Lapped My Lee Mould today!

[mtgrs737]

As I posted earlier this week I got one of those Fat 6.5mm Lee moulds from Midsouth and I was having a really bad problem with the boolits sticking in one half of the mould. I has beating the daylights out of the hinge bolt trying to knock them loose. Several of you folks here made suggestions on what might help, so I drilled a couple of boolits to use as a lapping tool and lapped away with toothpaste. I gave each cavity a couple of sessions cleaning between each session.

Wow! What a difference! The boolits just fall out when opening the mould, sometimes a light tap on the hinge bolt is needed but NOTHING like it was. Production has increased ten fold! Frustration has taken a holiday!

It didn't take that long either, about a half hour as I aready had the castings. I lapped them in both directions and they seem to be rounder than before I lapped them. The size really didn't increase, just the variance in roundness decreased.

Thanks to all who took the time to repy with ideas to my problems.

[Razor]

Thanks for the update..
Gives me an idea what to do for my Lee C324-175-R
Sticks on one side.
Lapped by hand, right. Not in a drill ??

Razor

[750k2]

I'm goin downstairs! Thanks:drinks:

[EMC45]

Nice. I have the same problem with my 160 gr. Lee .309 mold. I may give it a try!

[dubber123]

I have done a few, using a power drill. Drilled the bases, insert a screw, snip the screw head, chuck it in a drill. Lap a little, clean the block faces, lap a little more. Don't go overboard, it's a good way to make an out of round mould. 2 out of the 3 actually measured rounder after, the third was no worse, but it had issues to begin with. All dropped bullets MUCH better after.

[KCSO]

I use a hand drill that was made for lapping. It wig wags back and forth and it seems that the cavities are rounder when done. Not that it makes the bullets shoot any better, but why have a neat tool if you can't ever use it. I lightly lap all my moulds when I get them in and I find that the lapping lets the Lyman's break in faster. The only mould's i havent had to lap were the Mountain Moulds, they all were smoooth! They drop the bullet on opening every time.

[Sundogg1911]

That's the first thing I do (Especially with Lee moulds) Not everyone has rubbing compound laying around, but everyone has toothpaste. (At least I hope so) ;-)
and it also makes your boolits Minty fresh! [smilie=1:

[S.R.Custom]

Glad to hear it worked out!

Ya know, I think this internet thing might just catch on. Without it, how many of us would just be sitting alone, lost in the cast bullet wilderness? Nice to know that help is only a "shout" away...

[mtgrs737]

I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate the good folks here! So many have already been down the road I'm on and their advice has made my trip so much more fun!

I drilled a hole about 1/4" deep in the base of the boolit and screwed in a small tap until it bottomed. Then I coated the boolit with toothpaste (Crest brand) and a touch of water and chucked it in my drill. I used the drill to turn the lapping boolit very slowly for about 30 seconds in each direction while holding just a slight hand presure on the blocks, I then cleaned the boolit and the cavities and reapplied the toothpaste and turned it slowly for another 30 seconds each way. For the last turning I cleaned and re-toothpasted the boolit and ran it at high speed for 30seconds both directions. I believe that lapping in both directions will keep from creating a out of round cavity but I don't have any proof of that. The boolit on the tap seemed to lock on and not unscrew when turning backwards. While lapping I got a dark gray slurry that came out of the cavity and I don't know if it was aluminum or lead.

I used a fresh boolit for the second cavity and afterwards the cavities were much smoother and shinier than before.

[MTWeatherman]

Mtgrs...glad to hear you got that mould working.

I've yet to find a Lee that can't be made to work well with a little time and effort. Lee's sales are based on low cost...not quality control. You can luck out and get a good one, but in general, a little extra time in tuning or "Lee-menting" that mould is time well invested. If you want one that's nearly always perfect out of the box, then don't chose Lee. However, your mould cost just tripled at a minimum.

As I've posted elsewhere, I'm in the habit of using Comet cleanser to lap each new Lee mould I get. Based on reports here, toothpaste appears to work every bit as well so will try it on the next Lee I get. Since its already in paste form, that provides some added convenience.

Its worth noting that both Comet and toothpaste serve an added purpose. They are both detergents so in addition to polishing the mould and removing burrs, they do an outstanding job of cleaning and degreasing those moulds before use. Its actually a good method to use in degreasing a stubborn iron mould as well...I've done it.

Both products are mild abrasives so judicious use of either will accomplish more of a polishing and burr removal effect....rather than significant actual lapping. Don't know what the grit rating of either would be but its got to be much finer than what most readily available actual lapping compounds would run. My guess is that Comet would be the more aggressive of the two. However, with either, unless you really get carried away, you're not likely to significantly lap out your mould much less damage it...in spite of the soft aluminum alloy on the Lee.

It takes so little time and effort to polish and clean these moulds that I suspect most that try it will make the process more habitual. I do and am convinced I have saved much more time in the long run than the lapping process has ever taken to begin with....to say nothing of the wear and tear on the mould that is avoided by not beating it with a stick after each pour.

[mtgrs737]

I agree, I was beating the hinge bolt to death each time I poured a boolit. It made it no fun for me at all. Now I have a healthy pile of boolits in a little of no time because the mould casts so fast. I also use Bull Plate Mould Lubricant and that is a big time saver. If i hadn't gotten it running good I think I would of pitched it, as it was so frustrating. :drinks:

[lathesmith]

After reading several posts on the boards here about sticky bullets on molds on opening, I saw that mild lapping seemed to be the universal fix. I had some 320 lapping compound laying around from a firelapping project, so that is what got used. I had a Lee six holer that I lapped with this stuff, and man what a drastic before/after difference! Instead of beating on the cross bolt several times, the bullets either fall out on opening or require just a light tap. Just a couple of minutes per cavity was all that was required; nothing drastic.
I think MTWeatherman is right on--with Lee many times you get a near-finished mold at a bargain price, and with just a little of the right kind of work you have a near-premium mold. That being said, my most recent GB mold required almost no work at all--the bullets fell out like they should right from the start. It's good to know though that there is a fix for this age-old problem--and a simple one at that. Bravo!
lathesmith

[HORNET]

I usually drill some castings, run in a tap, use 320 grit, and turn by hand. It's real easy to get off center when drilling and that'll mess you up for power lapping. Use very little compound and clean between the blocks frequently. Clamp the blocks in a vise, neither you or the handles are strong enough to keep the blocks from camming apart if there's out-of-round. I've watched the jaws on my little 3" vice spring apart and back together while lapping. Start with the vice just tight enough so you can barely turn the casting. Lap until it starts to loosen up then clean between the blocks and tighten the vice some more. I've gone up as much as .005 and kept things round but it sure takes time...

[lathesmith]

Well, I guess I did cheat a little, I drilled my bullets in the lathe, so they were nice and straight. And, you would have to run them a lot longer than just a few minutes to waller out the cavity with even the 320 grit that I used. BTW, I also tried careful de-burring with a knife, wood block, etc....nothing worked until I did the lapping trick.
lathesmith

[mtgrs737]

I used a drill and held the blocks in my hand so that I could feel the action. I ran the drill at about 30 to 40 RPM's for the first two sessions then flat out on the low speed setting for the finial polish. I don't think that I had a problem because the abrasive (Crest Toothpaste) is very mild and not a "hard" compound like some might be. However the lap boolit was drilled very close to center but at the low speed I don't think if mattered anyway. It made all the difference in the world to my mould and it did not change the diameter of the casting so I know I didn't remove metal only polished it. I was elated when the boolits just fell out of the mould upon opening!

[EMC45]

Man, you guys have inspired me to work with my Lee molds!

[jonk]

Crest and Comet are fine, but how about those of us who have a light grit grinding compound? :-)

I'll try it this weekend with one particularly hard releasing mould.

[IcerUSA]

Just go slow with the lapping compounds as most of them have carbide as the grit , check often , clean , cast , lap again if necessary and it can make a world of difference and boolit drop increases with moulds (molds) that drop easily . :)

FWIW

Keith

[Single Shot]

That's the first thing I do (Especially with Lee moulds) Not everyone has rubbing compound laying around, but everyone has toothpaste. (At least I hope so) ;-)
and it also makes your boolits Minty fresh! [smilie=1:

What's toothpaste???

5385

I use red jewelers compound.

[put]

This has all been about Lee molds. I have 2 lyman molds that need this treatment real bad. I have some 320 lapping compound. It should work on a steel mold, right? Any thing I should do differant?

[TCLouis]

on my 429421 look-a-like. I spent as much time beating on the hinge pin as I did casting. Had to keep a casting mallet on hand even tough it is not needed to cut sprue or open the mold to knock boolits out.

[MTWeatherman]

This has all been about Lee molds. I have 2 lyman molds that need this treatment real bad. I have some 320 lapping compound. It should work on a steel mold, right? Any thing I should do differant?

I can't say I've had a Lyman that I needed to lap to aid in bullet release. The reverse is true for Lee in that all were helped by it. However, have no doubt that there are Lymans (or other brands out there for that matter) that could be helped by it.

I've lapped out several Lyman moulds...I mean really lap for the purpose of increasing bullet diameter...notable for overly large groove diameter firearms in .44 and 9mm. I've used 320 grit and it takes a lot of lapping with it to cut .001 or .002 out of the mould. My guess is that 320 on an iron mould would cut even slower than Comet would on a Lee. That is to say, just be judicious in its use...measure your lapping in seconds rather than minutes if you simply want to remove burrs. A micrometer is a big aid here as you can lap for a few seconds, then mould a bullet to check for bullet release and get a feel for how much your effort is actually cutting out the diameter of the bullet (doubt you'll be able to measure much of the latter...we're talking many minutes instead of seconds to accomplish much of this). This will give you some confidence in how much lapping you can actually do without significantly modifying your mould dimensions.

[MTWeatherman]

put:
You may already be aware of this. However, I should have put the following in my previous post, but didn't, so will add it here rather than editing since its really separate information.

Whenever you are doing any extensive lapping with actual lapping compounds, be sure you embed the lapping compound in the bullet...don't just wipe it on. Otherwise, its a virtual guarantee that you will do much more lapping at the mould parting line than perpendicular to it...due to the lapping compound build up at this point.

The way to accomplish this is to smear the lapping compound on the bullet and then roll it under pressure between two hard flat surfaces...such as steel plates. Then wipe off the excess compound. Since this is relatively easy to do, I'd recommend following this procedure for all lapping of bullet moulds with lapping compound...no matter the purpose of lapping or the mould material being lapped. Granted, for light use of fine grit, you likely won't notice the difference. However, if you have the flat plates to do it, best to do it correctly as it is no real extra work.

Use of Comet, toothpaste, etc. would make this a bit more difficult due to the extremely fine grit...but really not much of an issue if their use is limited to polishing.

[put]

Thanks for the help. Yes I have 2 plates I use when I fire lape my rifles. I am looking forward to doing this.

Thanks again.:-D

[snuffy]

I have a lee 340-458 mold that needs this procedure. The problem I have is no drill press! Or lathe. So how do I drill a hole in the center of a boolit so I can turn it with a drill? Drill motor, taps, and screws I have but no way to accurately center a boolit. Simply drilling the sprue, assuming it's the center of the boolit won't mean it's square with the long axis so it won't wobble.

Hmm, maybe I can rig something to do that with the mini lathe that comprises the forster trimmer? Be right back![smilie=2:

[1894CL]

Okay, you guys got me talked into trying this.I have one of the .257 80grgc group buy 6 bangers that just ended and while it worked fairly well, they were a little tough to get to drop out and they didn't always fill out real well. So I had a few culls around and drilled a few with a #42 drill, just held the bullets in a fold of leather and used a hand drill, eyeballed center and went a little at a time. Then screwed in a 4-40 tap, dipped it in a little toothpaste and went at it. I held the mould in my hand and used a hand drill to spin the bullet. I used two bullets and did all cavities a little bit at a time, trying to spread out the wear on the bullets. Probably did 30-40 seconds total on each cavity. Be sure to wipe out the mold after each time to get rid of any lead shavings. Then scrubbed it up with hot water, dishsoap and a toothbrush, smoked the cavities again and went and plugged in the lead pot. Man, what a difference! Warmed the mould up and the first six out were perfect, cast around 150 and not one reject, they still don't just fall out but much better and they filled out perfectly. Thanks for the tip on this, I worked out great!

[IcerUSA]

You can polish some more and it will help , if the drill wobbles a little it should not be harmful to the mould as you should be running the drill slow and the tooth paste should be a fine enough grit not to take much out of a cavity , more like a fine polish .

The trick is GO SLOW with any thing you use to polish a mould , works for me . :)

Keith

[snuffy]

Wobble, wobble, that won't work. Man, I wish I had more than just basic tools!:(

I thought I had a plan, the Hornady puller collet fits nicely in the end where the collet that grabs the shell rim to hold it for trimming goes. Pushing it further into that hole caused it to grab the boolit, holding it firmly and centered! But then turning a bit that fit, (.187 or 3/16),into where the pilot goes for the neck was a real PITA! It was a long reach and not held very solid. Then the sprue is hardly a uniform flat surface, so the drill tends to skid around not being centered. 3/16 is #12 screw size, so a 12-24 tap was run in by putting in where the pilot would go to start it cutting threads.

Chucking the tap to spin the boolit demonstrated that the hole was NOT centered, or square. Phooey, I'll cogitate on this some more, maybe I can bribe the tool room guy to drill a couple boolits for me, he has a passion for whiskey!:drinks:

[Three44s]

Whiskey........? WE are talking wickey now? ............ hiccup ..........

Better not break the seal on the hooch until ya git your goods ........ LOL!!

Three 44s

[snuffy]

The morning light made me think maybe that boolit was close enough to center to be used. I used some 600 grit fire lapping compound from the Wheeler kit, embedded it onto the driving bands, smeared a tiny amount on the nose. Turning it slowly with my cordless drill, I could let the mold wobble around the off center boolit. It seemed to clean up a few areas, hopefully it clears up the release problems.

I just took a look at the harbor freight website, they have a light duty drill press for 70 bucks! I might just buy that, now I have to find a place to put it!:neutral:

[leftiye]

Three44s that's withshkee isn't it?

Unless you find a way to center on your drill press that is better than eyeballing, it won't be a lot better than just using a hand drill. At least that's how it worked when I locked the boolits in a mold and eyeballed the drilling on my mill. I think my problem had something to do with using 3" grabber screws, they didn't screw in none too straight.

[mtgrs737]

I had a small amount of wobble and it didn't hurt a thing, in fact it may of helped. Just remember to turn it slowly so that you can hold it tightly with your hand. I also used a few drops of water with the toothpaste and it made a slurry that leaked out of the mould.

[Guido4198]

Thanks guys....
Another "Winter project" to add to my already long list. Not sure how many molds I have, but they'll all get the treatment. Then, all will have to be checked in a casting session, then the resultant product checked at the range...I'm gonna be busy..!!

[gasboffer]

Hold a bullet in leather and cut a slot with a fine-blade hacksaw. Reversible drill w/small screwdrive bit and Flitz.
Clyde

[Bob Jones]

Put the bullet in the mold, close the sprue plate and use a center punch to indicate the center of the bullet, works fine for me.

[Razor]

I did it !!
I lapped my c324-175r Lee mould with Crest and it works great !!
Out of the box EVERY boolit stuck, had to pry them out with a 12d nail to the base.
Now, 40% fall out when I open the mould, the rest take a gentle rap or two.
Maybe I'll give it another 2 minutes or so ?
Thanks

Razor