Well, today I got out the NOE 360160WFN RG4 mold and gave it a whirl. And I learned a few things. First..... a 4 cav brass mold is heavy.
Next, the silly b̶o̶o̶l̶i̶ bullets stick to the pins much worse than a nice twist-n-pull single cav pin casting, and more than a Cramer style too. Or perhaps it was just the big ol' fat pin. I did get lots of help by taking the pins out, chucking them up on the drill and spinning them in some 800 grit sandpaper for a few seconds and reinstalling them, and didn't even burn myself too bad while doing that. I think it could use some more smoothing, but it was much better at dropping them after that. They didn't really stick to the side of the cavity much at all. Just the pins. I don't know anything about mold design, but I do think that steel pins instead of aluminum would really help them hold heat better.
Fillout was nice too, but I was using isotope again, so it had 2.5% tin in it and I had the temp set to about 800-825. I got the mold pretty hot on the hotplate before I started. Then..... the wooden part of the handles on the Lee 6-cav separated from the metal. That didn't deter me much, just annoyed me. I cast with gloves on anyway and I just pushed the handles back up on the metal every time I closed the sprue after dumping. I did end up with about 12# of pretty nice ones after all was said and done. I probably cast somewhere around 20# though. It was an experience. Part of the trick (as I discovered) was to get it casting really well and then cast like my life depended on it. As long as it was going really fast, they came off the pins much better and looked good. I never got it hot enough for any frosting (which was kinda my goal.... I seem to do best right before it gets frosty), so I might have to up the temp and my casting speed next time. It will help when I figure out how to reattach the wood to the handles.
And... it would probably help more to keep things hot if I hadn't been ladle casting. But I don't have a bottom pour.
Here's a pic of the 12# effort from my cellphone. I'll take some better pics and update tonight with digital camera.
Next, the silly b̶o̶o̶l̶i̶ bullets stick to the pins much worse than a nice twist-n-pull single cav pin casting, and more than a Cramer style too. Or perhaps it was just the big ol' fat pin. I did get lots of help by taking the pins out, chucking them up on the drill and spinning them in some 800 grit sandpaper for a few seconds and reinstalling them, and didn't even burn myself too bad while doing that.
I think it could use some more smoothing, but it was much better at dropping them after that. They didn't really stick to the side of the cavity much at all. Just the pins. I don't know anything about mold design, but I do think that steel pins instead of aluminum would really help them hold heat better. Fillout was nice too, but I was using isotope again, so it had 2.5% tin in it and I had the temp set to about 800-825. I got the mold pretty hot on the hotplate before I started. Then..... the wooden part of the handles on the Lee 6-cav separated from the metal. That didn't deter me much, just annoyed me. I cast with gloves on anyway and I just pushed the handles back up on the metal every time I closed the sprue after dumping. I did end up with about 12# of pretty nice ones after all was said and done. I probably cast somewhere around 20# though. It was an experience. Part of the trick (as I discovered) was to get it casting really well and then cast like my life depended on it. As long as it was going really fast, they came off the pins much better and looked good. I never got it hot enough for any frosting (which was kinda my goal.... I seem to do best right before it gets frosty), so I might have to up the temp and my casting speed next time. It will help when I figure out how to reattach the wood to the handles.
And... it would probably help more to keep things hot if I hadn't been ladle casting. But I don't have a bottom pour.
Here's a pic of the 12# effort from my cellphone. I'll take some better pics and update tonight with digital camera.
