Sticky Bullet

[MSgtUSMC]

Got a Lyman 31141. Front cavity in left side block will not readily release the bullet. I've done all the usual - - cleaned with solvent, beat on the handle hinge, spun nylon brush on Dremel tool, smoked with candle, smoked with wooden match, smoked with butane lighter. looked for burrs. Any suggestions?

[Orygun]

Don't smoke with a candle. If you haven't cleaned it since then, try doing that and re-smoke with match or stick of wood.

I have a 4 cav. .452 mold that has a sticky one on #3 and have to tap the hinge pin quite a bit to get it to drop. I re-smoked it after the last casting session, but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

[MSgtUSMC]

I cleaned it after each smoking. Can't say I tap the hinge, more like beating the heck out of it. Wears me out after awhile.
Assume Orygun means Oregon. I was born in Oregon City, raised in Canby.

[Orygun]

I know, sometimes they are a bit ornery. I've been thinking about trying one of the release agents....anyone know of a good one?

MSgtUSMC, I'm on the drier side of Orygun.

[S.R.Custom]

You might try lapping it out-- take a few bullets, drill holes in the bottom, and thread some screws into the holes, with about 1" of screw sticking out of the base of the bullet. With a pair of dykes, cut the heads off the screws, and chuck the bullets w/ screws up in a drill. Preferably variable speed.

Put a dab of polishing compound on each side of the bullet, clamp the mould around it, being careful to only get the compound in the cavities, and not between the two halves of the mould block. Spin with the drill until the compound is a dirty grey. Do both cavities to keep the bullet sizes consistent... This will polish out the mould, and make the mould much more willing to let go of the bullets.

Also... try casting hotter, both alloy and mould. I cast pretty hot, and once I get up to temp, bullets fall out pretty easily.

Hope this helps...

[MSgtUSMC]

Orygun: In this particular case I've used two different brands of release agents. Neither one worked. However, they did work in all my other molds. Currently I'm using "Drop Out" from Midway USA. Just don't use too much.

SuperMag: Can you recommend a brand of polishing compound? Is there something I could make up? Maybe toothpaste and baking soda? I'm located out here in the Nevada desert and stores selling that kind of stuff are very limited.

[Ricochet]

Any auto parts store, or discount store with car wax and such will have polishing compound. The stuff you buff up car paint with.

[Dale53]

Toothpaste makes a nice polishing agent for this purpose. You do NOT want a coarse, aggressive polishing compound. You don't want to enlarge the cavities, you just want to remove the microscopic burrs on the edge of the cavities. Toothpaste will do this without cutting the cavities if you work slowly and carefully.

Good luck!
Dale53

[Razor]

I "Lee-mented" a couple of LEE moulds with toothpaste and while it worked fine, It also took at least a half hour on two different occasions..Marked improvement but not perfect.
A couple of days ago I found some CLOVER 4A lapping compound and decided to give it a try..
I lapped the cavities for about 30 seconds, two tries (lap, clean, lap, clean)
Worked great...
Most times the boolits fall out, occassionally a slight tap is required....
No noticable difference in boolit Dia....
I wanted to try it on my LEEs before risking my LYMAN...

Razor

[monadnock#5]

Dan Theodore doesn't post here, but I read some of the forums where he does.

He posted an interesting method for smoothing iron mould surfaces on the Shiloh forum. Also interesting is his very precise method for mould cleaning. Read it here...
http://shilohrifle.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10244

CM

Even as I type my son is in Keene to pick up a bottle of rust removing gel for me, amongst whatever else a lad of 21 might find interesting. Eventually I'll use the gel to try Dan Theodore's technique provided in the link above. Some one of you out there in no danger of getting frostbitten toes might give this a try and report back before I'll get to it.

[Leftoverdj]

The easy method is to work the edges with an eraser. Ordinary pencil will work but a pencil style typewriter eraser is a little faster. There's enough abrasive in the rubber to debur, but you would have to scrub forever to remove significant metal. There's also enough give in the rubber to conform to contours.

[44man]

The obvious problem is a cavity cut a tiny bit off the centerline of the blocks. When I make a mold I try very hard to center to the cherry. If I get it right, boolits drop when I open the handles. If I am .001 or more off, I have to beat the handles.
Not much can be done! :(

[mtgrs737]

Lapping with toothpaste worked like magic on my Lee 6.5mm cruise missile mould. Before lapping I was beating the heck out of it, now they just fall out.

[44man]

Lapping or just rubbing the edges with Scotch Brite works fine for a burr or a little roughness but not for off center cavities. It only takes such a tiny amount off you can't believe it. Picture a circle and how little you have to go past the center to have the sides move in. It acts like a burr but there is none.
Lapping too much makes the cavity larger at the parting line and adds to out of round boolits but does allow a boolit to drop easier.
Just a polish with toothpaste does no harm and is worth a try.

[Ken]

I've done dozens of blocks using a bullet with a screw in the base as described above and valve grinding compound.

[MSgtUSMC]

Thanks for all of the above recommendations. I tried each one. I believe my problem is as stated by 44man. I believe that during beating on the handle hinge I've caused the two halves be off a smidgen. The condition got worse the more I used it and the more I beat upon the hinge, sometimes missing the hinge and hitting the blocks. That mold has now found a new home at our local landfill. I had it for over 20 years.