To say I am discouraged is an understatement

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Since we're already going off on a tangent, I'll follow up the armor post with this question. Why do people own cats? Filthy, miserable, arrogant, unappreciative shedding cats. They not only have them, they keep them IN the home and TEACH them to krap IN THE HOUSE. And then they feed them so much they can;t possible get up the gumption to do any mousing.

continuing off tangent.
I have lived alone in the house I currently live in, since 1993. Almost went crazy from loneliness in 2000 (btw, the Y2K BS that I fell for didn't help). I got two cats that year, yeah they shed, one of them is arrogant (the alpha), yeah they krap in the house (but so do I), they will only eat the most expensive cat food, they will chase a laser spot but not a mouse, they make perfectly good furnature look like they were made out of old shag carpeting, they try their darnest to sneak into rooms they have been forbidden entry (ie closed door of the reloading room) then cry and cry when they get trapped in there. But I love them, and they keep me sane. Oh, and when these two decide to fight each other, it is the best entertainment...until they bust up the place
Jon

[Bret4207]

Jon, they make these things called dogs.......

[Crash_Corrigan]

Bret: I have been living in Vegas since I started casting seriously ('93) and I confess to not owning anything that is worn with synthethic fabric. The only time I wear shorts is when I am hanging out around the house. I find myself wearing long sleeved shirts most of the time to prevent excess exposure to the sun along with a wide brimmed hat when outdoors. We are sitting here at about 3,000 feet above sea level and the sun is strong most days. I have already had some cancerous growths removed from my face and ears etc and I do not enjoy being cut on. Old guys heal slow and are naturally grumpy anyway.

When riding my motorcycle I wear a long sleeved armored mesh jacket along with a full face helmet, gloves, heavy boots and a water soaked vest under the jacket to keep me cool by evaporation. Those items along with the proper sidearm, ammo and a iced down container of water or gatorade in my saddle bags make for a pleasant day on the roads.

Otherwise I usually wear a clean pair of blue jeans or even overalls. They have to be some of the most comfortable garments every devised. Mucho pockets and no constriction about the waist or the family jewels. This is important in this very hot and dry area. I can pack most of my boy toys in various pockets or an ankle holster.

With the high crime enviornment here in Sin City I seldom have less than one weapon concealed on me. This includes time spent indoors in my tin trailer.

AS far as cats go......If you call a dog he may come to you immediately.....call a cat and they take a message and they may get back to you sometime.....My ex was given a cat found in the desert on 7/5/09 in terrible condition. Black tounge, emaciated and dehydrated and about dead. I cannot begin to tell you of the many hours that we have spent laughing with this cat as she goes through her shennagins around the house. She adores empty brown paper bags. Give her two of those and she will play with them for weeks and eventually they will be worn out, soft and torn. Give her some new ones and she is in heaven.

She is a great companion and very sensistive to the EX SWMBO's moods and feeling. When she recently had carpel tunnel surgery on both hands the cat was there draped around her neck to provide comfort when the pain was bad and she was lonely. Now that she is more recovered and the pain is being held at bay with decent pain killers the cat has moved off and is doing her own thing.

My dog SGT. Rambo a Chiweenie (Chihuahua and Dauschound mix) of 12 pounds is slowly establishing a relationship with the cat Rocki. Now they plan ambushes and frontal assaults all over the house. Recently I was asleep on the pull out bed of the couch at about 0430 when the cat attacked Sgt. Rambo in the bed.

The whole thing took about 8 seconds and was over quickly and we both rapidly fell back into the arms of Morphius. No damage done but it was a big surprise.

I love pets and both cats and dogs in low numbers are a blast. However some people like to have large numbers of cats in the house and I do not find that agreeable. A couple or three at most is enuf for me. Same with Dogs.

[Recluse]

No, I just have nasal passages that work really well. The Ivory soap tears me a new one.

That's what my wife says about my chili.

I just hand her a bottle of mentholatum and tell her to dab it in her nostrils. Won't smell a thing after that.

(You reading this Gear?)

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Jon, they make these things called dogs.......

I do love dogs too.
Dogs do take more work, although that isn't the problem.
I spiradically travel,
the cats can take care of themselves for 4 days,
whereas a dog cannot.
Jon

[armoredman]

We love our pets, all 7 of them, all rescues. They do tend to leave my reloading gear alone, except for the little Cocker Spaniel, Cocoa Puff, who keeps wanting to lick the powder measure. No, nothing bad happened to her, or to the Uniflow, but I moved it out of tounges' reach!
We will be going down to two dogs, two cats, through natural attrition, as five IS a bit much, but they helped keep my wife sane through many trials and tribulations.
Back to the thread, ran through WalMart today before work, NO hot plates! Can you believe it?

[geargnasher]

Try the stove!

Gear

[armoredman]

Going to, on my Friday. Thanks for all the help, guy!
Hmmm, now I wonder what setting...where is 400 degrees on a top burner on a 10 year old electric stove... Eh, cook on high for 20 minutes, oughta do it!

BTW, Crash, cute dog, NICE bike!

[snuffy]

Here I thought I knew how to cast boolits! I've only been doing this for 45 years! just tried out several tips mentioned on this thread.

The main one/tip is a single burner stove to pre-heat molds. Today, I just bought the Walgreens Sylvania 1000 watt model, $12.99. Set on low it runs at about 450 according to my laser thermometer. Before, I was using a propane single burner camp stove, made for back packers. It simply screws on the top of a cylinder.

I set a lee 6 banger, TC 230 452 TL on it while the lee 4-20 was getting up to temp. I have a PID for a thermostat for it, I had it set at 715. After it was @ 715, The mold cast the first pour produced keepers. I found that as the mold increased in temp., I was able to reduce the temp on the melt. And still have perfectly filled out boolits. I actually eventually got down to 700, still well filled out boolits. A hot mold does not need real hot metal. Dropping "muffins" in to replenish, the temp dropped to 650, I could still cast good boolits because the mold stayed hot.

I never heard the term "burning lead". Referring to having the lead temp too high. I always say that alloyed lead does not "separate", like some believe. Another old wives tale. But, saying the tin is the most easily oxidized of the metals in the alloy, AND is most reactive with the oxygen in the atmosphere, means keeping the temp downs saves tin. I noticed that the surface of the melt had a LOT less slag build up on it at the lower temp. I had been casting at 750, sometimes 775 for some molds.

The alloy I'm using is range lead I saved from an indoor range. Sweetened with a little Midway pure tin, it produces boolits that are right on for the weight the mold is supposed to make. The BHN has been right around 12-14 for AC boolits.

[94Doug]

I'm a little late here, but when the talk was focused on spray cleaners for moulds, I thought of a spray cleaner that was used for electronics. CRC markets one that goes by QD or something to that effect, for auto electronics. It was formulated for the newer circuits, as opposed to the old "contact cleaner" and was advertised not to leave a residue. Just wondering if that has been tried?

Doug

[giz189]

DANGER Guys DON"T DO THIS I have been casting for several years, never heard of "smoking the moulds". How do you guys do it without burning your lips?

[cbrick]

snuffy, by golly I think you've got it. Your correct, the alloy doesn't seperate but it does oxidize and the higher the temp the faster the oxidation and the tin oxidizes first.

Here's another tip for you and this one will save you money. Click on the link at the top of this page for "Roto Metals". There you will find pure tin at a much better price than at Midway. In addition to being less expensive Roto Metals is also a sponsor of this forum, a big plus for those of us that love this place.

Rick

[sha-ul]

DANGER Guys DON"T DO THIS I have been casting for several years, never heard of "smoking the moulds". How do you guys do it without burning your lips?

really big papers?




:ducking tomatoes:

[geargnasher]

Yes, Snuffy, you do gots it! I was doing it the same way as you for about a third as long before I found this place and learned a few things. Yesterday I was looking at some boolits I cast many moons ago and realized how cruddy they looked. Poor fillout, sometimes overly frosted, just generally poor.

One other thing that casting cooler does happens within the mould. Tin riding on the surface of the metal as it flows into the cavity continuously oxidizes as the alloy flows and breaks through, kind of like oak tree bark as the tree grows. The less that oxide builds up in the fraction of a second it takes to fill the cavity, the less dross in the cavity and fewer voids, inclusions, and uneven patches of oxide on the boolit surface. The best boolits I ever case were contact ladle-cast after I purged the mould cavities with Argon/CO2 from my back-purge nozzle that I use for certain kinds of TiG welds. NO oxygen in the cavites, no oxide on the metal coming in, virtually perfect conditions for fillout.

Gear

[sha-ul]

The best boolits I ever case were contact ladle-cast after I purged the mould cavities with Argon/CO2 from my back-purge nozzle that I use for certain kinds of TiG welds. NO oxygen in the cavites, no oxide on the metal coming in, virtually perfect conditions for fillout.

Gear

I may be mistaken, but isn't Argon heavier than air? would it be possible to purge a metal coffee can, or bucket& maintain a trickle of inert gas into that bucket, so that when you open& close your mold, it by default would fill with an inert gas?

[a.squibload]

I may be mistaken, but isn't Argon heavier than air? would it be possible to purge a metal coffee can, or bucket& maintain a trickle of inert gas into that bucket, so that when you open& close your mold, it by default would fill with an inert gas?

Dang, this is starting to sound expensive!
I would think the hot mold and boolits would cause a thermal imbalance, and exchange the gas with outside air.
How fast is the question. Might be worth a try.

Side note/hijack:
I haven't made my pot yet.
You made me think about purging the propane tank before cutting, water would be cheap but messy,
gas from the mig would be easier to deal with but would it hang around long enough to be worth it?
Could plug the hole where the valve used to be before cutting.
Otherwise I figured on using the air grinder with a cutoff wheel, no electricity, no problem splashing water.
Friend loaned me a GFI pigtail but I still don't like the idea of getting water in my electric grinder.

[Bret4207]

I'm a little late here, but when the talk was focused on spray cleaners for moulds, I thought of a spray cleaner that was used for electronics. CRC markets one that goes by QD or something to that effect, for auto electronics. It was formulated for the newer circuits, as opposed to the old "contact cleaner" and was advertised not to leave a residue. Just wondering if that has been tried?

Doug

I don't know what the electronics cleaners use or what residue they might leave. Personally, when I want something really clean I spray it down with ether/starting fluid. Rust will appear with in minutes in the right weather.

[Bret4207]

DANGER Guys DON"T DO THIS I have been casting for several years, never heard of "smoking the moulds". How do you guys do it without burning your lips?

You use a pipe of course! Dr Grabow makes the "Keith", the "Loverin" and the "Veral" models. You can usually order the "Lee Special" or the cadillac of them all- "The Royal Hensley Meerschaum". The last one comes with a derrick that attaches to your scalp and forehead to support the weight. Very chic!

Burn your lips indeed. Bosh!

[cbrick]

Dropping "muffins" in to replenish, the temp dropped to 650, I could still cast good boolits because the mold stayed hot.

Try pre-heating your muffins on the hot plate while your casting. If you drop in muffins at say 375-400 degrees you'll drop the pot temp far less than dropping in room temp muffins. When you use any of the pre-heated muffins from the hot plate replace them to keep some ready to use.

I use the Magma 40 pound pot with the PID controller so the temp would drop less except I use 5 pound ingots, therefore I pre-heat the ingots.

EDIT to add: Adding alloy to your pot can easily drop the pot/alloy temp below the liquidus temp of your alloy. The alloy may still look melted but some of the metals such as antimony with a much higher melting/liquidus temp may no longer be completely melted. Add new alloy slowly to prevent this, yet another reason for using a thermometer.

Rick

[snuffy]

#200?
I tried putting the 2# muffins on the stove. Also a couple balanced on top o' the pot to pre-heat them. Both worked, BUT i need to find something like a saw blade to make the stove more user friendly. It's also very lightly built, the coils easily deflect when weight is set on them.

I had another mold to pre-heat, another thing mentioned in this thread about the Lyman 358156. I just got one to try to duplicate Skeeter's favorite loads in my new GP-100 6". Problem is, the Ruger has .358 throats, and the mold insists on throwing .357 boolits. I wanted to try ladle casting, with the lead having a bit more tin in it. It worked! They're dropping @ .3585. But ladle casting is my least favorite thing to do, it's so slow! If I come up with a good load, I'd be spending a lot of time just casting! Upside is they are absolutely bootiful looking boolits! I guess you pays yer money, you'd better dance to the tune! With the Hornady gas check, they're hardly free!

I compared the prices for tin between the Midway ingots, and roto metal. About a buck difference, NOT counting shipping. I've been meaning to go buy some lead-free solder at the fleet farm, but finances right now are severely limited. I'm recovering from prostate cancer surgery, a davincci robotic prostectomy. Caught it early, it all came out with the prostate and seminal vesicle.