Smokin’ Molds

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Greetings;

The answer came to me in a puff of wind as a breeze wafted thru my garage.  I had just stirred in some pine sawdust to re-flux my casting pot and as the wood smoldered & smoked, I quickly lifted my alum. mold to “smoke it “.  The Lee 7/8oz “drive Key” slug mold got quickly doused with pure black carbon thoroughly to reach every cranny in 2 seconds!

My slugs never looked better nor dropped faster.  Pls. comment on their appearance re: casting method and temperature, as they are shiny.  I’m led to believe cast boolits shouldn’t be shiny.  I used Lake Michigan Lead Down Rigger Cannon Balls + 2% Tin.  Thanks for watching.

Wally

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[stephenamaralParticipant]

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Hum…might have to try that one myself. 

[petergallo]

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Often the shiny bullets are undersize.  I’ve found the when the mold is hot enough to just start frosting or sticking, then the bullets drop the largest and are more round.  The smoke may contribute to an even smaller diameter.  If the mold is big enough it may not matter as much, however it usually does. 

Also, when the mold is dropping the shiny bullets, the edges may not be fully filled out. 

Measure them with a micrometer that goes to 4 decimal place, not a caliper that rounds the last digit.  Compare that to some bullets cast from a mold without smoke and on the verge of frosting and compare. 

Casting with soft alloy casts smaller diameter bullets too.  If you add several factors together the resulting bullets may be a few thousandths small.

I cast soft alloy most all of the time, and need the hot mold to get the best diameter for my guns.  They like bullets +.003 over groove, for the best accuracy and no leading.  That’s 357 magnum and 390 acp.

[adamsutherlandModerator]

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Smoking is recommended by many, once i have seasoned and fettled (if neccessary) a mould then I have never found smoking a mould to add any benefit.

If it works for you then good luck to you.

[charlesgilbertParticipant]

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I don’t smoke em. It’s popular, but it seems to be more popular with the Lee users, since it seems that every used Lee that I buy arrives sooty black. I like the bare mold approach, but to each his own.  If it drops nice and easy, go for it.

[stephenamaralParticipant]

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I used to smoke the moulds, tried a little softer alloy without smoking the mould. Much better results. Now I think this is going to work better for me. I’ll find out next trip to the range.

[anachronism]

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I have a few Lyman molds that seem to demand smoking for some reason I don’t understand. My more modern molds don’t seem to care much either way. I do make sure that I clean and deburr new (to me) molds as I get them, so I’m at aloss as to why some molds demand it, and some don’t care either way, and I even have a few that dislike it intensely.

[thomasgarcia1Participant]

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Personally I’ve never smoked a mold. A clean, hot (up to temp) mold has worked well for me. If it’s a brass mold, I’ll heat cycle in the oven. If if is sticking it needs a good cleaning or a burr removed or something is amiss.

An up to temp mold with 650-700*F melt temp has yielded me nice, fat, well filled out boolits. I typically use COWW with 2% tin. I’ve been experimenting with Linotype  lately. Now those are some shiny mirror like boolits!

[Author]

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