Making a custom mold advise needed
I have half of this figured out. My idea is for a simple to produce mold for testing different shapes and weights of pellet. My tools are limited to mostly hand tools however a surprising lot can be accomplished given time, trial and error, and lots of stopping for measurements. I’m not making them by the hundred for target practice or anything. My plan is to trial and error my way through different concepts and hone craftsmanship in the process.
I can polish the sides of two pieces of aluminum bar stock to near mirror and grind the top flat so they match seamlessly. Instead of hinging the mold I will hold the two halves together with pins and clamps. I could drill it out easily enough and counter sinking it will make a simple conical skirt. I won’t attempt hollowing the skirt at first and could try gas checks or maybe paper patch. Where I am stuck is creating the head and gas checks. For the head of the pellet I have considered putting a metal sleeve down into the mold to protect it with the bit chucked into a Dremel suspended in a crummy drill press like device. Then rotate the entire mold along the bench as the burr head cuts and use the sleeve as a sort of fence to limit it’s cutting depth. Measure, adjust, replace with different size sleeve, repeat until desired result. A modified wire nail could be used similarly to cut gas checks into aluminum. I would be glad to hear any improvements to this.
All Replies
Just ignore Voltar. If he were really interested in what you were doing he would be begging for updates, pictures and current data.
I have no idea how to make molds but I do know to get an precision mold it takes precision tools.
Take a look here and see if it helps
My objective is not to make a super pellet or anything. If I end up with something decent that would bee cool but in reality the 25.4gr JSB is probably as accurate as you can ever get for my particular condor beyond 75 yards. That combo has far out performed any other airguns I have shot at any range.
I have just been wanting to get back into an old hobby of making things from the dirt I have and figured something like molds would be an interesting place to start after seeing a friends lyman .38spl mold.
roachcreek i like the cherry idea better than mine now and sounds far less tedious. Didn’t know it was an actual technique. I’ll have to go see how it is really done and then figure out how I can do it but the part of making the chery sounds reasonable for what I have. The tough part I’m sure will be closing the two sides evenly and I can see issues with filings and if the cherry walks any it’ll likely ruin the seam but I’ll get to that.
some things are better purchased from someone with the tooling and knowhow to make such.
Come up with a design and order a mold from Lee Precision at around $150
.
There we go, you grumpy ol’ git….. 😎 😆
My objective is not to make a super pellet or anything. If I end up with something decent that would bee cool but in reality the 25.4gr JSB is probably as accurate as you can ever get for my particular condor beyond 75 yards. That combo has far out performed any other airguns I have shot at any range.
I have just been wanting to get back into an old hobby of making things from the dirt I have and figured something like molds would be an interesting place to start after seeing a friends lyman .38spl mold.
roachcreek i like the cherry idea better than mine now and sounds far less tedious. Didn’t know it was an actual technique. I’ll have to go see how it is really done and then figure out how I can do it but the part of making the chery sounds reasonable for what I have. The tough part I’m sure will be closing the two sides evenly and I can see issues with filings and if the cherry walks any it’ll likely ruin the seam but I’ll get to that.
I was more helpful than you realize.
some things are better purchased from someone with the tooling and knowhow to make such.
Come up with a design and order a mold from Lee Precision at around $150
When someone who has no clue pretends to know something and have ideas about how easy it is to make something my eyes glaze over and I figure well…. hair on yah bud.
Some folks don’t do well with reality and honesty…. sorry.
Walter….
You can buy mold halves that have no bullet form cut yet, they are made for do it yourselfers.
They have the alignment pins in them to line them up. If it were me, what I would do, is use a vice and drill press. Or better yet a milling machine with a machinist vice on it. Put one half secured somehow, on each jaw, and the cherry, which in a cutter in the form of the projectile, in the drill press or milling machine. Then slowly close the jaws holding the two halves around the cherry as the cherry/cutter spins it.
Of course I do not know if any of this would work beyond theray, the drill press may not provide the torque, you may get too much heat and warp the blocks, you may not be able to get a cherry made up correctly, a newly DNA engineered mammoth may crush your moblile home while your machining it it, lots of things could happen 😆 .
But like I say, there are folks who will make you a mold based on your design.
When I was 15, I cut a 101 barrel from a worn out Crosman 101 and tried to make a mold out of that, I wish I still had that worn out 101. Point is, most thoughts have been thought by someone before us, so in a lot of cases energy is wasted that could be channeled into more productive thoughts.
Which is what were saying here, some of us nicer than others, but until you express those thoughts, you do not know. So keep on posting you may come up with something that changes the game plan for all of us.
Regards,
Roachcreek
But in the end, the JSB 25.4 is hard to beat.
My objective is not to make a super pellet or anything. If I end up with something decent that would bee cool but in reality the 25.4gr JSB is probably as accurate as you can ever get for my particular condor beyond 75 yards. That combo has far out performed any other airguns I have shot at any range.
I have just been wanting to get back into an old hobby of making things from the dirt I have and figured something like molds would be an interesting place to start after seeing a friends lyman .38spl mold.
roachcreek i like the cherry idea better than mine now and sounds far less tedious. Didn’t know it was an actual technique. I’ll have to go see how it is really done and then figure out how I can do it but the part of making the chery sounds reasonable for what I have. The tough part I’m sure will be closing the two sides evenly and I can see issues with filings and if the cherry walks any it’ll likely ruin the seam but I’ll get to that.
Don’t think this forum is hostile mate. Quite the opposite. Walter is our resident grumpy old git. He is massively knowledgeable about many things, but he can be unhelpful at times…
paboluk, no I’m not on top of this otherwise I wouldn’t have asked for ideas. and thank you, that guys comment wasn’t exactly helpful. I’m pretty new around here and see some interesting things but this forum seems to be a pretty hostile place unless you don’t bring anything out of the ordinary to the table.
My objective is not to make a super pellet or anything. If I end up with something decent that would bee cool but in reality the 25.4gr JSB is probably as accurate as you can ever get for my particular condor beyond 75 yards. That combo has far out performed any other airguns I have shot at any range.
I have just been wanting to get back into an old hobby of making things from the dirt I have and figured something like molds would be an interesting place to start after seeing a friends lyman .38spl mold.
roachcreek i like the cherry idea better than mine now and sounds far less tedious. Didn’t know it was an actual technique. I’ll have to go see how it is really done and then figure out how I can do it but the part of making the chery sounds reasonable for what I have. The tough part I’m sure will be closing the two sides evenly and I can see issues with filings and if the cherry walks any it’ll likely ruin the seam but I’ll get to that.
sounds like you figure it all easy, piece of cake!
WTF kind of post is that Walter?
Even if he thinks he’s on top of the situation, and he is in actual fact not, what the fuck kind of sarcastic, none helpful, full of yourself bullshit answer/post is that?.
He got it wrong? Then fucking tell him where he’s got it wrong. Don’t sit there in a self important way and laugh and come out with shit like that.
You are bang out of order.
Shut the fuck up unless you have something useful/helpful to say.
🙂 🙂
sounds like you are just the guy to tell him how
good luck
That the best you got Walt’ ?
Hmmmm, come on you grumpy ol’ git, try harder.
Don’t tell us how not to do it(hell, tell us how not to do it).
Put some effort in the post.
I know it would not be the least expensive way, but it would be the easiest. You would not have to make a split mold the silicone is semi flexible and the pellet would pop out.
Turn the shape you want, pour RTV Silicone mold making rubber around it and you have a mold.
Here is a link to some material that works for casting lead.
http://www.eagerplastics.com/rtv325.htm
There are many sources, a quart of material would be enough to make a hundred molds or more.
Hope this gives someone other ideas.
I can polish the sides of two pieces of aluminum bar stock to near mirror and grind the top flat so they match seamlessly. Instead of hinging the mold I will hold the two halves together with pins and clamps. I could drill it out easily enough and counter sinking it will make a simple conical skirt. I won’t attempt hollowing the skirt at first and could try gas checks or maybe paper patch. Where I am stuck is creating the head and gas checks. For the head of the pellet I have considered putting a metal sleeve down into the mold to protect it with the bit chucked into a Dremel suspended in a crummy drill press like device. Then rotate the entire mold along the bench as the burr head cuts and use the sleeve as a sort of fence to limit it’s cutting depth. Measure, adjust, replace with different size sleeve, repeat until desired result. A modified wire nail could be used similarly to cut gas checks into aluminum. I would be glad to hear any improvements to this.
go for it then.
sounds like you figure it all easy, piece of cake!
WTF kind of post is that Walter?
Even if he thinks he’s on top of the situation, and he is in actual fact not, what the fuck kind of sarcastic, none helpful, full of yourself bullshit answer/post is that?.
He got it wrong? Then fucking tell him where he’s got it wrong. Don’t sit there in a self important way and laugh and come out with shit like that.
You are bang out of order.
Shut the fuck up unless you have something useful/helpful to say.
🙂 🙂
sounds like you are just the guy to tell him how
good luck
I can polish the sides of two pieces of aluminum bar stock to near mirror and grind the top flat so they match seamlessly. Instead of hinging the mold I will hold the two halves together with pins and clamps. I could drill it out easily enough and counter sinking it will make a simple conical skirt. I won’t attempt hollowing the skirt at first and could try gas checks or maybe paper patch. Where I am stuck is creating the head and gas checks. For the head of the pellet I have considered putting a metal sleeve down into the mold to protect it with the bit chucked into a Dremel suspended in a crummy drill press like device. Then rotate the entire mold along the bench as the burr head cuts and use the sleeve as a sort of fence to limit it’s cutting depth. Measure, adjust, replace with different size sleeve, repeat until desired result. A modified wire nail could be used similarly to cut gas checks into aluminum. I would be glad to hear any improvements to this.
go for it then.
sounds like you figure it all easy, piece of cake!
WTF kind of post is that Walter?
Even if he thinks he’s on top of the situation, and he is in actual fact not, what the fuck kind of sarcastic, none helpful, full of yourself bullshit answer/post is that?.
He got it wrong? Then fucking tell him where he’s got it wrong. Don’t sit there in a self important way and laugh and come out with shit like that.
You are bang out of order.
Shut the fuck up unless you have something useful/helpful to say.
I can polish the sides of two pieces of aluminum bar stock to near mirror and grind the top flat so they match seamlessly. Instead of hinging the mold I will hold the two halves together with pins and clamps. I could drill it out easily enough and counter sinking it will make a simple conical skirt. I won’t attempt hollowing the skirt at first and could try gas checks or maybe paper patch. Where I am stuck is creating the head and gas checks. For the head of the pellet I have considered putting a metal sleeve down into the mold to protect it with the bit chucked into a Dremel suspended in a crummy drill press like device. Then rotate the entire mold along the bench as the burr head cuts and use the sleeve as a sort of fence to limit it’s cutting depth. Measure, adjust, replace with different size sleeve, repeat until desired result. A modified wire nail could be used similarly to cut gas checks into aluminum. I would be glad to hear any improvements to this.
go for it then.
sounds like you figure it all easy, piece of cake!
Have you studied how molds are made with cherry’s ? The cherry is milled to the exact shape of the bullet or pellet and then the two halves of the mold are pressed against the spinning cherry while it is spinning and it cuts the hole in the two halves of the mold.
I am no machinist and I do not know the equipment involved, but what your attempting sounds like a waste of time.
Paperpatching although it sounds simple is not. I have spent hours upon hours doing it with 45 ccaliber black powder bullets. You need a template and a certain type of paper, it is slow and tedious and labour intesive.
Find a mold maker to make you a mold.
Regards,
Roachcreek
why not try clay . make two clay chunks with a plastic rap between an press them around a pellet . you can even use clay to shape the pellet to be pressed ,let it dry then press it.. might work .
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
😆 😆
You guys!!! I swear. 🙂
I will get around to casting for my 22 condor, What i have learned from others about this project on here and other places is invaluable, i cast for most all calibers that i shoot rifle and pistol, so all i need is molds and sizing dies , but i am collecting as much info as possible before i get to it.
Casting for the .22 caliber , one of the hardest calibers to cast for, if not the hardest. The smaller the caliber the more imperfections show in your shooting results.
I have wanted to cast for .22 powder guns that i haven’t yet either, but with the condor i think that a 50 grain or so bullet would be about right.and i also know that the rifleing is not right for the heavier bullet weights, so differant barrel, differant rifling twist , and no choke more than likely for best performance with the 22 air rifles . The .25 seems quite a bit easier to get results with .
With your mission , any imperfection is going to show up as bad groups of course, the least bit out of round, if your lead is not just the right temp you will not have a filled out bullet , or pin holes or air bubbles in the bullets.
Then sizing, your pellets or bullets will have to be perfectly sized to your bore to get peak results.
Now if your can come up with a mold out of scratch, with your limited tools, that drops a bullet out at a size that you can get a group with, it would be a really cool accomplishment to be proud of.
Now i know why the guys were hammering Walter , but in his defense , he saw that you had already shot the Jsb’s so any pellet or bullet that you could come up with would in no way compete with the JSB . I think that is what he so gruffly was at his point with.
If you have a perfect professionally made mold and can size to the exact size that your rifle wants to shoot at peak accuracy,or drops a bullet or pellet to the best size for your rifles peak performance, then it will still be a huge accomplishment to learn how to melt , pour and cast your bullets to the peak performance.
So lets see what ya got. 😀