castmiester
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Little to fast paced for me but whatever works for you.
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case hardened sprue plates
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castmiester
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You’re convinced it’s not the plate ?
castmiester
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Sad aint it
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castmiester
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Well to sum it up I just got off the phone with an RCBS tech of 58 years of service.
He's sending me two plates, one with smaller pour holes, and one of the original sized holes. They are 1/8 inch thicker and he said that they take any abuse, weather it's beating on them or excess heat. Once you use them you'll never have a problem unlike the thinner ones. Any of the experiences I had and why, he admitted the thicker plate will overcome.
He's sending me two plates, one with smaller pour holes, and one of the original sized holes. They are 1/8 inch thicker and he said that they take any abuse, weather it's beating on them or excess heat. Once you use them you'll never have a problem unlike the thinner ones. Any of the experiences I had and why, he admitted the thicker plate will overcome.
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castmiester
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guess as long as they are thick enough they won't warp.
Dusty Bannister
Well-Known Member
Porthos, that might have been written up in the Art of Bullet Casting (Handloader Magazine articles). If I recall the purpose was to obtain a greater mass to retain the heat when casting. That was to keep the sprue plate hot for better bases.
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Sprue plates don't warp unless they are grossly overheated. They are however easy enough to bend when a big stick is applied to break the sprue, and this is most commonly seen when the moulds have cooled a wee bit too long. For one and two cavity moulds it's easy enough to break the sprue with a gloved hand once you get your timing down. I often break sprues on 4 cavity moulds by hand as well. My mould beater-upper is made of delrin instead of wood. The only use it ever gets anymore is rapping on an occasional handle pivot bolt.
castmiester
Active Member
I wouldn’t know l bought it used. No big stick here. Old timer rep from RCBS said the new plates can take a beating. I take care of my stuff.
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castmiester
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so what's grossly overheated ?
I mean for me I don't want frosted bullets, and have Lee 6 cavity with a 3/16 aluminum spure plate that warped. I poured frosted no "grossly" overheated. Replaced it with a 3/16 steel plate, I never used.
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Hmmmm! Not sure about case hardened plates and whether its a good idea. Here you have a hardened surface(the plate) and a soft surface being iron or aluminum. I've had several moulds with the matching surface scarred/scored by bad sprue plated. Seems to me it's better to use a softer sprue plate and take care of it as you cast.
Warping is primarily casued by lead build up between the plate and mould. I have never seen one so warped that it couldn't be fixed. Normally, this is accomplished by eliminating the cause, heating the plate hot with casting and with the proper hardware stackup for the plate, allow it to cool normally. Tends to go back flat and you get good bullets.
The lead can be removed and by heating, clean with bronze or steel wool. Then, the mould top should be cleaned as well. Proper washer stackup installed. Then the mould top and plate treated (I hear the groans) by pray on graphite or spray moly. Plate lube can be used with good affect or even wax applied very sparsly along the plate edge as you cast. Of course, keeping the heat to a normal level and allowing the mould to cool a bit between casts helps.
So, I'm not thinking case hardened sprue plates is the answer.
There was some guy in the casting community making thick plates for a while. Got several on my moulds and they do better. The problem with them is the screws furnished with the moulds didn't work with the new plates. Had to modify the plates but they worked pretty well.
Shot with a machinist once that used SS plates. Said they worked all right but hard to make. Wasn't around him long enough to follow up on the plates./beagle
Warping is primarily casued by lead build up between the plate and mould. I have never seen one so warped that it couldn't be fixed. Normally, this is accomplished by eliminating the cause, heating the plate hot with casting and with the proper hardware stackup for the plate, allow it to cool normally. Tends to go back flat and you get good bullets.
The lead can be removed and by heating, clean with bronze or steel wool. Then, the mould top should be cleaned as well. Proper washer stackup installed. Then the mould top and plate treated (I hear the groans) by pray on graphite or spray moly. Plate lube can be used with good affect or even wax applied very sparsly along the plate edge as you cast. Of course, keeping the heat to a normal level and allowing the mould to cool a bit between casts helps.
So, I'm not thinking case hardened sprue plates is the answer.
There was some guy in the casting community making thick plates for a while. Got several on my moulds and they do better. The problem with them is the screws furnished with the moulds didn't work with the new plates. Had to modify the plates but they worked pretty well.
Shot with a machinist once that used SS plates. Said they worked all right but hard to make. Wasn't around him long enough to follow up on the plates./beagle
castmiester
Active Member
Ok fellas lets end this thread please.... I'm getting thicker plates for both moulds, thanks for the input.
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