Casting Videos

[lead_her_fly]

Well, I haven't been doing this very long. Several years now. All of the bullets I cast are for a pistol cartridge. They may be fired in a rifle, but they are for one of the popular straight walled cases.

At any rate, I like casting almost as much as shooting. I even like to reload! I'm weird, I know!

I thought at the time I started casting that it would be nice to see someone actually doing it. While these videos aren't intended for instruction, they are provided as an aid to those that have no clue how to get started.

I know that there are those that have done things better and longer than I have, feel free to make constructive suggestions. I'm still capable of learning!

These bullets are the Modern Bond Mold D-358627. To view the video, you have to click on them:

[Buckshot]

...............Nice videos. Only one comment. If your sprue container is to the pot's immediate left, with the boolit catchbox next, you'll save some movement. Instead of turning right to drop the sprue, then left back past the pot and to the boolit catch box, instead you will pour, turn left and strike the sprue then continue turning left to drop the boolits. Same deal if both are on the right side.

..............Buckshot

[lead_her_fly]

Lot's of people looking, none commenting.

WAZZUPWITDAT?

[Bob.]

Thanks for posting the vid's
I'm really wanting to start casting soon!
Still learning all I can

[putteral]

Good job. Did you smoke your mold? I very rarely have to hit mine to release the boolit and I have not had to cool the mold before cutting the sprue.You might save a little time by not doing that. Try It.

[dolang1]

I'm in my second year of casting, so I'm a novice. When I cut my sprue I drop it back into the lead pot, or at least I attempt to. If you bottom pour, do you need a sprue container to keep from dropping thru your flux? I've never seen anybody cast but me and I learned by reading this forum. Later Don

[roarindan]

well that puts my mind to rest, been castin fer a few mo.'s now and goin 'bout it on a learnin curve.I dont cool my sprue,just cut it loose an aim it in the pot. and i dont hit the mold where you do,I tap the top of the sprue before i open it and the lead falls free,most of the time,if not i tap thesprue more. like i said i'm learnin so tell me if I'm doin wrong.and you flux how often?? I melt WW into a Lee mold 2-1/2-1/2-2 lb (5lb) and flux then. do i need to flux while molding also??

[dolang1]

I just answered my own question by reading BruceB's speed casting method. You don't drop your sprue back into the melt because it is wet. I didn't know that. Something else to try the next time I cast. Thanks again, Later Don

[kbstenberg]

Since a lot of newbies are speaking up. I have 2 molding sesions so far.
Like what was said by buckshot. He is a strait shooter, with lots of exp. I have the pot infront of me, alittle to its left my pan with a wet rag to cool sprues. Next item to the left is a towl to drop the bullets. The edge away from me is even with the wet rag. The bullet droping towel is layed out twords me. Allso sitting on the edge of the towel away from me an even with the wet rag is a small sauce pan to drop the sprues in. I dont like to drop the sprues directly into the pot after each time i filled the mold. For fear if splashes. An adding contaminates as i add sprues.
I even used 2 molds at a time. Fill mold, cut the sprues, put mold down. Pick up other mold drop the cooled bullets, Refilled the mold, cut the sprues. Yada Yada Yada.
After emtying half the pot. Put all the sprues in the pot. (sorry i forgot to say that directly to the right of the pot i have a small hot plate with a small sauce pan on it to pre-melt the lead to get it close to the pouring tempurachure.) When i put all the sprues in the pot i then fill the remainder of the pot with the preheated lead.
I found that when i used 1 mold i tended to mold too fast. A lot (most) of the bullets were frosted from too warm of a mold. I was still getting some frosted bullets, useing the 2 molds but not near as menny
Roaringdan DO NOT tap hit or do anything to the sprue plate except cut the sprues. Even a little deformity in the plate will make it unuseable. An have to be replaced
Just another 2cents from a newbey
Kevin

[lead_her_fly]

I am not able to use things to the left of my body as well as to my right. Just terribly uncoordinated I guess.

As for not dropping the sprue back into the mold, I don't do it 'cause I don't want to cool my alloy off. The remelting of the sprues, about 15 minutes, gives me time to go get a drink of coffee.

I cool the sprue because I only have one mold going at a time. I like to go fast so I need to cool it. Otherwise when the sprue is opened, like it was designed to be, it will pull material from the still unhardened boolit! This mold is exceptionally easy to get too hot. There is a lot of boolit with very little mold left over. Cooling the sprue is something I have done for quite a while now, even without reading about "speed casting"!

I don't smoke my cast iron molds. This one is exceptionally hard to get boolits out of. I could be wrong but, I think it is because there are no tapers on it at all. All of the corners are square. Two square, deep grease grooves and full square meplat.

The videos were much more a tool to show others how to. To put a face on the instructions all of us have read. It may help some folks, be amusing to others and almost heretical to yet others.

The truth of the matter is that I like to cast, but I think I have said that before!

[Buckshot]

..............Your casting process, the tools you use to accomplish it, how you have items arranged, even how you stand will be somewhat unique, and will appear odd to one degree or another to a brother caster. Kinda like how the toilet seat in the motel room is just somehow .......wrong and yours at home is just right

Safety is the number one item to be concerned with, and that will dictate certain things (tools, placement, and sufficient room) having to do with casting. Other then that there really isn't a totally wrong way nor a totally correct way.



This is my casting setup. I face the shop door and normally it will be up. The sheet steel plate behind the furnace is simply to keep direct breezes off of it. You can tell the door is normally up by that black smudge on it from fluxing Everything is to my right, which is good because the bench ends to my immediate left After pouring, first up is the sprue cooling pad. If I'm not using it it isn't there.

Again, to eliminate as much unnecessary movement as possible I have the boolit dump box directly over the sprue dump box. The sprues are uncermoniously dropped into the box. The boolit box has a folded towel laid on an incline down into the collection box. From there it's a striaght shot back to the lead pot for a refill. This way I turn once to the right, then back left to the pot.

The elevated pot allows me to see the top of the sprueplate without bending or stooping. When the pot gets down about half full I can no longer see the melt. But by then it's usually time to add the sprues back in, so I can see to flux. If I ever have to look way down into the pot for some reason I made an 8" tall step that leans against the end of the bench when not in use.

This setup will cause some folks to gag, but it has evolved over time to this, as it works very well for me and allows me to cast comfortably for some fairly lengthly sessions.

..............Buckshot

[barrabruce]

Interesting thanks!!
I didn'tknow you had to hit the your wooden donga on the hinge that way.
Iv'e been hitting the top with not much sucess.Dohh.

More vids any one!!!

Is there any easy way to tell when the lead is hot enough.
Or different temps!!
What did they do before theromostats and thermometers?

I can see how its done one way any way now

Cheers
Newbie

Barra

[WHITETAIL]

lead her fly, Great video!

[Edubya]

I've never had to hit my moulds that hard. My Saeco moulds drop the molded boolit as I flick them open. I'll bet that you go through some mould mallets. If They don't all release with a flick to open, I'll tap the hinge pin, never have banged the "V", as you do. I'm using a piece of post-hole digger (ash, I think), and have been using it for a while now.
There is a guy that makes plenty of these videos on the you-tube. He has a complete series of casting boolits, you newbies might want to watch his vids.
EW

[lead_her_fly]

I've never had to hit my moulds that hard. My Saeco moulds drop the molded boolit as I flick them open. I'll bet that you go through some mould mallets. If They don't all release with a flick to open, I'll tap the hinge pin, never have banged the "V", as you do. I'm using a piece of post-hole digger (ash, I think), and have been using it for a while now.
There is a guy that makes plenty of these videos on the you-tube. He has a complete series of casting boolits, you newbies might want to watch his vids.
EW

If I use the multitude of H&G molds I have, I don't have to hit mine so hard either. It is just with this mold. Like I said, it has all square corners and this alloy is pretty hard, which makes the bullets bigger. This might be part of the problem. It isn't a big deal for me as long as I can get them out in a tap or two. It helps me slow down a little. I can get going so fast that all of my bullets are real frosty.

[snaggdit]

Thanks for the videos. If I ever find the time I'll try to make one, too. As stated, everyone does things slightly different. I choose to drop my sprues back into the pot. I use Bruce's method to speed up my casting, but since the sprues sizzle when touching the wet towel and stop when removed I can't see any moisture still being on them by the time I position it back over the pot and tap it open. I have never had a flare up from water being left on them. I have had a drop or 2 of lead spash up, though, but since I have all my long clothes on, no big deal. I also keep a layer of charcoal on top of my pot, so it keeps the splashing down. I usually have to tap some to get my Lee molds to drop, but typically not that hard. I tap the back of the mold on the side the boolit is sticking in. Usually a slight tap and they drop. I have found that if I tap the handles the shock gets lost in the transfer to the mold blocks. YMMV.

[Dennis Eugene]

OK Great videos and thanks makes a guy think. Only real comment i have is along the same lines as others here, I just cringe when i see ya hitting the handles that hard. I understand that it is just the one particular mold, but being as you made these videos to help the beginners maybe you should have used a different mold so as not to have to beat it like that. I myself mostly never strike the sprue cutting plate but use my gloved hand/thumb to open it. Thanks again Dennis Eugene

[lead_her_fly]

I myself mostly never strike the sprue cutting plate but use my gloved hand/thumb to open it.

Then there is absolutely NO WAY the sprue is cooled enough to be solid, no way. I suppose that you can use a gloved hand on a Lee sprue, now that I can believe, so do I.

If you have to tap, which is all that is is a tap, doing so on the junction of the handles, at the bolt, is the ONLY place to do so. You don't hit the blocks EVER, nor do you hit the sprue plate anywhere but where designed, like I did, with a mallet, like I used.

[roarindan]

thanks Lead,i'm glad i opened this thread. from your posts and all the replies, i've learned ALOT!!

[Dennis Eugene]

If you do a search on me you'll find at least 3 post where I have stated "I am way to cheap to buy Lee molds" I own Lyman, H&G's RCBS and LBT's but the last Lee's which were given to me were also given to some one else. I cut the sprues on all my molds by hand whenever possible altho it is a darn sight harder to do on 4 bangers than on two. If you ask around you'll find many folks right here on this board who cut there sprues by hand including our fearless leaded 45Nut, and yes they are solid as I cast with 2 molds and one is cooling while I cut the sprue and drop the boolit and refill the mold. Many years ago when I was young I still was not ignorant enough to hit my mold blocks I do strike the hinge pin on my handles when necessary but I might add if I ever saw any one hitting my handles the way you were hitting yours I would take my mold from him/her and never let them put a hammer to any of my equipment again. Not trying to be offensive but when I'm dead and gone someone else will be making some fine boolits with my molds. Once again Thanks for the fine videos they are outstanding. Dennis Eugene