Broken screw fix-fo HP brass mold

[gray wolf]

I explained in my other post how I got the broken screws out of my Brass 200 grain HP mold, but it seems no one has read it. IN an effort to help let me explain how I fixed the problem. The broken screws were not that hard to remove so lets just say that part is done.
Now looking at the screws once they were removed I could see they were not of a common type of screw you could just go and by. But they will be from now on.
OK the screw is a cap screw for about 3/8 of an inch, then it has no threads for the rest of the 1/2 inch or so, it is reduced in size and looks more like a pin. The screws broke right at the junction that the pin begins.
I cleaned up the thread on the ends of each screw and verified they would still go in and out. Then I fashioned a pin from the right size drill rod ( end of old drill )
cut it to length so that when the screw was inserted it would contact the top of the pin. So it's a two piece a fare now. I got the idea from looking at an RCBS mold, they use an Allen screw on top of a free floating pin.
I think there is the potential for a week area in the screw design as it was before.
But not now. I don't think the 3/8 cap screw will break and I know the pins wont break. I will use a little breach plug geese on them as an anti seize alternative for now.
So that's the story of the broken screws. I fixed it myself and it cost nothing.

Sam

[skeettx]

Thanks
Nice fix and useful
Mike

[nicholst55]

I fixed it myself and it cost nothing.

Sam

That's the sweetest part, isn't it? :castmine:

[44man]

I explained in my other post how I got the broken screws out of my Brass 200 grain HP mold, but it seems no one has read it. IN an effort to help let me explain how I fixed the problem. The broken screws were not that hard to remove so lets just say that part is done.
Now looking at the screws once they were removed I could see they were not of a common type of screw you could just go and by. But they will be from now on.
OK the screw is a cap screw for about 3/8 of an inch, then it has no threads for the rest of the 1/2 inch or so, it is reduced in size and looks more like a pin. The screws broke right at the junction that the pin begins.
I cleaned up the thread on the ends of each screw and verified they would still go in and out. Then I fashioned a pin from the right size drill rod ( end of old drill )
cut it to length so that when the screw was inserted it would contact the top of the pin. So it's a two piece a fare now. I got the idea from looking at an RCBS mold, they use an Allen screw on top of a free floating pin.
I think there is the potential for a week area in the screw design as it was before.
But not now. I don't think the 3/8 cap screw will break and I know the pins wont break. I will use a little breach plug geese on them as an anti seize alternative for now.
So that's the story of the broken screws. I fixed it myself and it cost nothing.

Sam
All of my molds use a pin that is a slip fit in the hole and a setscrew to hold them in.
Do not use a screw that is tight against the pin. Allow some play.
Tight there can warp a mold. All will expand with heat so never make parts tight.

[gray wolf]

Allow some play.
Tight there can warp a mold. All will expand with heat so never make parts tight.



That's what I did,

[Longwood]

I made the mistake of buying a couple of used Lyman mold off of ebay. They both had the sprue plate screw messed up. I simply drilled the hole out, tapped it too 1/4 20. I then found a bolt that has a short shank of the length I needed, then after tossing the, sprue plate eating, lock washer (and repairing the sprue plate), with a close tolerance washer and two wavy washers I tightened the new sprue plate bolt to where it needed to be, then set the set screw, I removed both it and the 1/4" bolt and made a flat on it where the set screw marked it to prevent any further turning. I had to cut the 1/4" bolt down some because in order to buy one with the proper shank length, it was a bit too long.
I did this years ago to one that I screwed up and it is still working. I used the one I repaired yesterday to cast over 100 bullets and it also works great.

[plainsman456]

Farmers have been doing this type of stuff for years.
Field expedient repairs sometimes last for years and are better than the original.

[Longwood]

I never did much farming but my dad grew up doing it the hard way and he taught me a lot. One of the best thing he taught me was to have good tools and learn to use them.
For many, many years I tried to buy at least one good tool every payday or at least the second, and often the first, time I needed one. Because of that, there is seldom something I can't repair or build.

[montana_charlie]

I wonder why the pins broke in the first place.
Do you use some of those mould handles made by Gussy that work like vise grips?
CM

[gray wolf]

No Gussy handles, Just the Lee that were recommended.
Who knows why, you can't really over tighten these screws. They are cap head and bottom out in the bottom of the recess. so snug is snug.
Like a traffic light--don't get no greener or redder.

[montana_charlie]

They are cap head and bottom out in the bottom of the recess. so snug is snug.
But, if you squeeze the handles real hard you might break the pins ... ?
CM

[gray wolf]

but, if you squeeze the handles real hard you might break the pins ... ?
Cm

no, no, no,