Casting aggravation-- lead stuck in the hole

[Jim Barber]

Well, it's kind of a moot point now 'cause I just finished up about 90 carbine bullets for Nationals, but it's been an ongoing issue: usually when I'm casting, I'll pour the remaining lead out of the dipper onto the face of the sprue plate, creating a nice blob there. Once it's non-liquid I invert it, give the plate a whack and the whole sprue (including the bit in the fill hole) plunks back into the pot. The past few months it's been giving me fits-- the bit in the fill hole just sticks in there, and I have to dig it out between bullets. The easiest way seems to be, after whacking the sprue plate open & dropping the fresh bullet, poking the stuck lead out from the bottom toward the face of the plate. I've tried heating the pot to tarnation, I've tried turning the temp down a tad, and nothing seems to work. Cleaned it up and applied fresh mould prep (Moose Juice) to the face of the sprue plate, especially the fill hole, a while back, with no change in stickiness. It doesn't stick anywhere else, just the hole.
Any ideas? For what it's worth, I'm running various crappy-- er, I mean, hard, batches of lead. But I've been through a lot of different sourced batches with no change in this irritant. Took me about 90 minutes to cast up this batch!

Thanks for any wisdom y'all might impart, hope to see you in a few days!
Jim B.
110th OVI
Grove City, OH

[Maillemaker]

I don't plop my sprues back in the pot, too much splashing. But when my sprue sticks in the sprue plate, I just tap the underside of the plate with my sprue cutting block of wood and it usually drops right out.

Steve

[Mike Stein]

Sounds like a notch in the pour hole. I'd look with a glass to verify and then polish the back side of the plate as well as the chamfer on the top until the notch diminished or disappeared. Replacement sprue cutters can be got.

[Ron/The Old Reb]

I have the same problem with some of my molds. I just pop it out with an ice pick. I think that it has to do with not letting the lead cool enough before wacking the spur plate. Because it doesn't happen with every bullet.

[Hickok]

Jim I agree with all the above.

Also I at times take a pencil and give the the spruce hole and plate a good coating "lead" from the pencil to help the release. I leave a large blob of the liquid melt on the sprue plate so a little will just run over the edge of the sprue plate. Then you can take your gloved hand and easily grab the lead and flick it off if it sticks. The whole chuck usually comes off.

I have this problem at times when casting with wheelweight metal or "hard alloy". Seems soft, pure lead for minies doesn't give me this problem.

[jonk]

You need some mold release. Bullshop's "Bullplate" (google it) is great for this- but essentially it is just synthetic high temperature 2 cycle oil. Bring the mold up to temp, with a bullet in the mold put a drop on the top and bottom each of the sprue plate, open and shut it a few times, then wipe the excess off with a q tip.

I'd imagine that moosmould's moose juice would do much the same for release effect, though not for lubrication. The bullplate keeps the bottom of the sprue cutter from developing a lead streak as well.

[dennis g]

It's just your hard lead, cause it's brittle when thin. But I don't understand all this talk about whacking molds/ sprue cutters with a stick. Get a pair of heavy leather gloves and push open your sprue cutter with your thumb. Why abuse your equipment by beating it with a stick? It might lead to having problems when casting. Keep your mold clean, smoke it lightly with a wooden match, and let a little run over the side so you have a handle to pull it off your sprue plate when you open it. Don't drop your sprue back in till you reload your pot. The temp. will stay more consistent and you'll notice a difference in your casting.

[Ron/The Old Reb]

Bullet casting 101
You never whack the mold it self. Good way to ruin a mold. Caught my son doing that one time to get the bullet to drop out. He got his butt chewed out for that one. Only the spur plate to cut the spur, with a piece of hardwood like a hammer handle. Been whacking the spur plats on some of my molds for fifty years and they still cast perfect bullets

[Maillemaker]

I use a piece of wooden curtain rod (pine dowel perhaps 2" in diameter) with one end wrapped in leather. I put the leather on it because the sprue plate was chewing up the wood. I use this to strike the sprue cutter and, when necessary, tap the pivot bolt to get a bullet to drop free.

Steve

[Ron/The Old Reb]

That's the correct way to do it. Never hit the mold. Only the spur plate and handle joint. A good mold with proper care will last a life time. I have some Lyman's that are over fifty years old, used hard and still cast good bullets. A pine dowel rod is to soft, you get splinter all over the place. Go to a hardware store and buy an ash or hickory hammer handle there only a couple of bucks no splinters.

[Mike w/ 34th]

Dennis G,

I also use gloves and just crank the sprue plate open with my thumb. Usually works great. Then every now and again, I burn a hole in my glove, and end up branding myself. Need some better gloves.

As for the original question, I get the same thing when casting roundball with a Jeff Tanner mould. There is no sprue plate, you have to nip it off with cutters afterward. Every now and again, it just breaks off. I usually take that as a sign it's time to flux the pot and add a little lead. I should probably do a little experiment to see if a ball cast with the "soft" alloy is lighter than a regular one.

-Mike

[efritz]

Take a small piece of bees wax and dab the top of the sprue plate. Just enough for the wax to reach the hole. Don't let it run down into the hole as this will cause wrinkles in the bullet. If it coats the hole that's good. Get ready to catch the sprue because it'll slip off real easy. You can also dab some on top of the mould between the sprue and mould to lube that area. You'll probably get 20-30 rounds out of it maybe more before you have to do it again. Throw away any wooden beaters. you won't need them to remove the sprue ever again. If you ever find the sprue plate tightening up during your moulding session, use the wax on the sprue screw. Bees wax is also good for fluxing and part A in bullet lubes. I've heard it's also good for mosquito bites but I think the hot wax hurts more than the bite.

Note: you cannot use it in the bullet area of the mould. It'll cause wrinkles and take 20 rounds to burn off the wax.

Also make sure the sprue hole isn't all bugger up in some fashion as someone mentioned. One small nick is all that's needed for it to stick to.


Hope this helps.