bigted
11-05-2010, 10:00 PM
:bigsmyl2: yes i finally got everything together to pour my first boolits...im a very read VERY happy camper. here is what my storie is.
went to my tire guy and asked if they had any wheel weights i could experiment with. his assistant graciously explained that a 5 gallon bucket of em was gonna cost $50.00 well i choked a little and looked at my friend who runs the place and as he grinned he said he wasnt gonna charge me a penney but that they were getting 50 for a 5 gal bucket. [ a by-line here is worth the words as well...does any body know what a 5 gal bucket full of ww's weighs??]. well the two of them loaded it into my p/u with a pipe in the carry handle of the bucket but i paid no att to this till i got home and unloaded this bucket...kinda heavy even for my 6 foot 5 inch frame that is fairly in shape for a 54 year old oldie.
i fired up the two burner camp stove with the propane and shoved an old dutch oven in the flame and proceded to start putting ww into the huge cavity of the dutch oven. as i wondered off the smell overpowered me and as i whirlied around i observed smoke pouring out of the lean to constructed outside my generator house and paniced thinking i had started a fire somehow. nope instead what i observed upon lurching inside my lean-to was smoke pouring out of the dutch oven. didnt expect to be trying to melt valve stems and the rubber that encapselates the stems...along with murpheys soap and a variety of cigar butts and cigar plastic stubs.
well i learned that a small amount of patience will net a not so smokey melt if i sort out the "other" stuff that happens to be dropped into this bucket.
next i learned that the zink weights dont redilly melt...witch i assume is a good thing as i was able to dig them out of my melt along with the copious amount of steel clampons that nearly chocked me with a surprisingly large amount. the huge pile of ww i put into the dutch oven melted down to a more esilly handled amount. after i skimmed off the undesireable crud i had a shiney melt that resembled more what i was expecting.
i started to pour ingots and as i poured the ingots began to get dull and cloudy as they cooled...too hot i expect.
after i got some small amount of ingots i decided to try my lee bottom pour heater and my lyman 400gr mould
the first cast were so wrinkled that i nearly stopped after pouring around 30 or so. i put the mould up on the top of the lee pot and sat thinking about what i was doing wrong. i first suspected my melt but it looked rite so i suspected a cool problem so i heated my mould on top of the lee pot and tryed again. still wrinked and not sharp fillout. now im stumped so back up on top of the pot went the moulds as i wondered what could be hapening. then it hit me that my bottom pour pot may be to blame. i was being carefull not to pour too fast as i didnt want a mess under my spout. so i picked up my mould and lifted the handle as far as i could get it and when the sprue plate started filling i dropped the pour handle. as it sat there i allowed the sprue to suck down into the boolit then i waited an additional half minute or so before i knocked the sprue plate off and opened the handles.......im telling you what now.......i nearly wept with joy as i beheld that first fully filled out and no wrinkled boolit.
i continued pouring till i had 25 perfect boolits to play with before i stopped. man i feel so good about these boolits...they are the coolest boolits ever...i may never shoot them as they are the product of just not giving up.
next i ran them inside to meassure them and weigh each.
the lyman mould is # 457463.......its suppose to throw a 400gr boolit but mine came in from 421gr to 426gr with the majority of them being 424gr + or - 1/2gr.
the other thing i observed is that they run 4585 to 459 in diameter. i need 459's for my marlins min so can i just shoot these without sizing? pan lube then load rite?
im so excited about these boolits i cant stand it...cant help but wonder what the feelings going to be like when i put meat on the table with these or other boolits i load after melting and making them myself.
ok ok thats my tale and im still grinning.......man what a hoot.:cbpour:
went to my tire guy and asked if they had any wheel weights i could experiment with. his assistant graciously explained that a 5 gallon bucket of em was gonna cost $50.00 well i choked a little and looked at my friend who runs the place and as he grinned he said he wasnt gonna charge me a penney but that they were getting 50 for a 5 gal bucket. [ a by-line here is worth the words as well...does any body know what a 5 gal bucket full of ww's weighs??]. well the two of them loaded it into my p/u with a pipe in the carry handle of the bucket but i paid no att to this till i got home and unloaded this bucket...kinda heavy even for my 6 foot 5 inch frame that is fairly in shape for a 54 year old oldie.
i fired up the two burner camp stove with the propane and shoved an old dutch oven in the flame and proceded to start putting ww into the huge cavity of the dutch oven. as i wondered off the smell overpowered me and as i whirlied around i observed smoke pouring out of the lean to constructed outside my generator house and paniced thinking i had started a fire somehow. nope instead what i observed upon lurching inside my lean-to was smoke pouring out of the dutch oven. didnt expect to be trying to melt valve stems and the rubber that encapselates the stems...along with murpheys soap and a variety of cigar butts and cigar plastic stubs.
well i learned that a small amount of patience will net a not so smokey melt if i sort out the "other" stuff that happens to be dropped into this bucket.
next i learned that the zink weights dont redilly melt...witch i assume is a good thing as i was able to dig them out of my melt along with the copious amount of steel clampons that nearly chocked me with a surprisingly large amount. the huge pile of ww i put into the dutch oven melted down to a more esilly handled amount. after i skimmed off the undesireable crud i had a shiney melt that resembled more what i was expecting.
i started to pour ingots and as i poured the ingots began to get dull and cloudy as they cooled...too hot i expect.
after i got some small amount of ingots i decided to try my lee bottom pour heater and my lyman 400gr mould
the first cast were so wrinkled that i nearly stopped after pouring around 30 or so. i put the mould up on the top of the lee pot and sat thinking about what i was doing wrong. i first suspected my melt but it looked rite so i suspected a cool problem so i heated my mould on top of the lee pot and tryed again. still wrinked and not sharp fillout. now im stumped so back up on top of the pot went the moulds as i wondered what could be hapening. then it hit me that my bottom pour pot may be to blame. i was being carefull not to pour too fast as i didnt want a mess under my spout. so i picked up my mould and lifted the handle as far as i could get it and when the sprue plate started filling i dropped the pour handle. as it sat there i allowed the sprue to suck down into the boolit then i waited an additional half minute or so before i knocked the sprue plate off and opened the handles.......im telling you what now.......i nearly wept with joy as i beheld that first fully filled out and no wrinkled boolit.
i continued pouring till i had 25 perfect boolits to play with before i stopped. man i feel so good about these boolits...they are the coolest boolits ever...i may never shoot them as they are the product of just not giving up.
next i ran them inside to meassure them and weigh each.
the lyman mould is # 457463.......its suppose to throw a 400gr boolit but mine came in from 421gr to 426gr with the majority of them being 424gr + or - 1/2gr.
the other thing i observed is that they run 4585 to 459 in diameter. i need 459's for my marlins min so can i just shoot these without sizing? pan lube then load rite?
im so excited about these boolits i cant stand it...cant help but wonder what the feelings going to be like when i put meat on the table with these or other boolits i load after melting and making them myself.
ok ok thats my tale and im still grinning.......man what a hoot.:cbpour: