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Posted: 12/17/2011 2:42:39 PM EDT
What is going on here? I'm getting these fingers when I pour. The handles are held tight as possible... Thanks! 
Update. Update. Update. Ok. First thank you everybody. As usual you guys know your stuff. I was pressure casting and that was part of the problem. I got great fills but as we saw I was overfilling. Also the temp was way too high. I cut it back to 670 degrees and in conjunction with bringing the mold down that cured my issues. So now I'm getting perfectly cast 148gr 9mm bullets finally! I'm using pure wheel weight as my metal. These are strictly for plinking Thank you one and all. GeorgiaBII |
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what type of mold? I never had that happen, haven't cast for a while but when I did I used Lee 6 cavity molds. Make sure the molds are clean, use solvent of some type, then dry. Blacken the mold cavities with soot from kitchen matches. Make sure the mold is up to temperature, you can dip a corner of it in the molten lead to heat it up or use a propane torch Use bullet lube to lubricate the sprue plate and locking pins |
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The melt temperature is the first thing to try. ( lower the temp ) A thermometer is key to understanding if heat is the culprit. The other thing is how you are delivering the molten lead into the mould. There is the technique of "pressure casting" where the spout of the ladle or bottom pour furnace is up against the mould. The pressure of the lead behind the spout forces lead into the mould. Some moulds require this for good fillout. Some moulds act like yours, they develop fins on the bullet. If you are using a pressure casting method, try leaving a gap between the spout and the mould sprue plate. The reduced pressure will stop the finning. |
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It looks like you are pressure casting. Are you using a bottom pour or ladle casting? What temp are you running your melt and what is your casting cadence? What is your casting technique? If you are using a bottom pour how much distance between the spout and the mold?
Need more info to figure out what is going on since you said you see no light between the block faces. |
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Google Leementing, Lee molds often have issues with ventilation.
It looks like a combination of all the above issues, but keep it simple, is the mold clean? I've had problems whiskering when the mold still had lube in it. I never had much luck with Lee dual cavity molds, ended up swapping to rcbs and lyman. |
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Quoted:
Google Leementing, Lee molds often have issues with ventilation. It looks like a combination of all the above issues, but keep it simple, is the mold clean? I've had problems whiskering when the mold still had lube in it. I never had much luck with Lee dual cavity molds, ended up swapping to rcbs and lyman. OP already stated was a RCBS mold. |
| If there is no gap in the mold as you say, the mold is way to hot. As mentioned above, get a thermometer. You want to run your melt cool and mold hot. I run my melt at 625-650. It looks like your melt is way to hot causing your mold to get too hot. I find dimensions start to vary when things are hot also. You get this finning when things are too hot. The melt gets hotter as the pot empties. You really need a thermometer. |
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