Casting in the cold

[Blammer]

Well it don't work for me.

It's about 55° today, no wind and sunny.

Great day for casting I thought!

Well got out the pot and set up to cast some more 311284's from the NEI sample mould.

Dang pot wouldn't get hot enought! The cold was just enough to cool the melt constantly so I kept getting wrinkled boolits, tried everything to make it work. It's just too cold for such a "big" boolit. My Lyman Mini Mag pot just wasn't up to it.

Anyways I tried. After I cast about 150 boolits I got to keep about 25 good ones.

I'll need a smaller mould or a HOTTER POT!

Christmas is close....

[beagle]

You might have to rig a circular shield if any wind's hitting the pot. I once tried melt WWs outside in the cold and had to go that route./beagle

[lathesmith]

I noticed last week when my garage temp is below about 60-65deg, that oxidation on the top of the pot reaches unacceptably high levels. A purple, blue scum forms, and when you scrape it off it re-forms almost immediately. Also, like you I have trouble keeping my molds hot enough. I am just going to wait to do my casting until the outside temps warm up; it is much easier this way, and besides, ventilation is much better too. YMMV....
lathesmith

[RANGER RICK]

Holy smokes your in a heat wave .
I cast during the winter from 0 to 30 degrees with no problem although I have a heater blowing on my back so I can stay warm.
I do have the 100 pound cast master from Magma . It takes about 45 minutes to heat up but after that the silver stream flows !!!!!

RR

[MT Chambers]

Minus 30 here(-30)...great day for casting.........

[fourarmed]

I did cast some 457125 one day last winter when the temp was about +15*F. and in spite of everything I could do at the time, they came out with a very porous surface. I presumed that it had to do with the rapid heat loss from the single cavity mold. I speculate that a smaller bullet in a multi-cavity mold might do better.

[Slowpoke]

Me the Rowell ladle and the Coleman stove I used to cast with endured a many 25* - 35* day making boolits, some of the finest 225438's I ever cast was on a cold day in Jan. I was water dropping them and finished up and dumped the boolits to drain while I went and did my evening chores, when I came back about 1 hr later I had a chunk of ice interlaced with 438's.

good luck

[jawjaboy]

Would an electric blanket help?

[mainiac]

I cast all winter out in the garage, and i dont have a problem with mt rcbs pro-melt. I dont cast when its below zero, but as long as its 5 degrees or so, i havent had any problems.

[Patrick L]

I too do all my casting in the winter months in my garage. I do run a kerosene heater (for me, that is) but typically outside temp is anywhere from 0 to 30 or so. A 55 degree day would be too hot for me to consider casting.

I use a 20 lb Lee pot with no troubles.

[Maineboy]

Like Maniac said. I can cast all winter but usually don't like standing out in the garage unless it's above zero. My bottom pour Lee Pro-4 20 works better than my little precision melter and ladle system in real cold weather. A cold draft over the pot during the winter does cool the pot off too much, so I have to keep the doors and windows closed. It can be done, but it ain't real comfortable.

[7.62Man]

Currently -25 deg C outside about 5 deg warmeer in the garage. Put a old range hood in the garage and light the wood stove and can cast without too much trouble. When it is -45 outside I have to preheat the garage for thre-five hours before I can cast.

Ahh the joy of living in the great white north. (also have a 1 1/2 feet of snow already

[IcerUSA]

My Lee 4-20 does good in the winter , have a small propane Ready Heater going for me , hot plate for the moulds , and the pot for the melt , works for me .

We got a light dusting of snow lastnight , bout 6 inches , little slick out as the temp is only about 28 deg .

Keith

[wmitty]

I read your comments with interest because conditions here (north Texas) are

finally getting cool enough to allow comfortably casting outside. It's mid sixties

today with thin overcast, so conditions are great for outside work. Of course our

problem is the miserable summer heat when sweat runs in your eyes to the point

where you can't see what you are doing.

[Ken O]

I guess its all relative to where you live. As for 55º, I very seldom cast when its that warm. Crank up the heat on your pot some, and preheat your molds, it ain't the 55º that is the problem.

[hammerhead357]

I have cast in temp. from 105 in the shade to -5 inside. Had to when I cast as a commercial caster. I just had to learn how to regulate the shop temp. and or the flow of air on me and the moulds.
I can't imagine casting at -25 degrees but it would be workable with the proper clothing and the proper shop set-up......Wes

[ChrisK]

I was just casting outside today, until it started to snow then I moved the operation into the Garage. No problem keeping the pot warm. I'm using a Turkey Fryer and a dutch oven. Once the pot get's hot, it takes very little propane to maintain it. I'll probably cast another thousand or so in the morning.

[S.R.Custom]

Yep... it's gettin' to be that time of the year where you need to throw a log in the stove. You do have a woodstove in the shop... right?

[dakotashooter2]

I't might be time to replace the element in your pot. I actually prefer to cast in cold weather and have no problems with my lee 10# pot at sub zero temps.

[Sundogg1911]

Before I finished building my shop with forced air wood/coal furnace (yeah.....i'm spoiled now) I cast outside down to about 32F with no problems. (except with my Arthritis) I would check your equipment. At the time I was using a Lee 10 bottom drip pot. It seemed to be able to cast in colder weather than I could.