Lead casting take 2

[cynthialee]

I just cast a bunch of rounds and conicals and the results while better than yesterday were less than stelar.

Out of a few pounds of lead cast I got 4 round balls worth keeping and 11 conicals worth keeping. The majority had minor flaws and a couple had major flaws. Most of my round balls looked good at first glance but when I looked at them closely alost all of them had tiny waves on the bottom half of the round. The conicals that were rejected had various minor issues. Mainly they looked like they had a crack going through the nose on one side.

I am guessing I am pouring to slow as I know my equipment was hot enough as lead would roll right off it when I tested to see if I had things hot enough. Maybe too hot?
I will whoop this come hell or high watter!

 

[BrownBear]

Slow sounds like the best explanation.

 

[necchi]

The mold should be tipped just a bit to the side when starting,
As the pour happens, the mold and ladel are brought upright together.
It's a twist of the wrist thing,,

This entire motion,, from when the laden begins to drop lead in the mold too a puddle on top of the sprue,,should take about one second or less

 

[cynthialee]

I definatly was going slower than a second on a pour.

 

[Rev_William]

Out of curiosity at what point of your casting did you get the 4 and the 11? randomly, near the end or near the beginning of your sessions? I haven't done any castings for yrs but I remember having that happen when 1 moulds not hot enough good balls was near the end if good ones were in the middle of session then went bad moulds got to hot? Also if I didn't add beeswax to blend the stuff floating on the top got some wierd casts( was taught on WW's back in the 70's lol)

 

[cynthialee]

I was droping my rounds into a small can of water with a facecloth in the bottom. (about 12 feet away from my lead pot) And I just started casting as fast as I could and just let them pile up. So I really don't know when the good ones were made.

Here is a pic of my second attempt at making my own:

 

[4given]

Make sure you have fluxed well and removed all the dross. (that's the stuff that floats to the top that is not lead. Be sure your lead and mold are hot enough. everything needs to be pretty hot to fill the mold completely and leave no defects. I cast a bunch of .54 Lyman plains conicals last weekend. I had to get my lead up to between 750 - 800 degrees before I started getting defect free boolits consistantly. thats just a ton of mold cavity to fill! Also dont pour too slow and dont "pour through the air" I like to rest my mold on the rim of the pot to steady it. Makes it easier to "hit the hole"

Keep practicing!

 

[lorren68]

I was droping my rounds into a small can of water with a facecloth in the bottom. (about 12 feet away from my lead pot) And I just started casting as fast as I could and just let them pile up. So I really don't know when the good ones were made.

Here is a pic of my second attempt at making my own:

I drop my bullets/balls onto a folded up towel that I have on the table next to my casting set up,this helps me to keep my mold up to temp and eliminates alot of walking. :grin:

 

[4given]

I was droping my rounds into a small can of water with a facecloth in the bottom. (about 12 feet away from my lead pot) And I just started casting as fast as I could and just let them pile up. So I really don't know when the good ones were made.

Here is a pic of my second attempt at making my own:

I drop my bullets/balls onto a folded up towel that I have on the table next to my casting set up,this helps me to keep my mold up to temp and eliminates alot of walking. :grin:

Good point! I missed that! Dropping them in water also "tempers" the bullet slightly making it harder so I'm told. Might not want that for your smokepole....

 

[cynthialee]

The first time I was droping them onto a towel but they were putting small scorch marks on my towel and I wasn't so keen on that. Someone else mentioned they droped their rounds into water with a towel on the bottom so I figured that was a good idea as it wouldn't scorch my towel and they would be cool enough to touch as soon as I was finished casting.
If it is pure lead then how much of a temper can it really take?
Maybe some one with some metalurgy skills can pipe in?

 

[Idaho Ron]

Water quenching pure lead will have no affect on hardness. Water quenching lead with alloy will harden the lead.

Ron

 

[Idaho Ron]

The first time I was droping them onto a towel but they were putting small scorch marks on my towel and I wasn't so keen on that. Someone else mentioned they droped their rounds into water with a towel on the bottom so I figured that was a good idea as it wouldn't scorch my towel and they would be cool enough to touch as soon as I was finished casting.
If it is pure lead then how much of a temper can it really take?
Maybe some one with some metalurgy skills can pipe in?

Go get a used towel at the second hand store. Make sure it is cotton. NEVER use it for anything but lead. If your water quenching with a towel you are using again on your face you will end up with high levels of lead in your blood. Everything that you use for lead must stay as a lead only item. Also make sure to wash your hands before you eat drink or smoke. I hope you don't smoke though.
Also, you don't need to water quench it is a un needed step that could be a problem if a little water were to end up in your mould when you dropped them. Ron

 

[Greenjoytj]

I don't know what type of material your mold in made of, aluminum or steel.
I have both Lee aluminum and Lyman steel molds.
The Lee requires the lead to be at a much hotter temperature as the Lee mold cools fast and your walking 12 feet to a water filed drop bucket.
The Lyman steel mold takes a long time to throughly heat up, 54 cal mold needs to cast about 12 to 15 balls to get to temperature.
I hope your using a thermometer and making notes for time and temperature.
I have found my best casting occurs when the lead is hot enough to allow the lead to form a thick puddle on top of the mold. If the lead is too hot it forms a very flat puddle. I pour the lead from an iron ladle (I use a Lyman ladle) it holds the heat as opposed to my old RCBS aluminium ladle.
The pouring technique that has so far proven the best for me is to fill the ladle and continue to pour the lead into the mold until the ladle is empty.
The mold cavity fills and the rest of the lead stream is directed into the mold gate from about an inch away, think this stream of lead pounding onto the mold entrance sends hydraulic shock waves into the mold cavity to help shake out the wrinkles that may have formed in the cavity and helps to keeps the mold hot.
I hold the mold at about a 30 degree down ward slant to start the cavity fill and during the over fill. This angle allows the excess to run off and fall back into the pot. Just before the ladle empties I flatten the angle I hold the mold at in order to cause a puddle about the size of a large lima bean to form on top.
When the puddle solidifies the sprue is cut free and the balls are dropped onto a couple of large baking sheets that have 1/2" high sides all around. I put 2 layers of cheap dollar store terry cloth towels in them to cushion the ball drop.
This system works great the towels do not even get scorched.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Be VERY careful with water near molten lead. If it drips or splashes into the lead it vaporizes explosively and can throw lead. It's a bad combination and I keep no water nearby.

I drop my lead onto a folded towel with a sheet of aluminum foil over it.

 

[Idaho Ron]

The drop of water on top of lead is not that big of a deal. It is the water under the hot lead that causes the explosion. That is why I warned about the water inside the mould. That would be a life changing experience. Ron

 

[cynthialee]

got it

no water quenching

I'll try the foil over a towel methood next time.

 

[Stumpkiller]

The drop of water on top of lead is not that big of a deal. It is the water under the hot lead that causes the explosion. That is why I warned about the water inside the mould. That would be a life changing experience. Ron

You're right.

I crossed wires with my Chemistry 101:

Acid into water = OK

Water into acid = Bad.


But at some point when you refill that pot and accidently drop in a wet bit of lead or a rejected ball with a water-filled void. BAM!

 

[Idaho Ron]

Most of this is for her to see but your right. Not only water but very cold ingots will do the tinsel ferry thing too. I like to pre warm my ingots on an old coffee burner that I took apart and kept the burner for. A hot plate would work well too. Ron

 

[4given]

Water quenching pure lead will have no affect on hardness. Water quenching lead with alloy will harden the lead.

Ron

That's what it is! Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[jethro224]

... very cold ingots will do the tinsel ferry thing too.

I've never heard of that. Have you had it happen? How cold is very cold? I store all of my lead out in the garage and also do my casting out there at all times of the year.