My Official Casting Tip

[918v]

Many people have a hard time getting those base edges razor sharp. They do all kinds of stuff to the mold, heat the melt too hot, etc. But it does not help and the best they can get is a slightly rounded base.

The reason for this is simple: The lead cools as it is poured into the mold. The mold is never as hot as the lead and that is the reason why the lead cools. Once the lead cools, it stops flowing like water and fails to fill out the mold like it should.

The sprue plate has a sprue hole which is countersunk and looks like a funnel. The ladle pouring spout is conical on the exterior. Guess what? The two are designed to mate. The male spout mates with the female sprue plate. They need to be touching.

The proper way to fill the mold is to tip both the mold and the ladle at a 45 degree angle. The spout is then placed partially into the sprue hole, and the ASSEMBLY is now tipped so that the ladle is right on top of the mold. The spout seals the sprue hole and lead does not leak out. You hold the two together for a count of five aligators.

Why not just pour from the top?

Because when the ladle and the mold are mated, the ladle and the excess lead therein keep the lead inside the mold hot enough to fill out the base to a razor-sharp edge. The ladle contains alot more lead than the mold. It is able to maintain temperature hotter longer. That is the key.

[lcarreau]

What about folks using a bottom pour pot?

[BigSlick]

For bottom pour users, pouring a big sprue will help achieve similar results

[Anvil]

This really added to my casting knowledge. Great stuff!

[918v]

What about folks using a bottom pour pot?

Most bottom pour units have a conical profiled spout. You can ush the sprue hole right into it.

[Steve Koski]

Sprues SUCK!

[918v]

Nah Ugh!

[lcarreau]

Would an egg hard boil faster in liquid lead?

**edited to add** Please dont try that just to report back.

[918v]

Interesting...

It might explode.

[lcarreau]

Interesting...

It might explode.


That is my guess and why I hastily added a warning.

[AlPackin]

Boiling lead = 621 F +
Boiling water = 212 F +

yep

[918v]

Would it help if the egg was wrapped in aluminum foil?

[lcarreau]

Boiling lead = 621 F +
Boiling water = 212 F +

yep


Umm, I think you are comparing the boiling point of water to the melting point of lead Kimosabe.

-Lonnie

[AlPackin]

nah wimpy stuff. I work in an aluminum mill, we anneal to O temper (dead soft) most aluminum alloys at 620 F.

[lcarreau]

nah wimpy stuff. I work in an aluminum mill, we anneal to O temper (dead soft) most aluminum alloys at 620 F.

Yea, the way to protect the eff would be to seal it in short steal pipe and then submerge it for the protection o the egg. :rofl::rofl:

**again edited to say please dont try this.

[AlPackin]

Umm, I think you are comparing the boiling point of water to the melting point of lead Kimosabe.

-Lonnie

the melting point seemed close enough to make the point :)
the boiling point of lead is 1740 C which is like 3180 F, pretty freakin hot

[918v]

OK, how'bout kevlar?

[AdamN]

The sprue plate has a sprue hole which is countersunk and looks like a funnel. The ladle pouring spout is conical on the exterior. Guess what? The two are designed to mate. The male spout mates with the female sprue plate. They need to be touching.


Im a firm believer in the fact that a lot of different techniques can work. Ive tried direct contact between the spout and the spru and I always get terrible results. The 2 are NOT designed to mate together.

I get the best results with the lead stream a little off center to the sprue hole creating a bit of a swirl effect as the cavity fills up. That along with a nice sized spru and I can get pretty near 100% results.
I keep my mold abot 3/4" to 1" away from the spout. If Im having troube with fill I can increase the flow rate or increase the distance to create a little more "fall" to the lead stream which in effect increases the pressure.

If direct contact works for you that is great, for me it never has worked and there always several solutions.
If its not working try something else:wink5:

[918v]

What kind of problems have you experienced due to direct contact?

[AdamN]

I get a lot of voids due to the fact that that venting is severly restricted. With a bit of an air gap any trapped air can vent out thru the sprue hole as well as any vents in the mold itself.

Also I use several Ballisti-cast molds and their spru plate has more of a channel milled into it and holes straight in without much if any countersink. They will not seal up like a Lee/Lyman/rcbs mold when you try the direst contact method.

I think a lot of companies went to a cosink as a way of speeding up production more that allowing for a good seal between the spout and sprue plate.

[918v]

Cuz I never have any problems, but my RCBS molds are well vented. Perhaps one could pour from above, but finish pouring with the two mated together, just to keep the melt hot enough.

[AdamN]

I know of several that use that technique with good success. Others like me dont have a lot of luck at it for one reason or another.

Another bad part about it if youre going a lot of bullets is .....say a six cavity mold, seal up/fill/wait for a count of 5, move to the next cavity, seal/fill/wait, on and on.......

Wears me out just thinkin about it

[BigSlick]

My experience is just as ANeat describes.

It's is pretty easy to get a decent base fillout with a 6 banger once you find your rythym, but I gotta tell ya, a 2 banger wit a small bullet will take years off ya life.

I have a couple a 32-098-SWC's for da Crack Killa and both can be finicky as hell to get good bullets.

Best and only way they turn out good is with a lotta sprue. It does as 918v describes, allows for good fill out. If you gonna get in a groove, you gonna go thru a lotta lead cause if you don't leave a sprue at least as big as a solid quarter you gonna get a rounded base no matter how hot you cast, or how much tin you got in the mix.

Little bullets are really nice, but a whole nuther ball game compared to rockin an rollin with a 6 banger in a larger caliber.

[MONTEGOD7SS]

That would be something to video with a remote arm that can place it into the melt.

[MakeMineA10mm]

Would an egg hard boil faster in liquid lead?

**edited to add** Please dont try that just to report back.


Actually, it would fry, not boil, as long as you carefully cracked the shell and gently poured the egg onto the top of the melt. (Course, I wouldn't order my eggs "Lead-side down" due to not liking that much lead in my diet, but, YMMV.) :lol:

Now, if you throw the whole dang egg, still in the shell into the lead, I wouldn't want to be within 50 yards of you... :yikes:

[creekwalker]

Either way you drop it I think the vaporized egg will throw lead tinsel far and wide. Unlike cohutt and me I don't think you'd get far enough away from the crucible to escape the worst of the molten magma. Not cool, not cool at all. When you hear that evil hiss and rumble comming from the depths of the lead pot.

cw

[CZ93X62]

Eggs get cooked in the kitchen, lead alloy gets melted in the garage. I don't need ANY visits from the Tinsel Fairy, and a whole egg might make for your very own sub-compact Krakatoa.

I drop-pour or contact-pour based on what the mold I'm using prefers, which can be massaged a little by heat, casting rate, or flow rate adjustment. Little bullets like 243 and 25 calibers prefer heat and big sprues as Slick says.

[freakshow10mm]

Yup. The 38-95-RN I cast need a big sprue.

[Anvil]

I wish I was casting and not just smelting....

[Brass Nazi]

but I gotta tell ya, a 2 banger wit a small bullet will take years off ya life.


Little bullets are really nice, but a whole nuther ball game compared to rockin an rollin with a 6 banger in a larger caliber.


So casting .224" bullets sucks?

[HiddenEyes]

I would guess that the egg would float and burst on the top. That would mean a splash, but not an eruption of molten lead?


Mr. HE:cool:

[Fatdaddy]

Eruption? Try a big ole bowl of Raisin Bran for flux.
Seems to work for me.:smilewinkgrin:

[Pitmaster]

Heat your house and save the lead.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa6/stoo_photo/075.jpg

[Vulcanese]

Heat your house and save the lead.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa6/stoo_photo/075.jpg

Wow, that's a really good idea.

[copdills]

Thanks for the information , I'am still learning