Help with bullets not dropping.

[357shooter]

Just started casting yesterday, you guys have already been big help.

On the good front, I now know what you mean by getting the mould hot and having the lead hot (using Lee mould).

I actually have about 80 loadable bullets at this point... even had some frosted which I'll load.

I did clean the mould with brake cleaner, I also did the crest toothpaste smooth the mould per one of the stickies, then complety cleaned again with brake cleaner.

For a while all the bullets dropped fine. Then I had to start to shake a bunch. I finally just shut things down to take a break as the aren't dropping at all.

What do I need to tweak/change to get them dropping again. Is the mould maybe just too hot???

Thanks for any help you can give.

[Recluse]

What caliber mould are you using, and how hot is your alloy?

I've noticed, especially with my aluminum moulds, that when both alloy AND the mould get really hot, I start having a few more sticking problems. Have to use my sprue-whacker a bit more and harder than I care to.

I keep a wet towel--very wet--to the left side of my casting furnace. Every three or four casts, I "cool" the mould by resting the base for a few seconds on the wet towel, then turn the mould over and do the same with the sprue plate.

Always helps.

And it goes without mentioning to keep anything wet away from the top of your furnace.

[mooman76]

My guess would be you are getting the mould too hot. I like to start out hot but as I see signs of it getting too hot I start to crank the heat down a little at a time. You just kind of get used to it after awhile and it come to be second nature.

[Marlin Junky]

Is the mould maybe just too hot???

Perhaps. What is your melt temp? If it's in the 760F neighborhood, slow down or put another mold to work during the same casting session.

MJ

[357shooter]

Thanks guys. The too hot makes sense. The wet towel is a great idea.

I did a count and got 169 loadable and mostly beautiful 148 grain 38 cal wadcutters.

VERY COOL. I can't believe those nasty wheel weights look so good.

[.45Cole]

I'm by no means a master or even half way there. I clean the **** out of aquired molds with a cleaner and toothbrush. I then smoke the mold throughly. This seems to help me get the boolits to drop ot well. More smoke around edges of SWC bands and lube grooves. Only have to smoke once, then all seems to be OK, even though it looks like the soot has been cast out. I have found that birthday candles work great, and some softer candles. Hope this helps, and is advisable by others here.

[DLCTEX]

I find that all my molds have a heat range in which they will drop easily. They will reach a point where they drop freely, then begin to stick again, so I slow the pace or cool the mould and the boolits will fall freely. Leementing helps to reduce or eliminate sticking. (Do a search if you aren't familiar with Leementing) Some of the Kieth designs with square bottom lube grooves are a little sticky at their best.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I just finished a casting session with a Mihec 6 banger alum mold. It dropped bullets like rain early on but as the mold started to smoke with heat they began to hang up. I went to the Bruce B method of putting a rag on top of a soaked sponge on a plate of cold water. Every 2nd or 3rd cast I would place the bottom of the mold on top of the water soaked rag to cool down. This reduction of the mold temperature did the trick and they continued to drop like rain.

Also you might take a q tip with a few drops of Kano Kroil Penetrating Oil and dab the inside of the mold cavities. This is something new but a lot of folks have had good luck with it.

[cbrick]

prgallo, welcome to Castboolits.

The reason the boolits fall out of the mould is because as they cool and solidify in the mould they shrink. Once the mould temp gets too high they still shrink but much slower than when the mould was at a more optimum temp, that's the reason changing up your casting pace or the wet towel/sponge works so well.

A few casting sessions and you'll be an old pro at matching your pour rate with mould temp and keeping everything going well. The alloy temp in the pot doesn't really need to be above about 750 degrees, much over that and you'll loose the tin in the alloy rather quickly and heat up the mould quickly.

Rick

[357shooter]

Thanks for all the help. I'm casting again tomorrow and will use what I've learned here.

[leadman]

I read that you were shaking the mould.Try tapping the hinge bolt (not the mould) with the mould open to get the bullets to drop. A old wooden hammer handle or rawhide mallet work good for this.

[Faret]

On my lee molds I polished them with a casted bullet and some flitz polish. Just use the polish like you are lapping the mold. Dosen't take much. Also I used a rasor blade and scraped the sides of the mold halves to get rid of any edge that there was. Then they droped right out.

[Sprue]

To give you a better idea of Lementing or Lapping your molds, take the sprue plate completely off and set it aside. Next find an appropriate size nut and lay over the cavities then carefully pour your alloy to the top of the nut.

Let them cool down and coat them with valve grinding or polishing compound. Toothpaste will work too but just be careful, you can easily enlarge you cavities if you're not aware. All you are wanting to do at this point is to rid your mold of any burrs. Should you ever actually need to enlarge your cast boolits this will also work. It will take a little longer to achieve.

Anyway, after you coast these nut/boolits just turn them with a small wrench while holding the mold closed. Once they start to free up by spinning/turning them go to the next cav.

Just keep in mind that some boolit styles do drop easier than others.

[mroliver77]

The advice about mold temp is right on in my experience. I buy the very soft bronze bristle brushes and use these to lightly "scrub" my molds that are sticky. This has worked better than any other mold prep I have used. I checked with a magnifying glass and find no damage from this. New molds are usually taken apart and deburred, flatten sprue plate and mold top, sharpen and deburr sprue hole and check venting and cavity with magnifying glass. I have only a couple molds that remain stubborn.
Jay

[leadman]

mroliver, I also have been usibf the soft brass brush on a couple of my molds. I can see on the iron or steel molds that it is depositing a brass sheen on the surface.
What is nice about this if the mold gets sticky while using it another couple swipes with the brass brush and I'm back in business again.