Problem with 358-125-2R

[Rich22]

So here are a few problems I am having. Most likely this is technique driven as I am very new to this.

1. One of the wood pieces on the handle has now come off twice. I assume the best way to remedy this is with epoxy, correct or insane?

2. I am getting an astronomical number of rejects. My mold is clean (cleaned three times, brake cleaner, soap water and stiff brush), this is not even counting the first 10 casts I do to heat up the mold, I do not have a hot plate yet but the mold is heated in an oven on 400 for 30 minutes prior, at least that is how I did it this morning, like I said I am new to this. I am having primarily wrinkles and a few instances where it looks like someone has taken a knife to the bullet and made a cut in it a millimeter deep or so. The % of rejects today was 80%.
3. I have one cavity that WILL NOT drop the bullet out even after significant tapping, this is the fourth from the bottom (handle end) I end up having to manually remove this bullet, the fifth bullet from the bottom is also very difficult to remove and requires significant tapping usually.
4. The sprue plate pivot bolt (best name I can figure out for it) is coming often, I had to tighten it twice in about 50 pours today.
5. Today started having some “filets” of lead at the very bottom of the bullet on about 10% of the bullets. I was making sure the handles were fully closed and the sprue plate fully closed.

I am lubing with bullplate per instructions, my lead is at approx 700 per my thermometer, this particular cast is with cleaned range lead. I will post pictures later hopefully.

Any ideas I would greatly appreciate it.

[Raven_Darkcloud]

You may need some tin in the range lead. Also might have the mold too far from the spout.

[runfiverun]

i'm sure you have burrs in the cavity's
or an alignment pin issue.
the sprue plate screw/bolt [whatever it is lee uses] needs a set screw installed.

[Voodoocld]

I had these exact same issues with my 356-125-2R
I did the leementing thing where i cast 6 boolits and drilled a hole in the base. I then threaded a tap into the holes and put aluminum polishing compound the boolits. After that, insert the booolit into the cavity and spin with a drill to polish them. I then took a small stick of hardwood and went over every edge to knock down the burrs.

Finally, CAST those puppies HOTT!!!! I was heating my mold on a 1000 watt hotplate, and then casting quickly. Do everything quickly, except right after you pour the lead. Let the hot lead warm the mold even more. I was running around 750-800 at times. Some of them had some very minor frosting, but any less and they would have wrinkled.
I also found it help to start with the cavity closest to you (on a bottom pour) and pull the mold to fill. This allowed me to have all the sprues connected, keeping them mostly liquid until the lead completely filled the mold.

Here's the hot plate i bought. Spent $7 more on amazon and get free shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042W5N04/ref=pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

Still took me about 3 pours before i was getting good boolits.

Good luck.

[wv109323]

It sounds like you are not casting fast enough to keep the mold up to temperature. If you are spending time in removing stuck bullets the mold may be cooling off.
The other thing I have found with this mold is that you must get the molten lead into the cavities quickly. I open the bottom pour spout up all the way to get the lead in quickly.
Cast as quickly as you can until the bullets start to frost.
+1 on what others said.

[rintinglen]

Read the sticky on Leementing. I ran into that very problem (one boolit sticking, slowing me down) with a 358-158 TLSWC I had, I was about ready to throw it in the creek when I started ignoring the stuck boolit and just casting as fast as the sprue would freeze. My reject rate fell markedly, down to the 10 % or less range.

[captaint]

Rich - I don't know how mechanically inclined you are, but the installation of the set screw
to lock the sprue plate pivot bolt is not difficult. Take the sprue plate off, center punch before
you drill, use an 8 x 32 tap and use a short allen screw. You can then solve the loose sprue plate
issue. Leave the sprue plate a little on the loose side.
Also, it sounds like others have said, you have a burr on the edge of a cavity or two. Take a
popsicle stick and rub the edges of the trouble cavities, gently. Look at it with a magnifying glass
to see that you get the burrs gone.. Pour a little faster - easy if you get the boolits to drop out
of the mold. You just need more heat in the mold. May want to try setting the pot at 725. Hope these things help. Keep us posted. Mike

[Rich22]

You may need some tin in the range lead. Also might have the mold too far from the spout.

I had not thought of the spout, I will try that, hope not to need tin, that would bring my cost way up over where I want it.


i'm sure you have burrs in the cavity's
or an alignment pin issue.
the sprue plate screw/bolt [whatever it is lee uses] needs a set screw installed.

Yeah If I need to do all that I will just return the thing and buy a NOE or something, if it is technique problem then I will change, I do not have time to mess with inferior equipment.



I had these exact same issues with my 356-125-2R
I did the leementing thing where i cast 6 boolits and drilled a hole in the base. I then threaded a tap into the holes and put aluminum polishing compound the boolits. After that, insert the booolit into the cavity and spin with a drill to polish them. I then took a small stick of hardwood and went over every edge to knock down the burrs.

Finally, CAST those puppies HOTT!!!! I was heating my mold on a 1000 watt hotplate, and then casting quickly. Do everything quickly, except right after you pour the lead. Let the hot lead warm the mold even more. I was running around 750-800 at times. Some of them had some very minor frosting, but any less and they would have wrinkled.
I also found it help to start with the cavity closest to you (on a bottom pour) and pull the mold to fill. This allowed me to have all the sprues connected, keeping them mostly liquid until the lead completely filled the mold.

Here's the hot plate i bought. Spent $7 more on amazon and get free shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042W5N04/ref=pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

Still took me about 3 pours before i was getting good boolits.

Good luck.

That is how I do it for better control, starting with the bullet closest and pulling forward, I cast as fast as I can, I figured about one cast every 20 seconds, I have bumped up the heat but I kept it below 750 since I heard bad things happen above there, yeah If I have to mess with the mold, it is just getting tossed, I like the bullet design quite a lot actually but with all the projects I have, no time for mold fixing.

I will crank the heat up on the sucker a bit more and cast as fast as I possibly can, if the bullets keep getting stuck and hence slowing me down, this mold is done. I was hoping this was a technique issue and not a mold issue.

[rexherring]

Mostly technique with that mold but also there may be a small burr or lead speck that's keeping the mold from closing properly. I use a wood dowel to rub the inside of the mold face to remove remnant lead specks and turn the mold over and look at the bottom to see if it actually has closed tightly. Also cast hotter and faster until the boolits are casting frosty then slow down as the mold and lead is getting to hot.

For loose handles, I use high temp silicone gasket goop. epoxy can loosen or melt at high temps and fumes can be toxic.

[mdi]

A six cavity mold is hard for a new caster to get used to. Mold temp can vary from end to end enough to cause problems. My 358-125 RNFP throws excellent bullets with around 90%+ keepers, but it took me a while to get there. Alloy and mold temp seem to have the largest effect on keepers so I use a mix of range lead, wheel weight alloy, and 50-50 solder, and use a hot plate to keep the mold hot (sometimes I use a propane torch to warm the mold, carefully!). 20 seconds per pour seems kinda slow to me, and technique for casting bullets is extremely important; pour speed, spout to mold distance, mold opening technique, and sprue plate/sprue cutting all play a part in getting good bullets. Polishing cavities isn't just applicable to Lee molds, I've done Lyman/Ideal molds (iron) too when I figgered they needed it.

It took me some time to get good bullets from any mold I tried (I started with a .44 cal. Lee 2 cavity mold and an Ideal .38 cal. iron single cavity), and 95% was my technique. I had to clean (and clean, clean, clean) the Lee mold and polish one cavity (I used Comet and oil, 'cause I didn't want to change dimensions), and scrub the mating faces of the Ideal. If you're in a hurry you can get an NOE mold and see if that will improve your keepers percentage, but technique is still gonna play a big part in your casting...

[45-70 Chevroner]

Rich22: As for the tin, it does not take much to get it to work. 2 oz. in a 20# pot is sufficiant to help with the wrinkles. Two oz's of tin will not add much to the cost of of your casting.

[Echo]

"Messing with the mold" really doesn't amount to much - maybe 5-10 minutes of work. Unscrew the sprue plate, center punch for drilling, drill a hole, run a tap in, re-assemble. No real challenge...

[Daveb6332]

Try cleaning your mold again and don't use the Bullplate and see if they come out better. If you get any of the Bullplate in the cavities it will cause this problem. You mentioned you are applying the Bullplate per the instructions but it is easy to get too much on and have it migrate into the cavity. You need to use it VERY sparingly on the sprueplate and top of the mold if any at all and of course apply only with bullets in the cavity. I use the Bullplate and do like it because it makes cutting the sprue so much easier and reduces scratches on top of the mold from the sprueplate. I can use a glove hand vs a mallet to cut the sprue.

Also a slow pour can cause wrinkled bullets that's not likely the problem with a small bullet like you are casting.

[Rich22]

[QUOTE=Daveb6332;2137407]Try cleaning your mold again and don't use the Bullplate and see if they come out better. If you get any of the Bullplate in the cavities it will cause this problem. You mentioned you are applying the Bullplate per the instructions but it is easy to get too much on and have it migrate into the cavity. You need to use it VERY sparingly on the sprueplate and top of the mold if any at all and of course apply only with bullets in the cavity. I use the Bullplate and do like it because it makes cutting the sprue so much easier and reduces scratches on top of the mold from the sprueplate. I can use a glove hand vs a mallet to cut the sprue.

I had not though of my pore speed, it is taking about 5 seconds to fill all of the cavities. This sound reasonable? Interesting about the ease of cutting, with the NOE mold there is still no way I can open that with my hand even with bullplate, did not know that little tin would make a difference , I will have to read up on that. I am amazed that 20 seconds is slow, I will need to fix my stuck bullet problem and likely redo my workspace to accomplish that but it needs done anyways.

[Daveb6332]

5 seconds to fill all six cavities is about right. I do mine in a continuous stream while moving the mold under my 10lb Lee production pot with a generous sprue. I try to aim for the bevel on the sprueplate opening rather than trying to hit the center of the opening as recommended by other casters here.