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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Going to start casting (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 11/7/2012 3:31:16 PM EDT
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With Obama term #2 now certain, I'm going to start hording Lead. Would you look over my list and let me know if it looks in order? http://www.midwayusa.com/wishList?referringListID=50603929&cm_lm=sp:[email protected]&cm_mmc=S_Spop-Email-_-Service_Emails-_-ShareWishList-_-SharedWishList Made it hot. dryflash3
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Get a second set of mold handles so you can use 2 molds at once.While one is cooling you can be pouring the other.You'll need a wooden mallet ––or hammer handle––to cut the sprue.Hit ONLY the sprue plate.Molds are precision equipment and should be treated accordingly.
If you REALLY get into casting you'll want a better,faster, easier way to size and lube bullets.The Star is the best..... I tried the Lee molds years (35?) ago and never liked them. good luck! |
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If your going to buy a nice bottom pour furnace such as you have listed you shouldn't need a ladle.
Ditch the god awful expensive flux and use sawdust. Ditch the cast iron pot and find you a nice 5 or 6 qt dutch oven from a thrift store or garage sale for smelting ingots. That's all I got on the equipment. Best advice I can give you though is read at this site and educate yourself: From Ingot to Target |
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With that amount of potential production, you need a lot more bullet lube. Get 1 or 2 extra Lee mold handles, I have broken two without much effort. You will also need separate handles for the Lyman mold.
As stated above, dump the flux and the tiny pot. Old candles with walnut hull media and any old large steel or cast iron pot would be best at feeding the RCBS. You could also drop the lead dipper. Find a large soup ladle or get one of these: Rowell I have a #1 for casting and #5 for ingot pouring. |
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Quoted:
If your going to buy a nice bottom pour furnace such as you have listed you shouldn't need a ladle. Ditch the god awful expensive flux and use sawdust. Ditch the cast iron pot and find you a nice 5 or 6 qt dutch oven from a thrift store or garage sale for smelting ingots. That's all I got on the equipment. Best advice I can give you though is read at this site and educate yourself: From Ingot to Target The ladle / pot are for secondary operations, such as when I want to burn down some lead weights and whatnot. But I guess I'll nab up a dutch oven. What kind of sawdust? How fine? |
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Casting basics
Another thread Theres some suggested reading Cast Boolits website |
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Quoted:
With Obama term #2 now certain, I'm going to start hording Lead. Would you look over my list and let me know if it looks in order? http://www.midwayusa.com/wishList?referringListID=50603929&cm_lm=sp:[email protected]&cm_mmc=S_Spop-Email-_-Service_Emails-_-ShareWishList-_-SharedWishList Good choice. Casting your own bullets is rewarding, adds a new layer of satisfaction to the hobby, and lets you truly shoot without guilt. 
I make my own lube and pan lube everything that doesn't work with tumble lube. Equal parts by weight of beeswax, paraffin, and Vaseline jelly with a couple crayons of your favorite color. Get yourself a silicone cake pan and pan lubing is a snap. |
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Quoted:
With that amount of potential production, you need a lot more bullet lube. Get 1 or 2 extra Lee mold handles, I have broken two without much effort. You will also need separate handles for the Lyman mold. As stated above, dump the flux and the tiny pot. Old candles with walnut hull media and any old large steel or cast iron pot would be best at feeding the RCBS. You could also drop the lead dipper. Find a large soup ladle or get one of these: Rowell I have a #1 for casting and #5 for ingot pouring. I researched and found out that the 6 cavity handles from Lee will work with lyman 1 and 2 cavity molds w/o modification. |
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Quoted: Get a second set of mold handles so you can use 2 molds at once.While one is cooling you can be pouring the other.You'll need a wooden mallet ––or hammer handle––to cut the sprue.Hit ONLY the sprue plate.Molds are precision equipment and should be treated accordingly. If you REALLY get into casting you'll want a better,faster, easier way to size and lube bullets.The Star is the best..... I tried the Lee molds years (35?) ago and never liked them. good luck! Will this work for a sprue slammer? http://www.midwayusa.com/product/148663/grobet-rawhide-mallet-8-oz Made it hot dryflash3
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Yes but good god don't go slamming your sprue cutter.
If you are doing it correctly you should be able to cut the sprue with a single flick of a gloved finger or thumb. Like I said, READ and educate yourself before you jump into this. I read everything I could get my hands on for about 9 months straight before I made a single move on equipment or lead. |
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Please don't take this as a criticism. I'm just ignorant, and don't want to remain that way.
What is it about the RCBS furnace that makes it worth 5 Lee Pro 4 20 Lb furnaces? |
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Quoted: Quoted: If your going to buy a nice bottom pour furnace such as you have listed you shouldn't need a ladle. Ditch the god awful expensive flux and use sawdust. Ditch the cast iron pot and find you a nice 5 or 6 qt dutch oven from a thrift store or garage sale for smelting ingots. That's all I got on the equipment. Best advice I can give you though is read at this site and educate yourself: From Ingot to Target The ladle / pot are for secondary operations, such as when I want to burn down some lead weights and whatnot. But I guess I'll nab up a dutch oven. What kind of sawdust? How fine? I use the saw dust from the bottom of my table saw. It's the very best flux. Learned of the sawdust from the book above.
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Quoted: Quoted: Get a second set of mold handles so you can use 2 molds at once.While one is cooling you can be pouring the other.You'll need a wooden mallet ––or hammer handle––to cut the sprue.Hit ONLY the sprue plate.Molds are precision equipment and should be treated accordingly. If you REALLY get into casting you'll want a better,faster, easier way to size and lube bullets.The Star is the best..... I tried the Lee molds years (35?) ago and never liked them. good luck! Will this work for a sprue slammer? http://www.midwayusa.com/product/148663/grobet-rawhide-mallet-8-oz Made it hot dryflash3 Yes but pricey. I use a tree branch about 1 1/4 diameter about 10 inches long. |
 I have had good luck with those 2 Lee 6 cavity molds. Makes lots of bullets fast. The RCBS furnace has a trouble free pour spout, a fine mold rest and plenty of room under spout. I have the Lee 10 and 20 pound pots. Both work ok. The one fault is the bottom pour spout needs to be fiddled with now and then. Important to have a clean alloy or impurities will keep spout from sealing. The top of the pour spout valve has a slot for a screwdriver. Which you turn to get spout to seal. So Lee pots will drip some. How much depends on you.  Screwdriver at bottom right of table that pot is on. My tree branch "hammer" I mentioned in a previous post on the bullet tray. Old Lemishine container holds sawdust I use for flux. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Get a second set of mold handles so you can use 2 molds at once.While one is cooling you can be pouring the other.You'll need a wooden mallet ––or hammer handle––to cut the sprue.Hit ONLY the sprue plate.Molds are precision equipment and should be treated accordingly. If you REALLY get into casting you'll want a better,faster, easier way to size and lube bullets.The Star is the best..... I tried the Lee molds years (35?) ago and never liked them. good luck! Will this work for a sprue slammer? http://www.midwayusa.com/product/148663/grobet-rawhide-mallet-8-oz Made it hot dryflash3 Here's 3 sprue knockers for half the price. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100605574/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=sledge+hammer+handle&storeId=10051#.UJunAGewVnQ I saw Lee 6 cavity molds and handles for same. I also saw a 2 cavity Lyman mold and no handles. ETA: The 2 bottles of LLA that come with the sizers will last a long time. You can certainly wait before buying more. |
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Please don't take this as a criticism. I'm just ignorant, and don't want to remain that way. What is it about the RCBS furnace that makes it worth 5 Lee Pro 4 20 Lb furnaces? Materials, fit and precision. The same things that make a Rolls Royce better than a Chevy. That said, there are a lot of people perfectly happy with their Chevy. |
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I have been casting my own for a little over a year now. Best advice I can give is read all you can and ask plenty of question both here and at the Cast Boolits web site. I use a Lee bottom pour pot and the best thing I ever did was build a PID controller to maintain the temp I want. Once I got the PID casting quality bullets become a whole lot easier for me. PID Controller Build
Like others have said above use saw dust or pine chips (pet bedding) for flux and you should only need to use a gloved hand to cut the sprue. I also use a hickory hammer handle to just tap the nut on the mold handles IF I have a boolit that does not drop from the mold when I snap it open. You can pan lube your boolits and I did this when I started out but a lube sizer is a lot quicker. I use White Label Lubes BAC for both handguns and rifles. |
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Recommendations on a lubrisizer?
I can't seem to find a 230gr round nose that's not tumble lube. If I get a lyman 4500 lubrisizer, do I want it heated? What kind of lube? *edit* n/m going to start simple with tumble lubing, if that doesn't work, then get a lubrisizer Also, just to clear it up LEE 6 CAVITY HANDLES FIT LYMAN 1 & 2 CAVITY BLOCKS!! http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=65021 |
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Quoted: Recommendations on a lubrisizer? I can't seem to find a 230gr round nose that's not tumble lube. If I get a lyman 4500 lubrisizer, do I want it heated? What kind of lube? *edit* n/m going to start simple with tumble lubing, if that doesn't work, then get a lubrisizer Also, just to clear it up LEE 6 CAVITY HANDLES FIT LYMAN 1 & 2 CAVITY BLOCKS!! http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=65021 That's the lube sizer I have. I got the heated. If you get the heated you can use the hard lube. Not heated, you have to use soft lube. Hard lube isn't as messy as soft lube. More tonight.. |
If you do use flux or wax be sure to wait for it to FLAME up... Gets me every time!!
Old Aluminum cupcake pans are the best, they make 2 1/2 lbs ingots 
Antimony and Tin are what I use to make a great flowing and hard cast. Found here Roto Metals I use this chart to get the lead hardest desired. 
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If you do use flux or wax be sure to wait for it to FLAME up... Gets me every time!! http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/YaMaMa315/65C721C5-8DC5-4EDE-B351-4AED30B2776F-9434-00000EA738DAC3E6.jpg Old Aluminum cupcake pans are the best, they make 2 1/2 lbs ingots http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/YaMaMa315/040A2980-4919-4352-B813-FB0955A8C09F-9434-00000EA75805D696.jpg Antimony and Tin are what I use to make a great flowing and hard cast. Found here Roto Metals I use this chart to get the lead hardest desired. http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/YaMaMa315/6133D233-A2CE-4262-A181-90C5E25A80CE-9434-00000EAA9585622E.jpg So.... Looking at your chart, and assuming 100% pure plumbers lead and the 30% antimony bar you posted..... how would you get to Lyman #2? |
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Add 5% tin and 5% Antimony
9lbs Lead .5 lbs tin .5 lbs Antimony 1lbs of the Antimony from Roto is 30/70 antimony/lead Thinking in larger quantities 90lbs of lead, 5lbs of tin, 5lbs antimony 10lbs - 30/70 of antimony is 3lbs antimony, 7lbs lead 5lbs of roto antimony is 1.5lbs antimony and 3.5lbs lead So 30lbs total, 1.5lbs antimony, 1.5lbs tin. Eta: Super Hard Roto mix Just take 10% of the total you are going to smelt and half of the 10% is Antimony and Tin |
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Quoted:
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If you do use flux or wax be sure to wait for it to FLAME up... Gets me every time!! http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/YaMaMa315/65C721C5-8DC5-4EDE-B351-4AED30B2776F-9434-00000EA738DAC3E6.jpg Old Aluminum cupcake pans are the best, they make 2 1/2 lbs ingots http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/YaMaMa315/040A2980-4919-4352-B813-FB0955A8C09F-9434-00000EA75805D696.jpg Antimony and Tin are what I use to make a great flowing and hard cast. Found here Roto Metals I use this chart to get the lead hardest desired. http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/YaMaMa315/6133D233-A2CE-4262-A181-90C5E25A80CE-9434-00000EAA9585622E.jpg So.... Looking at your chart, and assuming 100% pure plumbers lead and the 30% antimony bar you posted..... how would you get to Lyman #2? What are you going to be casting for? Proper sizing of the bullet is more important then hardness of the lead. I use scrap range lead for almost all of my handguns (about 10 Brinell) and air cooled wheel weight lead (about 14 Brinell) with gas checks for magnum handguns and rifles to 2000 fps. 2% tin is all you need in the mix for proper fill out of the bullets and anything more is just an expensive waste of tin. Slug you bore and size 001 to 002 over size with a good lube and you will have no problems with leading. Also bell your case mouths as much as needed to keep from shaving any lead and stay away from the Lee Factory Crimp Die to keep from swagging the bullets down. |
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What are you going to be casting for? Proper sizing of the bullet is more important then hardness of the lead. I use scrap range lead for almost all of my handguns (about 10 Brinell) and air cooled wheel weight lead (about 14 Brinell) with gas checks for magnum handguns and rifles to 2000 fps. 2% tin is all you need in the mix for proper fill out of the bullets and anything more is just an expensive waste of tin. Slug you bore and size 001 to 002 over size with a good lube and you will have no problems with leading. Also bell your case mouths as much as needed to keep from shaving any lead and stay away from the Lee Factory Crimp Die to keep from swagging the bullets down. yep I've found 50/50 wheel weights / lead with a touch of tin works great for all my hand casting , 9mm,.45acp and 7.62x39gc, If I'm using the Bullet Master then I use 2/6/92 foundry alloy |
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Quoted:
Add 5% tin and 5% Antimony 9lbs Lead .5 lbs tin .5 lbs Antimony 1lbs of the Antimony from Roto is 30/70 antimony/lead Thinking in larger quantities 90lbs of lead, 5lbs of tin, 5lbs antimony 10lbs - 30/70 of antimony is 3lbs antimony, 7lbs lead 5lbs of roto antimony is 1.5lbs antimony and 3.5lbs lead So 30lbs total, 1.5lbs antimony, 1.5lbs tin. Eta: Super Hard Roto mix Just take 10% of the total you are going to smelt and half of the 10% is Antimony and Tin I'm actually quite capable at math... I just can NEVER make this work in my head.  Thanks!
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Quoted:
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If you do use flux or wax be sure to wait for it to FLAME up... Gets me every time!! http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/YaMaMa315/65C721C5-8DC5-4EDE-B351-4AED30B2776F-9434-00000EA738DAC3E6.jpg Old Aluminum cupcake pans are the best, they make 2 1/2 lbs ingots http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/YaMaMa315/040A2980-4919-4352-B813-FB0955A8C09F-9434-00000EA75805D696.jpg Antimony and Tin are what I use to make a great flowing and hard cast. Found here Roto Metals I use this chart to get the lead hardest desired. http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l144/YaMaMa315/6133D233-A2CE-4262-A181-90C5E25A80CE-9434-00000EAA9585622E.jpg So.... Looking at your chart, and assuming 100% pure plumbers lead and the 30% antimony bar you posted..... how would you get to Lyman #2? What are you going to be casting for? Proper sizing of the bullet is more important then hardness of the lead. I use scrap range lead for almost all of my handguns (about 10 Brinell) and air cooled wheel weight lead (about 14 Brinell) with gas checks for magnum handguns and rifles to 2000 fps. 2% tin is all you need in the mix for proper fill out of the bullets and anything more is just an expensive waste of tin. Slug you bore and size 001 to 002 over size with a good lube and you will have no problems with leading. Also bell your case mouths as much as needed to keep from shaving any lead and stay away from the Lee Factory Crimp Die to keep from swagging the bullets down. No I know I've read this or similar MANY times. I'll be loading for light/med 9mm and .38spl. I'm guessing that for .38 the lead/tin mix is probably plenty but I have "a couple" different pistols so I either hope they all slug similarly, or size differently. 2% tin huh? that ain't much. I like the idea! |
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Alloy Calculator Spreadsheet
Looks complicated but works great |
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This is the answer to your question on hardness. Just get you some wheel weights and start casting.
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What are you going to be casting for? Proper sizing of the bullet is more important then hardness of the lead. I use scrap range lead for almost all of my handguns (about 10 Brinell) and air cooled wheel weight lead (about 14 Brinell) with gas checks for magnum handguns and rifles to 2000 fps. 2% tin is all you need in the mix for proper fill out of the bullets and anything more is just an expensive waste of tin. Slug you bore and size 001 to 002 over size with a good lube and you will have no problems with leading. Also bell your case mouths as much as needed to keep from shaving any lead and stay away from the Lee Factory Crimp Die to keep from swagging the bullets down. |
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well first i would add this to your list:
Lyman "Cast Bullet Handbook: 4th Edition" Book Ditch the exspensive furnance. I went with a lee for a lot less and works fine. i also got teh frankford arsenal flux. i dont like the fumes that comes off of saw dust and it last a long time. I would suggest some mold release. it helps. |
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Quoted:
well first i would add this to your list: Lyman "Cast Bullet Handbook: 4th Edition" Book Ditch the exspensive furnance. I went with a lee for a lot less and works fine. i also got teh frankford arsenal flux. i dont like the fumes that comes off of saw dust and it last a long time. I would suggest some mold release. it helps. I've already got the RCBS sitting on my counter, please stop telling me to go with a lower quality unit. Quoted:
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As far as alloys go, should I just shoot for Lyman #2 alloy for a majority of my loading (BH of 15, 90-5-5)? Or hardball (92-2-6, BH 16)? Use a soft alloy for 1000 fps and under. Hard for full power magnum loads. Soft being around what? 10-12 BH? |
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Quoted: Quoted: well first i would add this to your list: Lyman "Cast Bullet Handbook: 4th Edition" Book Ditch the exspensive furnance. I went with a lee for a lot less and works fine. i also got teh frankford arsenal flux. i dont like the fumes that comes off of saw dust and it last a long time. I would suggest some mold release. it helps. I've already got the RCBS sitting on my counter, please stop telling me to go with a lower quality unit. Quoted: Quoted: As far as alloys go, should I just shoot for Lyman #2 alloy for a majority of my loading (BH of 15, 90-5-5)? Or hardball (92-2-6, BH 16)? Use a soft alloy for 1000 fps and under. Hard for full power magnum loads. Soft being around what? 10-12 BH? Can't give a precise answer, I've been mixing lead by eye for a while. I don't have a hardness tester. Bullet to bore fit is more important than hardness. Here is a good explanation.
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Quoted: Hardware update http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/Boosted98gsx/Guns/Reloading/20121115_175848.jpg That big dipper is a magnum. Aluminum muffin pans, those were a good find.
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Quoted:
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As far as alloys go, should I just shoot for Lyman #2 alloy for a majority of my loading (BH of 15, 90-5-5)? Or hardball (92-2-6, BH 16)? Use a soft alloy for 1000 fps and under. Hard for full power magnum loads. Soft being around what? 10-12 BH? Can't give a precise answer, I've been mixing lead by eye for a while. I don't have a hardness tester. Bullet to bore fit is more important than hardness. Here is a good explanation. As dryflash3 states, there isn't a precise answer to your question. Bullet casting is as much art as science. You're just going to have to dive in and see what works for you. Expect a learning curve. |
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your updated hardware looks nice.
the best piece of hardware you can get is: Lyman "Cast Bullet Handbook: 4th Edition" Book you can also get the lee hardness tester. you will also need to understand the relationship to hardness and pressure. there is a reason why 45acp uses a softer lead than 9mm or 357 sig. will save you a lot of time trying to get lead our of the barrel. on that note, pick up a box of pure copper chore boy. make sure its pure copper and not copper coated steel. it is the best and quickest way to get lead out of the barrel. |
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I was graciously donated 50 lbs of 100% plumbers lead recently, so I calculated up a good alloy (2% Sn, 5% Sb, and 93% Pb for ~ 13.7 BH) and got to assembling my first smelting attempt!
I acquired an old cast iron dutch oven, turkey frying propane stand, and my necessary ladles. 
weighed out half of my metals and dumped them in 
set the flame and began the melt! 
Fluxed with some saw dust 
realized i had double the casting capacity than I anticipated, so I doubled up! 
I got the temp up to 700F, fluxed the new volume, and skimmed out the dross: 
TIME TO POUR!!! 
AND MOAR INGOTS!!! 
MONUMENTAL SUCCESS!! 
Also gathered 50lbs of wheel weights and melted them down too. 
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| not to hijack, but was on the same path as the OP. My dad used to be a caster. I have all his equipment and its in decent shape. Only one question, where are you guys finding the lead? Checked the local tire places and a no go. I assume they are already selling it. Can you buy it reasonable enough to justify casting? |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Going to start casting (Page 1 of 2)
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