BALLS !! 1st attempt

[Gnome]

After doing some research and a little re-research I had my 1st attempt at making my own balls for my Penny today and after some initial anxiety and frustration with casting the lil buggers i'm chuffed that they have turned out better than I expected.

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[Branxhunter]

Top effort! They look the real deal.

How did you do them? Drop off a high bridge somewhere?

Marcus

[Seddo]

Nice job

[trevort]

You have lovely balls


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[curan]

You have lovely balls


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You are a worry Trev!

[kickinback]

Great job. What's the process?


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[Camel]

Were the balls you melted the wrong size ? Your new balls look pretty flash, Im sure there are a few coming down to Yass that would like to fondle them.

[mick_762]

Great job. What's the process?


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As per the above, ^^^^^

You're a bloody teeze Gnome.
If that was a hunt report, you hadnt made it out of the driveway!!!!!!

[Gnome]

Thanks guys ... I was a little disappointed when I ran out of count at 98 but have plenty left for more to be made and there will be plenty to be fondled at Yass

Yes Camel the original ones were just a tad to big .495 and I require .490 so rather than send em back I figured why not learn to do it and do it proper.

I ordered a Lee 2 ball mold a few weeks ago along with a ladle and today while I had some spare time on hand I got the cast iron pan out onto the gas burner and melted the 200 balls I had purchased. Though the research I did was not real long I had forgotten some of it and refreshed my mind with it while waiting for the balls to melt.

Lesson 0. I had not expected there to be so much sludge to scrape back especially from new clean balls.

Lesson 1. Most important thing to remember is to have your alloy or steel mold of equal or close to temp of the molten lead to ensure good poor and as few or no casting/cooling lines as possible. It is also a note to do similar with the ladle or spoon as its annoying when pouring the lead that it does not cool off before the pour is complete.

Another important lesson I learnt is to be bloody patient when the balls don't want to fall out of the mold DO NOT try and PRY them out I managed to scar one of the cavities to the point that it produces balls with raised wrinkles....

Get the lead to the right temp! I don't have a thermometer or gauge for this so was looking at the color of the skin which was blueish. Keep the mold half immersed in the molten lead from time to time. I placed mine into the lead every second pour then every pour as the level of lead dropped it helped maintain a good evenness of the poured lead as it helps maintain a nice clean wrinkle free skin on the balls .

I have decided to get me an electric melt pot with pouring spout on the bottom so I get consistent clean lead at a good steady pace. I will also be looking at a set of steel multi ball molds so I can cast more for less time.

[kickinback]

Wrinkle free skin on the balls eh.....


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[kickinback]

Gnome. Hot tip.

Don't use a frypan. Use something deep with as little area open to atmosphere as possible. Will help keep the dross to a minimum. More balls that way.


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[curan]

Wrinkle free skin on the balls eh.....


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[Camel]

Lesson 0, give your molten lead a flux with a pea sized ball of bees wax, this will mix your alloy back together and leave a skin on the top which is best skimmed off, even what they call pure lead will have some other metals in it. Trick with the flux - light the smoke with a match, will stop too much blue smoke.

Lesson 1, good way to get your mould up to casting temp is to place about 1/3 into the melt, then start casting dropping the first half dozen aside to re melt, this will get your mould up to temperature good and will also let you work out the speed of pouring.

Please don't drop balls straight out of the mould INTO THE POT as lead splashes and believe me, it BURNS badly, safety glasses and leather gloves are another two good safety devices



Re your sticky balls, using about 8 inches of old broom handle, tap on the hinge pin with the block open, loosens your balls and lets them come free. Also use broom handle to strike the sprue plate to cut off your little knobby bits.

Don't worry too much if your balls get a frosted look, wont hurt accuracy, just means your melt is a little hot.

Drop your balls onto a folded towel and let them slide down onto a matt, or use half the towel to be the matt.

You may have already found these things out, hope it helps in some way. Lyman bullet casting book is a good read with a lot of very useful information, also Nick Harvey had a section on casting bullets in his first edition, don't know if he kept it in his later volumes.

A good source for pure lead is under the insulation caps on some older type telegraph lines

Correction in red

[Gnome]

Gnome. Hot tip.

Don't use a frypan. Use something deep with as little area open to atmosphere as possible. Will help keep the dross to a minimum. More balls that way.

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Noted and will definitely do that next time round.

Lesson 0, give your molten lead a flux with a pea sized ball of bees wax, this will mix your alloy back together and leave a skin on the top which is best skimmed off, even what they call pure lead will have some other metals in it. Trick with the flux - light the smoke with a match, will stop too much blue smoke.

Lesson 1, good way to get your mould up to casting temp is to place about 1/3 into the melt, then start casting dropping the first half dozen aside to re melt, this will get your mould up to temperature good and will also let you work out the speed of pouring.

Please don't drop balls straight out of the mould as lead splashes and believe me, it BURNS badly, safety glasses and leather gloves are another two good safety devices


Re your sticky balls, using about 8 inches of old broom handle, tap on the hinge pin with the block open, loosens your balls and lets them come free. Also use broom handle to strike the sprue plate to cut off your little knobby bits.

Don't worry too much if your balls get a frosted look, wont hurt accuracy, just means your melt is a little hot.

Drop your balls onto a folded towel and let them slide down onto a matt, or use half the towel to be the matt.

You may have already found these things out, hope it helps in some way. Lyman bullet casting book is a good read with a lot of very useful information, also Nick Harvey had a section on casting bullets in his first edition, don't know if he kept it in his later volumes.

A good source for pure lead is under the insulation caps on some older type telegraph lines

Cheers for the pointers Mark I have been using the towel trick and it works a treat Safety is always priority. Mrs Gnome got me a 5 kilo roll from the big green building down the road should be able to knock out a few dozen from that !!

[Camel]

A quick Google found this, you may have looked already, but there is a wealth of information available in here.
440 odd pages, so it may take you a while to get through it.


http://www.j-how.net/test/Lyman%2048th% ... atk%5D.pdf