My balls

[Mogadishu Meanderer]

The spurs were taller when I had the hinge screw tightened. Not sure what to do. Maybe it's just the Lyman mold?

It is the Lyman mold, that’s how they were cut. No matter what you do to the sprue cutting plate in can never go lower than the face of the mold. If you look at the mold open you will see that the sprue that you are creating is because of the way the cavity is cut, a little too deep in the block. Most Lyman molds produce overly long sprues. Lees and RCBS produce almost sprueless balls, more amicable for lapidary tumbling with graphite. Those from Lyman won’t tumble good, will end up looking like pears but are perfect for those who load orienting the sprue up or down. Good luck and keep trying, takes a bit of tinkering but you will be making perfect balls in no time.

 

[Grenadier1758]

@Harry Marinakis, @Whitworth is correct. If the molten lead is too hot, the surface of the balls will be frosty. If the molten lead or the mold itself is too cool, the surface of the ball will be wrinkled.

 

[Harry Marinakis]

It is the Lyman mold, that’s how they were cut. No matter what you do to the sprue cutting plate in can never go lower than the face of the mold. If you look at the mold open you will see that the sprue that you are creating is because of the way the cavity is cut, a little too deep in the block.

I'll grind down the top of the mold, so the sprues are shorter.
If I screw it up, I'll get a lee mold.

 

[EcoRover]

The spurs seem too large, bit the spur cutting bolt is cranked down all the way. Can't cut them any shorter.

Am I running the lead too hot?

You can use your pocket knife to trim high spurs. Good advice from others about preheating the mold.

 

[Ohio Rusty]

A cutter called a gate cutter have very sharp edges and will easily cut the spruce flush with the face of the ball. Some guys have bought small rock tumblers and tumbled their lead ball until the spruce disappears back into the ball.

 

[Mogadishu Meanderer]

I'll grind down the top of the mold, so the sprues are shorter.
If I screw it up, I'll get a lee mold.

Harry, I wouldn’t probably do that!! Molds are way more precise than what they appear to be. Unless you have the skill and machinery of course. Those balls with such sprues are fine and they will shoot good, trust me, but if you are like me that sprue is going to annoy you to no end tho!! I would leave it be until I can get a Lee or RCBS, but is up to you!

 

[deerstalkert]

cast with pure lead that sprue will be crushed into the ball on loading with a tight patch. benefit? added weight to the ball?
i would not modify that mold.

 

[Philip Lebow]

Check your sprue cutter plate. Lay it flat on glass and see if it rocks on one side or the other. If it's warped,
put some oiled wet or dry on the glass, and sand the bottom flat. Same with the top of the mold blocks.
At the shop here we would do that on a surface grinder.....

 

[Urban Coyote]

Let me think, posts on balls. There's blue balls, graphite tumbled balls, wrinkled balls, balls with long sprues, balls having voids, and probably a few I've missed in posts here.

Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna touch this one. It's enought to make a guy want his balls swaged, it pains me.

 

[45man]

First, buy a ladle and forget the bottom pour. There are no heating elements in the pot bottom so lead will be colder. That spout can be half plugged.
Make sure the lead is pure but a tiny amount of tin will not hurt as it will not harden lead much. Pure has a BHN of 5 and 1 to 40 tin-lead will be BHN 6.
Pure lead will NOT frost and needs cast hot. 8 on the pot works for me.
Perfect balls or bullets take molten lead from the ladle as they cool and not the sprue. The sprue cools before the ball.
Preheat the mold on a hot plate to 500" but put a metal plate on the coils. I use a $9 wallmart hot plate with an oven made from an electrical box, hinged lid and a BBQ thermometer in the top.
The hot plate must have the thermal fuse in the bottom removed and the wires soldered or it will quit.
Lyman molds have a larger sprue, does no harm at all. Just face it up when loading.
You can clean up lead by setting the pot at 600", do NOT flux and skim all off the top, the turn it up to 8oo". This will not remove everything but really helps.

 

[Harry Marinakis]

Update

So, yes, the Lyman molds are cut deeper in the block, so the sprues are longer.

I did some grinding on the top of my Lyman mold so that the "throat" is now negligible. I am going to do just a tad bit more grinding with sandpaper and a sanding block.

Today I cast 650 balls, and here are the sprues that I'm getting with my modified mold.

I rejected about 100 balls because they were quite underweight - - 30 to 50 grains lighter than the average.

HOW DO YOU LIKE MY BALLS NOW? LOL

 

[Frontstuffer070]

Lyman molds do make a larger sprue than the Lee molds. I have not found the Sprue nub of a Lyman mold to have an advese effect on my accuracy. Or maybe that has something to say about my ability to place a ball on target.

The Bag molds by Larry Callahan and the Tanner molds do not have sprue cutters. The longer sprues do mean that there is molten lead to fill the potential voids as the lead cools and solidifies. A good side cutter will cut the sprue off at or near the tangential contact with the ball.

The bag mold I just got from Larry Callahan does indeed have a sprue cutter. And it cuts the sprue dead flush with the ball. Very nice bag mold.

 

[Frontstuffer070]

Update

So, yes, the Lyman molds are cut deeper in the block, so the sprues are longer.

I did some grinding on the top of my Lyman mold so that the "throat" is now negligible. I am going to do just a tad bit more grinding with sandpaper and a sanding block.

Today I cast 650 balls, and here are the sprues that I'm getting with my modified mold.

I rejected about 100 balls because they were quite underweight - - 30 to 50 grains lighter than the average.

HOW DO YOU LIKE MY BALLS NOW? LOL

View attachment 317603

They look alright, I bet they shoot just fine too. I still see a parting line on some of them. But in my experience little stuff like that doesn't really hurt the accuracy all that much.

 

[Harry Marinakis]

The bag mold I just got from Larry Callahan does indeed have a sprue cutter. And it cuts the sprue dead flush with the ball. Very nice bag mold.

He makes them in my size, 490! Thanks for the tip!!

 

[Frontstuffer070]

it seems the standard sizes he already has made up so you will get them pretty quick. I'll post a pic of a ball cast with that mold, I was impressed to say the least .

 

[kelvinator]

I cast these yesterday with a .520" Callahan bag mold, pot and ladle.
Straightened out the handles on the mold and tapped on a couple wood file handles to help with the heat but still, at about 40 balls cast it was getting pretty warm to the touch.
Worked quite well.

 

[Sun City]

Spare me!!

 

[bpd303]

A good side cutter will cut the sprue off

As long as it is a "flush cut" side cutter.

 

[Frontstuffer070]

First, buy a ladle and forget the bottom pour. There are no heating elements in the pot bottom so lead will be colder. That spout can be half plugged.
Make sure the lead is pure but a tiny amount of tin will not hurt as it will not harden lead much. Pure has a BHN of 5 and 1 to 40 tin-lead will be BHN 6.
Pure lead will NOT frost and needs cast hot. 8 on the pot works for me.
Perfect balls or bullets take molten lead from the ladle as they cool and not the sprue. The sprue cools before the ball.
Preheat the mold on a hot plate to 500" but put a metal plate on the coils. I use a $9 wallmart hot plate with an oven made from an electrical box, hinged lid and a BBQ thermometer in the top.
The hot plate must have the thermal fuse in the bottom removed and the wires soldered or it will quit.
Lyman molds have a larger sprue, does no harm at all. Just face it up when loading.
You can clean up lead by setting the pot at 600", do NOT flux and skim all off the top, the turn it up to 8oo". This will not remove everything but really helps.

I just had to clean my Lee Pot. The plunger rod had a bunch of gunk around the end of it so I was only getting a dribble not a steady stream out of the spout. I guess it was time because this pot is probably 10 years old and this is the first time it's ever been emptied out. Anyway I wanted to address the incorrect info in this post. Bottom pour pots DO indeed have a heating element in the bottom. In fact the heating element surrounds the pot from top to bottom inside of the outer aluminum shell.