Ever had a Mould

[quicksylver]

it depends on the plate temp of course.
but it could be tearing, smearing slightly, or cutting but without leaving a bump.
the longer you go the closer to the bump you get, and if you hit it instead of pushing the plate the greater your chances at getting a slight bump are too.

the way Brad was pouring there was hot alloy under slight ladle pressure [weight] taking the place of a sprue puddle, and I could hear his fan going speeding up the cooling process of the smaller amount of actual lead on the plate.
he was probably getting a small amount of tearing but fewer chances at having internal voids in the bullets themselves because of the mold temperature.

when I get tearing it's usually about the point my bullets grey over, and another 1-2 one-thousand count/s usually turns that slight tear into a pretty smooth cut.
if I go one thousand less I get a smooth almost smeared base but that is a very fine line to walk right there.

thanks that's a big help!! Thought for sure I was mucking things up( or was a wimp)

 

[Brad]

Hey, what ever works for you works for you.

 

[fiver]

alloy also makes a difference.
if Brad still has some he could show the base on one or two of the XCB bullets I sent him.
you'll see the smooth sprue cut I was getting with those.
I was maintaining as cool of a mold temp as I could get away with and still keep things consistent.
the alloy is 4% tin and 6% antimony so quite a bit different than what Brad is using in the Video.

 

[Ian]

Perfect example of washing out the sprue in that video, Brad. You sped up the pouring pace toward the end of the video, and every mould is different, but the main thing is keep that base flooded for a couple seconds to make it sharp, keep the heat in the plate, and keep the liquid metal available to the cavity while the bullet is freezing from the nose up.

 

[Brad]

I wanted to see if I would have issues with base fill out on the last cavity. If I don't pay attention I get a rounded base on the last one. Pouring enough into that sprue hole seems to make all the difference.
In that short time the sprue went from a 2-3 count to harden to a 5-7 count. Between the fan, cadence, and how much extra lead I pour I can control mold temp pretty well ell.
I should get a mould drilled for the probe and get the thermometer from NOE to do a video showing how much difference I can make in mould temp with the ladle and pouring extra lead. Seeing the temp rise would be interesting.

 

[Rick]

Been there done that with Al's digital thermometer and probe in the mold. Probably could have learned something from it but I found it such a PITA casting with that cable stuck in the mold I never continued with it. I do however use that set up with the probe in a thick aluminum plate on the hot plate for pre-heating the mold.

 

[Winelover]

Brad: good video...........but shorten that ladle handle! Your beating yourself to death, holding that weight at maximum length.

 

[Rick]

He will, I've suggested that to him a couple of time but Brad get's around to suggestions kinda slow.

 

[Ian]

Too bad he doesn't have a good lathe and custom-built floating threading die holder...

 

[Kevin Stenberg]

At first you didn't pause before cutting the sprue or use the fan. Was the mold a little too warm at that point?
Were you cutting the sprues from visual color changes? Or were you counting seconds.
I also saw that you had one of those UVE sp. Gloves on. Do you prefer using one of those over a leather glove? Or whichever is closest when you start casting.

 

[Brad]

I have a leather glove but it transfers heat pretty fast. The OveGlove is awesome.
I cut faster at first as the mould was a bit cooler and the spruce set up faster.
I cut the spruce based entirely on appearance. Once it flashes over I know it is ready.
So much of this is trial and error. Learn what works and how to tell when things are right.
Worse that happens is you throw some bullets back

 

[Brad]

Too bad he doesn't have a good lathe and custom-built floating threading die holder...

I need a round 1/4-28 die to fit the holder.
If I had a mill I would make one for hex dies.
Maybe this winter

 

[quicksylver]

Been there done that with Al's digital thermometer and probe in the mold. Probably could have learned something from it but I found it such a PITA casting with that cable stuck in the mold I never continued with it. I do however use that set up with the probe in a thick aluminum plate on the hot plate for pre-heating the mold.

Got the set up love it all my molds are marked with their preferred temp fun to watch reveals a lot about your casting habit

 

[Bret4207]

Notice I didn't stop pouring after the last cavity was full but rather went back and forth over each cavity again. Think of the extra heat transferred. That can make a huge difference.
As Rick likes to say- you aren't pouring lead you are pouring heat.

Nicely put. Take many people way too long to grasp the importance of mould temp. Sayings like that help for some of them.

 

[Gary]

For Brad:

 

[Ian]

A bench vise and a die wrench will also do quite nicely. Just sayin'.

 

[Brad]

Yah yah yah

For those of you who have shortened the handle, how much? I don't think I would want to remove much more than 2", maybe 3".

 

[Rick]

I shortened mine by roughly 1/3 of the length, John by probably over half. Personal preference but I haven't heard of anyone that shortened theirs to not feel it's a big improvement. It's nothing but a soft steel rod threaded on the end so if your not happy with it shorter you could always spend about $1 to replace it with one as long as makes you happy. I think Lowes sells such rod in 3 foot lengths.

 

[Winelover]

Overall length, of my shortened ladle, is eleven inches. Since you have a larger and deeper pot, you may want to go a little longer. I also have a #1 and a RCBS ladle, that I never used. Just so happens the handle of the RCBS is the same thread pitch as the #1 so I swapped them out. Now that handle is significantly shorter, as well. For small two cavity moulds, like 115 grain 9 mm, the #1 will suffice.