New Lee Six Cavity Mold

[45-70 Chevroner]

Has anyone tried this method to clean a new Lee mold. This is the 105 gr 38 mold. I washed it in really hot tap water with dish soap then before rinsing I sprinkled some Ajax cleanser on the mold and scrubed it real good then rinced it real good.
I set up to cast, pre-heated the mold on a single burner electric stove. As I have stated before I like to cast hot 800*+. The first boolits out of the mold were perfect. I cast up 1500+ in about 5 hours including set up and shut down and put away. This is the first time in all the years of casting that I had no more than 10 or so wrinkled boolits in the intire bunch and thats a very low percentage. The boolits all weighed with in 1 1/2 gr. + or - of each other, actuall weight was 109 gr + - 1 1/2 gr. All in all it was a nice casting day. I will be trying the dish soap and Ajax cleaning method on some of my older molds that I am still having wrinkle problems with. I think 10 to 15% of my boolits being wrinkled is a little excessive. I hope this will solve the problem.

[prs]

I posted not too long ago about having used citric acid after detergent and getting good results. Several of the responders advised a method similar to that which you have described for the cleaning.

prs

[youngda9]

Your thread title had me thinking Lee was making some new designs, I'm dissapointed they are stagnant.

[lancem]

I have two new lee molds I used the other day, just sprayed them off with brake cleaner, smoked them with the lighter and had at it. Preheated by laying them on top of the pot while it heated up, and started casting, had wrinkle free by the third cast, which considering one was 405 gr and the other was 450 thought that was pretty good. Guess I'm not seeing the need to going to all the work with toothbrush scrubbing and different cleansers.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I think that it amounts to what works for you. This was just a spur of the moment thought and it worked. It took a total of about 5 minutes to get the job done.

[45-70 Chevroner]

[QUOTE=youngda9;2452555]Your thread title had me thinking Lee was making some new designs, I'm dissapointed they are stagnant.[/QUOTE
It's hard to beat good results. No mater the cost.

[runfiverun]

the key is degreasing the mold, Dawn is known for taking the oils away.

[Garyshome]

Temp on the first few casts is also important. Higher temps at first than slow cool till good thing start happening.

[Tatume]

After washing with dishwashing detergent and rinsing well with hot water, no further treatment is needed. Just make sure no water remains when you begin casting.

[Muddydogs]

Just got another Lee mold myself. Washed with hot water and whatever dish soap the wife uses, preheated mold and started casting good bullets. Like my other 7 Lee molds no other cleaners or smoking required just wash and cast.

[rsrocket1]

I got spoiled with my first mold which was a Lee 6 cavity TL452-230-TC. That thing heated up so fast that after a couple of wrinkled sets, it got hot and stayed hot. When I got the 356-120-TC, on the first casting session, even though I set the mold on the edge of the pot as it warmed up, I made about 10 set of wrinkled boolits before they started casting well. Now I set the mold on an open coil hot plate, pour a huge puddle on the sprue and usually get good casts immediately.

[turmech]

I cleaned my first dozen or so with an old can of Comet that was under the sink. It ran out and since then I have used whatever dish liquid we happened to have. May very well be in my head but the ones I did with the comet seemed to cast better initially.

[MtGun44]

The Comet gently deburs the mold in addition to doing a real good cleaning job on the
oils from manufacturing. I'd expect Ajax to do the exact same thing.

You did the ideal prep job, which is why you got great results.

Bill

[mpbarry1]

i am under the impression that since Lee retooled this spring (2013) that the mold quality (finish of the mold) had greatly improved. are you all having the same experience?

[turmech]

Bill, I was kind of thinking the same thing about the grit polishing the mold. I was thinking it had more to do with the vent lines than the cavities, but really no proof and certainly could be in my head. The OP mentioned Ajax and I was thinking he used a similar product to comet. I guess they make all kinds of cleaner and it may not be the gritty powder I am thinking of. I am not the house hold chemical expert of the family. And I keep forgetting to pick up another can when I am at the store to tested on the newer molds I have purchased.

[spfd1903]

Just got my newest Lee six cavity. Have five others from four years ago. The new one definetely has more well defined vent lines compared to the older ones. Just de-greased it, but some long hours at work have precluded casting with it.

[MtGun44]

AFAIK, "Ajax" is nearly identical to "Comet" - mild abrasive and soap powder with a touch of chlorine bleach.

Bill

[mac266]

I just throw mine into my sonic cleaner :)