I saw this in a cartoon once. I'm pretty sure I can pull it off...
I did some venting , a little at a time.
Still not there yet though.
Even with no sprue plate, so more vents....
I hate it when you're trying to get something done and bullets just stand around watching .
Hey, bullets, you waiting for a bus or something ?
Guess my eyes aren't trained enought to recognize whats wrong with the bullets and what you mean by "venting" the mold. They do look like they haven't filled out the mold enough but other than that...
When we fill the mold with molten lead the air is pushed out of the cavity.
If it were a solid cylinder the air can easily escape, but with all the angled areas in this mold toward the nose some won't fill, the air gets trapped. By venting the mold (milling or scribing shallow channels from the cavity to the outside edge of the parting line), the small amounts of trapped air have a place to go.
There are people here with alot more experiance casting bullets who can give more or better options for complete, sharp filling but venting is one of them and alot of commercial molds are vented in some way.
Maybe if I increased the tin content it would help but I'll try venting for now.
OK, that makes sense. Thank you.
Taking a second look at the last mold pics I see the horizontal lines. Didn't notice them at first, guess I thought they were milling scratches, duh.
I've vented as much as I dare and the pieces look much better.
If I were to do it again I would go ahead and make the nose (bore riding section) full .312 dia., make a swage die and swage the bore riding section to .302.
As it is now the bore riding section is a little under size.
Maybe they'll shoot fine, find out this spring.
So this little project is done, I don't believe I'll have the time to re-cut another mold.
I have some others I'd like to try if I can.
oldpara you are a true craftsman! IMO, you are thinking so far out of the box, I cannot dream or follow where you are going. I can only watch and smile at your work.
If you ever feel the need to do a Karma, I'm in!!!
Conflict is the root of civilization.
Just a thought about what you said about making the thread .312 and then sizing back to make a bore rider. Since the threaded section would have a small cross sectional area and lead is soft what if you made the thread .309 dia and then let the leade size the nose to what the bore wants? It should not chamber hard and I think it would extract if you didn't fire the round. Your thoughts please. AggieEE
Chase it with a die....
It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
Theodore Roosevelt
Love this stuff ,great work please keep it up
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)
chess pieces out of boolits for something differant. Make a boring for the spectator game into a conversation as to " are those really what we think they are" or the player telling his opponent sorry you just got "screwed" as he counter moves.
Look twice, shoot once.
I've always wondered if someone could make a bullet shape from a peice of graphite and use a RAM EDM to burn the mold cavity. If so, a talented carver could make some wild designs.
I think you're right, and that IS a viable option. I didn't think of that.
That amount of interferance would be next to nothing and I don't believe chambering would be an issue.
I would surely assure a good bore riding section with some small amount of engraving.
Thankyou, that's something I will surely keep in mind and use when I'm dreaming up these oddball designs or any new more conventional design.
I think sometimes I pick nits to an impractical degree.
If I were shooting benchrest matches my over thinking could be justified to some degree, but I like to think of myself as a practical guy looking for practical results, decent results. I'm talking about an old 7.7 jap rifle with all the extra clearances and room for dirt and, yes, your thoughts on this are spot on.
A graphite or copper electrode can be made, that's for sure.
In alot of Ram type EDMing the, we'll say blocks are kind of rotated around the electrode, buzz buzz buzz, round and round for a rough cut, then a finish electrode is used, same process.
You want the electrode to be symetrical, concentric circles, etc.
So hand cutting the electrode is possible but 3D milling is a more accurate option, although if accuracy, concentricity, and the like are not a priority, but just asthetics are the goal then hand carving isn't out of the question.
It would add a very real "one of a kind" nature to the part(s).
I thank all of you for your encouragement and enthusiasm.
When you have the "I'll just do it" attitude and the means to do it, it's hard not to just go for it.
I'll really miss it when the ride is over...........
I'm with the rest of the folks - you really need to setup shop at a gun show, I think you'd find a pretty good market for both the finished pieces and the molds - if you start selling the finished pieces I'd be in
at any rate - this thread is awesome as is your work - keep posting
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 |