Casting mistakes

Missionary

Missionary

Well-Known Member
Good morning
Down here it is near impossible to get any wheel weights or line type. Soft (pure) lead is easy but expensive as there still are many old houses that have lead plumbing.
Well I am of the "never throw anything away bunch" so old car batteries were stacked in a corner. They were awful junk down here for years. One might last a year. About 20 years ago I was wanting to cast and my lead supply was way down. Looked at the corner pile and decided it was time to bust up old car batteries. The posts and internal connecting bars are good lead. But I got looking at all those lead plates and decided to melt them down also. Biggest batch of problems I have ever smelted ! I still have near 30 pounds of "who knows what is in that lead" sitting in a thick plastic bag in the corner that will never come close to one of my molds. That stuff is hard as rocks. Hit it with a hammer and it rings like bell. At least it does not glow in the dark.
Mike in Peru
 
62chevy

62chevy

Active Member
Missionary said:
Good morning
Down here it is near impossible to get any wheel weights or line type. Soft (pure) lead is easy but expensive as there still are many old houses that have lead plumbing.
Well I am of the "never throw anything away bunch" so old car batteries were stacked in a corner. They were awful junk down here for years. One might last a year. About 20 years ago I was wanting to cast and my lead supply was way down. Looked at the corner pile and decided it was time to bust up old car batteries. The posts and internal connecting bars are good lead. But I got looking at all those lead plates and decided to melt them down also. Biggest batch of problems I have ever smelted ! I still have near 30 pounds of "who knows what is in that lead" sitting in a thick plastic bag in the corner that will never come close to one of my molds. That stuff is hard as rocks. Hit it with a hammer and it rings like bell. At least it does not glow in the dark.
Mike in Peru
Click to expand...


Good to see you posting again Mike as you've been missed over on the Lee-Loader site. Sounds like it's time to make a trip to the salvage yard and turn that bad lead in for some cash.
 
J

John

Active Member
I have a RCBS mold that would not fill the base out reliably. I increased temps, adjusted sprue plate to as loose as possible, and finally scratched additional vent lines. I even stooped to adding tin. I then tried filling the cavity closest to the handle first then the far one. That simple change in order game me what the mold wanted. I have several RCBS molds and this is the only one that demands this fill order but I did not sell it down the river and give up on it when I got frustrated.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
SHRINKAGE

While it's not really a "mistake", it is a flaw I call shrinkage and I struggled with how to solve this issue for quite a while. Ignore the air pocket on the shiny bullet, that is another problem...the others show various signs of shrinkage. Mostly I had this issue with long rifle bullets.

boolitsShrinkageflaws_zps195192dd.jpg


Much of the following is from my post on another site.

So anyway, I've asked questions about this, at least a couple times since I started casting. I've tried the suggested answers and while they may have been good ones, they weren't my solution.

For me, this shrinkage issue was about as random as it gets. sometimes it seemed like it was one particular cavity of a mold...so I'd try changing the order that I'd pour the cavities, many times it helped, but the shrinkage issues would always return sooner or later.

I tried different alloy formulations...more Tin, then Less Tin. Once in a while the problem seemed to get solved...only to show up in the next casting session ?

I obviously tried different alloy temperatures and casting faster (to raise the mold temperature) as well as casting slower and using a fan to cast with a cooler mold and getting shiny bullets. It seems each time I'd make a change and go with it, the problem would go away...only to show up after I'd get into a rhythm ...as soon as I'd get comfortable, the shrinkage issues would pop up and get more frequent.

Then I finally found the solution two years ago.

The Solution:
Pouring as large of a sprue puddle as reasonably possible.

My problem I had to overcome to resolve this:
I'm sure I've read about pouring a large sprue and I'm sure I've been told that as well, when I asked about shrinkage in the past. But what it always came down to is...when I'd get into a comfortable pouring rhythm, I pour a smaller and smaller sprue...so as to reduce the amount of alloy usage per pour which should yield more bullets per pot of alloy. I needed to reprogram my brain. More perfect bullets per pot is better than just more bullets per pot.
 
JWFilips

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
Rick said:
My biggest casting mistake? Easy . . . Casting my first bullet. Nothing has been the same since. :confused:
Click to expand...

Well I guess you guys have thought me very well or I have been lucky! I would have to go with what Rick Said!
 
Rick

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Not all brilliant ideas pan out. How about making gas checks go twice as far by cutting them in half? :confused::eek::confused:

Half check 311410.JPG

MP copy of Lyman 311410. I received two 4 cavity molds on the same day, one a plain base and one gas check. I took them apart and did my usual cleaning & pre-heating, assembled one and began casting. After a few pours I looked at the bullets laying on the towel and thought what the ???? I had put a mold half from the gas check mold together with half from the plain base and invented the half check bullet. Sure says a lot about Miha's machining that mold blocks from different molds fit together that well.
 
Brad

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
It also cuts GC costs by half......

Rick is one frugal guy
 
Rally Hess

Rally Hess

Well-Known Member
Now that's funny Rick. However, I feel your pain.
I did something similar this last spring. I was having troubles starting a Yamaha TW200 motorcycle after storing it all winter. I pulled the starter apart to check it out and reversed the housing end for end when I put it back together.Spun over just fine, fit fine. Well that reversed the polarity and it would run backwards. Took about four hours to figure that out. Talked to the parts guy about two weeks ago. He said that they just got a new bike that week with the same problem from the factory.
 
williamwaco

williamwaco

Active Member
Rick said:
Not all brilliant ideas pan out. How about making gas checks go twice as far by cutting them in half? :confused::eek::confused:

View attachment 1013

MP copy of Lyman 311410. I received two 4 cavity molds on the same day, one a plain base and one gas check. I took them apart and did my usual cleaning & pre-heating, assembled one and began casting. After a few pours I looked at the bullets laying on the towel and thought what the ???? I had put a mold half from the gas check mold together with half from the plain base and invented the half check bullet. Sure says a lot about Miha's machining that mold blocks from different molds fit together that well.
Click to expand...



You know?

I have been casting bullets for over 60 years.
It is rare that I see something new and even more rare that I see a mistake I haven't already made.

Today, you win the blue ribbon!


Blue Ribbon.jpg
 
J

John

Active Member
JonB said:
SHRINKAGE

While it's not really a "mistake", it is a flaw I call shrinkage and I struggled with how to solve this issue for quite a while. Ignore the air pocket on the shiny bullet, that is another problem...the others show various signs of shrinkage. Mostly I had this issue with long rifle bullets.

boolitsShrinkageflaws_zps195192dd.jpg


Much of the following is from my post on another site.

So anyway, I've asked questions about this, at least a couple times since I started casting. I've tried the suggested answers and while they may have been good ones, they weren't my solution.

For me, this shrinkage issue was about as random as it gets. sometimes it seemed like it was one particular cavity of a mold...so I'd try changing the order that I'd pour the cavities, many times it helped, but the shrinkage issues would always return sooner or later.

I tried different alloy formulations...more Tin, then Less Tin. Once in a while the problem seemed to get solved...only to show up in the next casting session ?

I obviously tried different alloy temperatures and casting faster (to raise the mold temperature) as well as casting slower and using a fan to cast with a cooler mold and getting shiny bullets. It seems each time I'd make a change and go with it, the problem would go away...only to show up after I'd get into a rhythm ...as soon as I'd get comfortable, the shrinkage issues would pop up and get more frequent.

Then I finally found the solution two years ago.

The Solution:
Pouring as large of a sprue puddle as reasonably possible.

My problem I had to overcome to resolve this:
I'm sure I've read about pouring a large sprue and I'm sure I've been told that as well, when I asked about shrinkage in the past. But what it always came down to is...when I'd get into a comfortable pouring rhythm, I pour a smaller and smaller sprue...so as to reduce the amount of alloy usage per pour which should yield more bullets per pot of alloy. I needed to reprogram my brain. More perfect bullets per pot is better than just more bullets per pot.
Click to expand...
If I have a shrinkage problem with a mold ladle casting often cures it. When the sprue is full angling the mold and pouring hot alloy over it [let it run back in the pot] for 10-15 seconds cures it. I sometimes wonder why I am so stubborn about bottom pouring.
 
Rick

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I wondered why I was stubborn about bottom pouring for quite some time also. Several years ago I stopped wondering, right about the time I stopped bottom pouring. Same method I use ladle pouring. Once the cavity is full angle the mold and keep pouring letting it run over the sprue and back into the pot, a side benefit is keeping the sprue plate hot.
 
williamwaco

williamwaco

Active Member
Rick said:
I wondered why I was stubborn about bottom pouring for quite some time also. Several years ago I stopped wondering, right about the time I stopped bottom pouring. Same method I use ladle pouring. Once the cavity is full angle the mold and keep pouring letting it run over the sprue and back into the pot, a side benefit is keeping the sprue plate hot.
Click to expand...


Uhhhh, That is exactly what I do with the bottom pour?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.