New sprue plate for an old Ideal mold

[Pistolero]

Drill the half inch hole, then countersink inside it. Will help hold a good puddle.
Std drill point is 118, not TOO far off, shouldn't take much cutting with the countersink
in the bottom of the hole.

Bill

 

[Pistolero]

OK, see what The Yard Store has, although in their catalog it is mostly new. In the actual
store, lots of used tools and scrap from the aircraft makers, but down in Wichita. I don't
get there very often.

Bill

 

[KeithB]

I have several multi-flute countersinks in different angles, I just drop one in an existing hole to see if it sits solid (same angle) or rocks around (different angles). Even at 90* the hole diameter at the top will be twice the plate thickness + the pouring hole diameter.

 

[Pistolero]

OK, a bit of progress today. Roughed out the sprue plate, and made the screw and hardened
it. Still need to trim down the plate, find a washer and drill the sprue plate hole to the cavity,
and countersink it.



The side screw is the factory one, mine is at top....although I think that is self evident. I wish I had a better
way to do the slots. Dremel to start and hand filing isn't too great, but works.
Bill

 

[Rick]

Well Bill, first thought looking at the picture . . . Your sure gonna save a lot of lead.

 

[Pistolero]

I did mention that it isn't finished....... Need to have things all sorted out to properly locate
that hole, do it too soon and mess it up.

The screw was most of the work, but it is fiddly cutting that sprue plate, screwy shape, actually.

 

[Rick]

I did mention that it isn't finished.......

Yeah but I just couldn't resist.

 

[fiver]

Brad measure the angle off a cut sprue.

 

[Brad]

Brad measure the angle off a cut sprue.

Dammit, why didn’t I think of that?

From a Lee 6 cav I get roughly on one side so a 90° countersink is about right. I think 100° would work too.

 

[Pistolero]

Any particular rule of thumb how big to make the hole in a sprue plate,
relative to the diam of the bullet being cast?

Strange coincidence. Looking for a photo of a 36072 mold online....and I find
that Eufala, Alabama has the zip code 36072 - and it was destroyed by a tornado
yesterday. How odd to run into the same numbers that way.

Here is a pic from online of same exact mold, not a good angle but the sprue countersink
looks pretty small. Smaller than the sprue plate pivot screw head diameter.



Bill

 

[Brad]

I would need to measure but I went with a rather small hole. I have .050 to .250 pin gauges too so that is how I chose a sprue hole diameter. Lots of gauging existing plates and go with a drill in the size range.

 

[fiver]

they were also advocating the mate and twist ladle method back then, which I find works extremely well with those older molds.

if your just pouring lead all over the mold like water a larger sprue is quite helpful, since it will provide some extra weight and a place to suck alloy from if needed.

 

[Pistolero]

Well, if I start small, I can always go bigger later if needed. I won't be ladle casting, never do, so
will start with something similar to some other old molds I have and if results are not good, open it
up. I think your point is good fiver, giving a puddle to draw from - but it isn't a very big bullet, either.

Bill

 

[Pistolero]

OK, I drilled and countersunk the sprue plate. I used an aircraft rivet microstop countersink,
and it cut the 4130 like butter, good surface finish, easy-peasy in drill press. Drilled 3/32" pilot
hole and the countersink has a 3/32" pilot snout, so it followed perfectly. Pushed it thru until
it was sharp. A bit of lapping of the plate on both sides on 240 grit on my table saw cast iron
table cleaned up scratches and burrs.
I am sorry to see that the threads down in the mold, where the lock screw threaded hole
intersects the sprue plate hold down screw hole are somewhat boogered up, and it messed
up the bottom portion of my nice new thread.....first time in, before I had hardened it.
But that is just appearance, it works perfectly.
Now I need to find a #10 wavy washer or similar, and will then clean the cavity with a bronze
brush and see how the old girl can make bullets.



And with the plate opened.



I am pleased. The plate may need a bit more trimming around the edges, that one edge is pretty close to the
cavity (but does clear) when the plate is open.
The countersink looks a lot like the factory one, and is 100 degrees.

Bill

 

[fiver]

looks good.
you'll know if it overhangs the mold even a hair, it will try to lock the bullet in place.
I had a mold like that and it was frustrating me to just about tears, then it seen it... doh!

 

[Pistolero]

I'll probably clear it back a bit more, but it does clear now, just not by much.

Bill

 

[KeithB]

Nice job Bill. Nothing like bringing an old mold back to life.

 

[Pistolero]

Thanks, Keith....especially welcome coming from someone who is
an expert on making things out of metal. I hack around at it, and enjoy it,
but very much still the amateur. I'll trim that sprue plate down a bit before
I quit, but it would cast now, as is.

Bill