Adding to a mold ?

[Johnch]

A freind dabbles in casting bullets .
He ask me some question tonight and I had no answers .
He has a Lyman .458 1 hole plain base mold that he wants to add weight , another lube grove and a gas check to .
He owns a machine shop so he will do the work himself .
He ask if I had ever heard of adding a steel plate to a mold ?
He is talking of drilling and taping the mold and recessing screw heads in the add on to hold the 2 halfs to the mold .

I have no idea of what he plans to end up with .

Just wondered if anyone has tryed this.

I told him to just order the mold he wants , but he likes to play

Johnch

[Buckshot]

.............A person could do it. You'd just have to make sure the added plate and the face of the mould blocks matched well. You might end up with a little seam like a block parting line where the new plate and blocks met. The better they fit, the less the seam.

I'm sure he's already found out that the cavity and the sides/edges of the block are not real square to each other, so attaching the plate halves and trying to bore through indicating off the blocks to match the cavity would be real iffy.

I have an idea of how I'd do it, but we'll see what he comes up with :D

...............Buckshot

[redneckdan]

I made a devastator style hollowpoint mold for my .45 acp out off an old lyman round nose 230gr mold. The mold cavity was most definitely not square to the block, let alone in the center of the block. I got a hold of an idepend four jaw chuck and spent 3 hours with a dial indicator getting the chuck jaws adjusted to the cavity (not the mold blocks) was running true to the lathe center line. I then drilled and reamed a 3/16" hole through the nose of the mold and made a coresponding insert. I haven't yet had time to load the bullets; I made it last spring and gave it to my dad to try out, since I didn't yet have a 1911, he hasn't loaded it yet so I'll probably try it when I go back home for thanksgiving next week.

[Johnch]

I stoped in to his shop tonight after work to see if he had done anything with the mold .
His wife the secretary said he was in a bad mood and even quit working and locked himself in his office .

:groner: Things must be going just great :groner:

Johnch

[Buckshot]

I stoped in to his shop tonight after work to see if he had done anything with the mold .
His wife the secretary said he was in a bad mood and even quit working and locked himself in his office .

:groner: Things must be going just great :groner:

Johnch

HEh, heh. I do that except I lock myself in the garage where all my stuff is.

...............Buckshot