Bullet Casting Woes

[jmoore]

Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be a zinc problem. The batch was melted again today and was found to solidify at 580°F over a narrow temperature band. Drained a fair amount off, gave it a heavy fluxing with sawdust stirred in well after charring and added a little more linotype to get the "freeze point " down to 550°F. Moulds degreased again for good measure and managed to cast some good 32-20 projectiles, which is the current known "good" baseline. Had to run the pot at about 720°F for good fill, but that's acceptable, if a little warmish.

The mould handle breakage is now the major drama. There's very little "meat" at the screw hole, and the temps will get fairly high, so silver soldering might not do so well. May have to scab on a reinforcing plate on the outboard side of the jaw. Complete jaw replacement would be another possibility, but isn't looking like a wonderful project. Will probably be the weekend before any progress is made.

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[Patrick Chadwick]

There's very little "meat" at the screw hole, and the temps will get fairly high, so silver soldering might not do so well. May have to scab on a reinforcing plate on the outboard side of the jaw.

Do it. The steel is annoyingly brittle, so the silver-soldering will make it less so. In fact, annealing the lot might be a good idea.