moulds

[ian45662]

I have a lee 445 mould and when I make the balls there is a ring of lead where the 2 parts come together. It looks like lead is seaping out through the " seam" of the mould. Also I pound the mould on the table to get the balls to come out. Is that bad? Any who back to the first question. Should I just bite the bullet so to speak and buy a Lyman mould. Are they better than lee and worth the extra money you pay for them. I have the handles so I would just need the block.

 

[jeepwj992002]

Yeah pounding the mould on the table is a bad thing. You might have knocked it out of alignment. What I do is use a lighter to coat the inside of the mould with soot to act as a releasing agent. After I pour I lightly tap the sprue plate with an old wooden chair brace and if the bullet or ball is reluctant, I tap on the mould handle by the mould block. As for Lymans I am not sure how good they are.

 

[ian45662]

So have I destroied my mould?

 

[Thunderchild]

Your mould is probably not junk. It needs to be cleaned.

The ring of lead is caused by the mould not closing completely. This is usually caused by a little bit of lead stuck to the mold where it joins together. You need to look closely at the mould. This bit of lead is probably smashed almost flat against the mould surfaces. It will probably look like a discoloration on the mould surfaces. Clean/scrape the area very gently. Be careful not to damage the mould. Once the mould is clean of this little bit of lead, you should have solved the problem. To prevent this from happening again, do this. Close the mold and rap it with a wood hammer handle (also used to cut the sprue) and look to see if the mould is closed completely. Then pour the lead into the mould. Do this every time you pour lead into the mould.

You should take some alcohol and clean the inside surfaces of the mold to remove any grease or oils.

I have made many hundred bullets if not thousands. I have never used mould release agent. I am not against some one using it but why spend money if you don't have to.

The reason your ball is not coming out of the mould easily is probably because of one or two reasons. That would be a dirty mould or the mould is not hot enough.

Most of the first balls out of my moulds are a bit hard to get out of the mould. I rap the mould with a hammer handle (wood with the head cut off) and the balls fall out. Once the mould is hot the balls fall out by gravity. Be sure you have a soft cotton towel for the ball to fall into so as not to damage the lead bullet. I spray my towels with a bit of water to help the bullet cool and prevent burning of the cotton.

I hope this helps

 

[Bubba45]

What brand of mould is it?

 

[ian45662]

lee

 

[bwhoffman]

I only "whack" my molds on the hinge bolt. other than that, I tap open the sprue cutter, I use a 1 inch diameter chunk of limb or an old hammer handle.
I do close the mold with the sprue cutter open to verify that I am closed proper, then I swing the sprue cutter over the mold.

My LEE molds, at times, will pick up a sliver of lead and not close proper. I wipe it off with a damp close, AWAY from the melted lead.

FWIW.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I don't think you have ruined the mold. You just have not prepared it properly, and then have not maintained it during the casting process. I also found that smoking the inside of the mold helped the lead flow and I got good bullets, or balls, faster, without wrinkles. Use a stick to clean any lead off the face of the block. Never use a steel edge on those aluminum alloy blocks. You will scratch them, and then you can ruin the mold blocks.

Use a block of wood to knock open the sprue cutter. Always take a look at the bottom of the plate of the cutter, to make sure you have not opened it too soon, and got some molten lead to wash over the bottom of the plate. That will spring the hinge and cause the sprue cutter to leave too much of a sprue, or be inconsistent, giving you a wider variation in weights. You will develop a rhythm in casting when you don't open the mold too soon, you don't knock the sprue loose too quickly, you don't knock the ball out of the mold too soon. When you have the right rhythm, the mold stays at temperature too, and you can cast continually until you have to pause to replenish the pot and let the lead come up to temperature again. I rest the mold on the top edge of the pot then, to keep it warm at casting temperature.

 

[bpbrs]

What did the directions in the box say to do? :hmm:

 

[wyatt243]

For half the price of a new mould LEE will recondition it for you if you did happen to hurt it but as has already been said it probably wasnt prepared properly

 

[MSW]

i had a similar problem, and found that there was a tiny smear of lead which had adhered to one of the alignment pins. i scraped it off using a bit of scrap brass (although you don't want to do that if the smear is on the aluminum body of the mould) and after that the thing worked fine.

as an aside, i own both Lee and Lyman moulds, and when i left a Lyman out and it rusted ( :redface: ) i contacted them to order a replacement, and they just sent a new one. kudos to Lyman, even if their gear is very expensive, they stand behind it all the way.

by the way, don't ever whack the mould very hard, and don't use anything harder than a 2x4 split in half, or a bit of hardwood bigger than 3/4 of an inch. i wouldn't strike the mould with any more force than you would clap your hands, and i'd avoid hitting the mould itself- only the handles or the center nut.

good luck running ball!

msw

 

[jercon]

Sent it back to lee and they will rebuild it.to get the bullets out, use a soft face hammer or wood stick I like a wood replace ment hammer handle tap it on the bolt that holds the hhandles together with the mold oppen over a soft cloth.

 

[J.D.]

Lee moulds are decent moulds once they are tweeked a bit.

There is a thread at this link that explains the process.
[url] http://castboolits.gunloads.com/archive/index.php/t-17544.html[/url]

J.D.

 

[Doe]

While we'er talking about moulds which would you prefer...Aluminum or steel!!!!

 

[irataylor]

Myself I prefer steel. I also don't like moulds with double balls. I prefer to cast a single ball at a time.

 

[mazo kid]

OR....BRASS?? I have all three and they all work nicely. There is a difference in quality between the aluminum makers but they will all work when properly set up. Nice thing about aluminum is the no rust thing, however they are a bit more delicate than steel or brass. However, all moulds should be used gently to prevent premature wear and mis-alignment. Emery