Casting Experience # 2

[chemist308]

This evening after a day of shooting with son, I had my second experience with boolit casting. A few notes and a couple questions:

Thanks to all for your advice on cleaning solvents for molds and pre-heating. I preheated my molds on the side stove burner of my outdoor grill. That worked beautifully. My 38s are looking pretty good. Some have a seam where the mold closes.

Questions 1: Is this seam an issue, and will it affect performance?

The 308 boolit casting was a bit of an issue. The mold was a little on the hot side and the liquid metal stayed liquid for longer than expected. Then when tried to drop the boolits out, the ran out... A bunch tried to stick in the seams of the mold. Then to make matters worse the sprue cutter appears lifted slightly over the second bullet mold. Basically, one bullet comes out with a flat, clean base. The other came out with a lead base the size of a dime, because the sprue cutter IS lifted slightly over that mold.

Questions 2: Should I junk this mold and get another? Looking to try a different brand but on a Lee budget. Any suggestions for a better quality mold?

[docone31]

Ah hah! The old boolitt pours out after casting syndrome.
Been there, done that, wore the T-shirt, tore it up and tried to wear it again.
I just let it cool down before I cast more.
As far as the sprue plate warping, I would send it back, if it cannot be slightly bent back down.
I still get liquid castings from time to time. It sneaks up on you.

[runfiverun]

just back off the screw holding down the sprue cutter while holding it up to a light it will level up.
now: if it's a lee mold it will break, and you gotta tae the scew out and drill and tap a hole in the side as a set screw and grind a flat on the side of the sprue screw.
but it sounds like a steel mold if it gets that hot i cool mine down with a damp rag and leave it open for a few seconds while waving it around.

[Bigjohn]

One suggestion which may save you the cost of a new mould; don't warm your mould up over an open flame. You can warp the mould blocks.

The best method to warm up your moulds is by casting, note; this is not the only method but IMHO it is the best. The first cast will be rejects but the fix for that is to put the rejects back in the pot when you refill it.

Check your blocks for warpping by closing them and hold them up to a light source and check inside the cavities for light. With the cut off plate, look under it from the side to see if the is and even line of light all the way across the top of the blocks.

Adjustment of the sprue plate to prevent the flashing around the base of a boolit is easy but a lot of trial and error as too tight is bad for the blocks. If the plate is flat then tighten the screw a little at a time until the flashing stops.

John