Armoly finish???

[ndhole]

I found some lyman molds I thought about trying to buy but they have what is being called an Armoly finish on them. Looks like they have been taken apart and coated with some stuff that's silver colored. I've never ran across any like that and was wondering if anyone can tell me what it is, the purpose of coating the molds with it and if it will affect the way the mold casts or not.

Thanks, Tony

[Bret4207]

See if they'll let you heat them up first. The coating might not take heat and it might make the mould throw way small.

[scb]

Check out,
http://www.armoloyil.com/FAQ.htm

It was at one time used as a weapons finish. (back before stainless became available, or rather was used much to build guns)

I saw some moulds for sale with this treatment and wondered if it would help with release. It does make metal "slippery".

[felix]

I would definitely try it on Lee molds. Make sure the mold is fully Leemented first, and casts perfectly giving what you want in terms of boolit release. After coating with that hard stuff, it would be next to impossible to make adjustments in a timely manner. ... felix

[Freightman]

Found this about the "Armoly" finish;
http://ezinearticles.com/?Armoloy-Treatment-of-Die-Casting-Die-Surfaces-to-Retard-Heat-Checking&id=1552488

[Naphtali]

Armaloy® was/is a proprietary industrial hard chrome plating process. Among its advantages was low build-up allowing plating without major alterations to the part. It was/is used to hard face injection molding dies and other types, plus coating wear surfaces of cutters, especially slitter blades. When the surface would inevitably wear, the surface could be replated -- indefinitely.

Industrial hard chrome will deposit on aluminum alloys. Having written that, essentially no plater will actually do this. The activity of depositing chromium on aluminum ruins the expensive plating bath. Lee molds are aluminum.

Casting molds made of malleable iron also may not be a desirable medium for plating. If the surface to be plated is porus, like, for example, cast iron, chromium will enter most of the tiny holes that are the porosity while not covering others. Plater will expend too large amount of chromium without achieving the barrier you want.

Years ago, there was a substantially improved variation of Armaloy® done in St. Louis, called ArmorKote®. I do not know that the company continues in business.

Hope this helps.

[felix]

Sounds very reasonable. In my experience, the Lee molds are the only ones needing hardening, and perhaps the tops of LBTs as well. It's not the cavities that need treatment, in my opinion. It's the mold's frictional parts. ... felix

[MtGun44]

Armaloy = Hard chrome. I have a custom .38 super with the frame done, near zero
wear in many tens of thousands of rounds. Hard stuff.

Bill

[ndhole]

Thanks for all the information. If the 41 cal mold I was looking at does cast to small because of the coating would I be able to size it down to use in my 40 just using that sizer or would it need to go through a larger sizer first and do it in two steps. Just trying to figure out my options if I can't use it as planned. Thanks