Lee Molds not Releasing

[jarex]

I have some Lee molds that i dont get to drop bullets

i am casting at around 700-750F and heat the mold in the lead in the pot.

The hotter the mold gets the harder it is to get it to drop the bullet, and what is odd is i never ever get frosted bullets, i can cast like 500 bullets in a 6 cavity mold and it aint one of them thats frosted......

I have lee-mented and all the other names for it aswell..

[jrayborn]

I have found that careful de-burring of every cavity with a razor blade and then Lee-Menting is just the ticket. I lee-ment with a slug and 800 grit lapping compound. Sometimes multiple lee-ments in a specific cavity is needed until the boolits will pop right out. Keep at it, you will get there!

[williamwaco]

If they start out dropping easily and then become harder and stickier as the mold heats up. You need to slow down. The mold is too hot. This usually starts with one cavity, then spreads to others.

If it happens right from the start, see the above and do a search on leementing.

[jarex]

i have lee-mented it 2 times already, but i tought when the molds get to hot they will give frosted bullets, what is odd is that its all cavity's that sticks and not the same sides either....

[geargnasher]

What alloy are you using, Jarex? Low or no antimony alloys don't "frost", no matter how hot the mould.

I know you've been over it, but go over the edges of the cavities with some good light, good magnification, and a sharp pencil, make sure there are no burrs, but don't round the edges too much. If you scribed the vent lines, there will be burrs at the edge of the cavities that will snag the boolits.

You can also give the handle pivot bolt a good whack with a hammer handle or rawhide mallet to pop the stubborn boolits out.

One more thing, if you cut the sprue as soon as you can without smearing liquid lead on top of the mould blocks, then count to five before opening the mould blocks, the boolits usually come out more easily.

Gear

[jarex]

i am using range lead, i belive its antimony in it, if i heat treat them they are 24bhn.

i'll try an go over the mold with light and a magnifying glass an see if i can spot smth.

[runfiverun]

try poking the right hand corner of the mold when you open it..
two cav aluminum molds bleed off heat about as fast as you can get it in there, i doubt you'll get frosting.

[jarex]

its a 6 cavity mold

[docone31]

Cast up individual castings, pouring through a nut for a machine screw. Let them cool then dump out.
Take valve lapping compound, I prefer 300grit, and lightly smear it on ONE of the castings. Slowly and gently close the mold while turning the nut. Do this with that casting untill the nut snaps off. Repeat with another casting. Do this for all chambers, and castings.
You do not want to open the cavities up, and you do not want it to have no effect. Try to make all the cavities all the same diameter also.. You can do this by switching out loosly fitting castings, saving the tight castings for last. You should get fairly close. At least enough to make them all the same after sizing.
When I get a Lee mold, which I have quite a few, I first soak them in mineral spirits for a day, then do the grit trick.
To date, no stuck castings.
Perhaps, when the cavities are cut, there is small chatter marks, or undercuts on the lube lands. Who knows? I just know, spinning in the cavities makes a good mold.
I forgot to state also,
Count revolutions! Do them the same. Same pressure, same number of turns, same amount of grit. Same.

[ShootNSteel]

I bought a cheap 2 cav 44 lee mold to mess around with before my group buys get here, and I have the same issue with sticking when the mold gets hot. My few experiences so far (without a casting thermometer) yeilds me almost exclusivly frosted bullets, I'm sure it's just somthing I'm doing.

[afish4570]

Saturate a Qtip with Kroil and wipe each bullet cavity while cool. Commence casting.Works for me.afish4570:popcorn::popcorn:

[jrayborn]

Well it seems like you are doing everything right. It could be that the cavities are not cut central to the blocks. I think you said that the boolits do not always stick on the same side of the mold though? If they always stick on the same side of t he mold, it could be cut off center?

[ku4hx]

I keep and old kitchen paring knife on my bench. On those occasions when I have one stick, just touching the base of the boolit with the tip of the knife at an angle pops it right out. And since its easy to hit where the lead was cut the tiny divot is inconsequential.

[trixter]

Try this. Take them apart, get some 'Comet' and and a scrub brush and go after it. If whatever your are using for lube has run into the cavity by chance, and even if it hasn't, scrub them till they are shiny. Then take a tooth brush and work the cavities over good. Sometimes some kind of contaminates get in there and mess everything up. Just scrub them each time you use them and you will have a better casting experience.

[HangFireW8]

You keep saying you've lee-mented, what exactly does that mean? Have you spun a boolit with lapping compound in every cavity? Examined under a magnifying glass for burrs? Run a scribe over every edge feeling for a ridge?

My early attempts at Lee-Menting were sincere but not as complete as they are now. If boolits are sticking, they are sticking to something, pits, burrs, something. In some cases Lee even cuts cavities about 51% on one side and 49% on the other, with a boring bar there's no cherry to pop out of the 51% side. There's not much you can do with a mold like that.

[afish4570]

You keep saying you've lee-mented, what exactly does that mean? Have you spun a boolit with lapping compound in every cavity? Examined under a magnifying glass for burrs? Run a scribe over every edge feeling for a ridge?

My early attempts at Lee-Menting were sincere but not as complete as they are now. If boolits are sticking, they are sticking to something, pits, burrs, something. In some cases Lee even cuts cavities about 51% on one side and 49% on the other, with a boring bar there's no cherry to pop out of the 51% side. There's not much you can do with a mold like that.

Another term you might want to examine is beagaling a mold afish4570:Fire::Fire:

[Muddydogs]

Are you using a thermometer to get your casting temp?

This is my take on the Lee molds as a caster who has casted 120 slugs, 220 .401 bullets and 260 .430 bullets. Ya not a lot.

I have 2 6 cavity Lee molds, 44 and 40 and don't have any problems. The molds were cleaned with Hoppe's 9 elite gun cleaner and patch, smoked with a Bic, and a little 2 cycle oil on the sprue plate. Each mold drops all 6 bullets just fine but I do notice they drop a little harder when the mold is cold. I have gotten the mold to hot and the bullets as well as the sprue frosted. I cast between 650 and 700 degrees by a NOE thermometer which is about right with the Lee 10 pound pot temp control settings.

I found when I started with the 40 mold that I had a time getting the mold up to temp, I mean you really got to pour lead and get the mold empty and back full right quick or you are going to have 50 bullets cast before the mold is up to temp and throwing good stuff. Yes I dipped the corner in the lead and set the mold on top of the pot but it just wasn't hot.

Last night it was time to cast with the new 44 mold but this time I was ready with a hot plate and my smoker thermometer with a temp probe that I put in the smoker stack. I set an old circular saw blade on the hot plate then placed the mold on top of it. The probe for the thermometer went into a bullet hole in the middle of the mold. As my pot was getting hot I brought the mold up to a temp of 300 degrees with the hot plate then started casting. The first 3 pours came out cold then everything started cooking and I was turning out A+ bullets for the next hour or so.

The only time I had frosted bullets in these Lee molds was last night when I turned the hot plate up to far to keep the mold warm while I added lead. I new right away I had way to much heat when it took way to long for the sprue to cool, probably almost a minute. The bullets and sprue were frosted completely. I guess what I am saying is the Lee 6 cavity mold is a large mold and hard to heat and keep heated. Aluminum just doesn't hold the heat well and there is a lot of surface area on these molds to heat.

One other less I learned last night is to make sure the sprue plate is closed all the way before a pour and if its not don't pull on the sprue handle thinking that its going to cut the sprue without the leverage of the camming action. Ya it won't the sprue handle is just cast and will snap right off. Good thing I was about done casting because once the handle is broken its kinda hard to empty the mold. But what would I know. Hope Lee ships fast.

[freedom475]

For a shot term solution follow all of the above suggestions....(good luck:popcorn:[smilie=s:)

But for a long term solution, it is best to just beat that *** on the concrete floor just as hard as you can, for as long as you can!:bigsmyl2: When the handles break off just kick the pile of @&*t into to corner and leave it there. Now (this is important) every time you consider giving another Lee 6 cav a try, just go out to your shop and look at the debri pile left over from your last bout of hope for the :takinWiz:Lee 6 cav[smilie=b: :2 drunk buddies: :mrgreen:

[mold maker]

I have over 30 - 6cav LEE molds. None of them cast perfect the first pour, but they all do now, if I do my part.

[jarex]

Problem is solved somewhat now, i am gonna send some sample bullets from the mold to Tom at Accurate Molds and get him to make me a 5 cavity copy ;)

[runfiverun]

For a shot term solution follow all of the above suggestions....(good luck:popcorn:[smilie=s:)

But for a long term solution, it is best to just beat that *** on the concrete floor just as hard as you can, for as long as you can!:bigsmyl2: When the handles break off just kick the pile of @&*t into to corner and leave it there. Now (this is important) every time you consider giving another Lee 6 cav a try, just go out to your shop and look at the debri pile left over from your last bout of hope for the :takinWiz:Lee 6 cav[smilie=b: :2 drunk buddies: :mrgreen:

been waiting for this solution to pop up.

[geargnasher]

For a shot term solution follow all of the above suggestions....(good luck:popcorn:[smilie=s:)

But for a long term solution, it is best to just beat that *** on the concrete floor just as hard as you can, for as long as you can!:bigsmyl2: When the handles break off just kick the pile of @&*t into to corner and leave it there. Now (this is important) every time you consider giving another Lee 6 cav a try, just go out to your shop and look at the debri pile left over from your last bout of hope for the :takinWiz:Lee 6 cav[smilie=b: :2 drunk buddies: :mrgreen:

:mrgreen: You forgot "and throw rocks at the pile in the corner every time you're mad at something else".

That said, if you can't make a Lee six-banger cast like a dream with minimal fuss, don't blame the mould. Lee seems to put out a real lemon every once in while, but I have a lot of their moulds (after paring down to the ones I use the most I still have over a dozen) in both two and six cavity configurations and personally, never have had a truly rotten one. Most of the ones I've purchased in the last couple fo years only needed a good degreasing and proper break-in and maintenance with Bullplate to work great and make boolits the size I need with wheel weight metal.

Gear

[HangFireW8]

been waiting for this solution to pop up.

For those with anger management issues and money to throw around, I guess it helps keep both Lee and the higher end mold makers in business. I would prefer they just give them to me than trash them, though.

I prefer to make Lee pay for their mistakes. Yeah, I've got all my Lee 6 Cavities running well, some were easy, some were not. I have some MiHecs and whatnot as well, I enjoy them, too.

HF

[Ben]

I find that using a sharp object on the edge of the cavities to remove burrs can often create more that you're actually removing.

This procedure below will work however. If the mold cav. isn't cut off center, after using this technique, the bullets will fall out easily.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=47669

Ben

[Chamfered]

I've also noticed that if the mold gets too hot it will stick, but a couple of raps from my casting mallet on the top of the mold gets it.

[geargnasher]

I'd advise against ever hitting the blocks directly. Hit the handle pivot bolt if you must beat on it, the mould will last a lot longer.

Gear

[Catch]

Ducone 31....I don't understand about pouring the lead through a nut for a machine screw.
Could you explain this in a little more detail for me..Thanks I have found that if you cast with two molds, filling one and putting it aside and then filling the 2nd one, and opening the first one to expel the castings, the timing is better, you don't open one you have filled too fast, and the bullets are generally better formed.

[geargnasher]

He was explaining how to make a lap. Thread a machine screw into the nut for a spindle. I just drill a hole in the base of existing boolits and thread a 3" deck screw in there, much simpler to me, plus you can crank down on the screw and swell the boolit slighly as you lap if you make the hole the right size.

Gear

[runfiverun]

i ain't bashing LEE, i have seen plenty of instances where they are the better choice, or the only choice.
if they made mold designs i needed i'd probably buy one.

[afish4570]

i ain't bashing LEE, i have seen plenty of instances where they are the better choice, or the only choice.
if they made mold designs i needed i'd probably buy one.

Ranch dog 6 cav. 170 gr. 30 cal. molds and the 38 Marlin 173 gr. enable casting alot of bullets in a short time. Work great too am real pleased. See if RD has anthing that the stock Lee molds won't do.....I haven't been using my other molds once I realized how quick I can get a mess of plinking bullets. afish4570:p:p

[williamwaco]

I have over 30 - 6cav LEE molds. None of them cast perfect the first pour, but they all do now, if I do my part.


Only about 12 here, and half of them cast perfect bullets as soon as they warmed up. Only one needed leementing. The others needed very agressive degreasing with 409 and a tooth brush followed up with Berrymans B-12 but that was only once per mold.

When I am looking for a new mold, the first place I look is the Lee web site.

.

[afish4570]

Only about 12 here, and half of them cast perfect bullets as soon as they warmed up. Only one needed leementing. The others needed very agressive degreasing with 409 and a tooth brush followed up with Berrymans B-12 but that was only once per mold.

When I am looking for a new mold, the first place I look is the Lee web site.

.

Not familiar with Berrymans B12 is it a cleaner, lube or specialty item. What does it do that Brake Cleaners won't do??afish4570;-)

[DrCaveman]

I had some difficulty dropping boolits from my Lee moulds, and I simply let them sit longer before breaking the sprue and it helped a lot.

Previously, I would let the molten lead sit until it had cooled on the entire sprue, maybe 2-3 seconds, then crack it open, and smack the handle pivot bolt until the boolits dropped. Now, I let the mould relax for 10 seconds or more before I crack it open, and the boolits usually fall right out. Maybe a light tap on the bolt is needed. Same Lee molds.

Just my experience.

[Revolver]

I have 4 lee molds, they all like to hang onto the boolits... one of them I even sent back to lee for deburring. Two days ago I found a spray can of Frankford Arsenal Drop Out (http://www.battenfeldtechnologies.com/frankford-arsenal/catalog.asp?product=Drop-Out-6-oz-Aerosol) that I knew I had but never tried. You spray it lightly on a cold mold and let it dry for a minute, it creates a thin graphite layer. It worked good, boolits fell out and looked good. It also fixed my problem with the 2 cavity molds not self aligning.

[mrb7]

Two days ago I found a spray can of Frankford Arsenal Drop Out (http://www.battenfeldtechnologies.com/frankford-arsenal/catalog.asp?product=Drop-Out-6-oz-Aerosol) that I knew I had but never tried. You spray it lightly on a cold mold and let it dry for a minute, it creates a thin graphite layer. It worked good, boolits fell out and looked good...

I'm new to all this, and just learning. But one thing I do recall from a short job I did at a plant which cast lead acid battery plates (years ago) was they used spray cans of some kind of atomized cork as mold release compound.

I have no idea where they got the stuff, and obviously a large industrial process is controlled differently than a small hand operation. So it might not be an appropriate compound.

The process was that the mold would be open for the previous plate to drop out. If it needed to be cleaned the operator would wipe it or brush then wipe it. But most of the time it was clean after the plate was released. Then the operator would spray it with the mold release compound every cycle, close the mold, position, then pour and cool.

Obviously a battery plate is a lot bigger than a bullet. So the cycle was longer. But as I was working on some of the equipment I must have watched those guys pour 50K battery plates, the vast majority of which just fell out exactly right after the mold got to temperature.

[snuffy]

I have 4 lee molds, they all like to hang onto the boolits... one of them I even sent back to lee for deburring. Two days ago I found a spray can of Frankford Arsenal Drop Out that I knew I had but never tried. You spray it lightly on a cold mold and let it dry for a minute, it creates a thin graphite layer. It worked good, boolits fell out and looked good. It also fixed my problem with the 2 cavity molds not self aligning.

I'm glad it worked for you! A lot of us have tried it, then left it sit on the shelf AFTER we found out it was causing undersized boolits. AND that it plugged up the vent lines, causing poor fill-out.

I use it now to occasionally coat my muffin tins and ingot molds to keep them dropping clean.

As for the lee molds NOT dropping clear, time will heal them, eventually the burrs get removed. Once, I got mad at one, I spun a bronze brush in a drill motor, in the closed mold cavity that was giving me fits. VIOLA, no more sticking!:holysheep

[Willee]

New caster here with new 6 cavity Lee molds.
Used some 600 grit sandpaper backed bu a flat piece of wood and lightly sanded the mold faces.
No more sticking ... they fall out the second I open the mold.

Or did till I pulled a stupid on my lead pot.

Willee

[afish4570]

I'm glad it worked for you! A lot of us have tried it, then left it sit on the shelf AFTER we found out it was causing undersized boolits. AND that it plugged up the vent lines, causing poor fill-out.

I use it now to occasionally coat my muffin tins and ingot molds to keep them dropping clean.

As for the lee molds NOT dropping clear, time will heal them, eventually the burrs get removed. Once, I got mad at one, I spun a bronze brush in a drill motor, in the closed mold cavity that was giving me fits. VIOLA, no more sticking!:holysheep

Any other remedies for preventing ingots from sticking.....old candles and motor oil are not doing that well.afish4570:violin::violin: