casting wrinkly balls

[Tom A Hawk]

Lee's aluminum molds need a good preheat as they lose heat rapidly unless you are using a 6 cavity or high weight mold that takes a lot of lead per cycle. With a ball mold, it takes hot lead and a lot of cycles to get it to temp. Dip the corner of your mold into the lead to get it to casting temp then, cast quickly to keep it up to temp and preventing wrinkles. If you start getting a frost looking finish, slow down on the casting tempo until you get the proper pace sorted out. If you are casting pretty fast and still getting wrinkles, crank up the lead pot temp another 50-100F. And remember all this can vary some with the ambient temperature you are casting in.

I warm mine up before pouring with a propane torch held to a count of ten.

 

[flntlokr]

When the stars are aligned, mold, dipper, and lead pot at proper temps, my casting is a pleasant thing. Then I run out of lead in the pot. Wrinkle. Wrinkle.

I can cast 50 fishing weights without a hitch nor wrinkle. Hollow-base .58 minies ? Maybe 3 out of 5.

When I cast Minies, I kept the mold super hot or the skirts were often incomplete. Also, be sure to leave a large puddle on the sprue cutter. If you don't, the cooling lead will contract ans suck a bubble of air down into the bullet. It's very hard to see the tiny air channel in the cut-off head of the bullets, but I have stuck a darning needle into a couple that went down 1/4 to 3/8". I got curious about weight variation is how I got looking for a cause. Big bullets need lots of overpour. If you watch the puddle as the bullet cools, you will see it develop a dimple in the center; that is from the bullet sucking lead down as it contracts.

 

[Maven]

2nd round of casting .600 and getting better. wear in the new mould.

I find it relaxing to cast round balls oddly enough.

have a nifty powder and shot measure comming from
france.

View attachment 174363

and the measure.

View attachment 174364
be well all.

camo

I have that mould and it casts well, but I use a casting thermometer (Tel Tru brand). If you haven't already done so, scrub that mould with dish soap and a soft toothbrush, dry it thoroughly, and cast with it a few times (to get it hot and to remove any remaining water). Then smoke the cavities with a wooden match or two. Set your pot temperature to ~800 deg. F initially, but back it down later to ~770 deg. Btw, I use a gloved hand to open the sprue cutters on all my molds that have them. And one last thing: that Lee mould casts as well as the Tanner RB mould I have in the same caliber.

 

[Nazgul58]

I never use a hammer or mallet while casting to open the mold. Just me, but it is not good for the molds. I wear a heavy glove on my right hand and open the sprue plate with it. A tap on the hinge pin with a small dowel if the ball sticks, most of my molds don't need this.

I have Lee molds over 40 years old that work like new.

Just my 2 cents.

Don

 

[B P Arn]

thanks my friend,

not particularly worried about it.

as I understamd it......will take a lot of casts to break in....

No break-in process should be needed on a new mold.

The mold needs to be degreased (I flush it with lacquer thinner), and some aluminum molds require lubricant on the hinge pivot. Smoke the molds as preferred.

After this, you should be casting good bullets as soon as everything is at the right temperature.

 

[Tenmile]

I use a leather glove to open the sprue. I have nose-pour and bottom-pour as well as round ball molds. Temperature is critical for good casting. On large bullets I pour the mold full and swirl it a few seconds before opening it. I drop them on a piece of soft leather. I don’t know if striking the sprue cutter could damage the mold, probably not, but it’s easy to open them by hand so I do that. What has been said about air pockets is very real. That’s why I weigh them.

 

[Tenring]

Jeremiah Wrinkle Ball……Watch your Top Knot Or I should say watch your Temperature. LOL

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

As said above, the lead needs to be a little hotter to iron out those wrinkles. I use Lee double cavity molds, and as also stated above, they need to heat to a steady temp. The first ten pours I set to the side to be recycled back into the pot. By then the mold has reached temperature, and it's throwing a pretty good ball. When you get in a rythm pouring, that mold will stay consistent.

I use the wooden handle of a small ball peen to wack the sprue plate. The hammer head fits perfectly in my hand. I myself wouldn't use anything but wood or a heavy composite to strike that plate, but you'll figure that all out.

It is definitely relaxing and stress relieving.

Curious, what are you flinging these punkins with?

 

[Reno]

I use the handle from a hawk to open the
The gate on the mold. Any hardwood dowel would work. Evan a blank hammer handle from the hardware store would work great. I never hug my mold or gate with anything metal. I do use a thermometer but I just leave the setting on my furnace set at the same place and don’t seem to have any problems. For the most part I use Lee molds and gave a couple Lyman molds just because if the bullet design us something Lee does not make.

 

[aquinn]

While not wrinkly ball syndrome, I ran into a unique problem the other day. I was casting round 72 caliber round balls. After bringing everything up to what I thought was the right temperature I cast a few. Dropped one in the box and it basically smushed like one of those old cherry cordial candies. A hardened lead skin on the outside and a liquid center. Near as I can figure the rheostat on the pot is shot and its heating up too much, this combined with a colder mold gave the weird result. Changed pots, set my normal reading on the control, and everything went well. Live and learn.

Concur with the wood mallet versus the hammer comments above.

 

[French Colonial]

I set my molds on a Thermolyne brand hot plate (Like used in science class) and let the mold heat up while my lead melts.

I gave away my Lee pot but still have a Lyman 20Lb pot that I converted to ladle pour and it has pure lead in it thats my round ball pot for muzzleloaders, my Waage pot (the best pot I have ever used) holds 20 to 1 for big BPCR bullets and holds temperature exactly where you set it, normally 800 degrees for the big boys.

I open them with a rawhide mallet, and it only takes a gentle tap and dump them on a bunch of folded up towels to cushion the fall, I have cast thousands of bullets out of Steve Brooks molds and never damaged one with the mallet, not quite so many out of Lee molds and never damaged one of them either.

 

[French Colonial]

I set my molds on a Thermolyne brand hot plate (Like used in science class) and let the mold heat up while my lead melts.

I gave away my Lee pot but still have a Lyman 20Lb pot that I converted to ladle pour and it has pure lead in it thats my round ball pot for muzzleloaders, my Waage pot (the best pot I have ever used) holds 20 to 1 for big BPCR bullets and holds temperature exactly where you set it, normally 800 degrees for the big boys.

I open them with a rawhide mallet, and it only takes a gentle tap and dump them on a bunch of folded up towels to cushion the fall, I have cast thousands of bullets out of Steve Brooks molds and never damaged one with the mallet, not quite so many out of Lee molds and never damaged one of them either.

 

[Reno]

While not wrinkly ball syndrome, I ran into a unique problem the other day. I was casting round 72 caliber round balls. After bringing everything up to what I thought was the right temperature I cast a few. Dropped one in the box and it basically smushed like one of those old cherry cordial candies. A hardened lead skin on the outside and a liquid center. Near as I can figure the rheostat on the pot is shot and its heating up too much, this combined with a colder mold gave the weird result. Changed pots, set my normal reading on the control, and everything went well. Live and learn.

Concur with the wood mallet versus the hammer comments above.

I have had the same thing happen with smaller size than a 72. That is a pretty good size. When I dropped mine into the towels they distorted a bit. So back into the pot but I figured my mold was to hot. So I opened it up and laid it aside for a while and kept casting only a different caliber with a different mold.
Then after that other mold had cooled, I went back and it started casting fine again.

I dont know if this would solve your issue but you might try if you see it again.

 

[nhmoose]

Need more heat. Lead melt and mould.

 

[hanshi]

I wrote the book on casting wrinkled ball, so I guess that makes me, what you call, an expert. Therefore if your cast projectiles start falling from the mold smooth and mirror-like just give me a call and I'll coach you on how to get them to fall out of a mold nice and wrinkly again.

Don't thank me, just doing what I can to help.

 

[Jaeger]

A brass hammer is overkill. A rawhide mallet gets the job done nicely. And it won't beat the snot out of your gear.

Get your lead hotter and it will fill your mold out better. The lead is cooling as you're pouring. Causes wrinkles.

A brass hammer and a rawhide mallet are overkill. A stout wooden dowel or the sawed-off piece of an old hammer handle does the job nicely.

 

[Rudall]

I just use a stick I picked up while out for a walk. Am I doing it wrong?

 

[B P Arn]

I just use a stick I picked up while out for a walk. Am I doing it wrong?

Yes. That won't work.

 

[flconch53]

Wrinkly balls…product of aging

I was waiting for that

 

[nick_1]

I use a wooden stick.