Getting back into this after about 4 or 5 years. Few quick qeuestions.

[Manns50]

Hello, I took an unexpected pause. Life got in the way and I had an electrocution, got a toe for a thumb..but glad to be back! Think my last time of logging in was 2016!
Have forgot a few things, been trying to brush up. Been coming back fairly quickly.
There was a LLA mixture I was using with mineral spirits and lanolin? I can't remember. Anyone have a quick and dirty LLA recipe works well? I was getting ready to start powder coating when I stopped and still have the supplies. With powder coating does it change bullet dimensions when loading? May be a stupid question but the thought crossed my mind, how thick is the coating on an application?

Also my molds have been stored in their original box and I acquired a new 200g for the 10mm. I guess prep on the old molds to be the same after sitting for years.

Also ditched my old Lee progressive a few years ago and went with the Dillon 750 right before my accident, having to try and remember a lot of things.

Think I was using antiseize for mold lube, that correct?

Appreciate any input, Thank for your time!

[Hossfly]

Welcome back.
To answer your question about the powder coat, it will add about 1 or 2 thousand to your boolit dimensions,depending on your powder thickness and your ability to get it to stick and cure properly. I do 400’ for 30 min. After center of boolit gets to 400’.

[hoodat]

I do 400’ for 30 min. After center of boolit gets to 400’.

How the heck to ya measure the temperature of the center of your bullet??:p

[Hossfly]

I do 400’ for 30 min. After center of boolit gets to 400’.

How the heck to ya measure the temperature of the center of your bullet??:p

Drill a hole into the boolit, stick a thermocouple inside the hole then tap hole closed until the lead holds thermocouple covering. Place into oven with others and when that boolit gets to temp start timing. All others will be approximately the same temp, and cure.

[cobia]

After PC, I size through Push-Thru sizer and their all the same size, it is very quick to do. NOE gives you a small bottle of (I think) it's auto tranny oil for sprue plate hinge area and block pins when you buy a mold.
Good read here on mold,
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?441394-How-do-you-tune-a-sprue-plate
Hope the thumb works well for you! 'X-Sparky'

[gwpercle]

Welcome back :drinks: the first round's on me !

For Mould lube ... yes Permatex Anti-Seize compound is good , use in places you want it to stay put on . I also use Synthetic Two Stroke Oil , like Super-Tech (Walmart) 2.6 oz. bottle $1.08 , applied with a Q-Tip for areas where you want a thinner lube and to run into threads or holes for .
I like both , use Permatex like a grease and Synthetic Two-Stroke like a thin oil for harder to reach places ... the oil on a Q-Tip is easier to apply while casting , to a hot mould !
And do use the synthetic two stroke oil , I don't know why but it works better than a conventional oil and a small 2.6 oz. bottle will last decades !

Take things slow ... they will come back ... it's like kissing a girl ...it all comes back when you start doing it !
Gary

[lar45]

Hi Manns50, welcome back.
The liquid alox mix was liquid Alox, Johnson paste wax and mineral spirits.
It's normally called 45-45-10, or Recluse lube...
When I powder coat, I put the coated bullets in at 400 for 20 minutes total. After the bullets have cooled, put one on an anvil and smash it. If the coating stays put It's good enough, if it flakes off, you need more cook time.
I use a Dillon 550 and love it.

[Manns50]

Thanks for the input, assuming you don't accommodate for that in the process? Very cool way of taking bullet temps!

Welcome back.
To answer your question about the powder coat, it will add about 1 or 2 thousand to your boolit dimensions,depending on your powder thickness and your ability to get it to stick and cure properly. I do 400’ for 30 min. After center of boolit gets to 400’.

[Manns50]

After PC, I size through Push-Thru sizer and their all the same size, it is very quick to do. Thanks NOE gives you a small bottle of (I think) it's auto tranny oil for sprue plate hinge area and block pins when you buy a mold.
Good read here on mold,
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?441394-How-do-you-tune-a-sprue-plate
Hope the thumb works well for you! 'X-Sparky'

Thanks for the info!

[Manns50]

Welcome back :drinks: the first round's on me !

For Mould lube ... yes Permatex Anti-Seize compound is good , use in places you want it to stay put on . I also use Synthetic Two Stroke Oil , like Super-Tech (Walmart) 2.6 oz. bottle $1.08 , applied with a Q-Tip for areas where you want a thinner lube and to run into threads or holes for .
I like both , use Permatex like a grease and Synthetic Two-Stroke like a thin oil for harder to reach places ... the oil on a Q-Tip is easier to apply while casting , to a hot mould !
And do use the synthetic two stroke oil , I don't know why but it works better than a conventional oil and a small 2.6 oz. bottle will last decades !

Take things slow ... they will come back ... it's like kissing a girl ...it all comes back when you start doing it !
Gary

Gary, I got a laugh from your analogy. Cheers my friend, will do just that! Planning on starting casting this weekend. Currently getting back into the Dillon press. Had just got the 40 cal. head set up right before the accident. Still have to set up the heads and parts for the 10mm and 223, etc.
It's been so long, I forgot which powder I had the measure set for on the 40 cal. I have a few powders I had used in the past. I think it was Unique I was using but of course will verify the powder drop. Either that or the Bullseye. I wrote a bunch of loads down but didnt specify what I had measure set for. Either way slow and low...that is the tempo!

[Manns50]

Hi Manns50, welcome back.
The liquid alox mix was liquid Alox, Johnson paste wax and mineral spirits.
It's normally called 45-45-10, or Recluse lube...
When I powder coat, I put the coated bullets in at 400 for 20 minutes total. After the bullets have cooled, put one on an anvil and smash it. If the coating stays put It's good enough, if it flakes off, you need more cook time.
I use a Dillon 550 and love it.

Yes! That was it..Johnsons paste wax! As I was reading your reply, it was coming back to me in waves! Thank you my friend, reason I like forums such as this. You hit the nail on the head. The 45-45-10!
How is that lube in your opinion? Think I was just using a measuring cup to measure it out. Was my go to lube for a good while but wanted to try powder coating. Think I'll get back in the groove with these basics before adding the PC.

[Manns50]

Another question, I checked the shape of some of my molds. I have a new RCBS 200g 10mm, will clean that up for first use but my old Lee 40 cal molds, one is a 6 cavity the other a 2. They have some scouring on the top from the sprue plate closing/opening, one of them pretty significant enough to hang a fingernail onto. But not necessarily over the cavity. Looks like lead possibly stuck to the sprue plate and scoured the top of the aluminum. Whats the best way to clean up old molds. The plate still rubs and possibly has small fragments of lead I don't see. Considered heating it up and wiping it down.
Clean them up as best I can before using them again. May not have been lubing them as frequent as I should have been back then.
Is this pretty common or when is the scouring too much to make the mold unusable? Don't think I/m there yet as the scouring is not over the cavity. Just concerned me after seeing that.

[Drew P]

You can clean the top up. If it’s just smeared lead then get it hot and rub some bees wax on it with a tooth pick. Any burrs can be hit with a file or sanded on a surface plate but before doing anything crazy like that wait for expert analysis, molds are precision living instruments and they need special care at all times. Rust is another story.

[Manns50]

You can clean the top up. If it’s just smeared lead then get it hot and rub some bees wax on it with a tooth pick. Any burrs can be hit with a file or sanded on a surface plate but before doing anything crazy like that wait for expert analysis, molds are precision living instruments and they need special care at all times. Rust is another story.
Thanks for the reply. Ya I'll heat them up and use a nylon brush or just a rag try and clean them up. Going to disassemble and clean them up see if I can correct any issues. The two cavity mold looks like its not closing properly and would drop out of round. I'll make sure the pivot point of each block is clean etc.
Been a dive back into a lot of things Ive forgot, but its coming back.
Thank You.

[blackthorn]

"Ya I'll heat them up and use a nylon brush or just a rag try and clean them up."

Using a nylon anything on a HOT mould is a very, very bad idea! Using a rough surfaces rag such as a piece of old burlap is a good idea.

[super6]

Off topic, But what kinda voltage did you take to blow your thumb off... I have been zapped with 460 /1000 amps and it hurt for days. Maybe 2 phases?

[Manns50]

Off topic, But what kinda voltage did you take to blow your thumb off... I have been zapped with 460 /1000 amps and it hurt for days. Maybe 2 phases?

Wow I bet!
I accidentally got against a power line. I forget what voltage they told me it was approximately but everyone that I talked to is surprised I'm alive.
My boy and I launched a rocket, it got caught in a tree. I actually had backed my truck up under it with a 10 ft step ladder in bed but I seen the lines and I didnt want to chance it, didnt even climb the ladder pulled my truck back in the driveway from neighbors. Called a guy with a boom truck, supposed to come the next day. Got off the phone and my neighbor had called a guy with a backhoe to raise me up with the bucket. Told him I wasn't interested, wouldn't get me higher than with the ladder and my boy and I started to clear some trails on his property for atv's. An hour later he told me Dave was on his way over with backhoe.
Reluctantly went and talked to him and felt kind of bad because they were trying to help....needed to get off my butt etc.
Told him to hang on and I grabbed a commercial electricians blanket that I threw in the bucket I was standing on. I have those because I do lichtenburg wood burning occasionally. The pole with net I was holding ended up blowing against the power line. I felt it for about 3 seconds it seemed, I couldn't let go but knew what happened. You can hear that much power. It entered my hands and blew out of my right quad, left a 10 inch exit wound.
Neighbor snapped a pic right before it happened and I unintentionally braced my leg against the top of the backhoe bucket, which gave it a ground. Actually blew through my shorts and melted the fabric onto a pocket knife I had in my pocket. I fell 15 ft and hit the ground on my back, they are thinking that may have jump started my heart again. Took 16 surgeries all together with the skin graphs, they kept failing and different surgeries.
Surprisingly this toe to thumb surgery was 24 hours. Didnt realize a person could stay under that long.
S

[gunrunner5.56]

I am glad you are recovering, it sounds like you are very lucky to still be here!

[pjh421]

When you set up a powder measure, you might try writing what's in it and what its set up for on a piece of blue painter's tape with a Sharpie. Stick this on the reservoir. Keeps you out of trouble and peels off easily when you don't need it anymore.

[lar45]

The 45-45-10 is a great tumble lube. I prefer it over the regular Liquid Alox because it will actually dry on the bullets instead of staying soft and tacky forever.
I have used it on conventional lube groove bullets as well as tumble lube designs and it worked well on both.
I use a very light coat. I put a couple of handfulls of bullets in a cool whip tub, then drizzle a small amount of 45-45-10 over the top, put the lid on and swirl the bullets all around to spread the lube. The bullets should all look wet with a light tinge of brown.
I then dump them out onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and set in the sun to dry.
They should be dry to the touch in about 4 hours and ready to load the next day.

[Manns50]

When you set up a powder measure, you might try writing what's in it and what its set up for on a piece of blue painter's tape with a Sharpie. Stick this on the reservoir. Keeps you out of trouble and peels off easily when you don't need it anymore.
Yes I agree, will do and have been, going forward. I had made notes of loads I wanted to try and had a star by the one I had it set for but I wanted to verify. A lot has happened in the 2 years or probably longer since I was constantly reloading. Divoreced etc all kinds of things. So def taking lots of good notes is key thank for the tip.

[Manns50]

The 45-45-10 is a great tumble lube. I prefer it over the regular Liquid Alox because it will actually dry on the bullets instead of staying soft and tacky forever.
I have used it on conventional lube groove bullets as well as tumble lube designs and it worked well on both.
I use a very light coat. I put a couple of handfulls of bullets in a cool whip tub, then drizzle a small amount of 45-45-10 over the top, put the lid on and swirl the bullets all around to spread the lube. The bullets should all look wet with a light tinge of brown.
I then dump them out onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and set in the sun to dry.
They should be dry to the touch in about 4 hours and ready to load the next day.
Yes I have used it before and liked it. What I'm going to do today or this week. But just ordered PC from Eastwood looking forward to powder coating some. I have Harbor Freight Red but read a couple neg things recently figured I would start off with some good stuff.

[Huskerguy]

Yep, 45/45/10 works great. Just don't try and put too much on at a time. I coated, sized, coated again, let dry and loaded. I pulled some out there lately I loaded in 38 special and they are dry, no sticky at all. That said, powder coat is really nice, my pistols are nearly spotless aside from powder residue. I use powder from the supplier on this site, preheat to 400 for 15-20 minutes. While checking the inside of the lead sounds good, we used to bake finishes on cars and the paint is what needs the temp to work correctly, the metal will follow.

I have been helping a friend convert his 650 to small primers and get it set up for .223 from 45. There are a considerable number of pieces to replace when doing the swap, just follow the book to the letter and it goes well. I run a single stage and a Hornady LNL with not nearly as many moving parts. Over the last few months I have become pretty good at trouble shooting the ole 650 for him which I understand shares many things in common with the 750.

As for molds - on my aluminum molds I use some of the free chop sticks we get from take out, they work really well. Get the mold hot and start working away. If your sprue plate is dragging you may want to pull it off and level it on a file or something flat like that. Then lube all the moving parts, joints and you should be fine.

Sounds like quite the ordeal you have been through. Glad you are back on the mend. So one question - whose toe?

[Manns50]

Yes I agree, I had notes of loads I wanted to try with a star next to the one I had the powder measure set but I wanted to verify. Keeping meter notes going forward thank you for the tip.

[Manns50]

Yep, 45/45/10 works great. Just don't try and put too much on at a time. I coated, sized, coated again, let dry and loaded. I pulled some out there lately I loaded in 38 special and they are dry, no sticky at all. That said, powder coat is really nice, my pistols are nearly spotless aside from powder residue. I use powder from the supplier on this site, preheat to 400 for 15-20 minutes. While checking the inside of the lead sounds good, we used to bake finishes on cars and the paint is what needs the temp to work correctly, the metal will follow.

I have been helping a friend convert his 650 to small primers and get it set up for .223 from 45. There are a considerable number of pieces to replace when doing the swap, just follow the book to the letter and it goes well. I run a single stage and a Hornady LNL with not nearly as many moving parts. Over the last few months I have become pretty good at trouble shooting the ole 650 for him which I understand shares many things in common with the 750.

As for molds - on my aluminum molds I use some of the free chop sticks we get from take out, they work really well. Get the mold hot and start working away. If your sprue plate is dragging you may want to pull it off and level it on a file or something flat like that. Then lube all the moving parts, joints and you should be fine.

Sounds like quite the ordeal you have been through. Glad you are back on the mend. So one question - whose toe?

Lol my right Toe. Can’t imagine having someone else’s toe. Be even weirder. It’s more than I thought though, they don’t just remove the toe. They open the whole foot up and have to remove about 12 inches of nerve and blood vessel etc. guess they need the length to reattach all of it.

[lar45]

Wow, what an ordeal!
I'm glad you are on the mend and getting back into a worthy hobby.

[Huskerguy]

Lol my right Toe. Can’t imagine having someone else’s toe. Be even weirder. It’s more than I thought though, they don’t just remove the toe. They open the whole foot up and have to remove about 12 inches of nerve and blood vessel etc. guess they need the length to reattach all of it.

That sounds amazing and painful! How is your balance without the big toe? I have never heard of this.

Our son had tongue cancer several years ago. He was a tall, skinny kid, never smoked, chewed, or drank, didn't even like soda pop, he was a track and cross country runner. Anyway, a dentist found it and they took out half his tongue front to back. Took 12 hours and two teams, one tried off the arteries on both sides of the neck and then cut this throat from ear to ear and pulled everything out and started cutting. They took the inside of right arm - blood vessels, nerves, meat, etc and rebuilt the tongue. Another team took skin/meat from his left hip and rebuilt the inside of his right arm. My wife about jumped out of the room when we first saw all the work, it was incredible.

Glad you are doing well and getting back into the hobby among other things in life! Blessings

[Manns50]

That sounds amazing and painful! How is your balance without the big toe? I have never heard of this.

Our son had tongue cancer several years ago. He was a tall, skinny kid, never smoked, chewed, or drank, didn't even like soda pop, he was a track and cross country runner. Anyway, a dentist found it and they took out half his tongue front to back. Took 12 hours and two teams, one tried off the arteries on both sides of the neck and then cut this throat from ear to ear and pulled everything out and started cutting. They took the inside of right arm - blood vessels, nerves, meat, etc and rebuilt the tongue. Another team took skin/meat from his left hip and rebuilt the inside of his right arm. My wife about jumped out of the room when we first saw all the work, it was incredible.

Glad you are doing well and getting back into the hobby among other things in life! Blessings

Thank you sir, much appreciated. Wow I can imagine the process your son went through, and you and your wife as well! Blows my mind some of the procedures they are doing, like your son had....Ive never heard of that procedure were unaware it could be done. How is he now, no issues?

And I have no balance issues at all, really didn't right after the surgery. Doctor told me you mainly balance off the ball of your foot. Said it might affect my jump shot lol, but I haven't noticed really anything. I run and play with my son a lot, we ride atvs, trail hiking etc.
I lost a lost of feeling in my fingers, little harder to grab certain things especially very small stuff, but you over come and adapt really quickly. My forte was auto mechanics and using my hands, woodworking or tinkering with something on my free time oddly enough. But when I didnt have a thumb for 6 months or better, I actually fixed a pinball machine. Replaced the coil and soldered the wires. Used magnets a lot to pick up something or hold it.
But just like anyone would do, you overcome and adapt really quickly.
Blessing to you and your family.

[pjh421]

Divorce sucks. Went through that and don’t ever want to again. When I finally got over it enough to return to doing things that make me happy I discovered all kinds of things I had been working on in the loading/casting area that had just stopped. It was akin to inheriting one of your uncles’ estates and beginning to sift through it. That was 10 years ago and things are good. Glad to know you are pursuing casting, etc. in spite of things having happened to you that kill other people. You’ve got great things on your horizon coming your way. Go get ‘em!

[Manns50]

Divorce sucks. Went through that and don’t ever want to again. When I finally got over it enough to return to doing things that make me happy I discovered all kinds of things I had been working on in the loading/casting area that had just stopped. It was akin to inheriting one of your uncles’ estates and beginning to sift through it. That was 10 years ago and things are good. Glad to know you are pursuing casting, etc. in spite of things having happened to you that kill other people. You’ve got great things on your horizon coming your way. Go get ‘em!

Thank you for the kind words, yes sir, life is too short to sweat the little things. You get a new perspective for sure. Yes I had forgotten about a couple sizer that I had bought, never used...same for a Lyman 200g mold never used. I know the feeling. :)