::WANTED:: Tips for Lee molds

[thauge]

Well, for starters, I'm pretty new to boolit casting. What attracted me to is is the cost savings of being able to turn a basically unlimited supply of WW into boolits. All I have to buy is primers and powder. I've tried several molds out and I do like the Lee 6 cavity for the sprue plate cam feature. Currently, I'm using a 9mm 120gr TC 6 cavity mold. I'm needing suggestions on how to kick out good boolits from it. My main issue is wrinkling of the boolits, and that usually means a too cool of a mold, but I can never seem to find the magic mold temp. Also, what is a good temp for the melt, Lee reccomends hotter than usual temps, but no specifics. What is the 'norm' for casting with iron/steel molds vs. casting with aluminum molds?

At some point, I'm planning getting the automated equipment from Magma, but that is a ways off still.

Also, should I be using the spray on graphite or smoking the mold, or just go naked?

[Wilsknife]

Hotplate to warm the molds prior to and during casting. You'll know if the hotplate is too warm because the led will stay molten(liquid).
And also, SMOKE them with matches until the insides are almost black.
I took a brand new 6-cavity a couple of days ago, smoked it, preheated, and got good boolits after only 2 fills.
Good luck and Happy Casting!

[Wilsknife]

Hotplate to warm the molds prior to and during casting. You'll know if the hotplate is too warm because the led will stay molten(liquid).
And also, SMOKE them with matches until the insides are almost black.
I took a brand new 6-cavity a couple of days ago, smoked it, preheated, and got good boolits after only 2 fills.
Good luck and Happy Casting!

[Land Owner]

I cast a Ranch Dog TL358100RF, 6-cavity Lee aluminum mould for 100 grain, round truncated nose, 380 ACP and a single cavity Lee 357091, 150 grain 357 Magnum SWC. Wrinkled boolits, for me, are an indication of too little heat in both mould and melt. Raise the temperature of each. The alloy will pour a little faster. The spru will cool slower. The spru plate and cast iron handles will "look hot" and change color by comparison when the temp is right.

You can still shoot your wrinkled boolits - well, maybe not the real ugly ones with incomplete driving bands. The less wrinkled ones will still pass through the barrel quite well. Or recast them a little bit hotter in a hotter mould for better fill out.

[Donor8x56r]

Used toothbrush and dish soap-I clean my molds before every single session.
I also don't smoke any of my molds-seems unnecessary since boolits come out just prefect.
I use Bullplate lube every 100 boolits or so-they fall right out of the mold sooo much easier and lead doesn't smear on the blocks.
If possible I cast with 2 molds at the same time-eliminates waiting for sprue to harden and speeds thing up but also prevents me from casting too hot.

[zuke]

Hotter lead and more tin.

[Bret4207]

IME they need 3-4 casting sessions before they really start to act right no matter what prep I do (carb cleaner, toothbrush, ether) and they need to be HOT! I cast from almost straight WW that average 30 years old. I rarely have issues once the mould is up to temp. Get the mould hot an most of your issues vanish.

I do not believe in smoking a mould as a general rule, much less any of the snake oil "releases" sold. Smoke insulates the mould from needed heat, masks other issues and can cause undersized boolits if you get enough on there. Get it clean and hot and it will likely cast.

[btroj]

Like Bret said, Lee moulds seem to need few sessions to settle in.
I clean mine with Comet and a toothbrush. Even after that I get some wrinkles in the first casting session. I clean again before the second session and frequently all is good.
Get the old hot enough to get a light satin frosting on the bullets and things should be better.

A clean mould at the right temp should work well with NO release agents or smoke.

[41mag]

As per what has already been mentioned, your pouring a smallish boolit compared to most of the ones I use the Lee 6 cavity molds for, and I have a time of it keeping them up to temp or having it just right when I start off. Even with the 250 and 300gr boolits, I still preheat on a small hotplate. You can find them at most big box stores for around $20 or less for used in some cases.

I initially had issues with most of mine, but like everyone else has mentioned they took several secessions to get the machining oil out of the pours. Just my own WAG, but it makes since due to the additional cleaning necessary. Once it clears up, they usually go along just fine with minimal maintenance.

I have a couple which work just fine in the raw, and a couple which need only a slight bit of smoke even after all the additional cleaning. I clean every time as well, and when I smoke them, I follow up with a bronze cleaning brush and simply wipe them lightly with it. It mostly gets any excess out of the groves, but it leave enough in there that the boolits drop right out in perfect form.

With the wrinkles, as mentioned, heat is usually the culprit, but if you have any excess oil on the sprue plate or too much on the pins that it can migrate into the cavities that will cause a bit as well.

Once you get your heat up and start making good boolits be sure to note what temp your pouring at. This will allow you to get going with much less effort in the future. Similar to handloading, I have found that each mold is and entity unto it's own, and just because this or that works in several others, it might now work worth a darn with a particular one. You just have to find it's sweet spot and then run with it.

[jrayborn]

I do the same thing to all my aluminum molds Lee or any other brand and really can't tell the difference from one brand to another in the way the boolits pop out. I will very lightly deburr all around the cavity with a sharp razor blade. This means very very lightly, don't want to do more than just rub it at an angle to get the edge broken.

Then I clean the mold in hot water Dawn dish washing detergent and a toothbrush. Heat the mold on top of the melt and start to cast. If more than the first few casts are wrinkled then heat the mold some more. Once the mold is good and hot I have never had problems with wrinkles.

If the boolits won't fall out of the cavities easily or with a light tap with a wooden dowel I will make a boolit cast with a screw in it and use it and some 800 grit lapping compound to Lee-ment. Lee-menting is done to most of my aluminum molds but only if it's needed to get the boolits to fall out, and it really does work well for that.

This makes my molds cast easy and fast.

[ku4hx]

What's the secret for a "basically unlimited supply" of wheels weights? I like to get into that to the tune of about three tons ... maybe a hair more.

[jrayborn]

I'm in central Maine and have had very (very) good luck just posting on Craigs List. I will put a WTB any lead and offer .30 per pound and that I will pick it up, and have found wayyyyy more than I will ever use. Found 1200 pounds of lino/mono type last summer, plus got to show one of my kids how an old printing shop worked (YAY freedom of speech!).

I always end up with more than I need, but I know that I really need ALL OF IT!!!!


Anyway, try it, it works!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

...have had very (very) good luck just posting on Craigs List. I will put a WTB any lead and offer .30 per pound and that I will pick it up, and have found wayyyyy more than I will ever use. Found 1200 pounds of lino/mono type last summer...

:shock::shock::shock::shock::shock:
Now that is just cruel to say out loud to those of us that are searching out some Lino and not finding any
;)
OK, I'm over it...Congrats on that find...It's a rare one.
Jon

[Larry Gibson]

As mentioned, clean the mould well. I also use a tooth brush, Carb cleaner and then swab out each cavity with a Q tip.

Deburr the bottom and edges of the sprue plate with a fine stone.

Use a graphite based product on the bottom and top of the sprue plate and alignment pins. Rapine mould prep and Bullplate are favorites but both are "out of print". There is another good product by a sponsor here but I've not tried it yet. Do not smoke or put anything into the cavities.

Seperate the stick on WWs from the clip on WWs. Add 2% ti to your COWW alloy for very good bullets.

I use a mag 20 bottom pour pot. I bring the alloy to 700 - 725 degree for casting with that very same 356-120-TC mould. Flux the alloy well. I dip the edge of the 6 cavity in the moulten alloy until the alloy doesn't stick to the aluminum anymore the mould will then be heated up and will drop good bullets within one or two fills. Adjust the mould guide so the sprue plate is 1/4 - 1/2" from the spout. adjust the spout so the alloy gets into the cavity quickly without splatter. Pour a good sprue on each cavity before moving to the next. Let the sprue fully harden before opening. You'll be casting fast enough with the 6 cavity so don't get in a hurry and cut the sprue too quick.

I tap on the hing with a plastic mallet to knock the pullets out of the cavities, Leave the blocks open, put the srue back into the pot and then close the blocks and fill again. This sets up a regimen and keeps the blocks cool enough without getting frosted bullets from too hot a mould. When its warm (above 75) I use a small fan blowing on the mould as the sprue hardens to keep the m ould temp down. A small piece of wood to set the mould on while the sprue hardens will reduce fatigue in that hand/arm.

Larry Gibson

[462]

Here's a few suggestions that work for me:
1. The Leementing process goes a long way toward making a Lee mould cast at its optimum.
2. Any new mould requires "break-in" casting sessions.
3. Have never found a reason to smoke any properly prepared mould.
4. A mould pre-heating oven is easy to make and gets a mould to temperature quickly and efficiently. It's a rare occasion when the first casting doesn't drop keepers.

[dbarnhart]

I will put a WTB any lead and offer .30 per pound and that I will pick it up, and have found wayyyyy more than I will ever use.

A plea from someone who lives in a wheel weight desert: Smelt down some of what you can't use, pack it in USPS medium flat rate boxes and sell it to us. We'll buy it eagerly and you will have a nice source of extra income to support your addiction.

[jrayborn]

Ya'll please don't get too angry, but I have been giving some away to friends trying to get them addicted like me...I don't expect I can use all I have, but I will happily try!

[Hardcast416taylor]

Well, for starters, I'm pretty new to boolit casting. What attracted me to is is the cost savings of being able to turn a basically unlimited supply of WW into boolits. All I have to buy is primers and powder. I've tried several molds out and I do like the Lee 6 cavity for the sprue plate cam feature. Currently, I'm using a 9mm 120gr TC 6 cavity mold. I'm needing suggestions on how to kick out good boolits from it. My main issue is wrinkling of the boolits, and that usually means a too cool of a mold, but I can never seem to find the magic mold temp. Also, what is a good temp for the melt, Lee reccomends hotter than usual temps, but no specifics. What is the 'norm' for casting with iron/steel molds vs. casting with aluminum molds?

At some point, I'm planning getting the automated equipment from Magma, but that is a ways off still.

Also, should I be using the spray on graphite or smoking the mold, or just go naked?


I think that perhaps the best advice I can pass along to you is to find someone around you that has been casting for awhile and try to set up a pouring session with that person to see how this is done.Robert

[Any Cal.]

I am still a newby, but I have just been casting with the 6 cavity and dumping the bullets back in the pot the first few rounds. Dump plenty of lead over the sprue plate when you fill for the extra heat. When the lead quits sticking to the mold and sprue plate, you can start saving the bullets.

My issue is getting the heat turned down once I get up to temp...

[edsmith]

jrayborn, that is a good tip, I think I will offer 31 cents a pound.:bigsmyl2::kidding:

[altitude_19]

I had a similar issue. Don't have a thermometer yet, so I'm using other indicators to try to get the pot at the right temp (trying to run it so parrafin doesn't quite ignite during fluxing). I was getting wrinkles I could see, but not feel, so they were very fine. The mold was HOT...I was casting fast and cutting sprue just by pushing the sprue plate by thumb. I think the mold was hot enough, but the alloy was a little cool. I was running a Lee 10 lb bottom pour at 6.25.

[thauge]

What's the secret for a "basically unlimited supply" of wheels weights? I like to get into that to the tune of about three tons ... maybe a hair more.

It's all about location. I live in a city of about 15k pop and the area surrounding is very rural, so there are tons of care repair shops in town and most of them do tires. The local car dealerships actually have to pay for lead disposal, so I can usually snag what ever they have. A couple other decent sized shops let me raid their buckets every so often. Worst case scenario, there is a tire shop that produces a 55gal drum of WW's (and associated junk) about every 8 months. They typically haul it off to a recycle place in the Des Moines area, but I can buy off of him at unclean scrap rates.