will i need anything else to make my own balls?

[BowerR64]

This is what i have, i thougth ide try it this week. I have not done much research on it yet so i thought ide ask around here.

I know that im doing it outside with a mask on.

I have a few extra .545 balls for a muzzle loader i doubt ill ever shoot. I thought ide use these as the lead for the .457 cast i have.

None of this stuff has been used in years, im not even sure if the heater will even get hot enough.

 

[Oldnamvet]

thinking about what I do when I cast...
I use a damp towel to drop the balls onto
I use a 12" section of 1" dowel to tap the sprue plate over
A bit of candle wax or beeswax to bring up the dross
An old spoon to skim off the dross
A glove on the hand holding the mold since it tends to get hot and there is apossibility of spilling hot lead there.
And of course long sleeves and safety glasses.
I don't wear a mask but have a fan blowing away from me outdoors.

These are just the things I use -- others will do things differently.

 

[BowerR64]

I think i got those things.

Also I think there is stuff in the little casting bucket to bring up the dross but ill get a candle ready.

 

[BCRider]

I just started this past summer myself.

I tried the wax thing and found that all it did was produce some neat flames for a minute or so. I don't bother any more. The dross seems to come up just fine by itself and I use a flat stick like a paint stirrer to lift it out. I don't have an old spoon to use. Just my good flatware....

Instead of the dowel that oldnamvet uses I've got a similar length of 1x2 which serves well for the same purpose. It's what I had and it works just fine.

I use an old rust spotted cookie sheet with a folded over old ratty cotton bath towel to drop the balls onto from the mold. I don't wet it. Never thought of that idea actually. Being cotton it doesn't burn or even char from the hot balls sitting on it.

Not knowing what other things besides even a slight amount of water could trigger an explosion of lead I went overboard. So far during the first 3 or 4 sessions I've done I was wearing my leather welding gloves, a leather welding jacket and a flip down full face clear mask. Having had some amount of success so far I'll likely drop this to a heavy 100% cotton long sleeve shirt, shift over to my long gauntlet motorcycle leather gloves for a better fit with a little more dexterity and keep the full face clear fiip shield.

I found that it's almost impossible to cast and drop too fast. In fact I ran into trouble with the mold cooling too much even on a summer day when I was waiting about 5 seconds after the sprue pour solidified. When I found I was getting balls with some freeze lines and marks on them I dropped those ones back in and sped up the pace. I know only wait long enough for the sprue caps to noticeably freeze and then I knock back the sprue cutter and dump the balls then close it up and pour right away.

A hint that I found was that the Lee molds I'm using doesn't always snap fully shut and into alignment. I learned to lightly tap the mold blocks with my sprue stick to bump things into jumping into alignment. Once I picked up on this little trick there were no more balls with offset halves and flashing lead from the poor closure. You may not get the same thing occurring. But if it does try the light rap on the blocks while holding the handles closed with moderate pressure.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Block of wood. You tape the cover plate of the mold to open it and to drop the ball.
Flux. You need it to clean the lead.
Old Spoon. To skim the lead of impurities.
Gloves. Safety equipment. Just in case.
Face shield/safety glasses. Just in case.
Old towel. Something to line the table with for the balls to drop onto. Keeps the rascals from rolling off the table.

 

[72coupe]

A lead thermometer would be nice but I have never had one but I have only been casting for 40 years.

Keep the lead temp below 680 and lead fumes are unlikely.

 

[EljaySL]

I don't wet the towel either. It's just to keep things from rolling away and it gives a bit of cushion so that the somewhat soft balls land someplace soft.

I don't use a stick but I wear pretty heavy duty welding gloves.

Another "nice" thing to have is an old hot plate. You can pre-heat the mold so it's easier to get up to temperature, and if you want to stick something in the lead (such as more lead) you can put it on the hot plate to make sure it's dry before sticking it in the pot. But don't feel like you have to have one before you get started - it's more if you have one around that you don't use.

 

[44 Dave]

I would add a metal container to dump slag in and some thing to set the hot ladle and mold on.

 

[303tom]

This is what i have, i thougth ide try it this week. I have not done much research on it yet so i thought ide ask around here.

I know that im doing it outside with a mask on.

I have a few extra .545 balls for a muzzle loader i doubt ill ever shoot. I thought ide use these as the lead for the .457 cast i have.

None of this stuff has been used in years, im not even sure if the heater will even get hot enough.

Just a kettle of ice water................

 

[StrawHat]

I use a welders glove and just swing the sprue plate with my hand. If the mold blocks do not close accurately, put them on the table when closing them.

Check out one of the casting forums for a lot of information.

 

[Noz]

A word of caution. If you do not make an extra effort to clean the lead (flux frequently) dirt in the lead will wear the sprue openings in the aluminum block rapidly until the mold becomes unusable.
And yes, there is a reason I know this.
I use bullet lube and flux the original smelting pot several times then frequently while casting.

 

[robhof]

robhof

All the above are good ideas, you don't have to worry about fumes with the electric pot as it won't get hot enough to release fumes, lead has to be heated to about boiling to fume. You have more danger from handling the lead with bare hands and then eating or picking at sores with dirty hands, lead dust will get into your system without basic hand washing after handling lead. It's not rocket science, but does require practice, your first balls may come out rough, make sure mold is hot by placing corner in pot for a about 20 seconds. I've been casting for 20+ yrs. and was a medic in the USAF and ran lead tests on myself occasionally and always negative swo hand washing and no food while casting worked for me. Slight irregularities in balls will shoot just as straight as perfect balls, I used to remelt about 40% of my casts til I read others talk about good shots with imperfect balls and tried it. For accuracy sighting or hunting, I'll examine and weigh each ball and store separate, but I've gotten 2" groups with 5gr variation and pocks on balls.

 

[[email protected]]

Don't forget the BEER!

 

[rodwha]

Especially if it's home brewed!

 

[J-Bar]

Get a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook and read it before doing anything.

 

[BowerR64]

It wasnt that bad, i can smell the crayons my dad put in the pot last time he used it.

I think i cranked out about 50 or so, mainly the .457 for the shooter and rogers and spencer they seem slightly larger or more used or something then the others.

I noticed the older hornady balls went in a dark grey color they came out almost chrome looking.

Is this how you judge the age of the lead?

 

[BowerR64]

Well i hammered out 100 of them, they all seem to come out ok. None that i wouldnt shoot anyway.

IMO for the cost i can get the .454 balls for its a little more time consuming, messy and the risk of getting burned or something happening isnt worth the extra money to me.

I used .545 balls to melt down i didnt have access to any lead so thats what i used.

One more thing for me if i were to do this again ide rather make conicals since they arnt as easy to find. That would be a little better to cast if i were to cast any more.

I can say ive done it now, ill have to see how they shoot.

Since i have all this stuff ill have to get a conical cast and make up some of those.

Oh and the squirt gun? thats to keep the cats at a distance.

 

[J-Bar]

Please be careful with your cat/watergun. If water droplets fall into your molten lead, the water will vaporize instantly and blow molten lead out of the pot...dangerous.

I will not even have a wet towel around my casting stuff, much less a drink or a watergun.

Maybe a slingshot for the cat?

 

[Noz]

A friend was an old style plumber in that he used hot lead to seal cast iron sewer lines. He was using an electric plumbers pot that holds 5 pounds or so of lead. It has a handle so that it is the melter and also serves as the pouring device.
He was working on an old house and using the lead pot one winter. The pour location was on the outside of the house so he zipped up his insulated coveralls, grabbed the lead pot and went outside to make the pour. As he stepped out and slammed the door, an overhead gutter gave way and dumped a cup or so of water into his pot.
It emptied the pot and most of the lead went on him.
The lead hit his zipper (crotch to neck) and filled the gaps. They had to cut the coveralls off.
He had some minor facial burns but no grave injuries.

Oh, don't worry about the cat. They are smart and will only get into the lead once.

 

[RaceM]

After casting up conicals you'll want to grade them by test fitting each one in your cylinder. That'll save aggravation when you go to load up & shoot. I had a few that were out of round at the base which would've made loading impossible.

Eventually you might wanna upgrade to a bigger melt setup. I use a big cast iron ladle and my forge. I can cast up to 15 balls quickly until the melt in the ladle cools off too much for reliable pours. My usual run is 100 or so balls in one casting session.

One other thing. A heavy rubber band around the mould handles keeps the halves lined up while pouring. There's enough give to be able to open the mould and drop the ball without having to remove it.

 

[EljaySL]

re the old balls being dark - they oxidize pretty fast. Check them again in a couple of weeks.

Casting... the savings aren't huge on smallish, easy to find balls. But the savings per round can be very high once you get to weird or large sizes. And of course if you start buying antiques you might end up with some kind of oddball size that you literally can't find a ball for. But you can just get a mold made and it's no big deal.

Also once you get the hang of it, it goes faster. When I first started I was really happy to get a couple of dozen decent balls. Now I crank out .45 Colt bullets with hundreds of keepers in short order.

 

[rodwha]

It's savings and availability of ROA bullets that has pushed me into trying my hand at casting. Either what I want is too expensive or it's not of the design I want or quite light.

For now I only have a .457" and .490" RB mold. There's a wait for the pistol bullet mold I want, or it'll cost quite a bit for a custom mold.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I know you guys are joking about beer. I don't want any liquids near me when I'm casting. The steam explosion from spilling a drop of beer in the pot will splatter molten lead everywhere. No good. Besides burns and injury, it's a heckuva mess to cleanup.

 

[rodwha]

Nor I! I'll save the drinking for when I'm done and can relax and enjoy it more.

 

[NORA]

ANY liquid in the area where you are casting is a very big NO NO!!! Don't drink or smoke while casting!!! All your attention needs to be on the job at hand. A wet towel is to my way of thinking a bad idea. A dry cotton towel is what I use and it works fine! Eye protection is a must. For me the savings over the Hornady balls that I used to use is quite a bit of money. Be safe and enjoy to projectiles you make. FRJ