casting balls

[bulletman]

I just realized what I was doing.LOL..brilliant huh ?
When casting, when the mold got hot, i would dip it on a wet towel to cool, then I realized the balls that came out from these dips, would be, ? maybe harder ? than the others..so tonite I cast some and just went slower so they all cool the same..plus my temp would run with a 100 degree difference from start to finish, I use a coleman stove.. I started thinking about this after I weighed some balls yesterday and found they varied alot...I took some all the same weight and shot, they were very tight groups. So tonite casted about 150 with out cooling the mold,and kept the temp steady, see what happens tomorow....any one knows if it really makes a difference or not ?.

 

[DMURPHY317]

Consistency tends to give consistent results. The more consistent your routine the more consistent your product should be. That goes for temp of the mould and lead all the way to the way you remove them from the mould.

I prefer to have things quiet with few to no distractions when I'm casting (or loading) so I can consentrate on the task at hand. It helps keep me safe and means I'm less likly to do something stupid.

Having projectiles that are closly matched in weight and quality will make a difference in your shooting results.

Let us know how the new batch works out.

 

[amccall]

One thing I try to do is keep my mold from cooling down. I also try to keep it consistent in temperature. If your mold goes up and down in temperature you could get air pockets in the ball, making it inconsistent in weight. Usually what I do after I get the lead to a temp I like I put the mold corner in the lead to heat it up. If lead sticks to the mold the mold is not hot enough. I then pour two or three balls to check temperature, then start a pouring. I try to get into a rhythm so I am consistent. When I have to stop and add lead, skim dross or flux then I repeat getting the mold and lead to temperature and start into it. I don't measure the temperature of the lead, I am usually in the ball park by how the lead ball comes out and make adjustments accordingly. I use lee molds and using other molds you might have to do things a little different but I think as it was said in another post consistantcy is the key.

 

[Zonie]

Harpman: As I understand it, you want the mold to be kept hot. If it cools too much, it can make wrinkled or partial castings.
Only if the castings start coming out of the mold with a frosted appearance do you want to cool the mold, and then not much.

I keep an old towel handy to drop the castings onto. This keeps them from being damaged.

Note how I avoided the common term for these castings. That's because I didn't want to open the door for a comment like "A hot mold can really Frost your B...." :: ::

 

[bulletman]

I thought I posted this last nite, But I dont see it anywhere, so here it is again..IT worked great, I kept all consistant in casting, and it eliminated the flyers..I remelted all the other balls after that, and am sticking with this more controlled and slowed down method, instead of trying to cast a buch at a time.

 

[CrackStock]

Funny, but I saw it and it is gone now -- too weird!

Did we lose some posts?

CS

 

[bulletman]

Thanks man, I thought I was loosing it !!!!!!