WOW! 1st Lee 6-cav use!

[Blackwater]

DANG! You boys who've been touting the Lee 6-cavity moulds KNEW what you were talking about! That's not the part that's surprising, though. What's surprising is how long it took me to try one. Well, that's over now, and I couldn't be more pleased. I scoured them with soap and water, then with Comet and a tooth brush, cleaned and rinsed them thoroughly, and coated the sprue plates with a very thin coat of anh. lanolin, and deburred the sprue holes and bullet cavaties with a triangular stone. I think I need to re-deburr the 45-200-swc, but the 38-158 RFN's dropped like there was something in the cavaties pushing them out. The 200's dropped pretty good, but took a few taps for them to fall. I used a very light touch with that triangular stone, so probably need to complete the job.

I figured the casting would be fast, and set up my hot plate with a cast iron pot and @ 60 lb. of my mix of WW's, linotype and pure lead, and had that melting and up to temp when the 20 lb. Lee Magnum Melter's level got too low to fish out a full ladle of lead. Worked like a charm, and I really turned out some bullets.

They take a good bit longer to heat up to casting temp, but I'll take that ANY day! I'm just glad I finally "discovered" the Lee 6-cavs! Thanks for the temptations y'all provide. Only problem is, now I need about a dozen MORE of these things! If there's a 12-step group for these things, PLEASE .... do NOT refer me to it!!! I'm quite happy as I am! :drinks: Cheers, boys, and THANKS!

[zuke]

I've yet to try one, but soon ,very soon

[Castaway]

My buddy and I use two pots, one melting, the other casting. With two, 6 cavity moulds workinf, we can go through some lead.

[Cherokee]

I have a 6 cv 38-158 RFN that is just as gret to use as you desicribe. I did not even do any of the 'Leementing" steps on it - just cleaned and started using. Also a very good bullet in my 357 Rugers, SW686 and Rossi 92.

[DEVERS454]

I did spray mine with Forester stuff on my 158gr 358s....they fall out with less than a jiggle.

My Mountain Molds blocks also bennefit from the stuff as well.

1 can should last me a lifetime of casting...easily. (it hardly takes any of the stuff to do what it supposed to)

[Buckshot]

...............I think my first Lee 6 cavity was for their 358-148WC. The lube grooved version. The slugs dropped so nice and run of the batch slugs shot so well I was sure impressed. The current runs of these with rifle boolts just re-inforces their value. For general shooting and plinking boolits you just can't beat them for keeping you supplied. It does kind of ruin you as your 1 and 2 cavity production pile just doens't ever seem to grow!

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

[R.M.]

I just purchased my first 6 cav. Lee mold the other day. I was having an awful time with wrinkles. I washed it out with Brake Cleaner to start with, but that didn't work. I stripped it and boiled it in soapy water for 10-15 min. That didn't help either. So I decided to give it a good boiling. As it was boiling away, the suds kept boiling over, so I got the bright idea that dishwasher soap doesn't suds up much, so I tossed in some of that. "WRONG". After letting that stew away for half an hour, the dishwasher soap ate, or should I say, corroded the aluminum. That's not a real good description. It actually created a build-up on the aluminum. I used a small brush in my Dremel an d removed a lot of the crud, but there's more to get rid of. I'm thinking of using some lapping compound and spinning a bullet in cavity to clean the rest out.
Who would have thought that dish-washer soap, that is safe for washing aluminum pots and pans, would make a mess of a mold like this.
By the way. It's my opinion that the Lee 6 cav. molds are more than worth their money. I'm a Tool & Die Maker by trade, and still believe that the Lee equipment, for the dollar, is a BARGAIN.

R.M.

[steveb]

Ive been using my Lee six cav 429-200-RF and the Lee 358-158-RF . Ive used them 5-6 times. The first three times I was getting used to the whole casting process and getting used to my molds personalities. It seems like it takes a bit for my molds to heat up but when they do...... Oh Wow Man Beautiful:mrgreen: Also mine like to be run hot.

[DEVERS454]

R.M.

Something doesn't sound right.

Soap should not eat away at Al. I clean mine with "Comet" and a tooth brush each time just before casting.

You may have some blocked gas vents. I did what others had suggested and lightly cleaned up/opened up some of the vents and they work great.

[waksupi]

Puzzling. The only way I can see soap causing a reaction to the molds, is if it was new made lye soap. Lye will eat aluminum. From my experiences with Dremel tools, I would say it would be totally destroyed in the first thirty secounds, if I would attempt that.

[RayinNH]

R.M., did the dishwasher soap have lemon in it? I've noticed that my wife and I have trouble with that whitish corrosion when we put aluminum cookie sheets and an aluminum griddle in the dishwasher with soap that contains lemon...Ray

[felix]

True about citric acid and aluminum. But on the contrary, you want citric acid and brass together. No matter, when washing brass you want the water to keep moving at all times, just in "case". ... felix

[Uncle Grinch]

Most dishwasher soap has chlorine in it. I believe chlorine is very corrosive to iron and various other soft metals.