Ruined my mold, need a new one

[359caliber]

Hello,
I ruined my Lee 158 round flat mold yesterday. I believe I had it too hot and the bullets were stuck in the mold. After tapping it (I tapped too hard), my mold no longer closes correctly. I still cast a bunch of bullets, to get the hang of things, but they are not good as the mold will not close completely and the bullets are stuck together.

Now, I am in the market for a new mold. Before I purchase one, I would like to ask: Is it normal for people to tap bullets out of their molds? Should the bullet drop free when you open it? If I spend more money on a steel mold, will it be more likely that I get a mold that will drop bullets freely without having to tinker with burrs and such (assuming I do my part with mold and lead temperature)?

Please feel free to be harsh with your criticism of my rough treatment of my mold. Let me know what you think. I read about the process before attempting it, I just didn't do a good job and ended up ruining my first mold.
Thank you

[boog]

You shouldn't tap (or hit) the mould blocks! If you have to knock them out, then hit on the handle hinge bolt.

Some of the more experienced here will point you in the right direction for getting the mould to drop the boolits properly, I'm sure.

[Down South]

You figured out not tapping the mould. Tap the handles if needed to get stubborn boolits to drop free. If boolits are consistently sticking, you need to work on the mould.

[shredder]

Sometimes disaster is part of the learning curve. No harsh criticism here.

If the mold is reluctant to drop it's boolits you may consider a couple of remedies. First off, never hit the blocks themselves, you already know why. Apply the mallet only to the handle hinge to jar things loose. Many folks lap their mould or "leement" it. That involves deburring the new cavity and polishing. Search the term here for better descriptions. Also keep a couple of wooden kitchen matches handy. Smoke the cavity with a match or a butane lighter to help with release.

Temerature is very important to getting boolits to drop. Mould temp and melt temp. I tend to cast at 700-750 with my bottom pour furnace becasue that is where I get my best results. Once a mould is up to temperature, it should drop its castings easily. I discard the first 15 castings to warm the mould before I get into a run of good boolits.

Hope this helps!

[lka]

Hello,
I ruined my Lee 158 round flat mold yesterday. I believe I had it too hot and the bullets were stuck in the mold. After tapping it (I tapped too hard), my mold no longer closes correctly. I still cast a bunch of bullets, to get the hang of things, but they are not good as the mold will not close completely and the bullets are stuck together.

Now, I am in the market for a new mold. Before I purchase one, I would like to ask: Is it normal for people to tap bullets out of their molds? Should the bullet drop free when you open it? If I spend more money on a steel mold, will it be more likely that I get a mold that will drop bullets freely without having to tinker with burrs and such (assuming I do my part with mold and lead temperature)?

Please feel free to be harsh with your criticism of my rough treatment of my mold. Let me know what you think. I read about the process before attempting it, I just didn't do a good job and ended up ruining my first mold.
Thank you

Inspect them sometimes you get lead in weird places and they don't close. I broke my lee 1oz slug mold a few days ago luckily a new one is only 20.00 I should get it tomorrow. The little rivet broke but I figure I got a couple k slugs out of it so screw it lol.

If the bullets don't drop easily with a whack or two I will burn them with a lighter giving a black layer to it, if the mold isn't hot enough they don't like to leave either. I have steel molds and lee molds, the steel are nice but the little lee cheapies work fine if ya take care of them. And tap the bolt on the mold handles, I don't even tap the plate I move it by hand (I think some are very against this).

Oh another thing I do that it's probably not advised is keep a moist rag by me if the plate opens too easily I'll hold the plate to the rag for a few seconds and if the lead isn't shinny I'll turn down the heat and hold the bottom of the mold to the rag for a few seconds.

Anyways see what others do I probably am doing it wrong but I get purdy bullets.

[Larry Gibson]

May not be "ruined"......

Was it with the older "V" alignment groves or the newer ones with pins?

Larry Gibson

[359caliber]

Thank you gentlemen, for your advice. My first ten bullets dropped okay, after that, I am pretty certain I overheated my mold and things got sticky. Sounds like I may get another Lee mold and be more intelligent about the way I treat it.

[359caliber]

it's a newer mold with pins. I was looking at it this morning and it is definitely ruined.

[lka]

it's a newer mold with pins. I was looking at it this morning and it is definitely ruined.

Can you post a pic? I'm just interested on what a ruined one looks like,, atleast it was a lee ;)

[dondiego]

Why do you believe that you got the mold too hot? Lee's can be run very hot! You say it is definitely ruined. Why so?

[Old School Big Bore]

I have dunked Lees for over a minute, blasted them with propane torches, set them over gas burners, and cast so fast the handles got charred, without hurting them. Definitely post some pix.

[boog]

Might just be a bent handle.

[longbow]

Pictures of the "damaged" mould would be good. As already stated, you may have some lead splashes on the faces or possibly some repairable damage/burrs/dings that can be removed and the mould salvaged. I realize a Lee mould is quite inexpensive but I am cheap and I don't like to throw out anything that is relatively easily repairable.

Even if the mould is damaged beyond repair, some photos of the cavities may reveal why the boolits were sticking in the first place. Lee moulds often have burrs around the cavities that will cause boolits to stick. By "Leementing" you can clean up a mould and have it casting well with very little effort:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?654-Sure-Fire-Lee-Menting-Technique-(Aimoo-Post-Revisited)
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?3172-Sticky-Lapping-301-Changing-LEE-feature-diameters

Now that you are armed with more knowledge, check over your damaged mould and maybe even use it for practice then when you get your new mould take a close look at it and if there are burrs or other minor issues, Leement as required.

Longbow

[gefiltephish]

I was also thinking of bent handles.

[mdi]

Where did you hit the mold and what did you hit it with? There may just be a "burr" or high spot raised by the blow that's keeping the mold from closing completely. You could lightly "draw file" the mating surfaces to remove any high spots (note I said lightly).

[dondiego]

I was thinking that the locator pins might have backed out a little.

[dmize]

After having the pins move on a couple 6 cavities,the first thing I do anymore with a new one is to set them with a punch.

[Larry Gibson]

it's a newer mold with pins. I was looking at it this morning and it is definitely ruined.

If the pins have backed out (?) that can be easily fixed. If the locator holes have been battered from the pins hitting the edges (?) that also can be easily remedied.

Picture(s) would be nice?

Larry Gibson

[lka]

After having the pins move on a couple 6 cavities,the first thing I do anymore with a new one is to set them with a punch.

I've got an hp mould that has a pin that likes to fall out, it's a pain no matter how careful i am I drop it at least once per cast session then have to search for it, pick it up with pliers and put it back in the hole, one day I won't find it and have to replace the mould, it's a newer custom mould too :(

[smokesahoy]

There is no reason to beat on a mold, but glad you were on a practice mold.

Once it is up to temp everything can be worked with your hands, including sticky bullets, just lift them out with your finger on the base of the bullet.

[359caliber]

There is no reason to beat on a mold, but glad you were on a practice mold.

Once it is up to temp everything can be worked with your hands, including sticky bullets, just lift them out with your finger on the base of the bullet.

This is excellent advice. I have another mold on order and have sent (my foolishly ruined one) off for reconditioning. Next time around will be better. Thank you to the advice posted here and the top notch PM received.

[MaryB]

I keep an ice pick handy, if I get a real bad stuck boolit I use the pick to push on the lead only to get it out. Then I cool the mold down and look for why it stuck. Last time it happened I must have bumped the mold face into something and I nicked the edge of a cavity raising a small bur. Quick pass with a razor blade to trim off the bur and back in action.

[DLCTEX]

I still curious how the mould was "ruined".

[hickfu]

The only time I have had a mold that wouldnt close properly was a pin issue where it came into the center of the mold a bit (all I did was heat the mold back up and set it sideways on my bench and hit the side with a plastic mallet, pushed the pin back in) on another occasion some lead found its way into where the pins meet and was a pain to get out, exacto knife and a dental pick finally got it clean.

If I start to get fins for some reason (usually my hands hurt so bad I shouldnt be casting in the first place) I give up for the day and when the mold is cool I take a razor blade and carefully get all of the lead off the inside face of the mold using a magnifying glass.

Oh and during a casting session I keep a brass wire brush handy and every 5 or so casts I brush the inside of the mold real quickly so the boolits dont stick because of a little lead hanging on in the inside (works very well to keep my boolits from sticking)

I would like to see pics of the mold as well to see if it truly is ruined...


Doc

[Down South]

I still curious how the mould was "ruined".
Me too. I wish the OP could have posted pictures.

[Rustyleee]

The "mallet" I use for casting is a 10" long piece of hickory hammer handle. On the bottom where I hold it I have epoxied a bit from a straight bladed screwdriver. Once I start casting I seldom have to stop except to refill the pot. If a bullet is stuck I use the top of the mallet to tap the hinge pin. If it's really stuck the bit can be applied to the base of the bullet in question to pop it out of the mould. If my Lee pot starts to dribble a little the bit can also be used to wiggle the plunger via the slot in top to make it stop.

[lka]

Me too. I wish the OP could have posted pictures.

Me too, we need some pics! ;)

[w0fms]

Hmm. It's a "new style" Lee.. if you get them really hot they will expand enough that the pins can get knocked out of alignment. I did this on one of the 2 cavity molds which seem very prone to this. Putting the mold in a vice, aligned properly, and tapping the pins back together fixed the mold fine. I've done this a couple of times with that same mold, and I always manage to fix it...

I'd bet that the alignment pins are out of kilter on the mold, and they can just be fixed by a realignment in a vice....

[farmbif]

NOE states in their instructions that they send with new molds that at 700 degrees an aluminum mold will be damaged, 700 is too hot for aluminum

[359caliber]

Me too, we need some pics! ;)
It was in pretty bad shape, I didn't take any pics of it. The mold would not close properly, let alone close tightly enough to cast individual bullets. This is what it cost me to have it fixed (plus shipping):
90303 MOLD DC 358-158-RF $12.98
I will treat this one better.

[lka]

It was in pretty bad shape, I didn't take any pics of it. The mold would not close properly, let alone close tightly enough to cast individual bullets. This is what it cost me to have it fixed (plus shipping):
90303 MOLD DC 358-158-RF $12.98
I will treat this one better.

That's not too bad, just crappy having to wait, I get inpatient with these things lol

[Foto Joe]

NOE states in their instructions that they send with new molds that at 700 degrees an aluminum mold will be damaged

I don't have any experience with NOE molds but I do have a fair amount of boolits through Lee molds. Even if your alloy is running at 700°-725° there just isn't any way to actually get the mold up to that temperature, if you did the lead would simply run out when you opened it. I would venture to guess that NOE is trying to prevent folks from pre-heating their molds using things like hot plates and propane torches. The melting point of aluminum is north of 1,200° but if you were to heat the mold unevenly then you definitely could run into trouble.

Using a ladle pour I typically run at around 675° but with the bottom pour pot I need to stay above 700°. So far the only damage done to any of my Lee molds was because of improper prepping by me when they and I were new.