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Thread: 3D Printed 22 Caliber Pellet Mold

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    3D Printed 22 Caliber Pellet Mold

    I finished up my preliminary attempts at designing a simple platform for testing how well a 3D printed mold will hold up to extreme heat levels. This is being done on the heels of a recent experiment in which I used some 3D printed fishing lure molds into which I poured molten lead just to see if or how they held up. The results were reassuring.

    Molten Lead will be used as the casting medium. The lead will be poured at a temperature of approximately 750 to 800 degrees Fahrenheit.
    Information gathered from previous torture tests on existing, previously printed open-pour and injections molds showed that 3D printed molds of this type can indeed hold up to this kind of torture;

    IF the molds are printed to a good thickness and IF the volume of molten lead being poured into them is small enough to solidify quickly thus mitigating the damaging effect of the extreme heat that the molten Lead would otherwise impart.

    The weight of the Pellets I used to model this Mold is approximately 14 to 15 grains.

    The thickness of the cavity walls at their thinnest points is about 5/16". However, there are four very small thinner sections of this mold design that may or may not succumb to the extreme heat.

    These thinner cured resin sections are located on the Sprue-Cutter- Lid of the mold where they taper down to form the funnel which directs the flow of the molten Lead into the cavities.

    And another section of possible overly thin cured resin is directly below where the Sprue-Cutter-Lid-Funnel forms the top of the pellets.

    Overall dimensions of this small pellet mold are 1.125" tall. Main body of the mold is 1.5" in diameter. The Sprue-Cutter-Lid is 1.75" in diameter.

    Only after initial testing will I know for sure if this is an area that needs further tweaking in order to get it to work safely and with repeat reliability.

    Please be aware that this is Just a test platform. Changes will inevitably have to be made. This is just the initial step.

    I'll be using my home made "Savage-Barrel-Nut-Wrench" to hold this little pellet mold while casting. The outside diameter of the mold corresponds to the inside diameter of my Barrel-Nut-Wrench.

    Let me know what you think. I'll be interested to hear your views. This doesn't necessarily mean I'll change MY views but you never know. There are some pretty sharp minds in this group. I'm open to some 3D print wisdom.


    HollowPoint
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails UltraWhiteMold.JPG   UltraWhiteParts.JPG  
    Last edited by HollowPoint; 05-22-2021 at 02:29 PM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    Nice! It will be interesting seeing how this works for you. Gives me another reason to plan to buy a resin printer later

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr_Sheesh View Post
    Nice! It will be interesting seeing how this works for you. Gives me another reason to plan to buy a resin printer later
    Right now the makers of the specific resin I plan to use are out of stock. It's awaiting game till they get more of it on the shelves. The resin in question has some of the highest heat resistance available.

    There are just a couple of other resin makers that make High-Heat-Resistant resins but their resins are more of a proprietary blend sold in proprietary containers that fit their particular 3d printers.

    In the mean time while I wait I've taken the liberty of tweaking my original model to reflect suggestions made by other 3D print nerds that actually pretty good suggestions.

    I've incorporated those tweaks into my third iteration of this pellet mold idea. I'll upload the computer renderings once I have them made up.

    HollowPoint

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    A Couple More Design Changes

    I could easily drive myself nuts over-thinking this project. My main goal was to make it as simple as possible in order to use it as a sort of proof-of-concept.

    I was 99.9 percent sure it would work even before I started making changes to my original design but while I've been waiting for the resin to come back in stock I've had the chance to make some tweaks to that original design that I initially uploaded.

    The resin came back in stock a couple of days ago so I ordered some. Now I await delivery of said resin.

    The slight changes I made to the design seen in my initial CAD rendering were a result of suggestions made by some of the other 3D print people over on the FaceBook groups site where I'm a member of.

    My resin should be here before next weekend so I'm real anxious to get to printing and testing to see how well they hold up.

    I'm pretty sure I'll eventually get them to print out very well but all of that means nothing if I can't get them to cast some accurate pellets.

    I'll just have to wait and see what kind of pellets I can get out of these little molds. I don't think I'd be to far of base to state that if I can get these tiny pellet molds to work then that would man that a single cavity bullet mold might also work.

    Back when I first started hearing about 3D printing technology, I recall it being referred to as a, "Disruptive Technology." I see now why they called it, "Disruptive." Many of the things that a whole lot of us have been paying others to make for us can now be printed in the comfort of our own homes.

    I've paid a fair amount for single cavity rifle bullet molds in the past. The cost of the small amount of resin needed to print one of these pellet molds is approximately two-dollars and forty-eight cents according to the slicer software I use to set up my prints. A single cavity bullet mold wouldn't take much more resin than this; just a bit of imagination and it seems like the sky's the limit.

    HollowPoint
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 3PelletTwistRendering.jpg   New3CavTweaks.JPG   9MillimeterBullets.JPG  
    Last edited by HollowPoint; 06-01-2021 at 11:51 PM.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    I printed up my second set of these 3D resin printed pellet and bullet molds a couple of days ago. They printed out extremely close to the modeled dimensions.

    On my first attempt at printing these molds I had placed them on my build plate in an orientation that would print them out the fastest for me. I'm always in to much of a hurry to finish my projects. It's this hurry that caused me to loose more time than if I'd just taken my time and set the models on my build plate vertically instead.

    Anyway, that first attempt yielded printed molds with cavities that were Out-Of-Round. The cavities were not symmetrical.

    The second set of molds came out to very close tolerances. The 9mm single cavity molds (modeled at .358") was off by .004" but the cavities were nice and symmetrical. The pellet mold cavities were also symmetrical but they off by .0023". That's well within the usable range if I can get the pellets and the bullets to cast as I hope they will. I can size them down from there.

    I had planned on doing a "Live" stream of my initial casting session with these 3D printed molds but being that I'm a "Tech-Retard" I wasn't able to figure out how to do that or when the best time to do it; so, I decided to use the first two molds (the non-symmetrical cavity molds) to do a sort of torture test/dry run first. Being that they were defective molds anyway I had no problem using them as guinea pig molds.

    The pellet mold showed alot of promise but the 9mm bullet molds clearly needs some work to get it to cast decent bullets. I'll be focusing on getting the pellet mold to work the way I want it to before dedicating alot more attention to the bullet mold.

    Even though neither mold gave me pristine projectiles, they both confirmed my belief that I can get them to work for me; and not just for one or two casting session. After this initial casting session neither mold showed signs of deterioration other than the negative effects of using mold release on them. I think that the mold release I used may have had some sort of chemical reaction with this particular 3d print resin cause I got the formation of orangish-residue on the cavity walls that would transfer onto the surface of the cast bullets.

    The 9mm mold is a work in progress. The pellet mold is almost there.

    HollowPoint
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails UltraWhitePrintedModels.jpg   Pre-HeatMold.jpg   TestCast.jpg   PelletWeight.jpg  

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by HollowPoint View Post
    I printed up my second set of these 3D resin printed pellet and bullet molds a couple of days ago. They printed out extremely close to the modeled dimensions.

    On my first attempt at printing these molds I had placed them on my build plate in an orientation that would print them out the fastest for me. I'm always in to much of a hurry to finish my projects. It's this hurry that caused me to loose more time than if I'd just taken my time and set the models on my build plate vertically instead.

    Anyway, that first attempt yielded printed molds with cavities that were Out-Of-Round. The cavities were not symmetrical.

    The second set of molds came out to very close tolerances. The 9mm single cavity molds (modeled at .358") was off by .004" but the cavities were nice and symmetrical. The pellet mold cavities were also symmetrical but they off by .0023". That's well within the usable range if I can get the pellets and the bullets to cast as I hope they will. I can size them down from there.

    I had planned on doing a "Live" stream of my initial casting session with these 3D printed molds but being that I'm a "Tech-Retard" I wasn't able to figure out how to do that or when the best time to do it; so, I decided to use the first two molds (the non-symmetrical cavity molds) to do a sort of torture test/dry run first. Being that they were defective molds anyway I had no problem using them as guinea pig molds.

    The pellet mold showed alot of promise but the 9mm bullet molds clearly needs some work to get it to cast decent bullets. I'll be focusing on getting the pellet mold to work the way I want it to before dedicating alot more attention to the bullet mold.

    Even though neither mold gave me pristine projectiles, they both confirmed my belief that I can get them to work for me; and not just for one or two casting session. After this initial casting session neither mold showed signs of deterioration other than the negative effects of using mold release on them. I think that the mold release I used may have had some sort of chemical reaction with this particular 3d print resin cause I got the formation of orangish-residue on the cavity walls that would transfer onto the surface of the cast bullets.

    The 9mm mold is a work in progress. The pellet mold is almost there.

    HollowPoint
    I have cast more boolits than aluminum castings, but I have done casting in aluminum with greensand molds. You might want to consider using lost plastic casting, similar to lost wax casting, to make metal molds. There is shrinkage in the metal casting process, so an oversized mold could be printed that would be at least close to the correct size once cast in metal. Might (read that as probably) still need some machining to finish, but that's necessary in sandcast parts, too. Search "lost plastic metal casting" for folks doing this. I know a guy IRL who has a similar process for making miniature train parts cast in several metals. He sends his stuff out for investment casting in stainless steel, among other metals.

    Bill

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    HI Bill:

    This has been suggested before by folks over on the 3D resin Printing group among other forums. I'm afraid that something has been lost in my attempts to explain my reasons for printing and casting with High-Heat-Resistant resins.

    The main reason was to see if it could be done at all. I believe now that the answer to that question is, YES. Another reason for 3D printing and casting with this particular type of resin was to find out; IF casting lead bullets or pellets with this 3D print resin can be done, how long will these molds last before they are rendered no longer usable by repeated subjection to high heat?

    This wasn't a project I woke to one day thinking I'd just try it and see. This project was started many months ago when I printed and used some soft-plastic fishing lure injection molds. Those fishing lure molds worked like gang busters. With those same already-printed soft-plastic fishing lure molds I decided to take my dermel tool to them thinking I could improve on the swimming action of those lures by dremeling away a bit of material off here and there.

    I'm afraid I went dremel-crazy and I took off to much material. I ended up totally ruining the swimming action of those soft-plastic baits so it was those ruined injection and open pour molds that became the first of my torture testing with molten lead.

    I found that by pouring molten lead into those molds that some of them held up better than others. The ones that held up the best were those that were injected with the smallest amounts of lead. I used three different variants of this same High-Heat-Resistant 3D print resin. The resin I'm using for these pellet and bullet molds showed the best results overall. In addition to that, it seemed that the smaller the volume of molten lead being poured into the molds, the more able the molds were to withstanding repeated castings.

    The volumes of molten lead I was pouring into those soft-plastic fishing lure molds was up to ten times the amount of the 9mm bullet molds I'm working with now. The pellet molds are only getting tiny amounts of molten lead poured into them compared to my initial torture tests. This is what leads me to believe I'm on the right track with being able to print my own pellet and bullet molds and use them to good effect for more than just one or two casting sessions.

    I have to mention here, not to brag but merely to state for the record; I own a CNC mill. I can just as easily make these pellet and bullet molds out of aluminum if I wanted to BUT, making these molds out of metal is not the focus of this project. I want to see if I can print these molds at my leisure and then get them to produce good usable, accurate pellets or bullets.

    HollowPoint
    Last edited by HollowPoint; 06-11-2021 at 11:48 PM.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    All my stars aligned and I finally got around to doing test cast number two with my 3D printed pellet molds.

    Always being in to much of a hurry I managed to go about this casting session all wrong. What I mean by this it that I didn't apply lessons learned from casting sessions one .

    Although both the 3D printed pellet mold and the 9mm bullet molds actually did yield usable pellets and bullets, it was short lived due to my failure to monitor my lead temperatures, failure to extract my cast projectiles as soon as they solidified and trying to take to many shortcuts.

    I uploaded the videos recordings I took of this fiasco casting session onto my Facebook account. Here too there was were technical errors with the audio of all my uploaded video clips. I don't know what caused this audio glitch.

    When I initially edited and played back all of my video clips the audio was not the greatest but still, I could hear what was being said. I figured that viewers could simply raise the volume on their browsers. Well, for some reason there was no audio to raise the volume on in any of the four video clips. Sorry about that. I'm a tech-retard when it comes to stuff like this.

    There is enough visual information to extract the gist of this project though. It's four video clips followed by closeup photos of the effects of applying searing heat directly onto the 3D printed molds themselves.

    I've run out of my allotted space for uploading new images here on the cast boolits site. I thought by just including this link to the videos and photos in question it would spare this forum of more clutter. Take a look if you're interested.

    https://www.facebook.com/1525077442/...6681923071324/

    HollowPoint

  9. #9
    Boolit Master

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    I am inpressed it worked... Plastic melts at a quarter if what i cast at.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
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  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rcmaveric View Post
    I am inpressed it worked... Plastic melts at a quarter if what i cast at.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    The resin I'm printing with is made to withstand 420-460 degrees. Common sense would have us believe that even at this temperature resistance it would still have an adverse effect on this resin.
    This particular 3D print resin has porcelain as part of it's chemical make up. It's the porcelain additive that allows it to endure this amount of heat. The only caveat is that I must remove the cast pellets as quickly as possible.

    I've found that if I pour the lead into the mold with the lead temperature at or around 750 and I extract the pellets from the mold as quickly as possible after pouring I can cast for more than just a couple of times. It's the quick extraction, the temperature control and the fact that at a poured volume of only 14 or so grains that tiny amount of molten lead cools rather quickly so the resin that the molds are printed out of doesn't have to endure the peak amount of heat that the lead imparts.

    I just finished printing a couple more pellet molds and I hope with this latest couple of molds I will be able to nail down the optimum work flow to allow me to cast more than just two or three dozen pellets.

    The 9mm bullet molds will need a bit more work and planning. I'll be using some powdered graphite as my mold release agent this time around. It will be a very thin coat of this graphite but I'm hoping that even this thin coat will impart a tiny bit more insulation between the molten lead and the cavity walls in the short time it takes to cool.

    HollowPoint

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Does anyone know where I can get the schematics for one of the newer slug-type of .22 caliber projectiles? Once I get this present Pellet Mold design working the way I want it too I'd like to try to print another .22 caliber mold with the smooth sided slug-type of projectile.

    Preferably one on the lighter weight side of this type of Pellet/slug.

    HollowPoint.
    Last edited by HollowPoint; 06-29-2021 at 11:46 PM.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master Handloader109's Avatar
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    I would suggest getting one of the on line companies that specialize in 3d printing to do you a metal 3d print and get it sintered. Full long term usable mold.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Handloader109 View Post
    I would suggest getting one of the on line companies that specialize in 3d printing to do you a metal 3d print and get it sintered. Full long term usable mold.
    A logical suggestion but, this is a budget project and I'm afraid my budget is not big enough to pay someone to 3D printed and sinter such a mold; although that would most likely bring about a very durable mold. My focus has been to model and print a resin printed mold that anyone with a resin 3D printer can make and use in the comfort of their own home.

    I'm not sure what the price would be to have someone print me out a metal pellet mold of the designs I've come up with. I am sure that it would cost more than the dollar and eighty-four cents that printing two molds at a time on my resin printer costs.

    The resin manufacture is giving me a break on resin costs as I work on these DIY 3D printed molds so that dollar and eighty-four cents is more like just eighty-four cents for two of them. I'll just keep plucking away with what I got to work with. I already know they'll work. Now it's just a matter of nailing down the optimum work flow.

    What I mean by this is that I have to figure out how fast I can pour and then extract the pellet so as to prolong the life of each pellet mold.

    You are in good company with your suggestion. Several other smart folks have suggested the same thing but, again, I'm trying to make a mold that you don't have to pay someone else to make it for you. There are many good vendors that already sell molds already made. Just buying one of those would be even easier.

    HollowPoint

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    I did it! After three previous failed attempts at casting my own Airgun Pellets with my 3D printed Pellet molds I finally figured it out.

    I'm posting this preemptive teaser post to let those who have been following this project know that I'll be uploading some short video clips of this success shortly.

    My antiquated computers and my lack of computer know how will not allow me to post my video compilation in just one post so, I'll be uploading five separate video clips to either my Facebook account or my YouTube account, one after another just like the last time. I also have a couple of close up still photos that I'll be uploading last of all.

    My previous video uploads went through OK but I found afterward that the audio had been lost on all of those previous uploaded videos. Hopefully the audio for each of my new video clips will upload along with the videos this time otherwise they may not make any sense.

    If I'm able to successfully upload to my Facebook account, each successive upload will be posted as a reply to the initial upload. This means it may require some scrolling down the list of replies to view them.

    Thanks to all of you who have been following this project. You've been a real encouragement. Now I can turn my attention to the 9mm bullet mold that I also intend to complete. It's just a matter of buying some more Siraya Tech Ultra White Resin. I used up all I had left.

    I'll be back in a day or two to post those final 3D printed Airgun Pellet Mold photos and videos. I just have to finish up the editing on the video clips.

    HollowPoint

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    Sounds very interesting

  16. #16
    Boolit Master

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    You know what... treat yourself. It time for a computer upgrade. You deserve it.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
    ~Theodore Roosevelt~

  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    HollowPoint - I'm about to upgrade my computer, if all goes well today I'll be ordering it tonight. It'll be NICE! So consider me an enabler on you upgrading

    Enjoy figuring it all out

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    I know I stated in my "Teaser-Post" that I'd save my still photographs till last but, at the suggestion of one of our other members I ended up just uploading all my short video clips to my YouTube account to avoid that loss of the audio I experienced last time I tried to post my videos to the Facebook site.


    Viewing these close up photos will help you to better make sense of what I'm rambling about in the videos.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSJuFvnwko0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZETzE1lQsw

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xld1kvAd_BQ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT7QvGZEOWk

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSNYuddk6zQ
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails PelletsInMold.jpg  

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    I finally got a chance to conduct some informal accuracy tests firing the pellets from the two separate batches of pellets I recently cast using my 3D printed 22 caliber pellet molds. The tests went as one might expect from home made airgun pellets.

    I got hints that certain of these pellets really had potential while others had no business flying through the air.

    HollowPoint

    https://youtu.be/zHq_At1LSBU

    https://youtu.be/LNWJizze1D8

    https://youtu.be/zXt-E3ec8Ng

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Having successfully completed my 3D printed Airgun Pellet molds, I've moved on to my 9mm bullet mold.

    I already have the models drawn up and my models have been converted to STL 3D print files but the correct resin for this application is out of stock again. I'm just waiting for that resin to come back in stock.

    If previous tests are any indication, it looks like I'll have to do some experimenting with the resin itself to get it to a slightly higher heat resistance. It appears that even the small mass of a nine millimeter bullet may be the upper limit of the heat resistance that this particular resin can withstand.

    Since this resin has Porcelain as it's main heat resistant components, I plan on sacrificing a portion of my resin to experiment by incrementally mixing in small additional amounts of Porcelain powder. I can purchase a small amount of Porcelain Glaze powder at a relatively inexpensive price. I'm hoping that by adding in a bit more Porcelain my 3D printed bullet molds will be more able to withstand the heat of the molten lead I'll be pouring into them.

    If it doesn't work out then I'll have to conclude that a 22 to 25 caliber bullet or pellet may be the upper most limit that my 3D printed bullets or pellet molds can successfully cast good usable projectiles. At this point I'm not really sure. I've never heard of anyone else doing specific bullet casting experiments like this so it could be that a caliber as large as a lighter weight 6.5 mm bullet may be doable.

    I don't want to get ahead of myself though. First things first; and that is to get my 9mm bullet molds worked out and move on from there.

    HollowPoint

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check