castalott
01-03-2006, 11:53 PM
Hi Guys! I finally got time to cast a few bullets. I had some things to try. Bull Shop lube ( BSL from here on), putting cat litter in the pot on top of the melted lead, and a brand new Lyman 4 cavity mold # 358665.
Here's what happened....
I took the new mold and handcasted until the blocks were hot. Left the cavities full and applied the BSL as directed.. ( well, I never was good at directions...I applied 2 coats to the mold tops and the alignment pins.) I wanted to use a different sprue plate on my machine, so I got the right sprue plate and sanded the bottom smooth and polished the top very clean. I then heated it up by immersing it in the lead pot. This wasn't a good idea.... the lead stuck to it even though it was very hot....cleaned it up and still applied 2 good coats to the entire sprue plate...( ya, ya, I know ...not the way the directions say). I put the mold together without ANY OTHER lube and fired the machine up. 265 cycles later.....here is what the mold looks like....
I usually ran 4 cycles per minute at 800 to 860 degrees with the cooling fan on. I did speed up once to almost 5 cycles a minute and the fan off....but chickened out quickly. I cut a few sprues as semi-solids. But that is hard for this old heart to take... Things were going too well to goof something up..
BSL WORKS! Quite frankly, I am amazed... (Oh, The mold was covered with oil as a preservative in the picture.) I normally spend 20 minutes pencilling the top of the mold and both sides of the sprue plate. And then apply moly to the pivot point...AND watch it close when casting. I can't wait to try it on a 6 cavity aluminium mold....
the 358665 mold.....
It is a good mold and the bullets fall at .3585 as best as this person can measure. ( I was hoping for .360) I didn't clean it correctly before starting...so the bullets are only plinkers to me. Some of the edges are rounded. A good cleaning or Beagling is called for. I sure wish I could buy..."Beagling in a can!!!'
Cat Litter.... I laughed when I first heard that...But I tried it. It works! The top of the melt seemed very clean. I need to test more but preliminary reports are good.
Dale
Here's what happened....
I took the new mold and handcasted until the blocks were hot. Left the cavities full and applied the BSL as directed.. ( well, I never was good at directions...I applied 2 coats to the mold tops and the alignment pins.) I wanted to use a different sprue plate on my machine, so I got the right sprue plate and sanded the bottom smooth and polished the top very clean. I then heated it up by immersing it in the lead pot. This wasn't a good idea.... the lead stuck to it even though it was very hot....cleaned it up and still applied 2 good coats to the entire sprue plate...( ya, ya, I know ...not the way the directions say). I put the mold together without ANY OTHER lube and fired the machine up. 265 cycles later.....here is what the mold looks like....
I usually ran 4 cycles per minute at 800 to 860 degrees with the cooling fan on. I did speed up once to almost 5 cycles a minute and the fan off....but chickened out quickly. I cut a few sprues as semi-solids. But that is hard for this old heart to take... Things were going too well to goof something up..
BSL WORKS! Quite frankly, I am amazed... (Oh, The mold was covered with oil as a preservative in the picture.) I normally spend 20 minutes pencilling the top of the mold and both sides of the sprue plate. And then apply moly to the pivot point...AND watch it close when casting. I can't wait to try it on a 6 cavity aluminium mold....
the 358665 mold.....
It is a good mold and the bullets fall at .3585 as best as this person can measure. ( I was hoping for .360) I didn't clean it correctly before starting...so the bullets are only plinkers to me. Some of the edges are rounded. A good cleaning or Beagling is called for. I sure wish I could buy..."Beagling in a can!!!'
Cat Litter.... I laughed when I first heard that...But I tried it. It works! The top of the melt seemed very clean. I need to test more but preliminary reports are good.
Dale