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

[avator]

Snapped some pics of the Casting Cabin this morning. Things are coming up to temp for my first pour in there.

[avator]

... another one.

[avator]

First 50 ct test batch 217 20 RF Hunters is in the tumbler. I want to see if there are any changes due to cooler/dryer conditions. Sprues back in the pot and mold staying warm in the oven.
This bench is a little lower than the one in the Red Shed and it feels more comfortable pouring. That may result in longer casting sessions.

[triggertreat]

You're a lucky dog, Bill.  Nice setup for casting.

I always liked having my workbench sit jacent to the doorway, so I could have the pot and a fan very close to the doorway drawing out the nasty, but that's just how the workbench I have was already positioned.  I am sure you have everything worked out.

[avator]

I am compelled to be completely honest how this went down. The Casting Shack did not come to me without some level of compromise.
Some of you may remember the screened in back deck that we closed in and made into our bar/hangout after losing the bar due to the sale of that part of the property.
Well, I had to relinquish all control over the approved goings on in that space. I'm just grateful that she enjoys camo and outdoor type decor such as hunting, fishing, airguns, cars and beer drinking as opposed to pink.
But that's not to say that it would be unlikely that I would open that door to find a soap opera or a reality program on the flat screen. But that's ok too because that door goes both ways.

[avator]

Casting Cabin is shaping up quite nicely. I added a table so I could sit comfortably while sorting and weighing my cast pellets. I also put the OrcAir compact compressor in for filling the 2k fake 3622 "lego" gun seen hanging on the rack along with the PM 66 and the "Prvt. Stryker" (chopped Striker 1000s in a Webley VMX stock).

[2A Georgia]

Casting cabin is looking great!
I moved my bench to the edge of the garage by the door, more outside air/ventilation.
I boiled some water to test the PID Thermocouple...as suspected reading 60C when the water boiled.
Trying to find the Code menu to set an offset temp on the Rex C100.  My 300 is actually 340C, which is what I was targeting.
I ran a practice run of 217RF20s that look much better.  Looks like I can keep improving and sorting and have a cast for the Notos and pp800r

[avator]

Thanks..
Betty Lou said she don't have anything penciled in on the hunny do list for today so it looks like I'll be able to spend some time putting Casting Cabin into production. I do want to look around and see what I have for gun related signs to put a little bling on the walls.
I was able to tether the tablet through my cell phone and get connection good enough to browse stream. That will suffice until I can get a router installed and cable ran. It's not so much that I want to watch TV.. I just like to listen to things I've recorded to the DVR while I'm puttering around.
I managed to get all the gas/electric yard tools put away into the Red Shed before the rains came yesterday.... a real toad choker.

[avator]

First round of 100 217 20 RF dropped and awaiting sort/weigh.
Figured out the internet deal... I moved the black file cabinet over under the window a/c and the tablet hits the bedroom wireless good enough to browse and stream. I'll run it like that until it don't. 
It was 71 when I went in this morning and by the short time the pot and mold were up to operating temp it was 81. I put the a/c on low, set the thermostat to 7 and it cooled off to a very comfortable 71 within about an hour. Pretty sure I wouldn't be able to work in there as we move more into the  HOT season without that a/c.

[Back_Roads]

 The A/C will give you better results, being able to cast at the same ambient temperature every time.

[avator]

Already showing good results.
I've poured 2 runs of around 100 and even with sorting in batches between 19.30 - 19.50 and 19.51 - 19.71 I'm still passing around 70% or so.

[cosmic]

https://www.mpja.com/download/rex-c100.pdf

[avator]

I poured 4 batches of around 100 and culled around 60. Most of the keepers were in the 19.30 - 19.50 range. Once I got my stride that last 2 batches were quite consistent at 19.40 +- .05. I didn't tumble any of them today and I'm not even sure if I will. They are very smooth, shiny and slippery to pick up.
I can pour 100 +- before it gets cumbersome to reach the ladle down into the pot. That's when I add the sprues back to the pot and sort/weigh while it's coming back up to temp. I also put the mold back in the oven to keep it hot.
As long as they keep pouring as well as they are I'm going to continue building inventory of these before I swap into another mold. I would think a couple 1000 should be a good stock number.

[2A Georgia]

Casting cabin is looking great!
I moved my bench to the edge of the garage by the door, more outside air/ventilation.
I boiled some water to test the PID Thermocouple...as suspected reading 60C when the water boiled.
Trying to find the Code menu to set an offset temp on the Rex C100.  My 300 is actually 340C, which is what I was targeting.
I ran a practice run of 217RF20s that look much better.  Looks like I can keep improving and sorting and have a cast for the Notos and pp800r

Thank you for the link I set an offset of 40C, then set the PID to auto tune.  Held 300-315C pretty consistent.  Nice shiny smooth pours.  Seam to be getting much better fill out, but now getting over-flash at the skirt ends.  Still some keepers sorted 19.2 to 19.7.  I am cleaning my other 217RF20 mold to see which one casts better

[avator]

Getting ready to go out and get things fired up. Betty Lou found my spare linksys router when she was cleaning in the utility room. I may have a look at a plan for routing the daisy chain. I think I'm going to need a 50' cat5. But for now... it seems to connect to the bedroom router if I locate the tablet near the window. Not sure how it will do as the weather changes... we'll see.
I also found that one side of one of the outlets is smashed/broken. Looks like someone ran something into it. I have another one to replace it with and a new cover.

[2A Georgia]

Getting ready to go out and get things fired up. Betty Lou found my spare linksys router when she was cleaning in the utility room. I may have a look at a plan for routing the daisy chain. I think I'm going to need a 50' cat5. But for now... it seems to connect to the bedroom router if I locate the tablet near the window. Not sure how it will do as the weather changes... we'll see.
I also found that one side of one of the outlets is smashed/broken. Looks like someone ran something into it. I have another one to replace it with and a new cover.

If I might suggest 50' of cat5 and 50' of small diameter elcheapo pvc (or actual conduit) and bury it 18" to 2' deep.  It will never give you any problems and have a stable secure connection to the base router....IMHO you'll experience the same service as in the house...

[avator]

Yep.. I have enough 2" black abs to run it through between the buildings like I didn't the electric. I would fish it through that one but I don't think the electric will play nice with the signal if I do. It's only a 25 or 30' span between the 2 buildings. And I don't mow in that area so it will be safe from any damage and not have to go overhead.

I fired up the pot and cast the first hundred this morning. Pretty much the same results as yesterday. At this point I have a full tin of the 19.40 and about a 3/4 of the 19.60. I put the 19.40 in the tumbler and I'll do the same with the 19.60 once the tin is full.

[Mr.P]

How common is tumbling projectiles? I asked about it about a year ago when I started casting and I got mixed responses.

The idea is to make them more uniform and get rid of any flashing?  I believe this also increases the diameter slightly - there is some word for the effect… I have one mold that I wish could cast slightly larger diameter slugs I'm wondering if tumbling them might be a way to make that happen. 

[avator]

I'm not sure how tumbling would increase the diameter. Logic would tell me that, if anything, it would decrease the diameter due to them bumping and rubbing against one another. I suppose a could measure so samples before and after.
For me, tumbling just makes them smoother and slicker.

[avator]

I stumbled across a batch of around 300 of the Hunters that must have been from when I was using the brass mold. I weighed and sorted them to within my current tolerances and culled about 50% of them. Back in the pot the rest of them go.



Unintended derp edit...