blackening mold with candle before pouring lead

[psilvers]

How often does this have to be done? After every pour? After every 10 pours?

Thanks,

Pete

[Richoc]

Lasts a long time.

What I do is use the cheap white candles.

Then I poslish it out with Q-tips.

Makes the lead come out very shinny this way,almost like chrome.

That way is dosen't block my paint from sticking right of the bat.

It will start flow lines and short pours to let you know it needs to be re-done.

Some molds do not need blacked,if needs to be done at all just depends on you temp. and lead mixture.

I lke to stay away if poss. makes painting easier.

[Celticav]

I use kitchen matches, the smoke is more "soot'ier" if that makes sense...JIM

[mhurocy34]

Okay, I'm just getting started, read about every post, and this is new to me. What does this mean, and why do you do it? I heat my molds on the kitchen stove to avoid the hot lead hitting cold molds, since I pour in my garage, which is not insulated, and the highs around here have been in the low 30's the last few days. What effect does this have on the lead after it is poured? My jigs come out very shinny, but a little course, not marble finish, but they paint up well.

Mik

[Jig Man]

I don't smoke any of my molds. I just be sure to preheat the mold and use candle wax to flux the lead.

[reeves]

Hey Guys, want a fast way to blacken those molds? I always became very frustrated when using candles because of the mess it made and the time it took to do it. Had gotten a few of thhose Tiki Torches for the deck, but hadn't set them up yet, so I snatched one of the containers from it and filled it with oil, lit it and what a beautiful column of nice black smoke it laid out. Can do a mold by passing it through the smoke column and you are done, just that fast. And no problems with the pours either.

I think you can get the containers at Wal-Mart along with the oil and you will only have a coulple of bucks invested and one bottle of oil will last you forever.

Hope I have helped someone out there.

George Reeves

H & P Tackle

Welch, OK

[mhurocy34]

Great idea, I will do that, AND it will keep the bugs away!!! But still, no answer... What does blackening or smoking the molds do? I'm going to find out anyways as soon as I get home and try it out. I am assuming that the soot from the smoke fills the pores on the mold, thus giving you a marble like surface, or at least a very smooth surface?

Miklos

[Celticav]

It makes the lead really slip into the cavitities quite nice. This is especially helpful when using older molds. You can also try polishing compound and a rotary tool with a felt wheel, JIM

[Glaucus]

From http://www.n-ssa.org/NORTHWEST/Casting%20Bullets.htm

"Smoke the mold cavity. We can use the smoke from a match, a cigarette lighter, or a carbide lamp to coat the cavity of the mold to help cast good quality bullets. The thin layer of carbon left by smoking acts as an insulator and slows cooling of the melt in the mold. The delayed cooling helps to eliminate some casting problems. ?Mold Prep? (a liquid) sold by Rapine works similarly. I usually use a carbide lamp to smoke the mold cavity before starting to cast, and it is surprising how much it improves the quality of the bullets cast from some molds."

[mhurocy34]

Thanks, now I know. I thought that the end results from pouring lead were a bit "wrinkly", and I did try this smoking with the tiki candle when I got home yesterday, and did notice a bit of an improvement. That really helped.

Miklos