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Irascible
03-29-2011, 02:30 PM
About 1 year ago I bought A Ranch Dog/Lee 2 cavity mould for the 32 Special. I just started using it and I'm having problems. I have NEI and LBT aluminum moulds with no problems. I am using Lyman #2 alloy and it is not filling out fully. I'm up to 700 degrees with no change. I've tried holding against the nozzle and dropping 1/2" and 1".
This is my first Lee mould and probably the last. Beside the casting problems (90% rejection), the handles are junk, and what is with the tapered gas check shank?
So, what temp do you guys cast at? Any suggestions.
I have read all the rave reviews, so what is with mine?

onondaga
03-29-2011, 03:17 PM
I have 23 Lee molds and have no trouble with any of them. It is likely one of the usual things that bothers any mold, petroleum somewhere, sprue plate tension, mold temperature, undisclosed damage by the user, the list goes on. You get out what you put into them.

Lee molds are not designed for pressure casting with the nozzle against the sprue gate. That requires a different vent design.

A 700 degree pot temp is not needed for #2 and high. The problem is likely too slow of a casting cadence and your mold is cooling or oil from insufficient cleaning or over lubrication.

Clean the mold with hot detergent water and dry. Then try it with no lube at all after warming.

Hold the handles up and the closed mold blocks down to dip the mold corner and sprue plate tab into your melt for a complete 20 seconds to warm the mold and cast immediately. If your mold smoked even slightly at the end of the 20 seconds there was oil in it and your castings will likely be wrinkled or have poor fill.

Proper lubrication is a hot topic, but I bet I could get to work in 10 minutes.

Dead center pouring into a level mold sprue gate hole can choke off the air coming out as the mold fills and result in poor fill. Tip the mold 5 degrees and pour 1/2 the diameter of your flow into the high side of the sprue gate slope into the gate hole. air will flow out freely as the metal flows in and the tilt will set up a swirl filling the mold for the best fill. Keep flow length1/4 to 1/2 inch long. If you can not get the half diameter flow to the gate hole to work, the most likely problem is that your flow setting is too powerful, back it off and make your flow stream narrower.

Gary

dodgyrog
03-29-2011, 04:05 PM
That might help with a problem I've had with a couple of Lee 6 gangers. I pour fast straight into the hole and get some wrinkles despite them being spotlessly clean.
I thought the air was not venting, you are confirming that!

Gohon
03-29-2011, 04:30 PM
When I got my first RD mold it was also the first six banger I had ever used. It to say the least was a new learning curve for me. What I discovered was getting the temperature of the entire mold and that long thick sprue plate up to casting temperature was the trick. Using a hot plate until ready to cast, I only fill the first outside two cavities to start. Once both of these are throwing good casts I then add the next cavity and as soon as that one is also throwing good cast I add the next then the next and so on until all six are in use. Works for me.......

XWrench3
03-30-2011, 09:20 AM
i agree with onondaga. i have a bunch of lee molds, including a ranch dog, and all of them work fine. i will not say they did right out of the box! part of it is a learning curve. lee molds can be tempermental at best sometimes, at least until everything is right. personally, my "problem child" lee mold was a 2 banger 40 S&W mold. it gave me fits. i ended up soaking it in MEK overnight, then doused it in boiling water & dawn dish soap,, rinsing it in hot tap water, and then blowing it dry with my air compressor. then i applied an ever so small amount of lube to the pins, smoked the mold with a butane lighter. at first, it still did not fill out correctly. so as a last ditch resort, i filled the mold up with lead, and took my propane torch to it. i heated it up hot enough to melt the lead in the mold, and let it cool. after that, it worked fine. but my thermometer says 750 degrees when i cast, to get good fill out on all of my lee molds. i hope at least some of this helps!

44man
03-30-2011, 10:29 AM
About 1 year ago I bought A Ranch Dog/Lee 2 cavity mould for the 32 Special. I just started using it and I'm having problems. I have NEI and LBT aluminum moulds with no problems. I am using Lyman #2 alloy and it is not filling out fully. I'm up to 700 degrees with no change. I've tried holding against the nozzle and dropping 1/2" and 1".
This is my first Lee mould and probably the last. Beside the casting problems (90% rejection), the handles are junk, and what is with the tapered gas check shank?
So, what temp do you guys cast at? Any suggestions.
I have read all the rave reviews, so what is with mine?
The hardest way to cast is bottom pour and it might be the pot, not the mold. Pots are never even at the spout for temps.
Go a little hotter and see what happens.

Doc Highwall
03-30-2011, 11:56 AM
Part of the problem with the contamination could be as to what kind of coolant the manufacture uses when cutting the moulds and why it takes extra measures to get it out of the pores of the metal along with the porosity of the metal.

epj
03-30-2011, 12:07 PM
I use a number of Lee molds and have found that in general I need to cast a lot hotter than with steel molds. When I have been casting really good consistant boolits I find the melt temp to be close to 800*. Also, I cast pretty quickly so the mold stays hot.

Irascible
03-30-2011, 03:23 PM
Well, I've tried all that was suggested before I wrote, except for the extreme cleaning and casting to the high side of the tilted mould. I cleaned with brake cleaner, the way i usually do and I cast to the low side, not the high side. So, I'll clean some more and try again, this time casting to the high side. If still a problem, I'll move the temp up. If still no success, you'll hear from me again!

onondaga
03-30-2011, 07:59 PM
Carb cleaner has petroleum. It will put oil back into the pores of the metal AND repeat the problem. No petroleum at all is a pretty good idea for cleaning molds. Hot water and detergent with a brush does not leave oil in the mold and cause casting problems.

thenaaks
03-30-2011, 08:18 PM
someone told me to clean with soap water and after it dries, to just dip it in the melt for a minute or two. i did, and my mold started dropping nice boolits immediately...a bit frosty, but nicely filled out (with straight ww). good luck

HammerMTB
03-30-2011, 08:23 PM
I started out (in '81!) with Lee molds, and tho I have used others, they are all I own. Well, I own 1 from a vendor here that casts buckshot.
Anyway, after trying many of the thingsa listed, I have arrived at a fairly fail-safe system for new molds.
First, at least a careful inspection. Knock off any burrsgo over the vent lines with my Xacto blade. Make sure the pivot is tightened right- not too loose, but not too tight either. They need room to align the mold halves.
Then the step I bet you need- a good cleaning. I have a clear solvent in my workshop that seems to do a very nice job. Yes, it is a petroleum distillate. I soak the mold in it for at least a day, to get all that cutting lube out of the pores of the aluminum. I used to have to cast with a Lee mold for quite a while- sometimes several casting sessions- before it would burn all the gunk out of the mold. no more. After soaking for a day, I take the mold out, blow it dry with compressed air, and then clean again with brake clean. IT is the type that leaves no residue. Dry this stuff thoroughly. It is toxic to breathe the burnt fumes from it! It does dry quickly, so that's not a bigt deal, but don't go straight from spray to molten lead. Then I get out the Bull Plate sprue lube and lube the sprue hinge, the bottom of the plate and top of the mold, the positives of the alignment pins, etc.
Get it hot. I mean hot. If you get it too hot, you will know as it will be slow to cool the sprue. That problem will fix itself if you wait for the sprue. Get that buggar good and hot, and it will cast good boolits for oyu. Unlike some, my Lee molds will usually cast well with a pressure pour. A couple of them don't seem to like it, and I have to set up and gravity pour them. I only use bottom pour pots, tho, and have good success with them.

mpmarty
03-30-2011, 08:54 PM
I dumped all my iron molds. Lee is my mold of choice and I cast 10mm, 45acp, 30cal and 45/70 in Lee molds without any problems at all. I use ww plus 10% monotype and have to get the pot over 700* before lead comes out the bottom spout. I cast as fast as I can and don't even look at the boolits as they drop onto the folded towel.

Ranch Dog
03-30-2011, 11:55 PM
I'm dropping around 20K worth of bullets annually now from 24 different Lee molds and feel I have refined my technique to a pretty good level. I call it "cold casting" because I simply do not preheat my mold in the traditional sense any more. I do prep my alloy just like anyone else.

While my alloy is heating I start on my mold, I lightly buff the upper surface of the blocks and underside of the sprue plate with 0000 steel wool. I make sure the sprue plate locating lug is not so tight that it binds the plate as it closes. If it does, binds that is, I feel you end up with some funny bullet bases as the plate expands. I keep a 7/16" box end wrench handy and adjust it if needed during the session. I scrub the mold with dish soap and extremely hot water and then blow it dry with compressed air. Last but not least I lightly smoke the cavities and put a bit of lube on the locating pins.

With my alloy ready, I dip the forward edge of the mold into the pot for 30 seconds. I pull it out and touch a little bit of wax to the sprue plate pivot. I immediately pour the forward most bullet cavity and drop it. I pour #1 and #2 and drop. I pour #1, #2, and #3 and drop. I dip the mold for 15 seconds and go on adding cavities #4, #5, and #6. At any point in this, if I get a wrinkled bullet I do not proceed further until that cavity drops a good bullet.

Tonight I worked with my TLC311-170-RF, TLC323-170-RF, and the Lee 00 Buck Shot mold. The two RD molds where dropping keepers in three minutes. The TLC311 actually had zero rejects. The TLC323 dropped about 6 that didn't work out. The buckshot mold took about 6 minutes to bring to temperature.

As soon as I bring the mold to temperature, which is very quick, I take about a dozen samples and make sure they meet all my expectations of diameter, gas check fit (they are ready on the table), etc. I know there will be slight changes as the alloy cures but there is no sense in going on if something isn't working out. I start with a look at the alloy but that usually is a constant for me so it has to be that the mold still isn't clean. I can have the mold washed and back at the pot in three minutes. I do enough casting that I don't want to drop 10# of bullets and then figure out they won't work out! I want to know in the first 12.

I also keep very detailed records; alloy mix, pot settings vs. temperature, etc. If something works, I do it again. If it didn't, I don't. After a decade of hitting it hard and a constant source of alloy, it doesn't take much to get going. Using this method and a six cavity mold I move through a pot of alloy quick. It heats for about 15 mintues while I prep the mold and the pour takes about 30 minutes (+/- depending on caliber size for 10#). I used two pots tonight, one heating while I worked with the other. The three molds mentioned above dropped approximately 27# of lead in about an hour thirty, start to finish.