Casting Area Upgrade

Matt

Active Member
Started casting some .375 bullets this week. My favorite 375 mold is an old Lyman 375449. I haven’t cast any billets with this mold for several years and could not get decent bullets. I’ve gotten perfect bullets in the past. On the second session it dawned on me that this mold needs to have a high volume of lead that drops right down the middle of the sprue hole to fill out properly. That or use a ladle. I’m not wanting to go back to a ladle. I was having trouble seeing the pour properly with either my Lee or RCBS pot. The riser I made for my Lee was ok for general use but not for this mold.
I’d been toying with this idea for a while. Constructed from scraps of 3/4” and 5/8” plywood and a strip of 1 1/2” x1/4” at the back to prop the back of the pots up to assist in emptying them. That and a stand with a divided top for sprues and bullets is at elbow height is a lot less fatiguing and gives me a surface to rest the mold handles to tap the hinge to get bullets to drop. The stand is scrap 2x4 and a piece of OSB. So far so good.

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Matt

Active Member
Kevin,

I kinda sit at 2 o’clock between the furnace and stand and twist to the right a bit to empty the mold and twist back to cast.

Matt
 

dale2242

Well-Known Member
I made a riser like Matts to bring my pot closer to eye level.
I am 6-3 and too old to bend over to see my pour into the molds.
I also placed a spot light on a stand to the right of my pot to shine on the top of the molds.
 

Ian

Notorious member
The world is built around 5'10" men, with about a 2" tolerance window. If you're over 6' you end up ducking a lot (or bumping your head a lot if you're like me) and if you're shorter, you need a stool to reach stuff. If you're female and average, the only things made for you are Hondas and bathroom vanities.

My house has 12' ceilings and 40" kitchen counters with 4" lift platforms for the oven and dishwasher. bathrooms are 36" except my shaving sink which is 44". Most doors are 3-0 x 6-8 standards, good enough to clear my Resistol when I walk inside wearing boots. I grew up in a hobbit house and by the time I was a junior in high school my head would graze on every doorway unless I was barefoot, so when I built my own I made it comfortable. Oddly, my 5'4" wife prefers the 40" counters and complains that everyone else's are too short.
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Sounds like you and the wife are a match. Yeah when you were growing up it sounds like you needed a foam hat.
Well I started out at 5' 11" and due to injuries, work environment, no sun or vitamin D, and getting older, well gravity sucks as well.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Oh, boy! I'm 6' 0" and it's an odd week when I don't have at least one scab on my head. A lack of natural head cushioning material makes those bumps hurt and bleed more. I can't count the number of times I've seen stars, and once tears automatically flowed.
My wife is 4' 11" and there are times she wishes she were my height, till I show her the top of my head. She makes good use of foldable step stools -- one at home and one in the motorhome.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
I'm so average my test results have been literally text book examples .
5'8"+ , little heavier than I should be .