Frosted boolits

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

If'n yer runnin a Lee six ganger aluminum mold and sees frosting, indicating the mold is getting a bit too hot, how do ye cool the mold down but keep casting with it? Use a wet towel or use two molds and switch back and forth.

Thanks,

Dave

[Dale53]

I have often used a folded cloth in an old ice cube tray that is resting in a bit of water.

BE CAREFUL OF WATER AROUND MOLTEN LEAD Steam explosions are NOT fun! It only takes a drop or two of water in the lead pot to empty that pot all over everything, including YOU!

Dale53

[BruceB]

BE CAREFUL OF WATER AROUND MOLTEN LEAD Steam explosions are NOT fun! It only takes a drop or two of water in the lead pot to empty that pot all over everything, including YOU! Dale53


"Be careful of water around molten lead"....absolutely true, and lack of care can cost us, BIG time.

However, a drop or two of water "in the pot" is not necessarily a problem. Water (or beer, sweat, or margarita drops) which fall into the pot will just sizzle and bounce around until they evaporate. Water that GETS BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE MELT, such as dampness or spillage in the material being added to the melt, WILL give a violent reaction. I once did a controlled test and dropped scores of water droplets directly on the melt, with results as described above, namely no problem at all.

Particularly if we are water-dropping the boolits AND remelting sprues from time to time, those sprues had better be kept DRY, and no mistake. A drop from the quenching bucket that flies into the pot....not a problem. A bit of water that flies into the sprue container and does NOT evaporate, by comparison represents a potential big problem if it gets tossed into the melt.

As Dale said, BE CAREFUL.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Dale and Bruce,

How do you guys keep the mold from becoming too hot?

Regards,

Dave

[mooman76]

Frosted bullets won't hurt much unless you are picky about your bullets in fact if you tumble lube the lube will stick better! If you use the wet towel method the mould is so hot the moisture will evaporate almost imediately!

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

mooman,

that settles it. I'll just use the wet towel method for cooling the sprue and won't sweat it. My current casting efforts are all directed towards a "decently accurate" plinker bullet, so perfection isn't needed, just desired.

Regards,

Dave

[Dale53]

Dave;
>>>How do you guys keep the mold from becoming too hot?<<<

I just lower the melt temperature. There is a definite balance point where you can get excellent bullets without overheating the mould. This is where the "art" comes in during bullet casting. Part "Art" and part "Science".

The more you cast, the more you will learn. You have now done the research, now you just need to get out there and "Do It!":mrgreen:

Good luck and GOOD CASTING!

Dale53

[454PB]

My casting bench is 8' long. Since I'm a lefty, I keep the pot at the right end, and on the left end I have a cake pan with an inch of water in it and a flat sponge about 8" by 4". When the mould gets too hot, I touch the bottom of it on the sponge. I guess a towel would do the same thing, but I think the sponge wicks water faster.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Dale53,

Thanks for that information and I totally understand it, as it use it all the time when I'm polishing guns for blueing. I have a thermometer, so with what I learned at Rich's and some observation using the knowledge you fellas are generously providing, I should be able to tweak myself into the ballpark I need to be in.

454PB,

I'll certainly try that out method out, as an old cake pan is readily available here.

thank you gentlen,

Dave

[DEVERS454]

I tend to blow on the mold right after dropping bullets.

That, or let it sit out of casting rotation (I cast with 2 or 3 mold blocks at a time to keep it going smoothly) so that it will drop.

I also notice that if the mold gets too hot, bullets don't drop as easily.

[SharpsShooter]

If you wipe of your completed rounds before storing, use a paper towel on the frosted boolit and it will polish it right up.

[Bret4207]

I like my boolits frosted, not grossly so, as they tend to fill out better. Shiny is pretty, but fosted works fine too.

[versifier]

If your mould is getting too hot, you could try slowing down. Maybe add a second mould to the rotation to give the first time to cool a bit more between fillings. 6 bangers can heat very quickly due to the greater volume of molten metal being added to them. Personally, I would tend to want to try adjusting my rhythm before I changed the temperture setting on the pot - once properly set for a given alloy I don't like to mess with it as I will use a variety of different moulds with it, and changing it to accomodate one will cause problems with the others, but YMMV.

[BruceB]

It seems that I now use that 'speedcasting' technique of mine for virtually all of my casting.

If the mould becomes "too hot", I simply leave it in contact with the wet pad a bit longer. Just a few days ago, I discovered that a few of my 311467s from a 4-cavity mould were not quite solid enough to be dropped with the particular cadence-count that I was using, so I just added a couple of seconds to the mental count and the problem was solved. (Sorta like ol' Lawrence Welk..."und a VUN, und a TWO, und a....").

As noted in the description of the process, I run that furnace of mine as hot as it will go, about 870 degrees, and I get good boolits! The process is described in the "Cast Boolit Articles", linked at the bottom of this page.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Thanks for that information Bruce. It was obvious to me from how quickly I caught on and was able to empty the 10 bottom pour Rich had that I can easily get into a rhythm and do the "speed casting" thing really comfortably. My background in manufacturing taught me to pretty much automatically think about ergonomics and motion studies of any process I do, so I end up doing it faster. I've got it in mind to pretty much copy exactly how you are doing things.

Now if I can get the smelting part of the process to a point I'm happy with it, I'll be in business.

Dave

[Bullshop]

BruceB
I know that you are making good boolits using your method of casting. And you know that I am also even though I do exactly the opposite of you in that I run my RCBS pot at the lowest possible setting between the off position and the first # reading. It just goes to show how much art is involved in this casting and that everything we read or write is essentially opinion as there is obviosly more that one truth.
BIC/BS

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Interesting commentary BullShop. Shows me the old adage about more than one way to skin a cat works. Do you fellas both use thermometers even in your smelting process? Today I did the smelting for the first time and didn't use a thermometer and could use some good advice on "tuning" the process. I posted about it on the cast boolits forum.

Regards,

Dave

[Bullshop]

DIFBG
Dave buddy BSM is calling you flower boy and laughing her fool head off. I would slap her for ya but I am afraid of her.
Anyway I dont use a thermomiter for smelting. I use a large commercial 220v pot that is caliberated very close to the dial setting. I like to run about 650 to prevent melting any zink that may find its way in.
I dont regulerly use one for casting but do use one ocasionaly to check the control on my pot to keep settings correct.
Sorry about the BSM thing. Its still snowing and blowing and she just cant handle it any longer and seems to have lost it. Hope its only temporary she has boolits to ship out.
BIC/BS

[Frank46]

I have to go along with Tpr Bret. When I first started casting in the basement I have had problems getting bullets filling out correctly. I saw this article in the cba
newsletter about frosted bullets. I now cast at 750 degrees and once the bullets are completely frosted at least 95% are keepers. Bases and driving bands are well filled out and I get fewer rejects. The partially frosted bullets for the most part are tossed backinto the pot, but I keep a few to setup the reloading dies and lubrisizer. frank

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

DIFBG
Dave buddy BSM is calling you flower boy and laughing her fool head off. I would slap her for ya but I am afraid of her.
Anyway I dont use a thermomiter for smelting. I use a large commercial 220v pot that is caliberated very close to the dial setting. I like to run about 650 to prevent melting any zink that may find its way in.
I dont regulerly use one for casting but do use one ocasionaly to check the control on my pot to keep settings correct.
Sorry about the BSM thing. Its still snowing and blowing and she just cant handle it any longer and seems to have lost it. Hope its only temporary she has boolits to ship out.
BIC/BS

BS,

Tell BSM I'm a gentle, delicate and emotionally sensitive individual that she's traumatized greatly. It appears she may have caused me to be forced to go to an expensive therapist for help dealing with the trauma unless she sends me a sample of the sprue prate lube and the smokeless powder lube to offset and alleviate some of the emotional distress she's caused me.:-D

Thanks for the information on the 650 temperature. I'll throw my thermometer on, get things up to temp., roll it back to 650 and mark my regulator with a sharpie.

If it's too rough, you guys are welcome to come and visit us here in sunny Georgia. It's a beautiful day today and the temps supposed to hit 86 degrees F.'

Regards,

Flowery Boy Dave:twisted:

[Bucks Owin]

If'n yer runnin a Lee six ganger aluminum mold and sees frosting, indicating the mold is getting a bit too hot, how do ye cool the mold down but keep casting with it? Use a wet towel or use two molds and switch back and forth.

Thanks,

Dave


I don't know about wet towels on aluminum moulds, doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I would:

A Just slow down

B Perhaps lower the temp if possible

C Two moulds would definately work

D Not worry too much about a little frost. Some casters PREFER frosted bullets. (Paco Kelly comes to mind...)

FWIW,

Dennis

[454PB]

Not to worry, Bucks. I've been doing it for 25 years with over a dozen Lee moulds and haven't hurt one yet.

[lefty_red]

A thermometer is my last item I need to buy for my "general" casting gear. I had to learn by trial adn error, but on my LEE PP I smelt the WWs down on 8 or 9 until clean then turn the pot down to 6 and start casting after ten minutes. When the pot gets half full, turn it down to 4 and finish intil about an inch of molten is in teh bottom. Then I add more and continue.

Frosted bullets remained me of a chilly fall morning........

Jerry

[Bucks Owin]

Yeah, me too. A thermometer and a hardness tester (probably Lee) are near the top of my "wanna get" list....

Dennis

[Bucks Owin]

Not to worry, Bucks. I've been doing it for 25 years with over a dozen Lee moulds and haven't hurt one yet.


OK, I'll take your word for that. Usually, since "frosted" bullets don't concern me too much, I just keep a damp sponge handy to wipe the sprue with occasionally as I wait for the alloy or mold to cool down slightly rather than try to cool the entire mould. (If that was the topic...)

Dennis

[454PB]

I get frosted boolits even though I use the sponge trick to cool the mould. Depending on the boolit size, I sometimes have to use the sponge when using two moulds at a time. I cast the Lee 500 grain 45/70 boolit, and it's a single cavity. You can almost have a cup of coffee while that cools down.

[Bucks Owin]

I get frosted boolits even though I use the sponge trick to cool the mould. Depending on the boolit size, I sometimes have to use the sponge when using two moulds at a time. I cast the Lee 500 grain 45/70 boolit, and it's a single cavity. You can almost have a cup of coffee while that cools down.

LOL, I hear you! My Lee 405 gr .45/70 boolits are generally looking pretty "chilly" too!

Those big boolits sure heat up a mould in a hurry huh?

Dennis

[buck1]

I like em frosted , They stay liqiud longer and so I get less voids.
I dont keep em untill they bare evenly frosted . ...Buck