a homemade lathe turned kind of tire beater

7.)bullet sizer if needed and once all barrels slugged. This item needs more research on my end to confirm the need. I ... assume.. if I slug my barrels and then buy a mold cut to exactly what I need I "should" be good? This topic may spill into the quality 9mm mold option below.

You'll need some type of sizer. Molds will be spec'd to drop a certain size with a certain known alloy. Vary the alloy, the size will be different. Lube sizers will also lube and size the bullet. Lee also makes a sizing setup that can be used with Alox lube, tumble the bullets and then push thru size. Cheaper option than a lube sizer if $ is tight getting started.

[GregLaROCHE]

The previous post touches on the most important points, I’ll just add that I like ingot molds made out of angle iron, because the ingots stack efficiently in my casting pot when I begin melting and they slide into melted lead instead of plopping in, like with muffin tin shapes.

I like the NOE sizing set up. Once you buy the original components, you can change sizes economically and have a full range of size variations.

I use a piece of a broken shovel handle to cut the sprue. I prefer the shape to a mallet.

Powder coating is definitely the way to go. Plenty of threads about it available here.

Lee moulds are a good and inexpensive way to get started and you won’t have to buy handles. Start with no bigger than double moulds in the beginning.

Good luck and welcome to the addition.

[Cast_outlaw]

I’m only going to to answer 3. Get the ingot molds from lake house he has two different versions they work great and stack well 268743
And 6. I use a cut off end of a Broken shovel Handel, Works good, and free

[erief0g]

great info. thanks for the responses. still reading more and more as I gain some theory that I hope to prove myself. enjoying the wealth of knowledge here and sifting through thread after thread.

[Hossfly]

To me hot plate is very valuable to get your molds up to temp before you start casting. Also it can heat your next ingots up close for not dropping pot temp while adding more in. But be careful it can melt ingots also. Find something to lay on top to distribute heat and watch temp. Old skill saw blade works well.

Good 0-1”micrometer is very helpful, measuring your slugs and sizing your boolits.

[William Yanda]

Welcome to the forum.
Let me address the sticky muffin pan issue. IF you use aluminum muffin pans, which do not have dented and misshaped cavities, you will pretty much avoid the lead sticking in the pans.
Good luck with your venture. I noticed you didn't ask about alloys-another deep subject. Check out LASC data.

[erief0g]

Welcome to the forum.
Let me address the sticky muffin pan issue. IF you use aluminum muffin pans, which do not have dented and misshaped cavities, you will pretty much avoid the lead sticking in the pans.
Good luck with your venture. I noticed you didn't ask about alloys-another deep subject. Check out LASC data.


Interestingly enough.. I really thought if I asked anymore questions than I already have on one post I would loose 50% of readers simply due to length of post.

Initial forum search of LASC data turned up nothing. I hope to glean some knowledge from the lyman 4th edition cast bullet handbook so that I can ask more specific questions. I have a few hundred pounds of ingots that dad poured. Unknown BHN and from the early 70's. I also have a source with confirmed 2.5-3% antimony with a BHN of 12 which is what I plan to start with so I'm working with a known hardness that is consistent. Dad's is tough to say if the makeup is the same for each ingot. I also hope that with a hardness of 12 along with some hitek powder coat i'll be good with 45acp loads that are not hot loads. most of my low power plinking 45 loads are around 700FPS.

I've still got a good bit to go before initial production attempts. I plan to slug all my barrels in the next few weeks so that is confirmed and done. I'm still researching the bullet sizer information and even though still in it's infancy I'm leaning on the NOE setup as multiple calibers will cost less than one for each of the lee sizers. The information about the star sizer is great but even with my sales of less needed items that extra chunk of money will be spent better on other items and materials.

Funny how the busted shovel handle is so well reviewed!!.. I work at a new construction plumbing company and have to say we probably throw out 2-3 broken shovels a week.. I should be covered on that one lol!

[GregLaROCHE]

The long bat like shape of a piece of shovel handle makes it easier to hit the sprue plate, without thinking much about it. At least in my opinion.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

lots of good info provided so far... I'll add a couple hints.

I have to agree with Hossfly, you "WILL" want a Good 0-1”micrometer, measuring your slugs and sizing your boolits.

While I am not a fan of PC, since you are using a progressive press, I would assume a bullet feeder with tubes??? it would seem that PC'd boolits would be much less troublesome than a lubed boolit for that setup.

" hardness tester"
If you will be scrounging for scrap unknown alloy, a hardness tester is a must, along with a good lead thermometer. If you are only going to use a known lead alloy, then a hardness tester is really needed, unless you venture into heat treating boolits.

[erief0g]

lots of good info provided so far... I'll add a couple hints.

I have to agree with Hossfly, you "WILL" want a Good 0-1”micrometer, measuring your slugs and sizing your boolits.

While I am not a fan of PC, since you are using a progressive press, I would assume a bullet feeder with tubes??? it would seem that PC'd boolits would be much less troublesome than a lubed boolit for that setup.

" hardness tester"
If you will be scrounging for scrap unknown alloy, a hardness tester is a must, along with a good lead thermometer. If you are only going to use a known lead alloy, then a hardness tester is really needed, unless you venture into heat treating boolits.

Micrometer.. Yup, need to add that to my tool collection. I've got a few calipers that are proven good but I can see how a good micrometer could be useful. I've had other occasions where one was needed and it has yet to be purchased.

Any recommendations on micrometers? or any that fall into DO NOT BUY?

[Hossfly]

I found a digital one on amazon for around $50, requires a battery and some folks don’t like digital or fooling with batteries. I don’t mind either, looked in local pawn shops and they think those mechanical mics. Are made of gold.

This one is I Guaging I think has been good one for last few years. Would buy again if needed.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

That Arsenal mold looks good. Should not have issues hitting the rifling. You did well with your purchases so far too. When you start loading for 9mm look at the "sticky" threads on the subject. Welcome and have fun. Oh, and if you don't have one, you will be wanting a .38 or .44 caliber wheel gun. Just sayin.

[erief0g]

That Arsenal mold looks good. Should not have issues hitting the rifling. You did well with your purchases so far too. When you start loading for 9mm look at the "sticky" threads on the subject. Welcome and have fun. Oh, and if you don't have one, you will be wanting a .38 or .44 caliber wheel gun. Just sayin.

yup... wife has a charter arms snubby 38. i've got a s/w 629 stainless 44 mag. also have a 1979 vintage "new model" 357 blackhawk but that is pretty much a safe queen.

[Wayne Smith]

Couple of things - on a Lee six cavity mold or any other muli-capicity mold even if it is preheated start by filling two or three cavities, cut the sprue, dump, and add one cavity for each filling. That way you can cut the sprue easily each time. A hotplate is very useful to preheat your mold. Since you have so much unknown lead from your Dad you might want, at some time, to invest in a large pot and a heat source so you can melt a bunch of it together to balance it out.

Carbon - wood chips, wasp bodies, etc. act to clean the melt. They need to be mixed in. This takes out impurities and is useful for this. Hot metal oxidizes when exposed to the air - and the tin oxidizes first and floats on the melt. Wax returns this to the melt. It can float on top. Both are necessary. I cast from a pot on a gas flame and use a ladle - so I get a lot of oxidation from all the air exposure. With a bottom pour pot you can float a layer of kitty litter on the surface of your melt and block air access.

If you are going to PC you will need a size system, and the NOE system is fine as long as you are organized. Lot's of small pieces to get lost if you aren't. If you are not going to PC you will need a lube sizer and the Lyman/RCBS do use interchangeable H&I dies. I have two, one loaded with pistol/BP lube and one loaded with smokeless rifle lube.

If you do it right you may never actually hit a sprue plate with a club. I use a welders glove and very seldom need to hit anything, I can cut most sprues with my hand.

[ulav8r]

I found a double hot plate at a flea market last year, has solid surface elements, cost $5.

[country gent]

I use a small 8 ounce slim line head dead blow mallet for a sprue hammer, works very good and gives more if a push to the sprue than a bang.

Ingot moulds, what ever cast an ingot that fits in your pot. I find bigger ingots ( to a point are better) The purchased are fine and work well muffin tins cornbread trays also work. If you are handy they can be made. I used 1/4" X 1 1/2 angle iron for mine. Cut 4-5 lengths 8" long and ends cut at 10* set these up on a flat welding table v inverted up tavk weld together in the vees. now 2 lengths the widest width and weld the seams clamping so they match the angled ends. This provides a release angle for the ingots. Eacccccch ingot will weigh between 3 and 4 lbs. the triangle shape fits in most pots well and stack good. The length scavenges a lot of heat and once they start to melt you can watch them drop into the pot.

Sawdust and wax or paraffin for flux works well.

A apron or heavy clothes, safety glasses, work shoes, leather gloves, Dont forget the protective gear. A splatter or drop of lead on bare skin is hot and burns.

[erief0g]

First post!

Items already purchased

Lee Pro 4 20lb bottom pour
Lee 6 cav mold 452-230TC #90289 for 45acp 1911 usage
Lyman 4th edition cast bullets handbook (update my 1980's thriftbooks used purchase, very yellowed)
Rowell #3 3” bottom pour ladle
3” steel casting skimmer
Rotometals 6” casting thermometer
Have a few hundred pounds of ingots from Dad. Also have a good source of 12BHN lead at $1.50/lb or less.
add since first post:
Mitutoyo 0-1 micrometer and small pin guage set (needed for my calipers anyway)
hi-tek coating for bullet lube
Not bought yet but the NOE sizer setup is very high on list. Die body on backorder and haven't slugged all barrels yet.


things I need along with questions about them

1.) what is a good value flux? Candles? parrafin? purchase specific? What's recommended? Looks like from input from others and other research some plain old sawdust may be the easiest ticket initially. I have it, it's all real wood and not partical board.. I'll try it.

2.)Bullet Lube: Shot lots of missouri bullets 185gr buttons out of my 1911 so considering buying the Hitek powder for lube(missouri bullets or hi-performace bullet coatings) Agreeable or better option? bought it!

3.)Do I need a hardness tester?: what about art pencils? does that trick work? If it's generally agreed that little trick doesn't really work then I have the lee hardness tester saved in my cart as my next best affordable option. see below

3.) ingot mold: muffing tin or the real thing? I'm green.. rookie. will I get frustrated with lead sticking in a muffin pan vs just outlaying the $25 or so for a decent one that lasts a lifetime?see below

4.)hotplate? Helpful? Only $16-17 many places see below

5.)mold handles Found a few places with the Lee commercial large ones and unless y'all have a better option they are affordable and look to suffice. Seems like as long as I buy a mold that these work with they are generally accepted. Think I'll get two to start for the expected molds I am getting.

6.)mallet of sorts shovel handle.. i've an unlimited supply working in new construction

7.)bullet sizer if needed and once all barrels slugged. This item needs more research on my end to confirm the need. I ... assume.. if I slug my barrels and then buy a mold cut to exactly what I need I "should" be good? This topic may spill into the quality 9mm mold option below. going with NOE once my barrels are slugged


8.) mold question. Bought the 45acp 6 cavity mold already and that was a whim as at $36 shipped new it seemed very fair. My main concern is the mold I decide to get for my 9mm. I shoot high volumes through a cz sp01, cz shadow 2, springfield xds, HK vp9, and cz Scorpion. They all get fed a consistent diet of Rocky Mountain Reloading TC 124 grain full metal's. (they call them matchwinners)
The question as it is: If I slug my barrels. Then add .002 or .003 to slug size and purchase a "high quality" mold do I also need to size the bullets after? I have a single stage that I can mount up and dedicate but wasnt sure on the need yet accuracy is something I really enjoy out of my 9mm's.
With all that said, I see that arsenal has a profile that very closely matches what I shoot now. : Arsenal 9mm mold (http://arsenalmolds.com/products?product_id=150&limit=100) being educated on the fact that alloy composite will change the bullet drop size so that it makes sizing a requirement part of the question has been answered. The simple answer on molds is Lee cheap and works and a great starter, others are much better fit/finish and it's reflected in price. The old get what you pay for addage.


So, question 3.)Do I need a hardness tester?: what about art pencils? does that trick work? If it's generally agreed that little trick doesn't really work then I have the lee hardness tester saved in my cart as my next best affordable option. : This is one that I'm still debating and really think I'd like to know the hardness of what I'm making so when failures arise I can determine a proper reaction. I looked at the art pencil hardness scale and scribing the lead to determine hardness within a reasonable level but wasn't sure if I wanted to base something on the supposed quality of a $10 set of pencils that would wear out and need replaced vs the almost $70 for a known functioning hardness tester. Leaning on the lee tester and have listed a few more non-essential house stuff on ebay to help fund it.

Question 4.)hotplate? Helpful? Only $16-17 many placesDoesnt seem needed but I've been reading and reading. I've noticed a trend when casting in lower temperatures that aluminum molds can be quite difficult to keep at temperature such as when more lead will need added to pot and the time to return it to "ready to pour" I'll be starting my rookie year in Fall/winter. I live in Charlotte NC so temps may not be that bad but expect it to often be 50-60 when casting. Seems the hotplate might be helpful and I've put a few pawn shops on my list to review to see if i can't pick up a cheapo even though new is only $16.00

Also put on the list some 1/4" wire mesh or similar so I can make some drying racks for hitek coated bullets which also double duty as toaster oven baking sheets. Hopefully the mesh as home depot feels strong enough to just snip it to shape, bend up the corners, and away it goes. (already have a dedicated toaster oven got free on a last day of a garage sale as they were packing up. (just take it man, you already bought some stuff.. free gift with purchase)

If I had a welder the angle iron molds seem like the way to go. A few guys at work have em' so I'll be inquiring over the next week or so. The ones by lakehouse are bada$$ for sure but I may be able to source what I need for trade with some of the work guys. Anything gun is worth gold these days and I have "extra" for the right trade.

I've taken to heart the safety aspect. All the dang videos I've watched you can tell that they have their process down and feel very comfortable doing it which is reinforced by the lack of PPP they use. I do lots of car work on the side so I have gloves, faceshields, safety glasses, etc. I have an unused grilling apron which is not much added protection but hey.. it's another layer before melting flesh right? I'm sure I can come up with a good way to safely accomplish my goals but initially I may go with "over protected" so my first "oh Sh!t" moment can be handled as best it can.

Thanks again for the discussion and rest assured I'm using the search function, reading countless threads, culminating much of your great in my notes.

[Hossfly]

I’ve got the art pencils and they work very well, but you have to get use to using they, it is an art. Also have a hardness tester and they agree completely.

The pencil set for me have to be kept in order and pay attention to numbers stamped on them. As far as lasting,mine are about 2 years old and still about the same length as when purchased.

[frkelly74]

Well it looks like almost everything you asked about is covered here. I would reiterate that you need to size your castings. There will be one or more in a batch of seemingly correct boolits that are inexplicably too big and If you just load them up those few will hang up when feeding and you will have a jammed gun, Speaking of the 45 here. I had trouble especially with the tC style bullet. I have just gotten a 38 Charter arms and have found that .358 boolits will push through the cylinder with a little friction. My 9mm carbine likes .357 sized boolits. I have 4 Lee 38/9mm sizers of which one sizes the actual size that is stamped on the outside of it. They are all within a few thousandths but the micrometer is my friend so I can know for sure what diameter I am loading.I got most of them used and know that they have been "adjusted", which is easily done as long as you want to go bigger. Tumble lubing is good lubing for velocities attainable for handguns as long as the boolit is big enough to seal the bore, that is the key. Powder coat is interesting because it is clean to shoot. It is however messy to do and you need a dedicated oven. I was able to pick one up from a junk pile a while back so it was cost free and when I am done with it, it will go back to a junk pile.. You will still need to size after powder coating by the way. I routinely use range scrap or any scrap I can get my hands on. If it makes a ringing sound when dropped on concrete I know it is harder than pure and use it. I might mix in pure or some lead that does not ring when dropped but do not get carried away with testing alloy. I view casting as more art than science and just have fun with the process.

Oh yes, I almost forgot , I use Ove Gloves to handle my molds with. I do not like to pound on the sprue plates and find that I can open the sprue and dump the cut off into my gloved hand to return to the pot immediately and dump out the boolits and even use my thumb to ease a stubborn boolit out of its cavity If necessary without getting burnt.

The comment about heating up a 6 banger above and gradually getting up to production temperature by successively filling one or two cavities at a time is spot on. If you do this you will probably not break the handle off the sprue cutter , they are a little fragile and do not tolerate being forced .You will also want to have a pile of ingots ready to feed the pot as the level goes down so you can keep on casting and not let the mold cool off. Once you are going, and getting good boolits, you will not want to stop if you are at all like me.

I am using an old corn bread mold for an ingot mold, made of cast iron. they slip right into the pot and disappear when I am in production. I have an extra one what is your address. You can PM me.

[erief0g]

I would reiterate that you need to size your castings. Confirmed. NOE sizer and a selection of sizes is in my near future

Speaking of the 45 here. I had trouble especially with the tC style bullet. I have just gotten a 38 Charter arms and have found that .358 boolits will push through the cylinder with a little friction. My 9mm carbine likes .357 sized boolits. I have 4 Lee 38/9mm sizers of which one sizes the actual size that is stamped on the outside of it. They are all within a few thousandths but the micrometer is my friend so I can know for sure what diameter I am loading.Micrometer ordered and on way. never had to worry about that third decimal to much, now it's time.

Oh yes, I almost forgot , I use Ove Gloves to handle my molds with. I do not like to pound on the sprue plates and find that I can open the sprue and dump the cut off into my gloved hand to return to the pot immediately and dump out the boolits and even use my thumb to ease a stubborn boolit out of its cavity If necessary without getting burnt. This is some good infomation as well. My lincoln welding gloves for my egg charcoal grill are about beat so I'll get some of those to try out. need something for the grill anyway if it doesn't work out.

The comment about heating up a 6 banger above and gradually getting up to production temperature by successively filling one or two cavities at a time is spot on. If you do this you will probably not break the handle off the sprue cutter , they are a little fragile and do not tolerate being forced.nthat's going in my notes, not something I've come across yet in my reading.You will also want to have a pile of ingots ready to feed the pot as the level goes down so you can keep on casting and not let the mold cool off. Once you are going, and getting good boolits, you will not want to stop if you are at all like me.

I am using an old corn bread mold for an ingot mold, made of cast iron. they slip right into the pot and disappear when I am in production. I have an extra one what is your address. You can PM me. VERY generous. PM sent

Thanks again for all the input and insight. Looking forward to the casting handbook reading which hopefully will generate some more knowledgeable questions. I won't be setup next weekend as even if most of my equipment arrives that weekend is booked otherwise.

[Wayne Smith]

You are in Charlotte, NC. Doug Guy is in Wake Forest - you might want to look him up.

[Mk42gunner]

Looks like you have gotten some good advice, I will reiterate use your PPE. At the very least eye protection.

One thing I missed answering was about the hardness tester. I had a Saeco hardness tester for a short while. I didn't like using it, so I passed it on to another member here. I do have one of the Lee units, it works, but is a bit of a pain to hold the magnifier steady enough to read.

Honestly, it has sat on the shelf for several years without being touched. If you have known hardness alloy it really isn't needed. Certainly not necessary for someone just starting out.

A hardness tester isn't quite as useless as a powder trickler, but its not far off.

Robert

[phantom22]

I used a muffin pan once. It was a cheap dollar store one which was likely part of the problem. It wouldn't release very nicely although I have now read some tips on how to help that, but I found that I bent them up pretty easily, again dollar store quality likely influenced that.

In the end I got my muffin ingots and bought and ingot mold. They are not that expensive and I figure it will be less of a headache in the long run.

[erief0g]

been reading and reading. Bought a considerable amount of stuff for my endeavor. Always known to be a jump in with both feet kind of guy.
Protection equipment.. Used to race ATV's/ used to run sport bikes/ used to run modded cruisers/ wrenched on all sorts of machines.. one thing I believe in is safety gear. You will laugh, and you should, but my first endeavore is going to be slap full of some protection. I've got tig gloves, leather apron, eye protection, face shield, and all cotton clothing. Fans for ventilation. nary a drop of water in the area. will be just at the threshold of the garage when smelting the bigger pot for ingots and in the garage at the bench with the lee bottom pour pot.

Times are tough for getting all the things I want but time is on my side. I'll get there and once up and running I look forward to being that much more self sufficient. Won't be long before that 32K of primers is getting used up!

[lightman]

Welcome to the hobby! It sounds like you are off to a good start and have received some great advice. I'll add my 2 cents to everyone elses.

Hot Plate------I cast for a long time without one. It speeds up getting your mold up to temp thus you get good bullets faster. I didn't see it mentioned but a steel plate over the coils to set the mold on helps a lot. Lots of guys use an old circular saw blade.

Thermometer--------Another thing that I didn't acquire for a long time. You can do without one but it helps.

Hardness tester------Yet another tool that I did without for a long time. I use clip-on wheelweights for 99% of my casting. They worked great for years without me knowing how hard they were. But its a nice tool if you get lots of misc scrap. The hardness does not tell you the alloy but it and the melting temp will help you guess what you have more accurately.

Smelting/melting scrap-------If you melt small amounts at a time you can get by with one ingot mold. But if you do a few hundred pounds at a setting having several molds will keep you from waiting on one to cool down. Those that Lakehouse sells are nice.

I may have missed a few points but you are off to a good start.

[Jniedbalski]

The lead ingots you said you got from your dad from the early 70’s is most probably wheel weights. It was almost always free at the time. I Remember in the late 80’s going to tire shops and them about begging me to haul of there buckets of scrap. It was almost worthless then the price was very low for scrap and nobody wanted to mess with hauling it off. They got tired of tripping over them. The white label lube 45/45/10 which is a tumble lube alox works very good and is cheep and easy to use. You could even use 1/2 pure or soft with 1/2 of your dads ingots and still make good bullets. If your ingots won’t scratch with a fingernail most-probably wheel weights. If you take a flat blade screw driver to a lead wheel weight and scratch it see hot hard it is do do that. Then try the ingots. It should’ve about the same.

[erief0g]

Well. Thanks to Y'all along with some good ole fashioned "want to" I melted lead for the first time today. Melted down 20 lbs of the old dirty oxided lead from dad and cleaned it up and put into ingots.

I then proceeded to melt down a 20 pound pot of the 12 bhn lead alloy I have and cast my first boolits. 45acp 230gr TC. Avg weight put them at 238 grain but no worries there. I cast about 300 for my first attempt. Let me rephrase.. I kept 300. brand new 6 cavity lee mold and I think there is a learning curve along with a break in all things considered. After casting 150 boolits I took a break, cooled the mold and lubed it, and worked on some other things. Upon returning for another session I got considerably better results and look forward to the process getting smoother.

Thanks for all the help. Tomorrow may be my first endeavor into the world of hitek coatings as well. We'll see how the day goes.