Looks like Lee has made another change on their moulds....

[Harry O]

Got a brand new one last week. It has the "conventional" guide pins like they changed to a short while back. I cast with it yesterday, before doing anything to it.

The screw/bolt that holds the sprue plate still doesn't have a set screw to hold it in place. However, they changed the thread from standard to reverse thread. Now it is "Righty loosey, Lefty Tighty". It also did not work as intended. The sprue plate came loose during casting. I went to tighten it and screwed it completely out. I kept wondering why it did not tighten. Oops.

I checked my last Lee mould with the new guide pins. The screw was conventional (Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey) in it. Looks like the traditional set screw will be added in the future. A change without purpose.

[dragon813gt]

They changed the thread direction a while ago. It's not a new change. There are threads, pun intended, about it here. I thought they marked the molds in some manner that had the left hand threads.

[Big Dangle]

Yea did the same thing on one of my mold too, now got to do the retap thing.

[roberts1]

Yes, some genius at Lee thought that would help. Give that man a raise! What cracks me up is they are still making them that way. Do they not test things before putting them into full production?

[ranger1962]

I just got a new set in yesterday and I noticed that the mold blocks are held on with set screws not pins. Are we going to start buying Lee handles like the other mold companies ?

[country gent]

Alot of testing is done now on a computer screen, plug in all the variables and it runs 100,000 cycles with no material costs. At Campbells R&D had a program of the end presses where you make a change and see what esle was affected. We cut the crosshead stroke in half to jut under 2" one time jst to see what all was affected. Alot of testing is now done on a computer not real life on the floor. The only problem with the left hand thread is half the time the sprue plates is turning to loosen it also. A simple set screw added cures this no matter which thread it has. Whats Ironic is some engineer probably got a bonus for this idea also.

[roberts1]

Exactly my point. The sprue plate turns both ways. Why would changing the threads make any difference and what engineer does not know this? I like my Lee molds and dont even mind tightening the screw once in a while and ill even admit im used to turning this one clockwise and that one counterclockwise to do so.

[1989toddm]

Got a brand new one last week. It has the "conventional" guide pins like they changed to a short while back. I cast with it yesterday, before doing anything to it.

The screw/bolt that holds the sprue plate still doesn't have a set screw to hold it in place. However, they changed the thread from standard to reverse thread. Now it is "Righty loosey, Lefty Tighty". It also did not work as intended. The sprue plate came loose during casting. I went to tighten it and screwed it completely out. I kept wondering why it did not tighten. Oops.

I checked my last Lee mould with the new guide pins. The screw was conventional (Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey) in it. Looks like the traditional set screw will be added in the future. A change without purpose.


They changed the thread direction a while ago. It's not a new change. There are threads, pun intended, about it here. I thought they marked the molds in some manner that had the left hand threads.

Molds with the left hand sprue plate screw have a LH stamped on top of the blocks.


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[Tackleberry41]

Yes the Lee 'lefty' molds are marked. So now the screws loosen when you close it vs cracking it open, much improved. Seems the older 'righty' models actually stayed tight longer. I was using one of the new lefty molds and every 3 or 4 casts and I had to break out the screw driver. Older ones was less of an issue.

Makes you wonder how much of an actual cost it would be to put a set screw in the mold?

[OS OK]

…^…+1…I'd pay for the extra set screw, gladly.

It seems that Lee is getting more and more about 'cheap' than 'functional'.

[Tackleberry41]

Lee is trying to keep a certain price point under the belief that they will lose customers if they raise prices. Unfortunately they are still losing customers but due to cutting corners. With labor, materials, shipping etc all going up. To keep that price point they have to cut somewhere. Cheaper alloy in the molds, less material in the molds, lack of QC. Has hit a point there are no more corners to cut. Not sure why they think a slight rise in prices is going to lose customers, what is the other option in a $20 mold? There isnt one I know of. I stopped buying Lee molds due to the inconsistency. Gotten tired of 'Leementing' molds so the bullets can be used. Plus they are a bit temperamental, where my other molds work every time.

I have said it before. Lee would be doing all of us a favor by using a proper alloy, w more material so they stay at temp. Put a set screw on the sprue plate, and stop with the non removable handles. $30 for the mold blocks or even $35, half the price of everybody else, but make decent bullets. We are all used to buying handles for molds, its not a deal killer. Plus they take up so much space on a shelf. My Lees take up 3/4 of the shelf, the other dozen molds I own take up the space of a single Lee box.

Lee does this sort of lack of attention to lots of things. They sell the red plastic holders for Lee turrets, tho apparently nobody bothered to check and see if they actually fit. I know its a case of trying to cheap out, make a box that works for several uses. But as is a turret with dies often will not allow the cover to go on. Others the turret has to be pried out of the bottom. Or they sit lopsided in the ones that come with sizing dies.

[OS OK]

Careful with your observations there T-berry…people will label you a Lee Hater…there are ardent Lee defenders here that will argue and justify until you are blue in the face.

[HangFireW8]

I think Tackleberry has valid points, most especially the one that there is zero competition anywhere near their price range.

I think the original mold price points were selected by Richard Lee based on cost, high volume margins and his estimation of what a frugal caster would/could pay on a tight budget.

Price has remained about the same despite constant inflation, while my estimation of quality is that it has remained variable but usually good enough (meaning: the occasional return and some Leementing required).

Keep in mind many molds were single cavity a decade ago and are now double.

To me it all means that Lee molds are an exceptional value, as long as you can tolerate the Leementing and the occasional return.

[Silverboolit]

How many of us would not have tried casting if it weren't for LEE's economical molds? They are a good starter mold, and many have up-graded to more expensive molds over time. What is a mold? Just two pieces of metal with a hole in them to pour liquid metal into.

[Texas by God]

Ten Four Silverboolit. You nailed it.

[dragon813gt]

Lee does this sort of lack of attention to lots of things. They sell the red plastic holders for Lee turrets, tho apparently nobody bothered to check and see if they actually fit. I know its a case of trying to cheap out, make a box that works for several uses. But as is a turret with dies often will not allow the cover to go on. Others the turret has to be pried out of the bottom. Or they sit lopsided in the ones that come with sizing dies.

First, they aren't designed for the turrets. They are what their dies used to come in. They just happen to work for the turrets. And what are you doing wrong to get those results? I have quite a few turrets stored in them.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa39/dragon813gt/TimeToMakeAmmo/CD88A9F8-F977-4EE5-B08E-F9F285D6FCD9.jpg (http://s198.photobucket.com/user/dragon813gt/media/TimeToMakeAmmo/CD88A9F8-F977-4EE5-B08E-F9F285D6FCD9.jpg.html)

Just realized how old that pic is. There are six more turrets in there now.

Because they weren't designed for the turrets the tops are just a slip fit and don't secure in anyway. This is about the only drawback I've found. They're a cheap solution for keeping things organized and protected. W/ some slight modifications they could design them around the turrets.

[Silverboolit]

I have all of my turrets in the round boxes, both the four hole and the three hole. IIRC, you have to flip the bottom over to use them. I will have to look to be sure. I do like the fact that they are pretty dust-proof and very cost efficient.

[Spector]

Is it possible their thinking was that since the sprue plate is trying to rise as it cuts the sprue that it would put more rotational pressure on the screw and that hitting the sprue plate in a series of sharp blows would only worsen that tendency.

From your reports it has not worked, but still I wonder if that was their thinking.

Mike

[Cap'n Morgan]

The smartest/cheapest thing would probably be some sort of self tapping screw where the friction would keep it locked.

[Shiloh]

If it isn't broken, why fix it??

Shiloh

[dudel]

Careful with your observations there T-berry…people will label you a Lee Hater…there are ardent Lee defenders here that will argue and justify until you are blue in the face.

T-berry is probably safe. When you get Lee stuff, you expect to have to do some work on it to get it 100% functional. It's the tradeoff for inexpensive. Good, fast or cheap. Pick any two.

[HangFireW8]

T-berry is probably safe. When you get Lee stuff, you expect to have to do some work on it to get it 100% functional. It's the tradeoff for inexpensive. Good, fast or cheap. Pick any two.

We're all safe, behind our keyboards.

The one thing I disagree with is complaining about getting handles with the 2 cavity molds. Since there is no price penalty, and he's free to drill out the pins and fashion his own handles if they offend him so much, there's hardly anything to complain about.

[Tackleberry41]

I have tried drilling out the pins in Lee molds. The hole in the blocks is on the verge of tearing out as is, same as the hole in the handles. Certainly not enough material to drill and tap. I have lots of Lee stuff, their dies work as good as anything else. Presses do the same job. My shotshell presses have served me well for a long time. Some tools I like, like the case length trimmers. The scale they sell is a bit of a joke. Other stuff, they try to make to cheap, stuff that should not be plastic is. Friend gave me 2 of the older press mounted priming tools, would have been mad had I paid for them as cantankerous as they can be to use at times. Faster than one at a time in a press and easier on my hand than the hand tool, but a pain to use.

I was looking at some molds recently, considered 2 Lee molds, as they are cheap. But then after cursing at several I already have, went with NOE.

Its not really very hard is it, If lets say I buy a .452 230gr mold for my pistol, and a .452 Lee sizer. Logic would say bullets from the mold would be sized by the sizer, not just slide thru. Or my .430 sizer is actually .429, yet still does not size bullets from my Lee .430 mold, but works fine with the NOE.

Yes Lee is where most of us started out, but can give frustrating results and why many of us move on to other brands. Is it really that hard to cut molds consistently?

[NavyVet1959]

Another design might be not threading the hole for the machine screw and instead just drilling a hole all the way through the mold. Then you could put a long bolt all the way through the mold and double nut it on the bottom to lock it at a particular tightness.

[sandman228]

I own several lee molds 2 and 6 cav .I only own 1 with the left handed screw its a .452 160 gr mold in my opinion its a nice plinker bullet and saves on the amount of lead used in 45 colt . ive only used it twice ,I casted up a few hundred bullets with it when I 1st got it then 500 more over this past weekend and enough was enough after I was done with it yesterday I cleaned it up ,took it out to the shed and drilled and tapped the side of mold where left handed screw goes through and put a small allen head set screw in it . I wonder what brain child at lee thought this was a good idea ?

[fg-machine]

i wonder if anyone ever stopped to consider that maybe just maybe the change to a left hand screw is simply that lee might have gotten a really good deal on the screws and the change was nothing more then simple economics .

call me crazy but i fall into the happy as a clam with every lee mold i have bought group

[EDG]

No some manager or boss told the engineer to do something and would not pay to have it tested. Apparently Lee uses us for their engineering testing.
Want something to stay put use a drilled cap screw and safety wire like used to keep helicopters from falling apart.


Alot of testing is done now on a computer screen, plug in all the variables and it runs 100,000 cycles with no material costs. At Campbells R&D had a program of the end presses where you make a change and see what esle was affected. We cut the crosshead stroke in half to jut under 2" one time jst to see what all was affected. Alot of testing is now done on a computer not real life on the floor. The only problem with the left hand thread is half the time the sprue plates is turning to loosen it also. A simple set screw added cures this no matter which thread it has. Whats Ironic is some engineer probably got a bonus for this idea also.

[HangFireW8]

I have no clue if/how Lee tests mold changes. I do know they have, and live a philosophy of constant product improvement. I also know there was a marked jump in cavity cut quality about 5 years ago, when Inspected by Lois started turning up on new molds.

I also have no problem with anyone who wants to skip the hassle and pay more for another brand. I love my NOE and MiHec molds. Some of my Lee molds have caused me a lot of trouble, and I learned a lot sorting them out. But now I don't want to part with them.

[Silverboolit]

You mean that 'Shirley' isn't there anymore??? Now I am broken hearted!