Im having a problem with frosting. No matter what i do it doesnt want to go away. Ive tried adjusting my temp between 650 to 750 and it doesnt seem to change it. Im using a lee 6 cavity mold. Any ideas?
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Im having a problem with frosting. No matter what i do it doesnt want to go away. Ive tried adjusting my temp between 650 to 750 and it doesnt seem to change it. Im using a lee 6 cavity mold. Any ideas?
How are you preheating the mold?
Frosting is due to your mold being to hot.
It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
Theodore Roosevelt
I've never found frosting to be a problem, Lee molds usually have to be run hot to fill out properly. If you're getting good fillout the frosting is just cosmetic.
I can't get my Lee's to fill well if they aren't a little frosty. Someone will chime in here but I don't see a problem with it.
be
Ok, i didnt think it would be a problem. They seem to be filling ok, they just dont look pretty.
Some of us like brunettes, some of us like redheads, I figure pretty is as pretty does. If your loads shoot well what could be prettier than that?
One thing I want to ask, what do you mean by saying you are "having a problem with frosting"?Originally Posted by walker77
Some frosting is not a bad thing at all. Frosting bad enough to give a crystallization look is excessive and is an indication your mold is too hot. A wet sponge or old towel to wipe the bottom of the mold on will help to control the excess heat. Also slowing your casting speed a little will help.
Edd
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You mean the speed of the pour or my speed of dropping and pouring. Also, im dropping them in a bucket of water. Im assuming that isnt causing it. Thanks again for all the help guys.
Your dropping and pouring speed. or cycle time, or rhythm. Basically allow a bit more time between your fills...but just a little slower...and the damp to wet rag helps a bunch too if your still having the problem. Like I said some frosting IS desirable because you'll have complete fill out of the boolits.
Edd
Charter member Michigan liars club!
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in Government." -- Thomas Jefferson
"Consider the clown(s) just one of God's little nettles in the woods, don't let it detract from the beauty. Sooner or latter you are going to run into the nettles regardless of how careful you are."
Beware of man who types much, but says nothing.
Walker- think in terms of heat. The faster you try to make boolits, the more heat gets to your mold from molten lead, and it multiplies the sooner you drop and get back to the heat on the next pour.
Slow down and your heat doesn't build up as fast, but sometimes you just need to slow that heat down more and touch the mold on a wet towel to soak up some of the heat.
Simply trying to control heat on the pot is not enough. Control it with a wet towel in between, and soon you will find the best balance of getting it the heat just to where your bullets fill out and drop well, and not to hot with tons of frosting.
It may be that you find touching the towel between every 2 pours, may do it... or every other time, or less. Then when your towel drys out to much, it doesn't soak up enough heat.
Excessive heat = frosting.
Wet towel = heat sink.
Those are my 2 favorite colors ...
Fillout determines the quality of a bullet.
If the corners are sharp enough to feel sharp, and the surface has no wrinkles, pits, or scabs, the bullet mirrors the mould it came out of. It doesn't need a 'mirror surface' to do that.
Frosting is an indicator of temperature.
A mirror surface on a well-filled-out bullet says it was cast under near perfect conditions. The shine doesn't make it a better bullet, it just says you are doing everything as right as it can be done.
Different alloys have different characteristics. Those of lead and tin only never need to show frost on the way to good fillout. Antimonal alloys frequently do.
If you can get shiney bullets with the stuff in your pot, you can probably get shiney bullets that are well-filled. Keep the pot hot enough to get the wrinkles out, and cast slow enough so the mould doesn't run too hot.
If you are into six-cavity moulds, damp towels, buckets of water, heat dissipating fans, and sprue-freezing sponges...you probably don't have the patience, or the need, for shiney bullets.
CM
Retired...TWICE. Now just raisin' cows and livin' on borrowed time.
I like plenty of frosting on my cake, also on my boolits. If I don't get some frosting on my boolits, somethings wrong! (unless I'm casting 20-1 alloy, that normally fills out well and results in shiny boolits).
YOU DON'T NEED SHINY BOOLITS. The frosted ones size better, and hold the lube better. Think about it, would grease stick to the mirror surface on that shiny boolit, or would it be more likely to stick to a frosted surface?
[QUOTE=If you are into six-cavity moulds, damp towels, buckets of water, heat dissipating fans, and sprue-freezing sponges...you probably don't have the patience, or the need, for shiney bullets.
CM[/QUOTE]
What is sprue-freezing sponges? I dont want to do anything to break another sprue handle. If i keep a wet rag to touch the mold to, will that warp the mold? How long should i leave it on the rag for? Thanks again. I really dont know what i would have done with out the knowledge on this forum. I really do appreciate your guys help.
Molds, bullet casters, and the methods they use all vary somewhat. What constitutes quality varies too. Some guys like to control mold heat with damp rags, fans, etc. and others don't. Some guys want maximum production, others don't like to hurry. It's all whatever you like - it's a HOBBY.
I try to keep things simple. With most of my Lee 6 holers I have found that using WWs for alloy, controlling my pot heat to keep the bullet just into the frosted range, and using BullPlate lube so I can cut sprues when they're still soft w/o smearing gives me good fillout and a production rate of 12 to 18 bullets a minute. If the sprues take too long to cool I just turn the pot down a smidge and put the mold down on my steel top table for a minute. Usually that's long enough to grab some more ingots from across the garage, or use the restroom, etc.
I don't mind frosted bullets as long as they're filled out, I work at a comfortable pace and get all the bullets I need. Find what works for you, there is a lot of right ways to cast good bullets.
I may be thinking along a different path.... But, it has been my experience that if frosting develops ONLY in certain areas of the boolit that the alloy needs freshened up with a little tin or a little fresh lino type. If frosting appears all over, then it may be a temperature issue. I normally run my pot real hot, 800 plus, and cast with two 6 ,or two 8, or two 10 cavity H&G moulds. My alloy loves this method. Frosting along the groove area is my first indicator of a diminished or depleted alloy, thus requiring freshening up.
That is what I love about this site too. I you have tried and have a problem most everyone will try to help you. GOOD casting to you.What is sprue-freezing sponges? A very wet sponge that you turn the mold upside down on AFTER the sprue puddle solifies for a second to hasten the sprue hardening for cut off. Note: a second so... one thousand one ...pull it off the sponge and cut the sprue. I dont want to do anything to break another sprue handle. If i keep a wet rag to touch the mold to, will that warp the mold? NOPE but notice iI said to swipe the mold accros the rag. It just cools the mold slightly and you're not after dunking the mold to cool it. Just a quick sizzle is enough. AND would we tell you to do something that would hurt your mold?How long should i leave it on the rag for? JUST a sizzle worth! Thanks again. I really dont know what i would have done with out the knowledge on this forum. I really do appreciate your guys help.
Edd
Charter member Michigan liars club!
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in Government." -- Thomas Jefferson
"Consider the clown(s) just one of God's little nettles in the woods, don't let it detract from the beauty. Sooner or latter you are going to run into the nettles regardless of how careful you are."
Beware of man who types much, but says nothing.
I run right up until when I start opening the mold the bullets slump on their way to the quench bucket. Then I switch to another mold while mold 1 cools. Frosting? Good stuff.
Some alloys cast differently than others. Some may even have impurities in them that make pretty, shiny impossible. This is not to mention that some of these alloys need to cast hotter than others because of their makeup. In general, what has previously been said here is right on, but there may be further issues in the mix. This has nix to do with whether these alloys can be made to cast good, accurate boolits. Most of my alloys will not make pretty, shiny - but they do make good.
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