Couple issues I'm having

[ky-moonshiner]

Hello all,

I have three molds, 9mm, .45, .30 cal The 9mm works amazing, no issues at all.

The others however I'm running into some issues with, the .45 is a two cavity mold, and both have issues giving me a fully filled squared base, it always have a lopsided, beveled and frosted base.

I've smoked it, turned up the heat on the melt, rubbed the edges of the mold base with a soft cloth. Still no fill?

The .30 cal mold is an NOE, one of the four cavities is consistently doing the same thing with the lopsided beveled base. while the other 3 produce good boolits.

Any other ideas for quick fixes?

[Dale53]

What is your bullet alloy? When casting for handguns, my alloy is WW's+2% tin. This gives excellent fill out. Straight WW's often don't fill out as easily, for example. Depending on what alloy you are using it could be as simple as adding some tin...

FWIW
Dale53

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Try loosening the sprue plate a touch. Keep going looser till you either cure it or get flashing on the bases.
I have several molds that the plate has to be so loose to get fill out, that the sprue plate will swing out on its own
if not held level. The other thing to try if ladle pouring as I do, is to put the ladle spout right on the hole and
dribble it for bit after filling the cavities. Pressure pouring in other words.
Your sprue plate might just not be hot enough as well. I'm surprised at how temperamental a chunk of
iron or aluminum can be.

[Wayne Smith]

From what you have described you have one or any combination of three issues:

1) mold/sprue plate temp

2) alloy temp

3) mold venting - getting the air out so the lead can fill the mold.

Rubbing the edges of the mold with a cloth will do nothing.

[cbrick]

All three answers are good. My best guess is a cool sprue plate especially on the NOE. It's a great sprue plate, nice & thick but that could be your problem. Nice & thick means it needs more heat to work correctly so pour a very generous sprue puddle even to allowing it to over flow the plate. Cast faster to keep the sprue plate hot.

Yes, a too cool sprue plate can give the exact results you describe.

Rub the edges of the mold with a soft cloth? What could that do?

Rick

[44man]

All three answers are good. My best guess is a cool sprue plate especially on the NOE. It's a great sprue plate, nice & thick but that could be your problem. Nice & thick means it needs more heat to work correctly so pour a very generous sprue puddle even to allowing it to over flow the plate. Cast faster to keep the sprue plate hot.

Yes, a too cool sprue plate can give the exact results you describe.

Rub the edges of the mold with a soft cloth? What could that do?

Rick

Yep, heat. I use thick plates myself. But I ladle cast. Bottom pour makes more problems then I want to tackle.
I read all kinds of stuff about pouring a large sprue or pouring half the pot over the plate Why? My sprue just fills the taper.
Watch the sprue as it hardens and if it gets a big dip in it to try and feed the boolit, your boolit is wrong. The sprue hardens before the boolit so you need to feed the boolit molten lead as it cools, not a hardening sprue.
Casting is so easy it is crazy but there are a billion posts with a trillion answers. How long for me to show you? 5 minutes!
I need no pans under a pot, no spatter on the bench, none on the pot, none on the molds, none on the floor, I wear a "T" shirt to cast, no gloves or heavy shirts. No face masks. I cast sinkers when I was old enough to fish and have cast something for well over 60-65 years.
Some make it sound so hard when it is so simple and any problem should be solved in seconds.

[MtGun44]

Smoking is not helpful, but probably not an issue here.

I'd first lloosen the sprue plate a bit and then add a bit of tin to the melt.

Bill

[snuffy]

Smoke is for signalling other indians. The carbon from the smoke is plugging the vent lines, causing the poor fill-out. Clean the mold of all carbon, paying close attention to the vent lines. If there is still a problem, the vent lines may need to be deepened.

Since the problem seems to be on the bases, the sprue plate is probably too tight as well. Some molds are very temperamental in that department, a very fine line between too tight and too loose.

[tomme boy]

I have one that you have to pour a big puddle on top to get perfect fill. Almost running the lead over the sides.

[ky-moonshiner]

Clarifications:

I'm using a Ladle, and the sprue puddle is huge and does pour over the side.

I've tried having the ladle spout tight in the hole, leaving it in for a few seconds for pressure and heat. (this often lead me only to bad fills and sprues).

Casting with a No. 2 type alloy 15-16 BHN.

I'll try turning putting the sprue plate face down on a hotplate and loosening it up. The reason I rubbed the edges of the mold, is it had fine metal hairs sticking off of it which i removed when some rubbing. I've used the mould twice and notices a slight difference after removing the machining edges.

[MtGun44]

If there are burrs, try scrubbing the mold cavities with Comet and a toothbrush.

Bill

[44man]

Clarifications:

I'm using a Ladle, and the sprue puddle is huge and does pour over the side.

I've tried having the ladle spout tight in the hole, leaving it in for a few seconds for pressure and heat. (this often lead me only to bad fills and sprues).

Casting with a No. 2 type alloy 15-16 BHN.

I'll try turning putting the sprue plate face down on a hotplate and loosening it up. The reason I rubbed the edges of the mold, is it had fine metal hairs sticking off of it which i removed when some rubbing. I've used the mould twice and notices a slight difference after removing the machining edges.

Here is what I do. Put the ladle in the plate taper (The mold must be hot) Turn them both up to vertical and hold the ladle there until the cavity takes all it needs as it cools. Boolit size can change time a few seconds. Look in the ladle and you can see lead go down, stop and go in some more. THAT is where you tip off the ladle WITHOUT TIPPING THE MOLD. You will not believe how I bash friends that tip the mold at the same time. KEEP THE MOLD LEVEL! ARE YOU TIPPING THE MOLD?
Time to heat the mold in my little oven might not be right so a propane torch played over the plate will correct it. Never hold the torch in one spot.

[captaint]

shiner - IMO, you need more heat in the sprue plate and loosen it up. Keep pouring big ol sprue puddles. Try setting the mold sprue plate down on your hot plate. I do that a few minutes before I start pouring them up. Mike