First productive session, and a question

[wingnut49b]

After my last thread, you all helped quite a bit. I cast up a pile of the 200g SWC's tonight. 500+ of my first good ones. Feels pretty good to see 'em on the bench.

It seems that there is a fine line between shiny with wrinkles, and a little frosty. Is there any issue with having frosty boolits? Do they get brittle?

A couple broke a corner of the base off, but I think the mold was way to hot, and they were fragile coming out is all.

[lwknight]

If the line between frosty and wrinkled is too fine then ( I can't believe I'm saying this ) your alloy might be a little too cool.
Also you could be dropping then too soon or casting just a little tiemprano. Hence the broked corners.

They will not get brittle , in fact just the opposite. They are cooling slowly in the hot mold. Thats what makes the frosty and it don't hurt a thing.

I'm thinking a little hotter pot temp and a little slower cadence. Its all a balancing act.
Eventually , you get the hang of it.

[madsenshooter]

500+, that'd take me awhile! The broken ones sounds like you lopped the sprue off a bit too soon. I watch the puddles cool on mine. First they solidify, then wait, oh, 20-30 sec more, and you'll see little pin holes develop on top. After that you should be able to whack them without anything breaking. Nothing at all wrong with slightly frosty, I prefer to work in that range as I'm more certain of good fillout, I like nice sharp corners.

[wingnut49b]

Thanks guys, I knew this would get me answers. Learning is quick here!

I think the melt was probably too cool. At least a little. I was nervous about getting the mold too hot and was trying to keep it as cool as I could. I froze the spout twice too.

I was watching the sprue puddle cool, suck in, and frost. Didn't wait long after the frost came though, maybe only a couple seconds. Cooled the mold sometimes by touching a little on a damp rag. I've been reading Bruce B's methods.

Boolits seemed to drop easier with a little more mold heat. Does that make sense? Sounds like I need to get used to a little frosty. Shiny looks so pretty though...

[Echo]

I see no reason to wait 20-30 seconds after the sprue greys up. It's shiny, it turns sorta dull, the centers suck in, the sprue turns greyer & sorta frosty. Then after 4-5 seconds, swat the sprue plate. Should do just fine.

[BruceB]

Echo describes it well.

When I have everything going well, the mould gets filled four or five times per minute, believe it or not.

Go to the "Classics and Stickies" forum, and find "BruceB's Speedcasting Method" (or something like that). You might pick up some pointers.

[WHITETAIL]

Wingnut, stick with us and keep asking!

[Bret4207]

Your mould isn't going to get too hot without you noticing a very long wait for the sprue to cool. I'm talking 15-45 seconds. Don;t worry about the mould getting to too hot.

[btroj]

I actually like frosty. Just wait long enough to open the mould and all is fine. I find this is where I get my best fill out. I want bullets that are consistent and well filled out, I done give a hoot about shiny.
I get broken let's from time to time. Dropped em too soon. This is when I cool the mold but dipping the end, very slightly, in my quench water for a second. This cools it just enough.

Keep going. It takes time to develop the rhythm that works for you and your setup. You will quickly learn here that very few of us use the same methods or setup. We all gravitate to what works for our needs.

[wingnut49b]

Cool. I guess I'm going to have to get over the shiny boolits. In the end it doesn't matter what they look like if the targets look good.

Bruce- I have read your method. I like it! Quality before speed, but I'm young and foolish enough to want both.

Whitetail- You can't get rid of me that easy. I'm stubborn, ask my wife... I messed up quite a bit to get here, but 500+ in roughly an hour is making me smile still today!

I'm guessing you'll be hearing my Star questions in a week or less...

Thanks guys.

[XWrench3]

i use a spray bottle to cool my molds every so often. my 6 holers need it a lot more than the twin hole verions. but if you do not get your molds hot to begin with, they will never cast right. so dont be afraid of a little heat or frosting. when it starts taking a while for the sprues to cool, i spray the mold all over so all of it cools at around the same amount. i use only lee aluminum dies, mostly because they cost less.

[wingnut49b]

I was cooling it a little with a wet towel in a pan of water, but afraid of cooling too much. Sounds like I was getting it about right, even though I thought I was too hot. I'd rather have crisp edges and frosting than shiny and wrinkled.

What started as cost savings for the 1911 has developed a life of it's own...

[zxcvbob]

Is this a new mold? Wrinkled bullets usually means the mold is contaminated with oil -- and new ones are always shipped that way.

I have a bunch of wrinkled bullets right here that I cast this afternoon. It was a new Lee 2-holer, and I cleaned it real good with toothpaste, but I didn't use any degreaser solvents on it first. Apparently the toothpaste wasn't enough. (and it's amazing how long it takes to burn off the oil by casting boolits)

I'm gonna go ahead and load/shoot all but the worst of these. I thought it wouldnt bother me but I was wrong.

[1Shirt]

I want mine frosty or slightly frosty, seems to hold lube better. Suggest you read some of Paco Kelly's articles. Shiny is pruddy and all that stuff, but frosty or slightly frosty in my opinion drop from the mold far more consistant in weight as well. Also suggest that you get and use Bullplate, it works like a champ. Keep asking, keep thinking, and keep casting, and sooner it will all fall into place. Good luck.
1Shirt!

[wingnut49b]

I don't quit, though with a family I don't always get to go all OCD on a topic either. I think it's actually better this way.

The mold is pretty new, so I may not have had it as clean as I like, but I'm also hearing the consensus say that frosted is not bad. That works too.

Where would I find some Paco Kelley articles? A quick Google search sent me to leverguns.com, but I didn't see many casting articles in my cursury glance. Care to share a link for a guy that likes to read?


Andy