Balls!

[Paul_R]

This is how many I got with my brand new Lee two cavity .600 round ball mold before the mold was galled and unusable. I'm not entirely new to casting, it was properly cleaned and lubed. And to top it off, the balls were .004" undersized and out of round. I had to pound on it to get the balls to drop. I spent an hour drilling, tapping and lapping (leementing) and had to order some .002" shim washers to lift the sprue plate up off the mold so it doesn't gall on the entire surface of the plate and now it at least doesn't gall. What junk! Never again on the Lee molds.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h312/pjriss/20170818_142934.jpg

[Dusty Bannister]

Casting Round ball from COWW?

[Paul_R]

Casting Round ball from COWW?

Nope. pure lead with a little tin.

[Dusty Bannister]

Probably let the sprue harden too much, nothing to keep the ball from spinning, so the thin lip on the aluminum mold deformed and allowed the ball to hang in the mold. Decent molds if you cut them at the correct time. It will shortly trash them if you let the lead become solid. A common discovery with folks not familiar with round ball molds. You could have pushed on the sprue plate just enough to fracture the wet casting and been fine to cut it properly a few seconds later. Better luck on the next mold.

[Lonegun1894]

Now I have more expensive molds, and have had my share of disappointments with Lee molds, but never once had trouble with a Lee RB mold. Still use a couple of them that I've been using for close to 20 years now.

[lightman]

I like your garage on the hot plate. I use an identical piece of square tubing to level my molds on my hot plate.

[ShooterAZ]

Pure needs to be cast hot, alloy at 800*+.

[Paul_R]

Pure needs to be cast hot, alloy at 800*+.

Well now there's a good tip, thank you. As you can see, I was casting at ~ 700F

[Dusty Bannister]

Good catch ShooterAZ. I could not read the numbers. That would certainly allow the sprue to freeze fast.

[mazo kid]

I have several Lee RB molds and have never had the problems posted above. I cast both over campfire coals at rendezvous and 2 bottom pour pots at home. I cast 15 pounds of soft lead RBs at rendezvous a couple of years ago.

[Maven]

Sorry to learn of your misfortunes with that Lee mold. ShooterAZ has it right about the temperature: 800 deg.F to start and maybe 775 once you get perfect castings. Btw, I have that mold too and find it casts very well and is at least the equal of the high[er] priced Jeff Tanner mould (sic) of the same caliber + it has a sprue cutter, which the Tanner lacks.

[centershot]

This is how many I got with my brand new Lee two cavity .600 round ball mold before the mold was galled and unusable. I'm not entirely new to casting, it was properly cleaned and lubed. And to top it off, the balls were .004" undersized and out of round. I had to pound on it to get the balls to drop. I spent an hour drilling, tapping and lapping (leementing) and had to order some .002" shim washers to lift the sprue plate up off the mold so it doesn't gall on the entire surface of the plate and now it at least doesn't gall. What junk! Never again on the Lee molds.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h312/pjriss/20170818_142934.jpg

What did you lube your mold with? I cast RB's in Lee molds with no problems at all. I am able to pour, cut the sprue by hand, drop and re-pour as quickly as I can manage the motions, no problem. Temp is extremely important! These molds heat quickly and cool quickly! I run pure lead at 800*F with a PID to control temp. I lube the mold with synthetic 2-stroke oil. Shake the bottle, remove the cap. Take a Q-tip and swab the inside of the cap, that's all the lube you'll need. With the mold at casting temp swing open the sprue plat and run a small line of lube along the trailing edge of the plate and close it. Run the Q-tip along the seam at the leading edge and around the pivot. Open the mold and CAREFULLY touch the Q-tip to the alignment pins. You're done. You should NOT need a spacer under your sprue plate. Lubed as above, when I feel my plate start to drag I re-lube it and all is good. The plate should swing freely of it's own weight. If yours won't, remove the pivot screw and drill & tap the side of the block for a set screw so you can control tension.

http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/MoldMods/LeementingKitDocumentation.pdf

I hope this helps you smooth things out. I really like the Lee RB molds, the absence of a sprue is a plus in my book!

[mdi]

I've never had any problems with Lee molds nor any aluminum molds. But I prep them before use. I clean w/brake clean, and lube the hinge points (2 cycle motor oil, sparingly). I often polish the underside of the sprue plate and carefully apply a bit of 2-cycle oil, making sure not to get any in the cavities, to the top of the mold. My "fun" budget is limited so most of my molds are Lee and out of the 10, I only have one that gives me trouble, that's a new 38 cal SWC, but not with gauling or sticky bullets...

[runfiverun]

some anti-sieze on top of the mold will prevent that galling.

[Paul_R]

What did you lube your mold with? I cast RB's in Lee molds with no problems at all. I am able to pour, cut the sprue by hand, drop and re-pour as quickly as I can manage the motions, no problem. Temp is extremely important! These molds heat quickly and cool quickly! I run pure lead at 800*F with a PID to control temp. I lube the mold with synthetic 2-stroke oil. Shake the bottle, remove the cap. Take a Q-tip and swab the inside of the cap, that's all the lube you'll need. With the mold at casting temp swing open the sprue plat and run a small line of lube along the trailing edge of the plate and close it. Run the Q-tip along the seam at the leading edge and around the pivot. Open the mold and CAREFULLY touch the Q-tip to the alignment pins. You're done. You should NOT need a spacer under your sprue plate. Lubed as above, when I feel my plate start to drag I re-lube it and all is good. The plate should swing freely of it's own weight. If yours won't, remove the pivot screw and drill & tap the side of the block for a set screw so you can control tension.

http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/MoldMods/LeementingKitDocumentation.pdf

I hope this helps you smooth things out. I really like the Lee RB molds, the absence of a sprue is a plus in my book!

I did pretty much everything as you except the temp. I was way low. I used Mihec's lube but only at the pins and sprue plate pivot point. If I got it all over the underside of the plate (applied sparingly with a q tip) I couldn't keep it out of the cavities.

[ShooterAZ]

On the bright side... you learned something, and the Lee 2 cavity molds are only 20 bucks give or take.

[Walter Laich]

adding the set screw to the sprue plate screw is always part of my pre-casting routine on new Lee molds

My Lee round ball molds work fine but we're using different sizes, temperatures and alloy so that really isn't much help here

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I did pretty much everything as you except the temp. I was way low. I used Mihec's lube but only at the pins and sprue plate pivot point. If I got it all over the underside of the plate (applied sparingly with a q tip) I couldn't keep it out of the cavities.
If you apply it, as stated, while the sprue plate is at casting temperature, it doesn't migrate into the cavities, it smokes off leaving just a residue. I will also apply it, to the top of the mold blocks, while leaving a boolit or Ball in the cavity to avoid any migration before it smokes off.

[Paul_R]

If you apply it, as stated, while the sprue plate is at casting temperature, it doesn't migrate into the cavities, it smokes off leaving just a residue. I will also apply it, to the top of the mold blocks, while leaving a boolit or Ball in the cavity to avoid any migration before it smokes off.

That's a good tip too, thank you. I missed the part about being at casting temp

[runfiverun]

and with a ball in the cavity.

[waksupi]

and with a ball in the cavity.

Yep, cut the sprue, then lube with a ball in the cavity. Same applies for any mold.