Major problem casting

[Erik550c]

Are you actually mating the nozzle on the bottom of the pot with the hole in the top of the sprue plate? If your pouring the lead in with a gap between the mold and the bottom of the pot you will get this result. Even when using a ladle you will have the same thing happen if they aren't mated together when pouring the lead.

I left a 3/4 inch gap. I'm going to try heating the cutoff plate hotter. I tried the ladle instead of the pour spout on the pot... Even though I had skimmed most of the fluxed brown stuff at the top off, the lead didn't stay hot enough to completely fill in the mold with the pouring ladle.

 

[Erik550c]

Alright, I fixed the problem. Found out that the spout was clogged. Now it flows quickly and the bullets are shaped crisp and not flawed. But look at what my loading stand does to the conical:

That's not gone to fly straight. What's the problem now? I tried to seat it straight before loading, wouldn't stay straight.

 

[Erik550c]

Alright, I fixed the problem. Found out that the spout was clogged. Now it flows quickly and the bullets are shaped crisp and not flawed. But look at what my loading stand does to the conical:

That's not going to fly straight. What's the problem now? I tried to seat it straight before loading, wouldn't stay straight.

 

[mooman76]

I've never bottom poured but from what I have heard you need to have a full or near full pot. More pressure and consistent heat for the lead.

 

[Maven]

If you were to measure the temperature of your lead with a thermometer, you could determine whether your pot is getting hot enough. ( For pure lead, I cast @ 800 deg. F. For wheelweights + 1% tin, it's 720 - 750.) If your furnace isn't reaching at least 800 deg., you can easily adjust the thermostat by bending the bottom bimetallic leaf downward a bit. Also, you need to flux that melt: sawdust, paraffin for outdoor fluxing; Marvelux (Brownells) for indoors.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Erik, you are running your pot with to little lead in it. The heating elements are on the side of the pot (not the bottom) Running it with only a pound or two of lead, barely touches the heating element....Most of your element is heating nothing but the pot......See that brown gunk on the sides of the pot? You want to keep that removed or you run the risk of permanently plugging your pour spout...
Skim and scrape often, I would keep the pot at least half full.

 

[Erik550c]

I've never bottom poured but from what I have heard you need to have a full or near full pot. More pressure and consistent heat for the lead.

I found this to be true... I went from 2 lbs. to 5 lbs. with better results. But why does my loading stand demolish the conical?

 

[Erik550c]

Erik, you are running your pot with to little lead in it. The heating elements are on the side of the pot (not the bottom) Running it with only a pound or two of lead, barely touches the heating element....Most of your element is heating nothing but the pot......See that brown gunk on the sides of the pot? You want to keep that removed or you run the risk of permanently plugging your pour spout...
Skim and scrape often, I would keep the pot at least half full.

See above... I found that out through trial and added more lead. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Zonie]

That bullet looks like it was still partly molten on the inside when it was dropped from the mold.
The solid outer area was not strong enough to resist deforming when it hit something solid.

It takes a bit of time for the lead to completely freeze.

That's why the old timers talk about getting a "rhythm".
If you go too fast, you get a deformed bullet like the one you show.
If you go too slow, the mold will cool off too much and the next bullet will have cold shuts (unformed areas).

 

[coloradoclyde]

But why does my loading stand demolish the conical?

Show us a picture.... of the loading stand.

In the mean time I will take a guess...
The stand may be designed for shorter round balls and not conicals..... The arm geometry may be wrong for the length of the bullet and the "top punch" or part of the arm that touches the bullet may be the wrong shape.

You may need to pre-size them.

Just a guess, without having it in front of me....

 

[Pete G]

That's not going to fly straight. What's the problem now? I tried to seat it straight before loading, wouldn't stay straight.

You are discovering why they are called "Cap and Ball" revolvers and not "Cap and Bullet". Most conicals were designed to be loaded into cartridges and need to be smaller than the cylinder to allow room for the paper. They can be very difficult to get loaded straight. Lee makes a mold for a conical that has a slight rebate on the heel and the driving bands are larger than the cylinder so they usually load relatively straight. Almost all of these problems will go away if you start using a proper sized ball instead.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Your mold is too cool and possibly contaminated by wax or oil as well.

Bingo.

You need to spend more time at the casting pot and less on the keyboard.

 

[Erik550c]

Your mold is too cool and possibly contaminated by wax or oil as well.

Bingo.

You need to spend more time at the casting pot and less on the keyboard.

Yea I suppose.