Casting Lead Round Balls

[DougMPhoto]

A few questions for the all knowing experts.

I recently purchased a Lee Production Pot IV and have been trying to cast bullets with it. I have used the small pot with dipper before. The problem I have is the first time I used it, I set it at the same temp as the smaller pot, the lead got too hot and seeped between the mold faces.

How can I safely clean this excess lead from the mold faces without damaging them? I am using Lee Molds (aluminum). I am now getting RB with seams.

Also, how do you folks use this pot with your molds?
Do you stick the mold up tight to the funnel and fill?
Do you tilt the mold and let it run in?

Thanks for any info.

 

[Dave Young]

I will not weigh in on cleaning up the mould.

I hold the mould about .5" below the funnel and pour it straight in the hole. It doesn't hurt to let it hit to the side of the hole and run in as long as your mould is properly heated up.

 

[bwhoffman]

get your mold heated up again and try to wipe off the face with a cotton towel.
You should be able to see the splash either on the face or on the line up pins. This has happened to me several times, and I have learned a few things over the years with lee molds...
Keep the sprue cutter plate and screw lubed, smoke it with a candle and always store it with a ball in the mold, sprue uncut.

As far as the lee production pot IV, have been using the same one for 23 years. I pour from about1/2 to 3/4" under the spout, sometimes level, sometimes tilted!
If everything is up to temp and you leave a good sprue, mold should be filling fine!

 

[Cutfingers]

With my aluminum mold I heat it and use a wire brush to clean off the excess lead. Seems the Lyman molds have a tighter fit and do not experience this problem so I've gone to using them exclusively.
A problem I'm having is the ripplings effect on the cast balls. Was wondering if this could be created by the lead being too hot. I keep the Lee pot as 650, plus or minus.

 

[bwhoffman]

The "rippeling" effect is usually from a mold that is not up to temperature...or... a slow pour, sometimes caused by a partialy clogged nozzle on the bottom pour furnaces.

 

[BrownBear]

On Lee moulds, also be sure to lube the two little alignment pins set horizontally into the blocks (one in each). Any drag as those seat will cause the blocks not to close completely, resulting in the kind of seeping you're describing.

For cleaning, there's no reason for the lead to adhere to the aluminum once you get the blocks back up to temp. Just reheat the mould to casting temp. A quick rap on the joint of the handles (don't bang on the blocks!) should shake most of it free. You can wipe or pick off any small bits that remain. Kinda smokey, but I like to use a round toothpick to get at the small parts.

I'd go back and reread the Lee instructions for lubing a new mould. I think in there they identify those alignment pins and their mating holes as lube points along with the sprue plate screw and handle pivot. If memory serves they recommend a silocon lube for those jobs and smoking or mould release for the mould cavity itself.

The only time I have had problems with a Lee was the first time I had ever used one. I just smoked the cavity and went to work without reading the instructions. I thought the mould was pure crap till I finally broke down and read the instructions. Haven't had a single problem since.

 

[Many Klatch]

When the bottom pour lead pots are working they can't be beat. However the slightest bit of trash will clog the nozzle and then it makes it interesting. I used to just drop any old dirty lead in the pot to pour ball, but the spout kept getting dirty. Then I had to finish pouring with a ladle and when I get near the bottom I pour the rest of the lead into an ingot mold, then you have to pull the needle out of the spout and clean that out. It's easiest to clean if it is still hot, but I have had to drill it out a few times.

After doing this a few times, the lights went on in the attic and now I have a separate pot for melting down the dirty lead.

When casting ball, I usually count on throwing the first 10 or 15 ball back in the pot because they are too wrinkled. After the mold heats up the wrinkles go away.

One thing to watch for. If you are casting a big ball, I cast .54 and .75, you want to keep a pool of hot lead on top of the mold for a second or two until the lead soldifies. As the lead cools inside the mold it shrinks, if there isn't a pool of molten lead in the neck of the sprue, there will be a hollow core in your ball. You can see it when you use the sprue cutter there will be a black speck in the middle of the sprue. The void in the ball will really mess up your accuracy.

Many Klatch

 

[pchwcf50110]

a flat carpenter's pencil works great for removing stuck lead spatter. the pencil "lead" digs it right out with no possible damage to the blocks.

 

[DougMPhoto]

Thanks to all.

I used the old dipper method to see if I was still getting ridged RB. I was in the beginning, so I cleaned as you guys recommended. I tapped, scraped, brushed and rubbed with a pencil.

I think I got it all. As I was molding they came out with no center ridge. I seem to have all the excess lead off the faces. I used my old small Lee pot to do this, only for time to heat up the mold.

I also lubed the mold and it goes together SO much nicer now!!!
Who says you can't learn something by reading the instructions?

Now on to try the Production pot later today.

Thanks again.

 

[ssettle]

Another thing you might want to do is watch the temperture of your melt. Lead that is too hot will sometimes run into the vents on the inside of the mold parting line. I like to use a lead therometer(spelling) to kept the lead at an even temperture. With round balls it might not be such a big deal but with bullets you'll get a much more concentent weight. :v Ssettle

 

[BrownBear]

I was casting yesterday with a Lee production pot and did a little experiment on your behalf. With a couple of different moulds of known good performance I was able to duplicate what you're seeing late in the cycle when both the moulds and the lead in the pot were at their highest temps.

All I had to due was put the sprue plate right up against the pour spout on the pot and leave it there for a split second longer than needed after I was sure the cavity was full. The moulds went right back to normal casting when I dropped them down about half an inch below the pour spout and quit the moment I had a little puddle built up on top of the sprue plate. Cals were 58 and 32, so it didn't seem to be size related.

Is contact between thes sprue plate and pour spout the root of your own problems?

 

[DougMPhoto]

Another thing you might want to do is watch the temperture of your melt. Lead that is too hot will sometimes run into the vents on the inside of the mold parting line. I like to use a lead therometer(spelling) to kept the lead at an even temperture. With round balls it might not be such a big deal but with bullets you'll get a much more concentent weight. :v Ssettle

I was casting yesterday with a Lee production pot and did a little experiment on your behalf. With a couple of different moulds of known good performance I was able to duplicate what you're seeing late in the cycle when both the moulds and the lead in the pot were at their highest temps.

All I had to due was put the sprue plate right up against the pour spout on the pot and leave it there for a split second longer than needed after I was sure the cavity was full. The moulds went right back to normal casting when I dropped them down about half an inch below the pour spout and quit the moment I had a little puddle built up on top of the sprue plate. Cals were 58 and 32, so it didn't seem to be size related.

Is contact between thes sprue plate and pour spout the root of your own problems?

With thermometer, what temp seems to work best for Round Ball?

When I first started, I had it dropped down 1/2 to 3/4 inch. I got a lot of overfill (the lead just shot out) and that's when it happened. The mold was too hot also (I had it on the pot during the heating of the lead...must have been too long). The lead didn't harden as I was used to with the dipper method. When I went to open the sprue cutter, the lead poured out. I must have released the pressure on the handles and it seeped between the faces.

I tried putting tight up against the funnel, later, and when it filled, it spattered out. I was afraid of getting burned.

Again, probably because it was too hot.

I will lower the temp and hold 1/2 inch below to try.

Thanks for your experiments.

Doug

 

[BrownBear]

I bet it works out for you, provided the lead isn't too cold. I broke my thermometer years ago and have been going "by feel" on my temps. Basically, after preheating the mould by laying it on top of the pot as you describe, I cast a few balls. If I'm still getting wrinkles and not perfect casts by then, I'll nudge the temp up. It's a little fiddly, but on my pot I now know to set the dial right between 7 and 8 for pure lead.

I'm betting with the temp right, you'll have good results now. I try to get a little puddle on top of the sprue plate, then watch it. It will be liquid for a few seconds, then you should see a little dimple form right in the middle. Once the dimple forms and the puddle hardens, the ball will be hard. If the dimple goes too deep and forms a cavity, I discard the ball because it will surely have a void in it, even if it's obscured when you swing the sprue plate.

I don't really care if my puddle gets too big and spills off the side of the plate. Better too much than not enough. Of course, I try not to spill, but it's not a big deal. Just pick up the hard puddles now and then with needlenose and carefully drop them back into the pot.

You're real close to getting everything right. Like I said, it's a little fiddly until you develop your own visual clues and routines for steady production. Some days are better than others, and in my experience the smaller the ball, the more fiddly till you get things just right. I can usually cast a lot more good 58 cals in an hour than 32's for example, even if I'm going through a lot more lead. BTW- It takes longer for the puddle to harden on large cal than small, so even that's a variable. But as a rule of thumb I can produce well over 100 balls in the first hour of casting, and about twice as many in the second hour once I get settled in.

 

[Harold1950]

How would one of those infared thermometers work? Would they be accurate enough to give you an accurate reading? Anyone tried one?

 

[mazo kid]

On Lee moulds, also be sure to lube the two little alignment pins set horizontally into the blocks (one in each).

That is important; also lube the pivot pin. I used to use beeswax, but that just caused a gummy brown mess after a while. Now I use a lube from Bull Shop (see Cast Boolit forum), it's expensive but a little goes a long way and it works great. I have Lee 10 and 20 pounder pots and an RCBS ProMelt. They all work good, the small Lee takes a bit of fiddling with sometimes to stop the leaking that sometimes occurs. Usually just a twist with a screwdriver or a light tap with a small hammer on the top of the pin fixes it. Also, each mould is a bit different; you have to get a rhythm established, once the mould and lead are up to temp.those little shiny spheres will just keep on rolling on out.!