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Cast iron

Sparky45

Aluminum
Joined
Jan 20, 2020
I am going to make a bullet mold and was wanting to use Cast Iron for the project. I need to know where to source the iron and if junk cast would also work. Ideas?
 
Ive made a few.....be careful the iron doesnt have holes or pits in it,which rules out domestic type castings.....one source is scrap metalworking machines ......for instance Cinci grinders have very thick casting parts,with nice machinable cast iron......I also had a salvaged planer table ,which had some nice thick sections........When I had the shop,selling usable cast iron to steam model makers was a sideline ,as commercial sellers of new cast are very expensive......I also sold bits of other costly metals like bronze and monel,salvaged from the scrap.
 
Just curious, but why the choice for cast iron as a material?
I have no experience in this department, but need a few molds for .43 Mauser and .43 Spanish.
Hoping to learn.
 
No particular reason Kurt; I could go for Brass or Aluminum. Would be a lot cleaner as well.
 
cast iron is traditional ,and IMHO ,if you want a mold to last three lifetimes,then CI it is......Lee use ally ,for a less long lasting ,higher maintenance mold.....and very much cheaper......Lyman used CI for many years,the corporate owners cut costs without telling anyone......however ,the steel they use rusts 100 times quicker than iron ,so they have to admit it ...they use steel......many custom makers use brass,I dont like it ,for the few times Ive used brass molds.
 
some tractor counter weights are actually pretty clean cast, I've made some nice precision tools from some Case IH weights found in the scrap pile.
 
If you are dead set on CI why not just buy a piece of Durabar. This way you get a known quantity and quality for a reasonable price.
 
I am going to make a bullet mold and was wanting to use Cast Iron for the project. I need to know where to source the iron and if junk cast would also work. Ideas?

There is a difference between asking what you want to do and why you want to do it.
Bullet molds are cheap.
 
I'm wanting to make a bullet mold WITHOUT lube grooves for a Stevens 25 RF. You know where I can buy one cheap?
Also want to make a mold for a .22 cal Air Rifle as a slug.
 
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Some of the nicest ci I've ever worked with was a flywheel from a small block Chevy really fine grain stuff machines and scrapes beautiful
 








 
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