Problems of the new caster

[Charlie Two Tracks]

I am just kind of thinking out loud here. I have a 148 grain LEE TL mould. I cast about 1,000 from WW. They are marginal at best. Not the greatest fill out. Today I mixed 1 part WW with 2 parts range lead. The fill out is better. I really don't know why but at least it is better. It is hard for the new caster to even know what a correctly filled out TL boolit looks like. I will keep reading and keep casting and keep asking questions. The boolits that I have cast so far, shoot, but leave some lead in the barrel. The middle is not filling out as good as I think it should. I will get some pewter and see what happens when I add it. I need to get around to smelting three different types of lead into one and go from there. Thanks for listening.

[405]

Keep after it! Most quality cast bullets come from experience, use of the brain and a lack of fear for experimentation.

That 148 TL out of a Lee mold should be one of the easier types to cast and get full fill-out. No telling about what the true alloy is in the WW much less the range lead. Likely a combination of a lot of stuff, including of course Lead, Tin & Antimony. If you are using about the same temperature to cast the WW-range mix as you were with the straight WW then it may indicate a need for higher casting temperature. I know that with aluminum molds and softer lead (with less amounts of tin/antimony) I have to keep the temperature up to get good fill-out. Also, you should be able to use the bottom pour for that type bullet but..... casting pace is important. Trial and error and practice will prevail.

If after honest attempts and practice but still poor fill-out... you might try a ladle (not the Lee ladle)... where the ladle is filled about half full. The mold is tilted and brought to the ladle spout. Then the two, while in good contact with each other, are brought upright. This helps ensure enough hot alloy is supplied to the mold. With practice you can lift the ladle away from the mold after a second or two.... with a little tilt away movement and still leave a good sized sprue puddle.... without making a mess :). I do this close to and over the pot. With practice this can be done at a pace that keeps both the mold and alloys temps constant and high enough for good results. Good luck

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Charlie,

Your box is scheduled for pick up in the am.

Sam :D

[462]

Charlie,
If you are using a bottom pour pot, try pressure casting. Put the spout directly into the mould's fill hole, fill and hold the mould there for a couple of seconds, then go on to the next cavity. After the cavities are filled, go back and create a sprue over both, let cool and open the sprue plate. I have to do this with a Lyman plain base mould that had defied all else to get proper base fill out.

Casting has taught me more about patience than any other aspect of my life.

[pathfinder]

Are you making ingots from the the WW first? If not I would defiantly recomend trying it. Also what kind of flux are you using? I find beeswax works best.

[mpmarty]

Get a shallow pan and put water in it. Place a rag in the water. Cast as fast as you can until the boolits come out frosty then touch the mold to the wet rag and slow down a little bit. Works for me with six cav. LEE molds for my pistols. I bottom pour from a twenty pound LEE pot at 775* or thereabouts.

[docone31]

Preheat your mold!
You should have a six count to the last sprue freeze. Five seconds, need heat, seven seconds, too much heat.

[Recluse]

Charlie, here are some thoughts/suggestions:

1. Lee molds like to be run hot. I've found that their micro-band molds (tumble-lube) design need to be run even hotter. To run the mold hot, you need to run your alloy hotter--so crank up the heat on your pot.

2. Not sure if you Lee-mented your mold, but it will help immeasurably with a lot of things, including and especially fillout. If you're using a two-cavity mold, pay especially close attention to the Lee-menting area about cleaning out/expanding your vent lines.

3. Do not smoke your mold.

4. Go to your local hardware store and pick up a roll of solder that contains tin--make sure you have an appropriate percentage of tin in your alloy mix.

5. For lubing, I've found that with that tumble lube design, this works pretty well:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654

If you have the means, post a few pictures of your results and we can tell more by that.

Hang in there--it gets better.

:coffee:

[bigboredad]

Charlie
recluse has hit it pretty much spot on with the tl design. the only thing I can add is when I was using a tl design heat is your friend the hotter the better fill out I got and I also use a ladle. When you think it is way too hot that's about where the tl molds work the best good luck

[Charlie Two Tracks]

700 deg. is what I was casting at. I will try the bottom pour pressure casting. I have ingots made from the WW. I will try casting at a higher temperature. I have Lee-mented my mould but not the vent lines. That had me worried I'd screw up the mold. I will try and give it a shot. I will get some more tin in the mix. Great ideas guys. I do like casting. I just want to get better boolits. I'll see if I can get pictures.

[462]

Keep in mind that moulds are no different than guns, in that each has its uniqueness.

Try one fix at a time. Eventually, it'll come right.

[bigboredad]

the only way I could get better boolits to my liking and that was easier to do is get away from tl molds. traditional lube boolits seem to do just as if not better using lla and jpw mix. After using so much heat and having to cast as fast as I could I decided to abandon the tl mold

[44man]

TL boolits are picky when it comes to heat. Once you reach a boolit frost point, those little bands do not fill out. There seems to be a shorter heat range to get good boolits. They might be the hardest design for a beginner to start with.

[405]

C two tracks,
I see some mention of the 6 cavity mold? If yours is 6 cavity it may explain some of the difficulty. Very hard to keep good even temp and pace pouring six in sequence. So hard that many just give up on it... kind of too much of a good thing. Also, 6 cavities may force the use of the bottom pour... the ladle may not work. I know that some casters like the 6 holers but sometimes they are after production rate letting the consistent individual bullet quality suffer. I tried once long ago to master large capacity casting using a commercial hand casting set-up- very few automated units in use then. It sure did allow for lots of bullets but never did produce the best quality, at least to my eye.

You might try picking one or two of your cavities (if you have the big 6 cavity) and only pouring those. Keep the temp up and the pace going. The only difficulty I have with getting good fill-out is with really BIG and long bullets (500-600+ grainers) with deep, sharp shoulder grooves... and that is using only the one or two cavity molds :) I've always found shallow grooves (including TL types), along with shorter, smaller bullets (like most pistol bullets) to be the easiest to cast well. The aluminum blocks are generally easier to cast quality bullets with (in my experience) from the get-go.

Keep after it, experiment!

[Charlie Two Tracks]

I have a two cavity mould. I will keep trying things and see what happens. I just got a mould from Miha and will be trying that one out. It sure looks purdy!