phishfood
09-30-2009, 12:21 AM
Over this last weekend I finally got the ladle made, and so tonight I came home determined to try my hand at casting.
I rigged up some light and a fan set to blow across the top of the smelting/casting area to keep the smoke and fumes out of my face. The sideburner of the grill was my heat source (last time I do that), and while the cast iron skillet was warming up I arranged the bottom layer of WWs so that they were all laying as flat as possible.
Once the weights finally melted, skimmed the clips, and shaved some candle wax into the mix. Skimmed again, and then tried to cast. I really tried to. I couldn't get the sprue cutter to operate with a light push as the mold instructions said it should. Multiple sharp smacks with the wooden handle of the ladle were required to make it operate. The half pound of lead running down both sides of the mold couldn't have anything to do with that, could they? But then again, letting the pour cool for 30 seconds might have been the culprit.
After about 10 drops, I got those problems hashed out. But the boolits still weren't right. Worls starting on the nose and running down in to the grooves culled 90-95% of my first 30 or so. Plus, one of the cavities was consistently not getting a full fill.
Adding the culls back into the pot, I decided to reflux. The amount of crud I skimmed off was surprising. But I still wasn't getting a good fill of the cavities every time. I started pouring, cutting the sprue, and dropping them back into the pot if both of the cavities weren't full. Then I noticed that the edges of the melt were starting to get a little stiff, so I turned the heat back up. While waiting for the melt to heat up, I held the bottom of the mold in the molten lead till it didn't leave behind a hardened impression when I lifted it back out. Wouldn't you know, I got full fills EVERY time, the molds released the boolits much easier, and the rejection rate went through the floor. I don't think that I tossed back 1 out of 10 of the last batch that I cast.
What I THINK that I have learned:
1. Find the burner for the turkey frier. She who is to be feared will not like the mess I made on the grill.
2. Flux, skim, reflux, skim, reflux, skim.
3. Keep it hot! Hot melt, hot mold, hot ladle.
4. Find the leather gloves BEFORE you burn your bare finger. 'Nough said, Stupid.
5. Prepare a bigger area to drop onto. It stinks to drop 10 times, then have to stop to sort out the culls as your mold gets cold again.
6. Cast when you are not so tired. Towards the end, I kept putting good ones in the cull pile.
7. A taller, narrower pot would be better than an 8" skillet. But then again, this one was free.
Mold was a Lee #90463, which is a .452 200 grain SWC, meant for tumble lube. I sprayed it with brake cleaner, then let it dry for an hour or so, then used a pencil lead to coat the entire inside of the cavities. It seemed to release OK, though it could have been better.
I probably cast 300-400 boolits, but only ended up with 100 keepers. Most of those were from the last few batches. Now all I need is some lube and some powder, and maybe I can afford to shoot my 1911 again.
Anyway, any comments or suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated.
I rigged up some light and a fan set to blow across the top of the smelting/casting area to keep the smoke and fumes out of my face. The sideburner of the grill was my heat source (last time I do that), and while the cast iron skillet was warming up I arranged the bottom layer of WWs so that they were all laying as flat as possible.
Once the weights finally melted, skimmed the clips, and shaved some candle wax into the mix. Skimmed again, and then tried to cast. I really tried to. I couldn't get the sprue cutter to operate with a light push as the mold instructions said it should. Multiple sharp smacks with the wooden handle of the ladle were required to make it operate. The half pound of lead running down both sides of the mold couldn't have anything to do with that, could they? But then again, letting the pour cool for 30 seconds might have been the culprit.
After about 10 drops, I got those problems hashed out. But the boolits still weren't right. Worls starting on the nose and running down in to the grooves culled 90-95% of my first 30 or so. Plus, one of the cavities was consistently not getting a full fill.
Adding the culls back into the pot, I decided to reflux. The amount of crud I skimmed off was surprising. But I still wasn't getting a good fill of the cavities every time. I started pouring, cutting the sprue, and dropping them back into the pot if both of the cavities weren't full. Then I noticed that the edges of the melt were starting to get a little stiff, so I turned the heat back up. While waiting for the melt to heat up, I held the bottom of the mold in the molten lead till it didn't leave behind a hardened impression when I lifted it back out. Wouldn't you know, I got full fills EVERY time, the molds released the boolits much easier, and the rejection rate went through the floor. I don't think that I tossed back 1 out of 10 of the last batch that I cast.
What I THINK that I have learned:
1. Find the burner for the turkey frier. She who is to be feared will not like the mess I made on the grill.
2. Flux, skim, reflux, skim, reflux, skim.
3. Keep it hot! Hot melt, hot mold, hot ladle.
4. Find the leather gloves BEFORE you burn your bare finger. 'Nough said, Stupid.
5. Prepare a bigger area to drop onto. It stinks to drop 10 times, then have to stop to sort out the culls as your mold gets cold again.
6. Cast when you are not so tired. Towards the end, I kept putting good ones in the cull pile.
7. A taller, narrower pot would be better than an 8" skillet. But then again, this one was free.
Mold was a Lee #90463, which is a .452 200 grain SWC, meant for tumble lube. I sprayed it with brake cleaner, then let it dry for an hour or so, then used a pencil lead to coat the entire inside of the cavities. It seemed to release OK, though it could have been better.
I probably cast 300-400 boolits, but only ended up with 100 keepers. Most of those were from the last few batches. Now all I need is some lube and some powder, and maybe I can afford to shoot my 1911 again.
Anyway, any comments or suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated.