The typical Lyman cast bullet mold is made out of steel or cast iron. Which is it, and what kind? I'd like to make a mold myself and would like to start with the correct materials.
Thanks in advance,
Wes
The typical Lyman cast bullet mold is made out of steel or cast iron. Which is it, and what kind? I'd like to make a mold myself and would like to start with the correct materials.
Thanks in advance,
Wes
All the modern bullet molds I have used were machined from some form of "mild steel" although I have owned several round ball molds for muzzle loading weapons that were made from brass.
Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)
some are aluminum too
Cast iron. Actually a form of Mehanite
There are a number of "correct: materials" one being aluminum.
Ive some 56 or more various bullet moulds and the aluminum ones, while being a bit more tender..are definately much less tiring to use.
Gunner
"If thy pride is sorely vexed when others disparage your offering, be as lamb's wool is to cold rain and the Gore-tex of Odin's raiment is to gullshit in the gale, for thy angst shall vex them not at all. Yea, they shall scorn thee all the more. Rejoice in sharing what you have to share without expectation of adoration, knowing that sharing your treasure does not diminish your treasure but enriches it."
- Onni 1:33
I have made molds out of aluminum, copying the set-up Lee uses. They cast excellent bullets if kept at the right temp. I made the cherries to cut the molds out of O2, then hardened and tempered.
cheers T.Alan
cast iron molds are more forgiving once up to temp. aluniyum is persnickety and tempermental batw
Alan,
Will you comment a bit on how you put the cutting surfaces on the cherries. I have seen articles on this for round ball cherries but they don't give a lot of insight. Do you use a half-round end mill?
Bob Swinney
IIRC, one of the Lyman cast bullet manuals showed the blanks being cut to length from sections of continuous cast iron. You can make them from brass, bronze or aluminum, too. At one time, Lyman would sell you blank blocks with pins and holes all ready to go. I've done some aluminum blocks, had some scrap cast plate that I have no idea what it actually was. Made a cherry and did one set that way, also did the Lee thing and single-pointed the cavity. Single point boring was easier to set up. Lee will do a custom set for you for a setup charge in the neighborhood of $150, IIRC. Would be the easiest way if what you want is a custom mold that works, not just a hobby project.
Stan
Cast lead hammers? That's easy, just cut a length of pipe and weld in end-caps, saw it in two, weld on a hinge for alignment, cut a releif for the handle and pour in around the releif. If you want to be really fastidious, bend up a little rim around that releif, to use as a "funnel for pouring in the lead.
Weld a pair of "handles" on so that you can sandwich in the steel-rod you use for the hammer-handle and hold the whole thing together in one hand while you pour from the ladle with the other hand.
How big a hammer are you pouring, anyway?
Soft lead will work, but will deform faster than babbit or lead with tin and antimony (good ol' Lyman #2 Alloy).
Nothing like an eight-pound hammer on a fourteen-inch handle to nudge things into alignment.
Flash
The followup poster gave you a fine suggestion. In the case of bullets from moulds, the requirements are a bit more exacting. Wrinkles, base not filling out squarely, ect.
What do you use the lead hammers for? I've seen them used to tunk work against parallels in mill vise and for pounding in steel rule into plywood for diecutting dies. The latter one is rather hard on the hammers.
Wes
I've got a couple of custom jobs. This is a hobby project atm. Mostly aquiring data. For starts, I would play with aluminum that I can get as drops but I wanted to know what a lyman mold is made out of for the future.
It looks like one of those sherline lathes with a 4 jaw and cnc could be a lot of fun for a cast bullet shooter that likes to experiment.
Meehanite has been suggested by some. Now where to get 1.5 sq stock in small quantities is the next question. My google attempts failed.
Wes
I also would like to learn more about how you made the cherries and any other details you would care to divulge.
Wes
The hammers are mostly for 'aligning' parts, especially vehicle suspension parts during alignments. That and and excuse to use up some of the scrap lead. I want to give them to my buddies who are too cheap to buy the plastic no-mar hammers. Whenever I go give them a hand, they don't have anything suitable.
Plan was to use chunks of 1/2" pipe for handles.
Heh, I've been cast> RoyJ wrote:
Unka' George [George McDuffee] ============ Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 17 March 1814.
Lead hammers? Nothing precision then. You can use just about anything round to pour lead into, and press out the slug. Ive used steel pipe, liberally smoked inside with a acyty torch, then pushed out the slug with a hydraulic press. Ive seen guys cast hammers in beer cans, and then peel off the can.
Hell..you can sand cast lead hammers.
Gunner
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Wheel weights make fair hammers too.
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Yes, I used ball end mills and an indexer to produce 3 cutting flutes on a turned cherry looking exactly like the finished bullet, so that the cutting rake was aprox 5 degrees, then gently releaved a lip clearance to the cutting edges with a tool grinder and indexer. But what took me the longest to figure out was how to carve a split block of aluminum with the cherry. At first I tried using the cherry as a side cutting mill, but could never get perfect alignment between the 2 splits of aluminum, when done. Obviously the bearing and cutting forces tend to deflect the cherry, since it's shank is minimal to fit in a predrilled sprue. I eventually used a small toolmaker's vice to to make a crude device that closes the two split blocks of aluminum onto the cherry. The blocks of aluminum were carved previously with a ball mill to something resembling the final product, so the cherry didn't have to do all the work.
cheers T.Alan
It is amazing just how many different hammers one needs. From a itty bitty
5 oz ball pein to about 30# of copper electrode for those days you really want some thing to move a bit. Generally, I use something in between. ;)Wes
Thanx, T.Alan. It makes perfect sense. All I had ever seen before recommended cutting the flutes (filing) onto a mild steel ball and then case hardening it. The steel ball would have to be cut on a concave ball turner and held by the sprue spigot.
Bob Swinney
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