First mold questions ?

[RU shooter]

Ok now I have quite a few ingots made and my first boolit mold has arrived thanks to the very generous donation from a fellow board member, So I'm set now But what do I do to this new mold its a lee .312 , 155gr ,do I just start pouring boolits or do I need to prep it in any way first? I had read some old posts on working out the problems with lee molds and tweaking them do i need to do these things first ???? Walk me through this fella's if you would! :confused: TIA............................RU

[KYCaster]

RU: Look in the "Molds...Maintenance and Design" forum. There's a sticky called "Sure Fire Lee-Menting Techniques". It will tell you everything you need to know about making a Lee mold work.

Have fun!!!
Jerry

[Ricochet]

I've not had to do anything with Lee moulds other than properly lubricating them and making sure the sprue plate screw is properly set. (Not too tight so that it binds, not too loose so the sprue plate can wobble up and down.) Lee Liquid Alox is a good Lee mould lube, as is automotive high temperature disk brake wheel bearing grease.

[RU shooter]

I searched again and found some older posts about smoking the mould, Do I smoke just the boolit cavity or do I smoke the entire mould inside and out????? My sprue plate seems OK not real tight but dosent swing free either so I guess its good to go . as far as lubing the mould, I have this moly grease stuff designed for trigger/sear engagement lube will that work well enough? Anything else I missed???? .................RU

[carpetman]

RUShooter--Do I smoke the entire mold or just the cavities?-- Depends on whether you inhale or not when you smoke em.

[VTDW]

:drinks: :mrgreen:
RUShooter--Do I smoke the entire mold or just the cavities?-- Depends on whether you inhale or not when you smoke em.

[mag_01]

-RUShooter----I polish the mold cavity--get them shinny----Then dip part of mold in lead mix---get it hot--- A hot mold will make your casting easy---Lee molds---Mag

[Bigjohn]

Ok now I have quite a few ingots made and my first boolit mold has arrived thanks to the very generous donation from a fellow board member, So I'm set now But what do I do to this new mold its a lee .312 , 155gr ,do I just start pouring boolits or do I need to prep it in any way first? I had read some old posts on working out the problems with lee molds and tweaking them do i need to do these things first ???? Walk me through this fella's if you would! :confused: TIA............................RU

RU shooter: If the mold is the LEE C312-155-2R listed for 7.62 x 39mm it should cast OK. Was the mold new in the box or used when you received it? If new, then clean it as per the instruction sheet enclosed; if used then it should be ready to go but could be prepared again.

Wash with a solvent; 'Shellite' and rinse in 'Metholated Spirits'; when dry, "smoke" the mold cavity. Use a butane cigarette lighter and 'play' the flame tip across the cavity.

Run the pot temp a little higher than normal (if you can control this) and start casting. You can preheat the mold by resting it on top of the smelter as it heats up but watch the handles if you are using gas fired pots. Do not expose the mold to the heat from a gas torch to prewarm it as it could damage it.
Start off with a quick cadance until the mold heats up properly. It will take a few tries before good boolits start to drop from the mold.

After the mold is casting good boolits, I let the mold tell me when the metal is cool enough to dump from the mold. If you watch the sprue puddle you can actually see it set off, a little while after this there is a slight colour change in the metal of the sprue; that is when I cut and dump.

Another tip for LEE molds is to have a DAMP ONLY (wrung out as best you can) pad of cloth in a pan at the back of the bench. When the mold gets too hot, press the mold down on this pad to cool the mold down (have a boolit in the cavity).

To lube a LEE mold during use; I have whittled down the end of an ice cream stick to a tip about 1/8" wide by 1/16" thick. I use this to scrape a small amount of 50/50 beeswax alox boolit lube from a pan and apply this sparingly to the alignment pin and vee's plus the pivot screw of the sprue plate. I learnt the hard way; go sparingly as a little goes a loooong way and will migrate into the cavity effecting the casting process until it is burnt out.

Best of luck and come back with any other questions you may have,

:drinks:

John

[Bigjohn]

I searched again and found some older posts about smoking the mould, Do I smoke just the boolit cavity or do I smoke the entire mould inside and out????? My sprue plate seems OK not real tight but dosent swing free either so I guess its good to go . as far as lubing the mould, I have this moly grease stuff designed for trigger/sear engagement lube will that work well enough? Anything else I missed???? .................RU

Re the sprue plate; as they come from the factory they are set for proper function and should not need adjustment. All of the LEE models I use have not needed any adjustment.

IMHO avoid the moly lube as it may not withstand the heat. The best method I have IMO is the beeswax alox lube. I have tried other materials including some bearing greases and neat beeswax or the lube work for me.

John

[44man]

Plain old dish soap and hot water with an old tooth brush works as good as anything to clean the mold. Smoke the whole inside or use mold prep. Don't use anything with petroleum oil or grease around the mold.

[John Boy]

RU, here a great read that you might want to look over ...
The 8 Phase Casting Cycle (http://www.longrangebpcr.com/8Phases.htm)