If a man has nothing greater to believe in than himself, he is a very lonely man.
PAM in the mould cavity? Based on what I've seen that will result in a burnt on residue that's hard to get rid of. I've used PAM as a case lube and boolit sizing lube in a Lee setup in a pinch, but not on my moulds.
When you smoke a cavity you leave a very thin insulating layer between the alloy and mould. That's a good thing if your mould is running hot and it's fat to start with. It's bad thing if you have a cool mould, skinny mould, venting issues and fill out issues. The more you smoke it the more the problem. Smoking can work but I've found a really good cleaning and hotter mould fix most issues. The Franklin Arsenal so called "mould release" is even worse and I've relegated my can to lubing sliding parts like gate hinges.
I use Kroil as a decent cutting/drilling/machining lube as well as to loosen up tight AR-15 barrel nuts, pins, and other things... Accept no substitute.
I was wondering if something like this might help, or perhaps something along the lines of a Militec treatment of the mold???
I think it may be worth investigating sometime later after I've gotten more experience in casting.
Regarding oil in a mold... I recently purchased and used a Do-It egg sinker mold. There is a copper pull pin that creates the holes. They recommend coating it frequently with 30 weight motor oil so it could be pulled out of the sinkers easily.
I thought having this oil in the mold would give me many bad sinkers, but after pouring about 75 lbs of assorted sinkers, I would say the oil has little or no effect on the sinkers.
Of course, I wouldn't try this type of lubricating in a boolit mold, just funny to see a mfg recommend putting motor oil into a mold.
Randy
You know after over 40 years of casting I learn something here every day. I never thought of Kroil as a release agent and I used a gallon or more a year.
Thanks!!!!!
I used to squirt hydraulic fluid on my molds at the sawmill when pouring guide plates. I didn't much care how they looked, as long as they didn't stick in the mold and the screw holes were usable. The milling machine took care of the facing.
Tom
μολὼν λαβέ
Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?
Having any kind of lubricant of any amount inside a mould goes against everything I've read, heard, or been taught. So I want to make sure I'm not misunderstanding what is being said. Kroil inside the mould can be a good thing.......is that correct? Would simply air drying with no puddles left inside be the thing to do? You'll have to bare with me folks............I just want to make sure I'm getting this right.
I've done similar techniques, Gohon you've got a VERY VALID point... If there is liquid in the mould when the molten lead hits it it'll very likely spatter and raise all kinds of "h * e * double LL."
Therefore the technique is to treat the mould with Kroil, but after treating the mould it should NOT have liquid in it. Not when the lead flows... The trick is to treat the mould, then *** pre-heat *** the mould to dry it out.
All a caster needs to do is treat the mould with Kroil, sop up the bulk liquid, etc... Then while the pot is warming up, just lay the mould, handles and all, on top of the melting pot. The wasted heat will warm up the mould nice and easy, but thoroughly. Then as it's warming up, the bulk liquids evaporate, leaving behind a nice film to coat the inside of the mould with Kroil vapors.
Moulds made from solid aluminum billets aren't anywhere nearly as porous, all of the pores are rolled out of the aluminum in the rolling/drawing mills. Which is why the Kroil doesn't seem to work as well, the aluminum mould can't absorb it like cast iron does.
Cast Iron Moulds, (Lyman & Saeco etc) like this pre-heat treatment very nicely. The porosity of the iron itself literally absorbs the oils as it contacts the surface of the iron. And warm/heated iron absorbs oils even better, but the oils don't like the heat of casting... Therefore the oils evaporate out of the pores of the iron, thereby making a film of oil vapors in the nice hot mould.
In the production Glass Bottle industry this technique is used daily. And glass runs a heckuva lot hotter'n lead does. The Glass Machine Operators call it swabbing, the same as a phrase I've seen in this thread already.
That's my two cents, I hope this clears things up some...? Let me know if I've confused anyone... Ok?
Jim Fleming
I will bleed, Red, White, & Blue forever.
USAFR (Retired)
NRA Endowment Member
VFW Life Member
Ok will run this by everyone again. Spray or wet mold inside and out. Blot the wet off of inside. I use a Qtip because it cleans as you wipe. Heat the mold as you aways do. The rest will dry off. Start casting. You will lose the first so many till mold gets to temp. On a single Have got first boolit perfect. I see a little stickys at about 30 or 40 drops. Open mold while hot and flash spray[thats why I like the spray can] dont wipe cavity/s Let it evaporate. Keep on casting. Depends on how long you cast as need for more. The second time is enough for me to cast about 20lbs. Let mold cool and soak again. As I said it will not prevent rust if you leave out in open. If you use oil. then clean it off first with laquer thinner or something thats not oily before you treat with Kroil to cast. rick/shotman It works on shotmakers too
Succintly said, Shotman...
Jim Fleming
I will bleed, Red, White, & Blue forever.
USAFR (Retired)
NRA Endowment Member
VFW Life Member
Applied the liquid version, using a Q-Tip, on a troublesome Lyman 358311 2-cavity, wiped the excess off and let the rest evaporate over the pot as it was heating. The boolits used to require more than gentle persuasion to drop. Those day are over. Now, if the boolits don't drop on their own, a light love tap it all that's needed.
I'm sold...
Does this way of mold treatment get good fill-out on long deep groove boolits like the rcbs 405GC.That is the only mold I use that can be hard to get perfect fill-out sometimes.Don't have any sticking problems but hard to get perfect boolits every pour.My saeco 480PB drops perfect every time,would like the same luck with the rcbs 405GC.They both shoot very well in my Highwall.
The kroil treatment worked very well on a new mold today.I couldn't get it to work without smoking the mold after about 10 drops though but after that the boolits popped out easy with good fill out.It worked pretty good on my 405 rcbs but I think it needs to be cleaned up,got it soaking tonight and give it another try later.Glad I give this a try,it works.
Like others have said, This goes against everything I have been taught about casting. I want to make sure myself. We are talking about THIS? The product that they are offering 2 cans for $12?
A while back they had a thread on where to order Kroil like 2 for a discounted price. Does any one have that site designation?
Yes i did get my sample of Fluid Film. Thank you very much. I will report when i get my new molds an use it.
Kevin
Last edited by kbstenberg; 06-14-2009 at 09:57 AM.
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Has anyone used their mold release? Says it's a pure silicone product.
Wayne the Shrink
There is no 'right' that requires me to work for you or you to work for me!
KBS:
http://www.kanolabs.com/google/
that link, I think, is what you're asking for, I hope...?
Jim
Jim Fleming
I will bleed, Red, White, & Blue forever.
USAFR (Retired)
NRA Endowment Member
VFW Life Member
Do you get a better fill out when using Kroil in the cavities?
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 |