Tips for a Casting Newby?

[Spartan64]

I recently made the decision to start casting my own balls and minies. Looking for any and all advice to help a first timer get started.

I ordered a Lee 10lb lead melter and Lee molds for various roundballs and .575 minies. Aside from lead not even sure what other equipment I really need or don't need, there's so much out there.

Thanks in advance for the tips and tricks!

 

[Iceman]

Clean the mold really good, smoke them and lube per lee's instructions. This is really important for proper function and long life of your molds.

Proper safety gear, I wear leather gloves long sleeve shirt, long pants, shoes, safety glasses, well ventilated area.
I cast in my garage with the door open.

A couple of things I use, a old hammer handle to open the plate, I can do it by hand but sometimes that gets to hot through the leather gloves. An old dampened towel or something else soft to drop the balls onto so they don't deform when dropped out of the mold.

I preheat the mold by setting it on top of the pot while the lead is heating up. Usually get good balls after a couple of pours. It's pretty simple really but it might take a couple of casting sessions to get everything working right. When I started I had a lot of rejects but after a few times I hardly had any rejects, you will get the hang of the lead and mold temperatures after a while and it will become easy. If the balls/bullets are wrinkled things are to cold, frosted balls/bullets is too hot. After a while you get the feel for the temperatures by how long it takes the lead to solidify on top of the plate and how the balls are looking. You can adjust the pace you are casting at to keep the mold at the right temperature. You can adjust the pot temperature on the pot.

Good luck!!!

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

Casting is very simple. You'll never buy round balls again once you get started.
Below is my method that has worked well for years:

 

[64Springer]

Buy some Tin for the minies.

Will help with mold fill out. Your bands will be much more defined with a small addition of 3% Tin.

 

[Don Steele]

For casting those big .575 minies...(if it's not too late) I recommend returning the 10 # pot and getting a 20.
With the smaller pot...Once you get the pot right and are casting "keepers" you'll find it necessary to add lead and essentially start over before you've gotten too many bullets done. That's just me of course. When I clear my bench to cast...I usually stay at it for several sessions over a few days and end up with hundreds of balls. A larger pot lets you run a lot more before needing to add metal but, as I say...that's just me.
I also recommend getting a thermometer to monitor the temperature of the pot without guessing. The thermometer I use clips onto the side of my pot so I'm monitoring the temperature throughout the casting session. I fabricate a field expedient "lid" for my bottom pour 20# LEE pot using several folds of heavy duty Aluminum foil. Having it in place helps hold the temperature of the pot steady.
Don't put anything but CLEAN metal into your casting pot. Historically, bullet casters sourced all kinds of "scrap" metal to use for casting. Sadly...many of those sources have dried up and some folks are simply ordering ingots from commercial suppliers with known analysis. When I acquire "scrap", it gets melted and cleaned in an old ( but clean) cast iron pot on a Coleman stove, OUTDOORS. Once very clean...it's poured into ingot molds. The resultant clean ingots are individually marked to indicate what the composition of the ingot is. I have Lead ingots, Wheel Weight ingots, 30:1 Lead:Tin ingots, and straight Linotype.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received about casting was: "Once you have everything ready and are getting keepers...avoid distractions that interrupt your procedure."
Hope this helps.

 

[Some_Mook]

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/

 

[dave951]

I cast minies. Lots of minies. I second the use of a #20 pot. Get it hot and pour them fast. The base pin needs to be up to temp to get good results. I run my pot on 9 when casting minies.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

A mold knocker is a good investment. Bought mine from a gent on Cast Boolits, also bees wax and lots of other great things.
I used to do all my casting in the summer in a tee shirt, shorts and sandals.
BIG NO NO.
Now I cast in the winter with boots and welder's gloves.

 

[Nuthatch]

Get a thermometer. Stay below vaporization temp. Some vapors will inevitably be present since temperature is, after all, the average kinetic energy of the molecules with some being higher or lower than the average. But keeping it below vaporization will reduce it significantly.

Fan at your back, very well vented, nobody else downwind.

Casting is a gratifying process. It feels good to create ammunition from raw chunks of metal or recast shot balls into reusable pieces again.

 

[manbat]

I use a number of lee molds and have found the following works for me -

• Clean new molds well and completely on all sides with isopropyl
• Season with a candle just before pouring - the candle quickly creates a thick soot layer across and in all sections of each side and you can cast all night with one sooting
• Lee molds heat up pretty quickly so I just start casting and keep the first balls out for remelting
• Your mold is generally at temp when you see the wrinkles on the top of the ball/Minie start to disappear and you get a smooth surface
• Some balls and minies come out perfect and some do not regardless of the factors and your methods. When starting your pouring experience, don't fret if you have too many rejects to melt down again after sorting through, and be happy with the balls/minies that are just acceptable - those barely acceptable examples give you the proper and valid ability to blame your imperfect shots on an imperfect ball.
• Make sure the screw holding the sprue cutter stays snug for long casting sessions so you get nice flat/even cuts on the top. You will have to re-sung during pouring so have a Philips on your bench and in the ready
• Get a good brick of beeswax and use to lube the top of the mold under the sprue cutter when the mold gets to temp and to lube again during pouring when the sprue cutter gets tight- just rub a little as needed and it will be well lubed and you can also use the beeswax for fluxing. Keep wax out of the mold.
• I use a cheap plastic mallet to tap the mold to get the balls out - any easy-to-handle piece of wood works and don't whack the molds hard - just open, and tap. Try to not let the ball hit the other side of the mold when falling out.
• If cooling with water keep the bucket well away from the pot and beware of letting splashes hit the hot mold.
• I like to have the pot set where the mold is below eye level but high enough so I can see the pour. Pouring for an hour when you have to dip your head down each time is not enjoyable. I have a light that shines directly on the mold when in the pouring position.
• Place your pot in a place where it can sit for pouring and stay until completely cooled off after pouring. Don't ignore it during cooling. Sometimes the lead will start pouring itself.
• I like to knock the sprues off into a separate metal can - no water - so I can put them back into the pot when enough collect. Water and melted lead are really bad news so no wet lead added to the pot!
• Minie balls take quite a bit of lead so the recommendation for the larger pot is a good one otherwise If you have to add lead during a session, add it and take a break for a few minutes so the pot has time to melt and comes back up to temp, then continue. Rest your mold carefully on the top with the last pour in it during the break to keep it hot and watch to see if it needs to come back up to temp.
• I generally put the pot on high for initial melting and then down to about 3/4 for pouring
• When done, I pour the last ball and then let the mold cool and store without cutting the sprue or removing - an oldtimer once told me to do this and when I asked why he said that's how he was taught so don't question passed down knowledge - I think its to keep the mold halves nice and tight during storage and so you can start every pouring session with a good finished ball

Lastly, great balls and Minies come out when your pouring process is consistent. Define a repeatable workflow and stick to it - be cognizant of the general timing and repeat and make the flow smooth and with defined/repeated/minimal body movements for safety. Pouring balls and Minies is way easier than pouring good lead soldiers. Kids use to cast great soldiers and those of us that use to actually play with lead understand why. It was completely unacceptable to show up with soldiers with half-casted legs, arms, or rifles.

Disclaimer - The above has worked for me for many years. Casting for competitive shooting is a whole other story. I am not attempting to sell my methods to anyone, nor interested in buying any different ones.

Enjoy your pouring.

 

[DCAN]

Most important lesson ever learned was, short pants and gin & tonic don't mix well with molten lead. Take the safety precautions seriously. I got complacent and almost turned the family jewels into worthless heirlooms. Other than that, the posts above have great info and won't lead you astray.

 

[JHB]

Never hit the mold to release the balls. Hitting the mold block will bend the handle hit the screw at the joint. Hitting 1 mold block will mess up the block alinement.

 

[manbat]

Never hit the mold to release the balls. Hitting the mold block will bend the handle hit the screw at the joint. Hitting 1 mold block will mess up the block alinement.

Definitely sage advice, but I have to admit that I have Lee molds that have 10's of years and many thousands of rounds cast with no bent handles or problems with alignment as a result of tapping one side or the other of the block for round balls or other shapes that do not have a hollow cone.

 

[Spartan64]

Thank you all for the advice. I was able to cancel the order on the 10lb pot before it shipped and got the 20lb. I've also ordered a thermometer. Once all my equipment is in I will share my results. My wife and my wallet will be happy in the long run.

 

[dave951]

Get a thermometer. Stay below vaporization temp.

Be factual, wide open, your Lee pot will never, ever get to the vaporization temp in anything short of apocalyptic catastrophe. The boiling point of lead is 1740C, that's "C" NOT "F". For those of us who use "F", that's about 3100F. From basic high school science, the boiling point is only affected by atmospheric (barometric) pressure and since it's so far above what the pot is capable of, it's not even remotely a factor.

Why not see what the white coat crowd say about it-
https://www.nuclear-power.com/Lead-melting-point-boiling-point/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadhttps://material-properties.org/lea...melting-point-thermal-conductivity-expansion/
I'm pretty sure a Lee pot won't reach higher than 3100F since the melting point for most steels (the pot material) is in the 2200F range. The "fumes" you refer to are from the flux and other impurities in the pot that "may" have some lead still attached. I'm not advocating not being cautious, but rather being factually correct to take appropriate measures. All you really need is to be in an open, well ventilated area meaning, don't cast lead inside a closet.

 

[waksupi]

Get a thermometer. Stay below vaporization temp. Some vapors will inevitably be present since temperature is, after all, the average kinetic energy of the molecules with some being higher or lower than the average. But keeping it below vaporization will reduce it significantly.

Fan at your back, very well vented, nobody else downwind.

Casting is a gratifying process. It feels good to create ammunition from raw chunks of metal or recast shot balls into reusable pieces again.

Casting temperature is over 300 degrees below out gassing for lead. Non-problem.

As was suggested above, go to Castboolits to learn. Lots of poor information in this thread so far.

 

[oldwood]

Also , I like the Lyman lead ladle , about $30.. It , has a nozzle on it that keeps the dross from running into the molds when tilted to pour.. The cheaper Lee dipper , is an open spoon type , design , and since dross floats on top of the melted lead , there is a good chance for impurities to float into the mold.

 

[Nuthatch]

Be factual, wide open, your Lee pot will never, ever get to the vaporization temp in anything short of apocalyptic catastrophe. The boiling point of lead is 1740C, that's "C" NOT "F". For those of us who use "F", that's about 3100F. From basic high school science, the boiling point is only affected by atmospheric (barometric) pressure and since it's so far above what the pot is capable of, it's not even remotely a factor.

Why not see what the white coat crowd say about it-
https://www.nuclear-power.com/Lead-melting-point-boiling-point/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadhttps://material-properties.org/lea...melting-point-thermal-conductivity-expansion/
I'm pretty sure a Lee pot won't reach higher than 3100F since the melting point for most steels (the pot material) is in the 2200F range. The "fumes" you refer to are from the flux and other impurities in the pot that "may" have some lead still attached. I'm not advocating not being cautious, but rather being factually correct to take appropriate measures. All you really need is to be in an open, well ventilated area meaning, don't cast lead inside a closet.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something here but I'm under the impression that vaporization temp is right around 750 deg. That's a pretty small window between casting temp of around 650+ and vaporization at 750. Boiling is one thing -- yea that's way up there. But vaporization is far lower than that.

 

[B P Arn]

The vapor point of lead is about 3180°F. Temperatures less than that will not produce lead vapor, and there is no danger of lead vapor poisoning at anything less than that temperature.

However, there can be other, toxic fumes released from plastic, rubber, oil, grease or other contaminates in the casting mixture. If your lead has been melted and cleaned thoroughly beforehand, you can cast indoors without ventilation, with no worry of lead poisoning from lead vapor. I have done it often over the years. The only fumes I get are from dust that might might have accumulated on my ingots.

I use a thin stick made of pine to stir and "flux" my alloy as needed. There is an odor from that, but it smells good, and I am not worried about it harming me.

Again, to be clear, there are no lead fumes released at temperatures below 3180°F.

 

[dave951]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something here but I'm under the impression that vaporization temp is right around 750 deg. That's a pretty small window between casting temp of around 650+ and vaporization at 750. Boiling is one thing -- yea that's way up there. But vaporization is far lower than that.

Read up on the scientific definition of vaporization. It's the phase change from liquid to gas, boiling is the colloquial term for the phase change. Using water as an example, the input of heat to ice, solid water, well cause the temperature to rise to the point when a phase change will occur, ie to liquid. To get to the next phase change, much more heat will be required till we reach 212F at STP (Standard, Temperature and Pressure at sea level). So water isn't transitioning till then. Similar thing with lead except the molecular bonds are stronger and lead is isotopically far, far heavier.

With basic science in mind, what you may see coming from the pot is from the impurities, not lead but still not healthy. In the vast majority of lead contamination cases, it's either through oral means (wash yer mits!) or inhalation in an indoor range. I personally know one firearms instructor who has to quit his job at an popular local indoor range for this very reason. Lead styphnate is a main ingredient in modern primers and it's residue is hard too avoid indoors.

So in casting, use good basic hygiene and safety techniques and you'll be fine. Lead vapor is not on the reality list.