Your opinion on this problem
- Thread starter waco
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JWFilips
Well-Known Member
I know for most folks smoking a mould is a No No but In Al's instruction sheet he recommends it....so why argue the point; it always works.
For me your alloy I would run at 725/730 deg Again I'm not sure of the size of your mould ( That is always a variable)
I clean my moulds with the nastiest Gawd awful brake cleaner I can get ( just don't inhale!
)
But always remenber:
"Some days you cast good bullets some days you don't!"
For me your alloy I would run at 725/730 deg Again I'm not sure of the size of your mould ( That is always a variable)
I clean my moulds with the nastiest Gawd awful brake cleaner I can get ( just don't inhale!
)But always remenber:
"Some days you cast good bullets some days you don't!"
waco
Springfield, Oregon
I just dumped a bunch of sprues back in the pot and have a second. I think I got it figured out. I increased the valve on the lead pot to pour faster. This seem to work beautifully! I just wasn't getting enough leading to the cavities quick enough. I'm having much much better results now than I was yesterday. Thank you everyone for all your responses.
Richinsd
New Member
waco:
I found this forum a short time ago and have a couple of possible suggestions. I have several four cavity NOE molds along with a recent three cavity .224 that I am currently using. And like them a lot. While it's true that every mold, steel or aluminum seems to have it's own personality, yours should be cranking out good bullets by now. It's sounds to me that your mold, not your melt may not be hot enough to produce good fill-out of the cavities or there is not a complete coating of oxide yet inside. such as is found in well broken in blocks.
The first thing I do with new aluminum mold is boil it in Dawn dish soap and water in a pot on the stove for 20-30 minutes. This not only cleans but produces that al- oxide finish in the cavities. And then run the mold a little hotter. I have one of NOE's mold thermometers and have found it very helpful in knowing when the blocks are up to temp and then keeping it consistent.
After getting acquainted with it, my new .224 three cavity started dropping good bullets after about 100 or so. Any defects now are mostly me.
yodogsandman
Well-Known Member
I'll have to try that trick myself Waco, I have two NOE molds that give me fits! One, a 311-165 RD RG2 and the other, a 314-129 FP group buy with flat RG pins. Both give trouble on the bottom band filling out at just one seam. The 129gr has only produced four good bullets total from a couple of runs. The RD 165 runs about 50/50 at best good ones. No troubles with other RG NOE molds.
waco
Springfield, Oregon
Brad. I couldn't agree more with you. You get a little complacent sometimes thinking it's always so easy and then you run across to mold like this and makes you scratch your head and wonder what if I done! I'm just glad I'm able to salvage more than half of what I've been casting LOL! Thanks again to everyone for all your suggestions and your help. it's guys like you that make this hobby of hours extra special.
JWFilips
Well-Known Member
I still say it all comes down to "some Days you can cast" "Some Days you can't" Blame it on the Force or the Lay Lines of the earth
When you are casting good don't stop until you wear out! when your casting bad....Just stop! Grab a Bourbon and read our forum! & wait it out!
Jim
When you are casting good don't stop until you wear out! when your casting bad....Just stop! Grab a Bourbon and read our forum! & wait it out!
Jim
fiver
Well-Known Member
the 4 cavity 8mm mold I got from them waay back when would not pour 100% good drive bands no matter what I done with it.
it was no big deal since I would just cherry pick the good ones out for shooting in the rifle and use the rest to make 38 cal bullets from in the swage machine.
after a while of that I decided to just make a big ol run of them to get a bit ahead and because I wanted to do some shooting with a lighter square no groove 38 cal wad cutter.
about half way through the 3 hr session it was like a head cold popping and the mold just rained almost perfect boolits like water.
the next session went as smooth as anything too.
it was no big deal since I would just cherry pick the good ones out for shooting in the rifle and use the rest to make 38 cal bullets from in the swage machine.
after a while of that I decided to just make a big ol run of them to get a bit ahead and because I wanted to do some shooting with a lighter square no groove 38 cal wad cutter.
about half way through the 3 hr session it was like a head cold popping and the mold just rained almost perfect boolits like water.
the next session went as smooth as anything too.
Ya'll are so far ahead of my laziness,words don't do.
Last aluminum Lee .22 dbl cavity...didn't even wipe it out.Took out of box,looked at alignment,started dumping lead.
50/50 rejects on first hundred,first session.Second session,bout 50 or so bullets in,the mould came or broke in....done.
Last aluminum Lee .22 dbl cavity...didn't even wipe it out.Took out of box,looked at alignment,started dumping lead.
50/50 rejects on first hundred,first session.Second session,bout 50 or so bullets in,the mould came or broke in....done.
It is something specific, it seems to me, to NOE moulds. Not sure if it is the alloy of the blocks or what. Some of their moulds just need to be used a bit before they become cooperative. Odd thing is that most of them don't suffer from this issue. I had one, and early NOE that did.
Lee moulds I have found can be cast with right off, no cleaning at all, and give fine bullets pretty quickly.
Lee moulds I have found can be cast with right off, no cleaning at all, and give fine bullets pretty quickly.
Josh
Well-Known Member
It will also depend on what cutting fluid is used while in the machine, we use a water based solution that never seemed to give a lick of trouble from our Aluminum. I have taken one that was still wet from the machine, added the necessary hardware, and cast with it after it was dried off. (We didn't know the fluid we used would be that conducive to casting, it was just a happy coincidence)
I don't know what cutting fluid Al uses, but it may have a trace element like silicon that works it's way into the metal finish and takes a bit to remove. His alloy shouldn't be an issue, 6064 is a good aluminum and it machines very well. I do believe it is the design as much as anything, just like some guns have quarks, so do designs/blocks.
I don't know what cutting fluid Al uses, but it may have a trace element like silicon that works it's way into the metal finish and takes a bit to remove. His alloy shouldn't be an issue, 6064 is a good aluminum and it machines very well. I do believe it is the design as much as anything, just like some guns have quarks, so do designs/blocks.