For those that wanted a mould build post.

[Valley Forge]

I'm lovin' this too! I loved Gear's Norm Abram's reference 'cause that's what I was thinking.
VF

[websterz]

I'm glad everyone is enjoying seeing my work. I'll try not to disappoint.

[btroj]

I am certain that you won't. Heck, even if the mould doesn't work out the way you want it is still a great learning experience. We are all interested to see how it is made.

[websterz]

Well, I am by no means a tool and die maker. Just a retired machinist with some crazy ideas. I think this new mold is going to have a taper profile kind of like a 147 grain round nose .356 but bumped out to a .360 so I can size them down to .358. I'm going to put about a .180 flat nose on it, that ought to bring the weight down to the 130 something range.

[smoked turkey]

FANTASTIC! Thanks for sharing. This is better than watching TV, that's for sure. Very informative. Good photos of the process too. I'll stay tuned.

[Lonegun1894]

Thanks for the education!

[BigEyeBob]

Great post ,I am also a machinist and have a lathe and a mill I plan to machine a mould from brass for my 500x 3" Express.
I managed to get a big brass piston 10" diameter x 2 1/2" thick scrapped from a hydraulic cylinder Ill be using that ,but I do have a huge slab of 2" aircraft aluminium T6061 IIRC.

[CastingFool]

Having worked as a machinist, I can fully understand every thing you have described so far, cutting the cavities is what I want to see.

[jonp]

Which one are you building for me? The one on the left?

You make it look so easy with a few snapshots like that, it's like the New Yankee Workshop, drill a hole, cut to commercial, brush on a little finish, plug the sponsors, and PRESTO! a brand-new 18th century hand-carved china cabinet.

Gear

That is no lie. "I saw a curved glass antique china cabinet in an antique shop so decided to build one. Here is the Black Cherry Tree behind the house I'm going to use....the curved glass came out pretty good. thanks for watching! Make sure to visit Stanley Tools, Mini-Wax and Shopsmith on the web. See you next week"

I watched more of those shows and bought more tools under the "heck I can do that" before I realized there were a few, missing steps in there.

[jonp]

this is a great thread and pictures. I can't wait to see more of the process.

[theperfessor]

Good work so far. Love the threaded alignment pins, great idea.

[websterz]

Sorry guys, I didn't make it out to the shop today. I spent some quality time at the range with my daughter instead.

[geargnasher]

We'll take pictures of that, too, get the good times while you can!

Gear

[btroj]

I hope to get that kind of special time soon. I miss having the kid to shoot with. She may get some range time over spring break, if the weather permits.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Subscribed. Great thread

[Bzcraig]

Great thread indeed! I don't have the tooling or training to do such projects but I do enjoy watching those who do.

[websterz]

Today I made the form tool for my new mold. I start off with a piece of 4140 steel and turn it down to a few thousandths under my desired boolit diameter. This builds in a bit of clearance, and since the cavities are lathe cut the tool diameter isn't critical. As long as it has the shape I want it's all good. The nose profile is cut with a file and polished with emery cloth. The lube groove is cut with a parting tool.



Once the lathe work is done I have to mill away half of the tool diameter and cut flats on the tool blank so it will mount up square in a tool holder. I also mill away part of the back and underside of the tool for chip clearance.


Now it's time to heat treat and temper the tool. Since I'm only cutting aluminum the heat treat isn't too critical. I heat the tool blank with a propane torch until it goes non magnetic, a color I call Orange Popsicle. I couldn't get a pic of this because both hands are busy. Once it goes orange I hold it there for a few seconds then quench it in water to harden the steel. It's too brittle in this state so it has to be tempered. To do this I polish the tool with fine sandpaper until it's shiny and then gradually heat it until it turns a straw color and quench it again. This softens it just enough to remove the brittleness but leaves it tough enough to use as a cutting tool. You can kind of see the straw color here.


The tool marks in the last pic are just a few ten thousandths of an inch deep and are easily polished out.
I use a fine oilstone to hone the cutting edge and the form tool is ready to use.

[waco]

This is very interesting. Good work. I'm showing this to some of the machinists here at work.
I can't wait to see the finished product.

[Sgt Petro]

This is great! Thanks for this.

[rking22]

Thanks for the progress upate, got my thinking wheels turning ! I'll second the idea of range time pics too. My daughter and I are getting ready to go hog hunting and fishing in Fla in a few weeks, making good memories!