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August 18, 2000, 09:36 AM
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#1 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: March 13, 2000
Posts: 200
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Why do people smoke the molds? Do they have to be resized?
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August 18, 2000, 11:00 AM
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#2 |
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Junior member
Join Date: August 8, 2000
Location: ARKANSAS
Posts: 484
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jetrecbn1:
Why do people smoke the molds? Do they have to be resized?[/quote] The only reason to "smoke" the mold is to allow easier release of the bullet from the mold. Usally a smack from a wooden mallet is all it takes. Some alloys shrink just a bit and allow the bullet to stick in the mold. The smoke buildup on the mold allows the bullet to break away easier. No resizing has to be done. |
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August 18, 2000, 11:58 AM
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#3 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: March 13, 2000
Posts: 200
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Once the lead is poured into the mould, how many seconds do you have to wait before opening the mould and dumping the newly formed bullets into a water bath.
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August 18, 2000, 12:18 PM
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#4 |
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Member In Memoriam
Join Date: March 19, 2000
Location: Jeanerette, La. Near the
Posts: 1,999
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If you watch the sprue puddle on top of the sprue cutter plate you will see it turn a frosted color and shrink some, this is an idication that the lead is soldified. It is now safe to knock the sprue off and drop the bullet in water. One word of caution.........keep the water AWAY from your lead pot! One drop can cause a steam explosion.
------------------ Carlyle Hebert |
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August 18, 2000, 01:20 PM
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#5 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: July 26, 1999
Location: Georgia
Posts: 362
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As far as how long it takes for the bullets to harden, it depends on the size of the bullet, the alloy, the temperature of the pot, and the mold you are using (aluminum cools faster than iron molds). As Southla 1 stated, watch the sprue and you will see it harden. I begin counting once I fill the mold; it usually takes about 15 seconds to reach cutting time. You will just have to kind of learn it as you go. If you wait too long it will be hard to cut and you may pull a small chunk out of the base of the bullet. Cut it too soon and you will smear alloy across the mold and sprue cutter (not good either).
I used to drop into water right from the mold but I now prefer to heat in an oven; hardened bullets take more effort to size! In order to keep water from splashing I attached an old ironing board cover to the edge of my bench. The other end was attached to the water bucket so that I could drop the bullets onto the cloth and let them slide into the water. You just have to make sure that the cloth is arranged so that the bullets won't bump the edge of the bucket on the way down and get dinged up. That will put some distance between the water and the melted alloy. Jack |
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