Newby on the block... well, to casting anyways.

[Insanity]

Yeah, I think if I'm going to continue casting I'm going to need to invest in some way to monitor temps. If for no other reason than to remove the guessing game.
I've complyely removed the cast iron skillet just to remove that from the equasion. I may invest in a brand new unseasoned one... or maybe just a flat iron. We'll see down the road.

Burn it off after a good scrubbing with some dawn and maybe some brake parts cleaner? Even new ones come with a season just not been cooked with yet.

[avator]

True that.... maybe next time sitting around the campfire sipping a few cold ones I'll just toss it in. Then let it sit out in the weather for a couple weeks.

[Spacebus]

Cast as cool as you can on pot temp without having spout sticking issues.  From my experience, you'll probably find this eliminates a lot of issues like wings and such.

I find it to be mold material dependent. My aluminum molds like a cooler melt, but the brass mold wants it HOT. I get more hairs with a cooler melt. However, I'm casting outside, so my experience may not be relevant.

But it is relevant as we all cast in different environments. Like I cast just outside my shed door with a fan at my back. So knowing how you do it may help in some way.

All good points.  My casting experience is only from casting in my shed with a fan drawing the ugly outside and me behind the fan so there is minimum wind hitting the pot.  I am a fair-weather caster mostly but do cast during the winter months as well.  I like getting all of my casting done before the heat hits.  I cast using a 20lb Lee pot that is controlled by a PID controller that I built.  I typically like casting at 735° while using some scrap wood as a makeshift enclosure around the pot.  This allows me to still get a good flow out of the exposed gravity spout.  I used to cast much hotter but that caused me more issues like shrinkage and fins/wings to form on the cast.  I suppose I could cast at 750° and could eliminate the enclosure but I think I get the best results at 735°.  Having the PID allows me to play around with different temperature to find, at least what I consider, the sweet spot for my setup.

My next casting upgrade will be a RCBS easy melt furnace.

[EdinGa]

Yeah, I think if I'm going to continue casting I'm going to need to invest in some way to monitor temps. If for no other reason than to remove the guessing game.
I've complyely removed the cast iron skillet just to remove that from the equasion. I may invest in a brand new unseasoned one... or maybe just a flat iron. We'll see down the road.

I use an old circular saw blade on top of my hot plate.

[avator]

Yeah, I think if I'm going to continue casting I'm going to need to invest in some way to monitor temps. If for no other reason than to remove the guessing game.
I've complyely removed the cast iron skillet just to remove that from the equasion. I may invest in a brand new unseasoned one... or maybe just a flat iron. We'll see down the road.

I use an old circular saw blade on top of my hot plate.

Awesome idea... I happen to have one and I know exactly where it is. I was going to hang it as a ding dong target.
See that's why GTA is the greatest.
Thanks for that Eddie.

[EdinGa]

Yeah, I think if I'm going to continue casting I'm going to need to invest in some way to monitor temps. If for no other reason than to remove the guessing game.
I've complyely removed the cast iron skillet just to remove that from the equasion. I may invest in a brand new unseasoned one... or maybe just a flat iron. We'll see down the road.

I use an old circular saw blade on top of my hot plate.

Awesome idea... I happen to have one and I know exactly where it is. I was going to hang it as a ding dong target.
See that's why GTA is the greatest.
Thanks for that Eddie.

I can't take credit for the idea but  I'm happy to share. One of my buddies on the Reloader's Network tipped me off on using it.

[avator]

Yeah, I think if I'm going to continue casting I'm going to need to invest in some way to monitor temps. If for no other reason than to remove the guessing game.
I've complyely removed the cast iron skillet just to remove that from the equasion. I may invest in a brand new unseasoned one... or maybe just a flat iron. We'll see down the road.

I use an old circular saw blade on top of my hot plate.

Awesome idea... I happen to have one and I know exactly where it is. I was going to hang it as a ding dong target.
See that's why GTA is the greatest.
Thanks for that Eddie.

I can't take credit for the idea but  I'm happy to share. One of my buddies on the Reloader's Network tipped me off on using it.

Well thank him for me and thank you for bringing it here.
Like I said, I knew exactly where that saw blade was and went and grabbed it. It's a nice thin one that will transfer the heat quickly. It had a red painted label on it so I took it to my wire brush grinder and took all that off.
I can't believe how dumb it was to put that seasoned cast iron skillet on there. All I thought about was the cast iron... I didn't even think about the oils cooked into it.
Live and learn I guess.

[EdinGa]

Yeah, I think if I'm going to continue casting I'm going to need to invest in some way to monitor temps. If for no other reason than to remove the guessing game.
I've complyely removed the cast iron skillet just to remove that from the equasion. I may invest in a brand new unseasoned one... or maybe just a flat iron. We'll see down the road.

I use an old circular saw blade on top of my hot plate.

Awesome idea... I happen to have one and I know exactly where it is. I was going to hang it as a ding dong target.
See that's why GTA is the greatest.
Thanks for that Eddie.

I can't take credit for the idea but  I'm happy to share. One of my buddies on the Reloader's Network tipped me off on using it.

Well thank him for me and thank you for bringing it here.
Like I said, I knew exactly where that saw blade was and went and grabbed it. It's a nice thin one that will transfer the heat quickly. It had a red painted label on it so I took it to my wire brush grinder and took all that off.
I can't believe how dumb it was to put that seasoned cast iron skillet on there. All I thought about was the cast iron... I didn't even think about the oils cooked into it.
Live and learn I guess.

Nobody got hurt and you learned something from it. I call that a good day. I've done much worse and lived to tell about it. We're all human.

[avator]

Yeah, I think if I'm going to continue casting I'm going to need to invest in some way to monitor temps. If for no other reason than to remove the guessing game.
I've complyely removed the cast iron skillet just to remove that from the equasion. I may invest in a brand new unseasoned one... or maybe just a flat iron. We'll see down the road.

I use an old circular saw blade on top of my hot plate.

Awesome idea... I happen to have one and I know exactly where it is. I was going to hang it as a ding dong target.
See that's why GTA is the greatest.
Thanks for that Eddie.

I can't take credit for the idea but  I'm happy to share. One of my buddies on the Reloader's Network tipped me off on using it.

Well thank him for me and thank you for bringing it here.
Like I said, I knew exactly where that saw blade was and went and grabbed it. It's a nice thin one that will transfer the heat quickly. It had a red painted label on it so I took it to my wire brush grinder and took all that off.
I can't believe how dumb it was to put that seasoned cast iron skillet on there. All I thought about was the cast iron... I didn't even think about the oils cooked into it.
Live and learn I guess.

Nobody got hurt and you learned something from it. I call that a good day. I've done much worse and lived to tell about it. We're all human.

True enough.

[Spacebus]

Don't feel bad. I ruined a 22 cal hunter mold when I was using an outdoor cooking rocket stove to melt my lead. I guess holding the mold in the exhaust flow of the stove overheated the mold.

[triggertreat]

Yeah, I think if I'm going to continue casting I'm going to need to invest in some way to monitor temps. If for no other reason than to remove the guessing game.
I've complyely removed the cast iron skillet just to remove that from the equasion. I may invest in a brand new unseasoned one... or maybe just a flat iron. We'll see down the road.

I use an old circular saw blade on top of my hot plate.

That's a good idea!  My issue with the hotplate is keeping the mold flat with the weight of the handle causing it to tilt.  I improvise in various ways to remedy this.  I don't have a real good fix yet.

[EdinGa]

Yeah, I think if I'm going to continue casting I'm going to need to invest in some way to monitor temps. If for no other reason than to remove the guessing game.
I've complyely removed the cast iron skillet just to remove that from the equasion. I may invest in a brand new unseasoned one... or maybe just a flat iron. We'll see down the road.

I use an old circular saw blade on top of my hot plate.

That's a good idea!  My issue with the hotplate is keeping the mold flat with the weight of the handle causing it to tilt.  I improvise in various ways to remedy this.  I don't have a real good fix yet.

If you can find a tin coffee or large bean can, cut a window in it close enough to the open end to balance the mold handles on. Flip it upside down and sit it on top of the hotplate and insert the molds through the window. Presto! You now have a mini mold oven.

[avator]

I have my sprue cutter nearest to my thumb and with the 2 cav brass mold I can cut the sprue with my thumb and catch it in my hand to drop it back in the pot. I lay the mold sprue cutter down on the hot plate to heat up and it balances well for me.
I only have one set of handles and plan to get another. Once I have 2 molds with handles I'll come up with some kind of cover to make an oven.

[Spacebus]

I have my sprue cutter nearest to my thumb and with the 2 cav brass mold I can cut the sprue with my thumb and catch it in my hand to drop it back in the pot. I lay the mold sprue cutter down on the hot plate to heat up and it balances well for me.
I only have one set of handles and plan to get another. Once I have 2 molds with handles I'll come up with some kind of cover to make an oven.

By sprue cutter, do you mean some kind of mallet to strike the plate? I use a wooden mallet. I thought I saw you had some kind of soft blow hammer.

Yeah, I think if I'm going to continue casting I'm going to need to invest in some way to monitor temps. If for no other reason than to remove the guessing game.
I've complyely removed the cast iron skillet just to remove that from the equasion. I may invest in a brand new unseasoned one... or maybe just a flat iron. We'll see down the road.

I use an old circular saw blade on top of my hot plate.

That's a good idea!  My issue with the hotplate is keeping the mold flat with the weight of the handle causing it to tilt.  I improvise in various ways to remedy this.  I don't have a real good fix yet.

If you can find a tin coffee or large bean can, cut a window in it close enough to the open end to balance the mold handles on. Flip it upside down and sit it on top of the hotplate and insert the molds through the window. Presto! You now have a mini mold oven.

Ed, when using a hot plate with HP/pellet molds, do you rest the pins against the hot plate? Can you post a picture of your can oven?

[avator]

No, by sprue cutter I mean the top plate of the mold that cuts the sprue off.

[Spacebus]

No, by sprue cutter I mean the top plate of the mold that cuts the sprue off.

How do you cut the sprue with your thumb? I'm confused, but very interested. This sounds like a huge time saver vs switching between the ladle and mallet. If I'm holding the handles too close to the mold I do sometimes whack my fingers with the sprue plate when it comes around. A better method sounds great.

[avator]

Hard to describe... I'll post some pics tomorrow while I'm out in the Red Shed. I can only do it with the 2 cav mold. The sprue on the 4 cav is a bit too much to cut with my thumb.
There is a guy that does a video on NOE, can't remember his name but I do everything like he does.

[maraudinglizard]

Most of my molds are 1 or 2 cavity and I can cut the sprue with my thumb on the sprue cutter once the mold warms up, the only time I have to tap the mold is when a cast is stubborn about releasing the mold. I have a pan for the sprue cuts and a pan for the pellets. It's one less move for me when dumping the cuts back into the pot.

[brewbear]

I have my sprue cutter nearest to my thumb and with the 2 cav brass mold I can cut the sprue with my thumb and catch it in my hand to drop it back in the pot. I lay the mold sprue cutter down on the hot plate to heat up and it balances well for me.
I only have one set of handles and plan to get another. Once I have 2 molds with handles I'll come up with some kind of cover to make an oven.

Bill, I was taught to save the sprues in a tin and add them all at once. I usually add them when the lead level dropped off and I'm ready to take a break. Adding them two at a time can mess up the temp and also introduce gunk in the molten lead. YMMV

[Spacebus]

Maybe I should have gotten that wadcutter mold in two cavity instead...