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georgepatton
I have been casting for quite some time with several different mold types and styles but just recently purchased a NOE RG mold and never thought about the bottom not sitting flat on a hot plate or following a mold guide etc. when casting. How are others heating their mold blocks before casting? I have thought of making something to lay the mold on sprue plate down with holes to allow the mold to lay flat.
Also when pouring are you just holding the mold unsupported under the spout? If I try to slide it along my slotted plate I use for a guide it hangs and tilts etc. If trying to use a flat board it grabs the board.
I am sure I am just missing something here since so many out there use and love these. I am hoping to also be one that enjoys them.
georgepatton-
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georgekahn
I use a piece of scrap aluminum, roughly 3/16″ thick atop a stack of 1/4″ plywood pieces under my RCBS Pro-melt, and have had nary a problem. Different moulds require different gaps from spout to fill hole; I suspect, too, that the amount of alloy in pot and actual size of pour-hole change rate of flow, too. Hence, the readily changeable stack enables me to vary the height, as well as being so much better to my wrists! I had a Lyman Mould Master several years back, which actually had a guide for your mould below the pour spout — you may wish to Google these to see what I’m referring to.
Re mould heating, I have an inexpensive G.E. hot plate I rest mould on both before use, and inbetween casts. For me, the pins in hollow point moulds seem to require little heat variation — they need to be HOT. I sometimes get a chuckle when the pot is keeping melt liquid, and hot plate keeps moulds warm — while I have a small fan to cool spru-plate. (Kind of like the refrigerator running in kitchen to keep food cold while house furnace has it warm about it, as it’s below zero outdoors…)
BEST!
geoThanks GK but I am looking for how you are preheating the RG molds that have the pin brackets hanging off the bottom of the mold. All my other molds lay flat on the hot plate and do an excellent job of heating up. I left this one on the hot plate longer than the others and do not get enough heat transfer to the mold.
Then have the problem of those same brackets trying to grab anything used for a mold guide and also has to be held straight since it would lean if not manually held level. I ended up trying to cast with it holding it in the air with no guide which I am sure would be hard on the arms and hands. The mold was not hot enough so I put it away until I can come up with a better way.
I am sure I am just not seeing the forest through the trees on this since there are so many happy users bragging on these molds. I love the NOE LSWC 41 mold I purchased as it “rains” bullets. But this RG HP mold has me scratching my head.
Well I really wanted to like the RG HP mold but can’t seem to get it to get hot. I tried a can cut out for the handles and while other molds were plenty hot it was not. Just no heat transfer from the plate. I do not want to do anything drastic like a torch because I see it going up for sell at this point.
Then those brackets hanging down seem to drag across whatever I use as a guide. I will give it another try but think I may just stick to regular molds from NOE as I am super happy with the one I ordered that was not the RG series. Too bad as I really like the looks of the HB Great Plains drawing
SwedeNelson
GAhunter
Sorry to hear its not working out for you.
We have no problem getting a RG mould up to temperature here in the shop with just a standard old Wal-Mart hot plate. Set it base down (on the brackets) and let it go for about 15 min. (350F to 380F)
We also use a dipper to cast with so the bracket are not a problem.Again – sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Bullet maker, maker
Al Nelson
Full.Lead.Taco
Gahunter, I use a hot plate to heat up my molds. To get a flat surface, I open up the spruce cutter to about 45 degrees and set the mold on its end with the handles pointed straight up. I am able to preheat the RG molds that way. RG molds seem to cast better when heated to a higher temp. I also cast fast when using an RG mold.
GAhunter
Sorry to hear its not working out for you.
We have no problem getting a RG mould up to temperature here in the shop with just a standard old Wal-Mart hot plate. Set it base down (on the brackets) and let it go for about 15 min. (350F to 380F)
We also use a dipper to cast with so the bracket are not a problem.Again – sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Bullet maker, maker
Al NelsonThanks Al, I have my hot plate up past medium almost all the way up with no success. Sprue hardened way too fast (almost instant) and bullets stuck on the pins with wrinkles so it wasn’t hot enough. And that was with @ 45 minutes on the hot plate in a makeshift oven and over an hour the times before.. I am used to casting good bullets on the first pour and cast almost daily but struggle with this mold. I also do not want to beat the sprue plate open so I stop if things don’t go right.
Ladle pouring would definately make the brackets a non issue.
I will stick with the bottom pour though. Gahunter, I use a hot plate to heat up my molds. To get a flat surface, I open up the spruce cutter to about 45 degrees and set the mold on its end with the handles pointed straight up. I am able to preheat the RG molds that way. RG molds seem to cast better when heated to a higher temp. I also cast fast when using an RG mold.
I will give that a try. Does the sprue plate get hot enough heating in this manner? If I can get it started I will be able to keep it going. I have many other HP molds I cast with but also worry about the side the pins are on if the sprue pate may get in the way of the bullets falling free at times? I usually prefer my pins on the mold half opposite the half with the sprue plate. I will give it another try today.
Okay move me over to the happy side. Standing the mold on end indeed worked good enough to let me see how this mold worked. Thanks cornmastah!
It was warm enough after about 4 or 5 pours to start dropping nice wrinkle free bullets. I found the pin placement on the same side as the sprue plate was a non-issue since the bullets would jump off the pins with a very light tap without inverting the mold. It was actually hard to stop since things were flowing so smoothly but I have at least 300 bullets to size and lube to give a try.
As for the brackets on the bottom, not really an issue since it is an aluminum mold and light so easy to support with little drag whereas I HAVE to use a guide with my brass molds due to weight.
I will cast some more with it when time permits and will make a plater to preheat it if things turn out as smooth on the next higher volume run. Now to work on bing part of the 1K club.
Full.Lead.Taco
mikejordan
GAHunter- You might try some metal plates spaced to get as much metal contact with the mould as possible My set up is a with a coil type hot plate, an old metal coffee can for the oven, a couple of 1/2 ” steel pieces spaced to get max contact with the mould. a probe type thermometer to gauge temp. Heats much faster with the NOE pin type moulds, and you can tell the temp in the oven.
bushman
georgekahn
SwedeNelson
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