good casting session

[buttonbuck]

I just cast up 100+ .530 round balls with a lee 2 cavity mould, I found one of my chambers is in need of some shaping some bastard edges formed under the spire plate and some crud in the cavity. I guess you can take a sharp knife and flick the metal flake out of there. and wash out the crud. This is like the 4th time I have cast with the mould so I figure it needs some bugs worked out. I also used my tanner mould for the second time .590 for a smoothbore. I am figuring out its idiosyncricies. I had less culls from the tanner mould but have to cut the spire. I think I perfer the single cavity moulds.

 

[Macon Due]

Buttonbuck
It's a Sprue plate not 'spire' and be really carefull if you try to flick stuff out of the cavity with a knife. It would be really easy to put a nick in the mold cavity. With a Lee mold I wash it good before the first casting session and then I smoke the cavities[ some do not smoke em] with a Bic type lighter,never a candle. Generally you can wipe lead off the top of mold/bottom of sprue plate with a coarse cloth when mold is hot.
Macon

 

[necchi]

Yeah, I'd stay shy of the knife until a last resort. That aluminum is darn soft.
Another tip with the Lee molds is to lube those little rods and grooves, I use Pematex Anti-Seize, just a touch will do but it needs refreashed every so often.

And Yes, single cavity steel molds are a definate up-grade when you can afford'm.

 

[buttonbuck]

A small flake of metal from the top of the mould is what came loose somehow? I will try to flick it out. I will try the bic lighter method next time instead of a candle I sprayed the moulds off with brake cleaner. I do have some perma tex and will try that as well I guess apply the permatex with a toothpick?

 

[t-buck]

buttonbuck
it may be that the causeof the piece of metal to be there and i am just guessing about this not sure of the exact problem you are talking about
but it may have been a piece of lead hung up from cutting the spure too fast after casting --not allowing enough time between pouring and cutting

another thing that you can get that will eliminate lead build up between mold top and spure plate and also keep the rest of the mold lubed is bull plate lube if you can find any
the guy that makes it is in alaska and has no internet if i can find his address i'll forward it to you if interested
when cleaning the lee molds use brake cleaner and an old tooth brush the oil that they use when cutting is hard to get out
i clean mine at least twice before i cast with them and sometimes have to clean again before i get it all out
don't be shy with the tooth brush really scrub
t-buck

 

[necchi]

I guess apply the permatex with a toothpick?

that's the idea, :thumbsup:

 

[buttonbuck]

The piece of metal I am referring to was a burr of aluminum. If you were looking at the mould open. At the top of the mould inside cavity just below the spure. The burr was leaving an impression on the cast ball. I took a small piece of brass last night and simply flicked it out of there. The area of the ball where the metal flake left its impression is just next to the spure. I figure the loading process take care of any error. I will go back and scrub the mould with a tootbrush soap and water and brake cleaner then use some permatex on the plate and pins. I weighed the cast round balls. I kept the ones that had a smooth skin and were +/- 2 grains from the mould weight of 224 grains. The Jeff Tanner Mould did awesome. Even using side cutters to cut off the spure the smooth skinned round balls were +/- 1 grain. When I took a micrometer and measured the lighter and heavier balls they measured the same. SO after all that I think I will just go shoot them.

 

[t-buck]

glad to here that it is working out for yu to the better
scrubbing with an old tooth brush will dislodge most of the burrs like you described
that what i was meaning to say the first time
i scrub all my aluminum molds before i think about casting with them and have very few problems
good luck on your casting and shooting
t-buck

 

[mazo kid]

+1 on the Bull Plate lube for bottom of sprue plate and alignment pins. However, it seems as though the guy making it is out for the time being. Another good substitute (so I hear :hmm: ) is liquid silicone.