soapstone shot and ball mold

[John Tice]

I got my hands on a nice block of Vermont soapstone and am going to make an 18th-century type combo shot and ball mold. While I was able to find good size round burrs for the shot (from my Dremel set), how can I make the negative for the ball? I am looking to make it in .58 caliber. Anyone do this or have any ideas? Thanks
John Tice

 

[madstone]

The "old folks" used a "cherry", usually provided with the new or freshed rifle. I assume they were made by filing and grinding, then hardened? Perhaps a mandrel could be inserted into a hole drilled in the balls and abrasive compounds used to shape it? Or would the lead itself be harder than the soapstone? I imagine it is just a little harder, remembering scratching both with my thumbnail. Might roll the ball, now mounted on the mandrel, around on different grades of sandpaper? :hmm:
It would take me about 3 years, it would still be unsatisfactory, and I would end up having a machinist make one anyway! :thumbsup:

 

[rich pierce]

There is an amazingly simple trick for making a cherry of any size. I have not done it but read about it. I hope I can describe it.

Take a 2" square flat piece of hardenable steel perhaps 1/4 or 1/8" thick and draw a circle on it (compass) the diameter you want your ball to be. Draw the circle about 1/2" from an edge. Now cut the hole. You can drill it, file it, saw it- whatever it takes. Probably drill undersize, then file. Now make a triangular wedge cut from the hole to the closest edge of the plate, with the small end at the round hole, maybe 1/4" wide and 3/8" at the edge. Hold it up to the light. It is shaped like the cherry, the cutter you want to make! It has a round ball end, a "sprue" part, and a thicker shaft! This will become a tool that can form and shape a rough forging into a perfect ball on the end of a shaft. Later you can cut grooves in that ball with a file to make it a real cutter.

Now you've got an annealed, square-sided hole. You need to make it sharp by relieving metal at a 45 degree angle on the "backside" (your choice).

When you've got a sharp edge all around, now you harden and temper the tool you just made. The cherry-cutter.

Now rough forge and file a bigger ball on the end of a shaft of tool steel. Chuck that rough forging up in a drill and as you turn it, press it sideways into that cherry-cutter. The cherry-cutter will make it perfectly spherical if you drilled and cut a round hole! When it is done, you need to cut some spiral "teeth" in it, then harden and temper it.

When you've made your cherry, then you close the halves of the mold blank on it, bit by bit, as the cherry cuts.

I'll be amazed if you can follow that w/o pictures.

 

[musketman]

When you do make this, wear a respiratory mask and eye protection...

Soapstone dust may cause acute and chronic irritation to eyes and respiratory tract.

Soapstone MSDS
[url] http://www.brownells.com/[/url] Gunsmithing tools
[url] http://www.american-carbide.com/[/url] Bits and reamers

 

[coehornboy]

In the book "How the Colt Navy .36 Revolver was Gunsmithed and Fired in the Field During the Civil War" (1985, D.L. Rhea, Emons Printing, Alton Illinois), the author (born 1911) provides a description of how he helped make a .36 soapstone bullet mold as a kid, with the aid of a CW veteran.

For round ball, they took a .36 ball and dipped it a snuff can full of melted rosin. While the ball was still hot, he rolled it in fine quartz sand. He then screwed a small lag screw that had the square head sawed off into the ball. They then chucked the sand-coated bullet in a brace and bit, and as one worked the brace and bit, the other pushed the two blocks of soapstone together. Afterwards, he used a pointed dowel, with sand for friction, to make a depression in the top of the soapstone mold where the lead would be poured into the cavity.

The author went on to explain that many years later, he "miked" one of the balls made in the mold, and that they averaged .380, and that they would leave a small ring of excess lead when pushed into the cylinder but were extremely accurate. :hmm:

MY OPINION: Well, it makes for a good bull session story :bull: , but I dont know if I would want to force a .38 slug that tightly into a .36 cylinder....

 

[scott k]

My .36 colt takes a .375 round ball. Some colts take a .380 ball.
Just like a lot of guns out there what it's called is not what the real bore size is.
Lehigh...

 

[coehornboy]

Lehigh; My response should have been more clear. :redface: .The author provided that the balls had an average size of .38..I never feel comfortable with jamming something TOO large in a cylinder or muzzle..

I guess my question is, if a larger than .38 ball is forced into the cylinder and, due to lead shaving off, is now shaped like a slug, does this increase pressure within the cylinder as there is more mass to the bullet??? :hmm:

 

[mudd turtle]

I have been thinking about makeing a soap stone mold for my 54 cal. Is there anyone who will make a soap stone mould for a price mudd turtle.

 

[mudd turtle]

can you tell me where to get some of that soap stone and what it will cost. I want to make a mould but don't know how to go about it. Thanks for any help. mudd turtle.

 

[musketman]

can you tell me where to get some of that soap stone and what it will cost. I want to make a mould but don't know how to go about it. Thanks for any help. mudd turtle.

These guys sell soapstone, so far it's the only one I found...
[url] http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32712&cat=1,250,43298[/url]

 

[mudd turtle]

Musket man- Thank you for your reply on soap stone. I would like to make a soap stone mould for a reenactment coming up this spring here in Greensboro N.C. i need to know some idea about how to go about makeing one. I see you are on line -look foward to hearing from you.mudd turtle

 

[musketman]

Musket man- Thank you for your reply on soap stone. I would like to make a soap stone mould for a reenactment coming up this spring here in Greensboro N.C. i need to know some idea about how to go about makeing one. I see you are on line -look foward to hearing from you.mudd turtle

To be honest with you, I have never carved a soapstone mold...

But, these people have, the technique is the same just the design is different... (it covers basic stone prep and safety issues)

http://www.warehamforge.ca/pewter.html