troubles with lyman 4 cav.....

[waco]

i have a lyman 4 cavity 429421
i got my lee pot up to temp, and started casting
the mold was scrubbed with dawn and hot water, and then boiled.
nice and clean.
even after 60-80 boolits, i was still having LOTS of problems with all the cavities filling out:(
i would think that everything would have been up to temp be then.
lots of wrinkles.....but worse yet...the bases were not filling out.
tons of rejects, and only a handful of keepers.
ww is the alloy.
im about ready to trade it off to one of you guys for a 429421 dc.
i have never had any problems with the doubles.
am i missing something here?
this is my first 4 cav. and im not liking it at all
PLEASE HELP!
thanks guys
waco

[anachronism]

If the mould is really clean & misbehaving, try smoking the cavities. Are you ladle casting, or trying bottom pour?

[waco]

lee bottom pour.....and i have smoked it with kitchen matches:confused:

[Heavy lead]

crank the heat up, I run my 4 holers hot, almost as hot as lee moulds, and pressure cast a few, it should straighten out and once you do you'll drop lot's of boolits.

[mooman76]

Try turning the heat up more. It takes more time and a little longer to cast in your muliticavity moulds plus it's bigger so takes longer to heat up. Once you get going and up to speed you should be able to turn it back down some.

[waco]

heater is cranked
my 10# lee has VERY LITTLE clearance...
hard enough to cast normal
much less trying to pressure cast and keep things tidy
my 20# lee is still on backorder from midway......

[garandsrus]

Waco,

Preheat the mold...

John

[waco]

by puting it on top of the pot?????

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Go to Wally World and buy a $10 hot plate to heat the mold up while your pot is heating up, keep the mold on the warmer when your reloading your pot, this might help, and like the guys say, turn up the heat, you can always back off after you get going.

If it still won't drop a good boolit, I would suspect that it is contaminated, soak it in mineral spirits or paint thinner overnight and then clean up with the soap and hot water again.

[mtgrs737]

I have six or eight Lyman 4 cavity moulds, all of them cast like demons. I set my temp to 750 degrees using a RCBS thermometer. My alloy 90% of the time is straight wheel weights. I clean my moulds with spray brake cleaner before casting to get the WD40 off them. I like my sprue plates loose, they will swing by gravity alone. I pre-heat the moulds with a propane torch played over the mould before my first cast, I don't smoke my moulds at all. I get good boolits after 4 or 5 casts. Make sure your vent lines in the block faces are clear, set the sprue plate loose so it will vent well and you should be good to go.

If all the above is good, try a fresh batch of alloy, yours may be contaminated with zinc or some other trace material that is not letting the alloy flow. My guess is your heat is not up high enough or you need to pre-heat your mould or both. When you get it right, you will cast an impressive pile in no time. Good luck!

[Le Loup Solitaire]

If the mold is clean (paint thinner or acetone-soaked and dryed) pre-heated prior to casting then it should turn out good bullets especially If the vent lines are clear and the sprue cutter/plate is set properly. The plate should swing freely of its own weight, just sit flat on the blocks, but not sloppy loose. Run the melt temp on the hot side to start....if the sprues are taking longer and longer to set up then back off on the temp. Zinc contamination if there is any present is a PITA; it has a few symptoms like sunken-frosted spots and lube rings rounded and sunken, etc. Iron molds should not have to be smoked. WW normally casts well, but a tad of tin added makes things go a little better in terms of better fillout. When using 4 cavs I fill alternate pours from front to back to keep the heat distributed and not continuously at one end of the blocks. Be generous in making big sprue puddles to make sure that there is enough flow thru the sprue hole to allow for shrinkage as this helps to avoid improper/insufficient base fillout as well as internal voids below the bullet base. Stay with it and you will succeed in making good casts. LLS

[waco]

good advice guys!
ill give it all a try tomarrow and let you know
ps
still looking for a set of lyman 4 cav handles if any of you have a set you could part with
thanks
waco

[j20owner]

I think you could get 4 cav lyman handles from Red River Rick. You might ask him when he gets back.

[Wayne S]

by puting it on top of the pot?????
See if it will set over the opening in your pot, maybe even one corner touching the melt, OR, get a small piece of steel plate to fit over the melt and place the mold on it, might even rotate it top to bottom so the spru plate gets heated as well

[Wayne S]

Go to Wally World and buy a $10 hot plate to heat the mold up while your pot is heating up, keep the mold on the warmer when your reloading your pot, this might help,
Thanks for the reminder, S/O is going "Thrift Shop" shoping , I'll have her look for a hot plate or an iron, build stand to hold it up side down, and also use it as a lube/sizer heater

[waco]

i had already sent red river a pm
hope he can help with the handles

[Shuz]

waco--do you have an ample stream flowing out of the bottom spout?

[HeavyMetal]

The hot plate is a good suggestion however I'm still trying to find one for $10.00!

The wal mart here wants $21.00 for a single and I won't pay it for Imported product.

Plan to look at thrift stores today.

As for your four banger I found you can't get these to hot! I have lightly beveled the top of the mold, just like " leementing" a Lee mold to add one more vent line. I have also used a propane tourch to help heat these up and it work good just move the flame around.

I use two in tandum and this is the only mold I ladle pour besides the HP's. With the lee pot I'd turn the stream flow way up make a mold guide that got the sprue plate about a 1/4 inch from the spout start the pour at the last hole ( furthest away from your hand) and then push the mold forward until you have a large sprue on top and finish!

The sprue should stay liquid from the moment you stop pouring until you can set it down and pick up the second mold. Then you know the mold is hot enough!

Your fillout issue should be gone if you can manage to do that with you sprue.

[243winxb]

Making the hole larger in the bottom pour pot helps. I enlarged it to 1/8 and now it is fine (DON'T drill ALL the way through). ... Sometime opening the hole in the spure plate works also. I wash the oil off the mould with hot soapy water. Pot on maximum heat till i get good bullets. You could try a different alloy first

[Doc Highwall]

I would loosen the sprew plate till it is almost too loose. I have the same mould and the weight of the plate applies enough pressure. Also make shure their is a small edge brake on the top of the mould between the two halves like in these pictures