Automated Master Caster

[Tazza]

I do have an oxy torch and smoked the molds with it, sadly it didn't make things much better. They do drop better than with nothing at all, but still don't drop 100% of the time. The mold is well used, but still works.

[jmorris]

Did you try it with just Act, the flame will be throwing little black "floaters" if turned down low enough.

Might try it a few times. Go back to page 18, post #341 and watch the video. They just fall out of mine when it opens and tilted.

[Tazza]

Yeah, with only acetylene you get a really sooty flame. It may just be the old mold. Yours dropped so much better even without the knock at the end of stroke

[jmorris]

The soot is the "smoke" your wanting. The mold in that video I took this year will be 10 years old next year.

[Tazza]

I did smoke it with an acetylene flame, it still didn't drop without a knock. Yours works a lot better than i'd ever expect, it simply opens and falls. My lee 6 cavity molds didn't drop like that with being smoked, they always took a tap or two to get the last few out.

The mold i have is of an unknown age, but even so has not been butchered, only wear on the top where the sprue plate rubs.

[HATCH]

Polish your mold. Also I only use the double tap for my hollow point mold

[Tazza]

I never thought about polishing it, i think i'll give that a go. Especially seeing as how easily Jmorris' mold drops projectiles mine must be able to do a lot better than it does.

I have finished re-wiring the digital lines of my control box, hopefully it will cure the intermittent issue it has been having *fingers crossed*.

[jmorris]

I never polished that mold but did try smoking it with different things before sticking with act.

I have had good luck with one candle I have for some hand held molds but you can't smoke the molds in a magma with it unless you remove them from the machine.

[HATCH]

All it takes is a small burr to make the mold sticky.
So get a magnifying glass out and check the edges of the cavity. Remember you want to polish not to redesign so don't be too aggressive.
Flitz metal polish

[wymanwinn]

All it takes is a small burr to make the mold sticky.
So get a magnifying glass out and check the edges of the cavity. Remember you want to polish not to redesign so don't be too aggressive.
Flitz metal polish

+1000 on Flitz.....good stuff...

[Tazza]

Need to find somewhere in .au that has it...... The prices off ebay are insane, $40 for 150g of the stuff.

Going to keep looking and see what i can find.

[HATCH]

It isn't cheap but a toothpaste size tube last a long time. I use it to remove the carbon from the front of the cylinders on my stainless revolvers. I can make my stainless revolvers look like they are brand new and unfired

[Tazza]

I found some metal polish, they say it's good for chrome, brass, bronze, copper, steel, and stainless steel. I now need to find some time to take the mold out and polish it up.

[JackQuest]

Since the late 1970s I have been using Neolube (colloidal graphite in isopropyl alcohol) as my go-to dry lube for firearms and casting. 2 thin coats will run hundreds of bullets. Get mine from www.micromark.com. Cleans with Hoppes #9 and similar solvent mixes, or plain alcohol.

[hagel]

First time I've posted in a long time. Didn't mean to drop off the face of the earth like that but that's almost what I did. Long story (and one that I am really tired of thinking about) it's been one rough year health wise. Any time I was able to do anything I had to use my time to push the shop closer to running. Still not quite there but I have made some progress.

I just ran machine #2 for the first time with lead in the pot. #2 is done up completely different from Machine #1. Actually it is more like Hatch's machine than #1. I did do two things different:

1. I used a double acting cylinder instead of a return spring. That required a different solenoid valve and a little change in the software.

2. I attached the cylinder to a shoulder bolt on the handle. I did that because I really wanted to come up with a really simple way for people who own MCs to automate them. This way all you have to do to the machine is drill and tap a 1/4 28 hole in the handle. Well, you still have to make up the dodad the attaches the lead pour cylinder (or solenoid if you go that way) to the lead pour control arm.

As soon as I get the chance I'll shoot some pics and maybe a short video of it. What I've done is pretty simple so I'm sure you all can follow it when you see pics and video.

Now for the funny part. This whole being sick thing and only being able to work a little bit at a time thing led to a situation. When I fired #2 up this morning it was about 10 mins into the run and I had just dialed in the pour timer like I wanted (right sized sprues) and the mole (115 gr 9mm) was just coming up to temp. All of a sudden the lead valve stuck open. Here I am with this machine whinging back and forth triple tapping and all flinging molten lead all over the place.

Things were getting exciting!

I killed the heat and grabbed my big stainless spoon (face shields, welding gloves and a welding apron are good things guys) and stuck her under the valve when the arm flung the mold forward. When she came back to TDC I put that barely solidified lead back into the pot and eventually got the stuff in the pot cooled down enough to stop pouring out through the valve.

Post catastrophe analysis: Apparently when I was reassembling the lead pour mechanism after adding the cylinder I forgot to tighten the lock nut against the clevis that secures the valve rod to the actuating lever. While the machine was going through the motions that nut slowly worked down the threads and was apparently keeping the vale open.

Guess I'm nothing if not amusing.

Got to go try to eat some lunch now so I can swallow a hand full of pills. I'll try her again this afternoon after I get back from yet another medically related appointment.

Hatch, this is the second machine using a slightly modified form of the original software. Seeing how it's starting to run now why don't you PM me. There's something I need to take care of.

[HATCH]

Pm sent. Can't wait for the video of the new setup

[Tazza]

Good to see you're back Hagel, i was thinking not so long ago that you had disappeared.

I too am looking forward to seeing your new setup too.

Sorry to hear about your health, but as long as you are still vertical, that's a good thing!

[hagel]

Good to be vertical. Well, for the most part at least. Here are a few videos of where stuff is right now.

http://youtu.be/76sby75QsxM

http://youtu.be/stI-Lq9bM8Y

http://youtu.be/VzFPeZdLyoA

Still a lot of tweaking to do.

[Tazza]

In the second video, it seems that you need a little more air pressure to get reliable sprue cutting.

The cylinders don't have as much power retracting than they do pushing due to the rod reducing the surface area on the piston.

I like the simplicity of just adding to the main handle, no drilling the mold carrier, but it does mean you must have this sort of bench for it to mount to. The Wyman/Hatch setup had teh advantage of it essentially being self contained. With that said, they do need to be mounted to a bench, so doing it this way is still a good way of doing it.

[hagel]

Hatch thinks I need to shorten the post pour cooling time and then the sprues will be a little easier to cut. I've already edited the software and I'll give it a try tomorrow.

The stands are fairly cheap and readily available from HF. Simplicity is a big part of what I am shooting for here. Hoping to come up with a design that is reliable and just about anyone can do. You could put together a copy of machine #2 with a hand drill, a hack saw, a file, two taps, a pair of pliers, a couple of screw drivers, a table saw and a few wrenches. Most anyone who has an MC has all those things. Of course, the more tools you have the easier some parts of it get.

Seriously, this one is pretty simple. The only good thing about all the down time I've had this year is that I did have a little time to think a few things through. That said, only time will tell if it works out. Stay tuned.