Received the .725" RB Tanner Mould Today

[RussB]

Daryl...Please don't misinterpret my suggestion as even thinking you may not have the expereience to do it right. I'm SURE you do! I just thought the suggestion may be of some help in cooling the mould down. Especially since I depend on this method to help me.
When you say... "I will try the wet towel next time, as having a bucket of water standing nearby for dunking, as I used to do, is a VERY bad, dangerous, thing to do."

I agree...I agree 100%.
Even when "water dropping" Wheel Weights, I keep the bucket behind me, and up high on a different bench. You don't want a bucket of water sitting around for this.
If you recall I suggested "wringing out a large towell, and placing it nearby" to touch both sides of the mould to, to aide in cooling the mould between casts.
There are several, perhaps many, posters on this board who write things that I never question, because I have learned they "knoweth what they sayeth", and you can take it to the bank. I may needle them a bit with a silly question, but I trust them, and their experience. You included. Forgive me if anything else was read into my post...it was certainly not intentional.
Respectfully, Russ

 

I have used wet towels in the past, but it is hard on towels & got supreme- crap-upon or that one. Guess I shouldn't have burnt it.
: I hadn't taken offense - you merely reminded me of the technique I had used sometime in the past to speed things up. I found the bucket to be quicker - quick dunk, then back at it - and never warped a mould, either - always afraid to, though. Always fearful of a drop of water or moth for casting outdoors, falling or flying into 20 lbs. of molten lead - only had one accident with that- no injuries- thankfully.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Don't know if it's for everybody, but my drop spot is two Neoprene mouse pads set in an upturned Frisbee and then covered with several layers of aluminum foil.

They had Frisbee's in 1776, didn't they?

When running ball, the ashes from the coals scraped into a little depression are about perfect - soft and fireproof. Maybe I just need to gather a can full of them for home use.

 

[Jim Trahan]

Yes, the 1776 prototype was "Fris Aees"

Jim...

 

I used a wet bath towel this time, flipping the mould into it, overlapping and pressing quickly to create lots of steam, then cast a couple more. Done quickly, the blocks didn't cool too much, and every ball was usable. I cast two balls between pressing in the towel. Any more might have cooled the blocks too much. Excessive cooling could be dangerous as remaining moisture on the blocks will create instant steam in contact with molten lead - and cause a molten lead explosion if dropped into the pot itself.
: I do like the small sprue hole, however still much prefer Lyman blocks to these. Unless I run into a cal that isn't covered by Lyman or Lee, I will not be buying any more.
: The speed in casting of the Lyman blocks isn't met by any others, and the Lyamn mould ball's consitancy in weight is much better than balls from these brass blocks. The lead's propensity to stick to them is worse than with Lyman's cast iron or Lee's aluminum.