hanshi
Cannon
When I got my Tanner mold I degreased it, attached handles and started casting. No stick or any other problems.
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Jeff Tanner moulds
- Thread starter Rifleman1776
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Well... 
I'm not ready to condem Jeff Tanner moulds.....yet.
But, so far, this casting attempt has been more frustrating than my first time ever back decades ago.
Today, I did smoke the insides. Checked for alignment, looks just fine as do the few balls I have cast so far.
Using a different heat source, my lead is hotter. made sure everything hot.
But.... :cursing: ...balls continue to stick. The few I made had to be pulled, with considerable effort, from the mould with needle nosed vise grip pliers. The one shown wouldn't move at all. The sprue broke off. Now, I'll let it cool and pry that ball out with an awl. That's end of casting session for today. How melted lead and irate, equally hot, tempers are not a good mix. :shake:
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I'm not ready to condem Jeff Tanner moulds.....yet.But, so far, this casting attempt has been more frustrating than my first time ever back decades ago.
Today, I did smoke the insides. Checked for alignment, looks just fine as do the few balls I have cast so far.
Using a different heat source, my lead is hotter. made sure everything hot.
But.... :cursing: ...balls continue to stick. The few I made had to be pulled, with considerable effort, from the mould with needle nosed vise grip pliers. The one shown wouldn't move at all. The sprue broke off. Now, I'll let it cool and pry that ball out with an awl. That's end of casting session for today. How melted lead and irate, equally hot, tempers are not a good mix. :shake:
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Are you adding any flux to the pot?
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Did you snap the sprue off for that photo? If that's the way you poured, I can guarantee there will be a void in the ball below the "sprue."
Here's my "trick" for Tanner molds, learned from casting a bazillion fishing weights in molds without sprue cutters:
Pour a decent size puddle of lead on top. Once the lead has hardened, open the mold and press whatever (I use the point of my sprue cutters) against the side of the puddle and "lever" the ball (or fishing weight) out of the cavity. Done.
For molds with sprue cutters, bullets/balls sometimes stick, but there's no sprue or puddle to lever on. A simple rap on the hinge of the mold handles with a wooden mallet is usually enough to jar loose the bullet/ball. Haven't tried it with the Tanners, because there's always that puddle there to push on.
Here's my "trick" for Tanner molds, learned from casting a bazillion fishing weights in molds without sprue cutters:
Pour a decent size puddle of lead on top. Once the lead has hardened, open the mold and press whatever (I use the point of my sprue cutters) against the side of the puddle and "lever" the ball (or fishing weight) out of the cavity. Done.
For molds with sprue cutters, bullets/balls sometimes stick, but there's no sprue or puddle to lever on. A simple rap on the hinge of the mold handles with a wooden mallet is usually enough to jar loose the bullet/ball. Haven't tried it with the Tanners, because there's always that puddle there to push on.
The sprue came off while I was trying to pull the ball out. It wasn't done for the picture.
Enneyhow.....I just returned from visiting a gunsmith friend of mine (and an avid ml'er). He found a ridge around the circumfrence of each half and removed that with some kind of hardened hand tool. I won't be casting agin today. Will let you know after next attempt. (we need a fingers crossed similie :wink: )
Enneyhow.....I just returned from visiting a gunsmith friend of mine (and an avid ml'er). He found a ridge around the circumfrence of each half and removed that with some kind of hardened hand tool. I won't be casting agin today. Will let you know after next attempt. (we need a fingers crossed similie :wink: )
Contact Jeff tanner and he will probably send you a new one. He's a reputable guy.
I have been in touch with Jeff already. I'll let all know what the outcome of this repair is.
If there was any ridge or smaller area at the split line, that would explain why the castings didn't come out of the mold.
They were essentially "locked in place" by the smaller outlet of the cavity.
I got a feeling the next time you pour some balls in that mold it's going to work fine.
They were essentially "locked in place" by the smaller outlet of the cavity.
I got a feeling the next time you pour some balls in that mold it's going to work fine.
Zonie said:If there was any ridge or smaller area at the split line, that would explain why the castings didn't come out of the mold.
They were essentially "locked in place" by the smaller outlet of the cavity.
I got a feeling the next time you pour some balls in that mold it's going to work fine.
Looking forward to trying. But, not today. Too much of real life activities on the agenda.
I hate when that happens.
A man has to have some playtime everyday too. :grin:
A man has to have some playtime everyday too. :grin:
OK, yesterday I had a chance to try the mould again. First, I have to say this new experience with hard lead and the JT mould has been a real 'newbie' lesson. The hard lead just does not behave like pure soft. My Lyman dipper crudded up sumptin fierce. With soft lead as soon as the dipper heats up it sheds lead and stays clean. With the hard it just stays cruded but still poured. Anyhow, the mould still stuck but differently. On occasion the ball would come out but the sprue stayed stuck. Other times both stuck and I had to pry out with needle nosed pliers. Getting a rhythm going was almost impossible. My lead was plenty hot as many of the balls frosted so that was not the issue. When I quit and let things cool down I took the mould to my workbench and tried cleaning the sprue neck with a diamond tool. Then I decided to use a drill and chucked up an 11/64 bit in the drill press and removed a small bit of brass from the neck. All looks clean and smooth now. I might try another session today. I don't shoot my smoothie a lot and am trying to make up about a years supply of the .590" balls.
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Boy, my hard lead has never looked like that....
Any chance of contaminants like zinc in there? I'm smelling the roots of your problems, and it has more to do with your lead than the Tanner mold.
Any chance of contaminants like zinc in there? I'm smelling the roots of your problems, and it has more to do with your lead than the Tanner mold.
BrownBear said:
I don't know what is in that lead. A couple boxes of it were given to me by a friend who cleaned out his fathers place. FWIW, using the on-line roundball calculator, a .590 hard lead ball is supposed to weigh 284 gr. These weighed out at 271 gr. :hmm:
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Ugh....
No telling, but the lead is far from right. I'd dump the batch for now and try some pure lead. Most, if not all of your troubles should go away.
I have a ton (actual weight) of lead alloy recovered from the traps of an indoor pistol range. Jackets, dust, dirt, and more mixed right with it. I'm using it for fishing weights, and it takes some serious cleanup before you can cast it. But even that smorgasbord of alloys looks like pure lead and casts as easily once you get all the slag off and do a couple of fluxes.
I'm back to guessing that some zinc tire weights are mixed with yours, but haven't seen enough to state that for sure. Closest I've seen to what you have was melted aluminum, but that would be lots lighter.
No telling, but the lead is far from right. I'd dump the batch for now and try some pure lead. Most, if not all of your troubles should go away.
I have a ton (actual weight) of lead alloy recovered from the traps of an indoor pistol range. Jackets, dust, dirt, and more mixed right with it. I'm using it for fishing weights, and it takes some serious cleanup before you can cast it. But even that smorgasbord of alloys looks like pure lead and casts as easily once you get all the slag off and do a couple of fluxes.
I'm back to guessing that some zinc tire weights are mixed with yours, but haven't seen enough to state that for sure. Closest I've seen to what you have was melted aluminum, but that would be lots lighter.
It kind of looks like the lead isn't hot enough. Even hard lead should come loos once up to temp. If you know it's hot enough then I with Brownbear, something is contaminating the pot. If it's really hard lead like harder than WWS and maybe lino, that takes a real hot temp or it gunks up too.
Rifleman, By some coincidence, I also was casting RB's (.597" - .598") the other day from my Tanner mould and had no trouble with the sprue. I was using wheel weights + 1% tin. However, if the mould, the alloy. or both get too hot, I have problems with the sprue tearing off. When the RB's look frosted, I have to back the temperature down and slow the pace of casting. Casting with a second mold also helps.
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jus a note here,,I've noticed that when I use mixed lead..or not pure, not only are ball weights different but size too most balls I've cast measure .603 or .573 while with pure lead .600 or .570 with same molds....603's not a big deal size wise for smoothie but .573's in rifle change things! weight diff in some balls is pretty noticable.. :shocked2:
Most of this 'lead' was actually old kit model train parts. They were somewhat soft, I could bend them and even slightly scratch with my thumbnail. Mebbe it is all zinc. :idunno: Ennyhow, since I am now getting some results from it all, I'll just finish the batch of my mystery balls and live with it. Bambi and paper targets won't know the difference between being hit with lead or zinc.
Your "LEAD" is contaminated with large amounts of ZINK :shocked2: . You will need to do a "BIT" of pot cleaning to save yourself the problem in the future :barf: . Any little zink left in the pot or ladle WILL effect your future castings.
. You will need to do a "BIT" of pot cleaning to save yourself the problem in the future :barf: . Any little zink left in the pot or ladle WILL effect your future castings.
Thanks. I'm just going to finish casting up with that 'zinc' and clean the pot best I can. Fortunately, it is just an old iron saucepan, no value. The original mountain men shot pure zinc balls, why shouldn't I? :wink: :rotf:
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