Are there any tricks to getting better base fill out (sharp base for gas checks) when ladle casting.
If I was bottom pouring and a base fill problem comes up I usually pressure cast with a full pot of alloy and the corners come out crisp and sharp. But I’m getting rounded base fill with my ladle casting. I’m new to ladle casting as of the past year. 30+ years experience with bottom pouring
Accurate single cavity .30 cal brass mold. Molds preheated to around 380 before casting, Linotype @ 700 degrees, running mold temperatures around 340 degrees. Cadence is typically around 20 seconds to get a clean sprue cut and to be able to hold the mold temp in the 330, 340 degree range. The sprue plate is kept a bit on the loose side and the sprue is cut with a gloved hand.
I tried a full dipper and standing it on the sprue plate hole 3, 5 seconds hoping that would simulate a bottom pour pressure cast but so far that didn’t seem to help. I’ll give that another try tomorrow when I ladle cast with two new molds; one another .30 Accurate and the other my old Lyman 311299.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Bill Cook, Missouri, Stl BR cub.