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Thread: Casting temps

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Casting temps

    I am not as new here as it seems. Just had to start over. I have a mystery at least to me. I just purchased a new Lee pot. (i have had many before) I also for the first time bought a thermometer and this is where the mystery starts. i checked it in boiling water and it is right on. Casting i could not get good bullets until it was at 850. So i ignored it and just made good bullets. Later as the pot was about half full and still casting great I checked it again and it was 1150. Lee said it wont even get that hot. Something is obviously not right here. 92-6-2 is my alloy. Anyone have any ideas. (throw away the thermometer and cast like i have for 40 yrs?) I could tell i was just above being too cold. What gives??

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by flatnose View Post
    . cast like i have for 40 yrs?)
    That's what I do--- for 35 years anyway, and it's worked real well so far.
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  3. #3
    Boolit Master

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    I don't use a thermometer casting. When the bullets start getting frosty I turn the heat down.
    Last edited by DDriller; 11-18-2021 at 01:12 AM.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by DDriller View Post
    I don't use a thermometer casting. When the bullets start getting frosty I turn the head down.
    I'm glad you posted that.
    I thought I was the only low-tech Neanderthal around here.

    I feel vindicated, and now will do my happy dance.
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
    In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.


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  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    My Lee 4-20 definitely gets the melt a lot hotter at the same setting as it empties, though I never have seen it get as high as you noted. Casting out of doors, I need to raise both the the pot temp and the preheat temp of the mold by 20-30° and also cycle the mold faster to get good boolits when it’s cold or windy out, but we’re not talking about hundreds of degrees. If your boolits looked good at 850° and 1150°, I’d suspect the thermometer being out of whack.

    I prefer to use PID controllers in the pots and a K probe in a mold cavity to remove guesswork, though I have been able to tweak the pot setting as I go, monitoring the sprue color change, the fill out and the amount of boolit frosting.

    Go with what you know works, or maybe consider another type of technology upgrade.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by DDriller View Post
    I don't use a thermometer casting. When the bullets start getting frosty I turn the heat down.
    That’s what I’ve always done and it works. Sure, I think it would be nice to have a PID controlling the pot and hot plate temperatures, but for now, I’ve been spending my budget on other things.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    I have always used a thermometer. And I cast at 700. With preheated molds I get good boolits almost right away. Frosted boolits means your mold is too hot.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by flatnose View Post
    I am not as new here as it seems. Just had to start over. I have a mystery at least to me. I just purchased a new Lee pot. (i have had many before) I also for the first time bought a thermometer and this is where the mystery starts. i checked it in boiling water and it is right on. Casting i could not get good bullets until it was at 850. So i ignored it and just made good bullets. Later as the pot was about half full and still casting great I checked it again and it was 1150. Lee said it wont even get that hot. Something is obviously not right here. 92-6-2 is my alloy. Anyone have any ideas. (throw away the thermometer and cast like i have for 40 yrs?) I could tell i was just above being too cold. What gives??
    I have a lee 10# bottom pour pot. And yes.. you can get slightly over 1000 degrees regardless what the manual says. I have a couple immersion thermometers that both agree.

    I almost never start casting till my pot is in the 800 range.. and I get the mold hot too.. then let it cool till it won't frost.. then i go... actual temp isn't a big deal as long as you get good bullets.. aren't frosted.. and aren't running way way too hot and separating out your alloy components.. etc..

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    Even at 700, I can still get my mold too hot. When that happens, boolits don't drop nicely. I recently got a small computer fan to help keep the mold at the right temp. Have not set it up yet.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Winger Ed. View Post
    I'm glad you posted that.
    I thought I was the only low-tech Neanderthal around here.

    I feel vindicated, and now will do my happy dance.
    Join the old-fartes club. I never use a PID or digital thermometer, even though I sell them thru the engineering firm I own and can get them for free! I can tell my correct temps by the sound the drops make when they hit the water (for cooling purposes only, not gained hardness). The boolits "talk to" the experienced trained ear. Works perfectly for me for many years.

    If I ever occasionally want to measure the temp of the pot, I float a black oxide 1" steel washer on the surface and shoot it with one of my high-end IR temp guns. You HAVE to shoot at a black/dark surface with IR, as they work on the "black body radiation" theory and will give you bogus reading on shiny surfaces.

  11. #11
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    Thanks guys for all your posts. Except of course for all those really old guys!!!

  12. #12
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    I have a thermometer, but don't use it any more since getting the Lyman Mag25 pot. It's usually best when set at about 760 degrees. When the bullets get frosty, I rotate out the mold for one that's been resting on a hot plate. Seems to work pretty well going back and forth between molds.
    What could possibly go wrong?

  13. #13
    Boolit Master 243winxb's Avatar
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    Aluminum uses less heat then iron molds. No thermometer needed here.

  14. #14
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    I think you may have a problem with your thermometer .

  15. #15
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    Boolits frost when the alloy is very hot. When the mold is too hot, the sprue doesn’t form correctly. It’s very thin. The surface tension breaks down and the alloy flows off of the sprue plate, the way solder does when it gets up to the correct temperature.

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master fredj338's Avatar
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    Unless it is a lead term, I doubt its readings. I do not think you can even get close to 1000d in a Lee pot. I dont think my lead therm even goes to 1000d.
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  17. #17
    Boolit Master

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    I cast for 40 years using only my eyes to Guage temperature and casting cadence. You can learn a lot from reading articles and later, postings on this site. A few years back, I bought a Lyman pot thermometer that had sat on a shelf at a local gun store and tried it out. All the thermometer did was confirm that my temp setting was spot on.

    I haven't cast in 5 years as I loaded up thousands of rounds for the cartridges my wife and I shoot, and stockpiled powder, primers, and lead. The only shooting I've done in the past year was to re-qualify for my CCW. Before retiring, I shot quite a lot, often times at the departments range with their ammo.

    I have only 'sport shot' a couple of times with friends and family a few times in the past 4 years, enough to build up a few empties to reload. Between my brother and I, maybe 2 or 3 coffee cans of brass. All of my gear is boxed up and stored, but can be set up in an hour or so. The only casting I've done was a couple of sinkers for bottom fishing, using Styrofoam balls with a paper machete cover and some sand. They work fine, but aren't 'pretty.' I did make 1 or 2 from 69 cal. Round Ball projectiles, but those I cast years ago.

    I miss casting and reloading, and of course shooting, but don't feel the need to do so while components are scarce. I have them, but probably won't get to using them until I know I can replace them. We all lived through the 'drought' of supplies after 2008, I was almost as stocked up before as I am now. 8lb jugs of powder, 5k each of the primers I use, several hundred pounds of lead to pour.

    I have too many cartridges/calibers I like to load and shoot, but if pressed, I would likely just shoot 45 Colt from a a pistol and carbine, using round ball and home-made black powder if needs be. I still need to build a flintlock but doubt I would shoot up what ammunition I already have loaded thus far. Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. Garden is good, need to get some chicken and rabbits going again, get back to feeding the family from the home and not the store.
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  18. #18
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    I suspect a faulty thermometer.

    After 40 years of casting I bought a Lyman thermometer and I understand they don't have the best reputation for accuracy. IF it's accurate, most of my molds cast really good at 750. The melt doesn't appear to be too hot and I can cast at a comfortable for me cadence. If it isn't accurate it at least acts as a reference point.
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  19. #19
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by fredj338 View Post
    Unless it is a lead term, I doubt its readings. I do not think you can even get close to 1000d in a Lee pot. I dont think my lead therm even goes to 1000d.
    I have 2 casting thermometers..a Lyman and one from rotometals. They do indeed go to 1000 and the needle can travel an amount that would equal 100 degrees or more past the marked area on the lyman. I know my lee 10 # bottom pour pot will do 1000 if it's full and has a good flux cover..if you forget and leave it wide open. The rotometals thermometer follows the Lyman exactly..but it has less over range space past 1000. With 2 different casting thermometers agreeing... I'm feeling pretty safe on the readings...especially the rotometals one..

  20. #20
    Boolit Master

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    flatnose,
    Throw away the thermometer and get a P.I.D., it's the best money a caster can spend! Exact temp control, no guess work, exact temp control, no wide excursions in melt temp, oh, did I mention exact temp control? They're simple to build yourself, there are schematics here:

    https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...ller-Schematic

    Or check the "Vendor Sponsors" section, HATCH Automation has them pre-assembled.

    https://castboolits.gunloads.com/for...TCH-Automation

    It takes all the guess work out of temperature control!
    "We take a thousand moments for granted thinking there will be a thousand more to come. Each day, each breath, each beat of your heart is a gift. Live with love & joy, tomorrow is not promised to anyone......"

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BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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