My beloved mold

[Nate1778]

I am afraid my Lee 125gr .358 is giving up the ghost. I noticed the other night that there was a gap of light between the mold. I found some lead in the alignment pin that I thought had created the problem and removed it. Still gap is there. Got the Dremal with the wire wheel and cleaned both mating surfaces and still a decent gap. I love the mold and it throws a great bullet. Is there any other way to close the gap. I thought about putting it into my vice minus the handles but didn't want to without posting it here. The gap is definitely greater than a new molds gap and it is starting to show in the bullets. Is it toast or is there anything salvage wise I can do?

[stubert]

I had one and I had to bend the handles to get it re-aligned. It's worth a try, you can always bent them back.

[mooman76]

It should be fixable, but the problem is figuring out why it doesn't close properly. My guess would be a slightly warped or bent handle if all else looks good. Are the blocks still slightly floppy so they can freely mate up or are one or both tight? Might just need to tweek the handle like stubert said.

[crabo]

Will the blocks close with the handle off? That would be a good place to start

[lwknight]

Maybe a little piece of spru got wedged between the handle and mold block, forcing misalighnment.

[sagacious]

I am afraid my Lee 125gr .358 is giving up the ghost. I noticed the other night that there was a gap of light between the mold. ...
Is it toast or is there anything salvage wise I can do?
Nate,
Yes, there might very well be a way to salvage the mold. Sometimes exactly what you're describing is a result of simple wear-and-tear, and a little mold maintenance will fix it. Other times it's a case of iproper use or abuse, and the fix may be much more difficult. Let's assume for now that the fix is a simple maintenance issue.

Just as a suggestion, wire-brushing the mold faces with a power tool is maybe not the first thing one might wish to do to a mold. If you must, use a soft brass brush to very lightly remove any specks and bits of lead. But do so judiciously and carefully. Often a razor blade or exacto-knife does a good job of removing stuck-on bits of lead.

Take the handles off. Do the blocks now fit together without any gap? If so, check the fit of the handles and remedy any interference problems.

Next thing to do is to smoke the mold with a butane lighter. I can hear you saying, "whaaaa?" Bear with me on this. Smoke the entire face of both mold blocks thoroughly. Open and close the mold a dozen times, being careful not to touch the mold faces with your fingers. Press the mold halves together tightly. Then open the mold, and very carefully note any areas that show a bit of shine on the black-matte smoked surface. That's your high spot. Careful filing, or peening with a punch, or scraping with a sharp knife will remove the high-spot and return the mold to previous tightness.

If you simply cannot find the source of the problem, do this. With the handles removed, place the mold on a hard, flat surface, like and anvil or something similar. Make absolutely sure the blocks are aligned perfectly, and give the mold a solid tap straight down with a hammer. If there's a small hidden burr, that will often re-peen it back down. Note: this is not a case where more force is better. Go easy with this technique.

Problems like this are often the result of the block faces being forcefully snapped back together in preparation for the next pour. Sometimes the blocks are misaligned upon closing, and eventually a wear-spot results that pushes-up a dimple of aluminum-- almost like a shallow pothole with a raised rim... and you get a mold gap. Happens when folks rush while casting. Also, if one slides the sprue plate back into place and it contacts the opposing mold face, it can peen a burr onto that block edge (or especially, right at the edge of the cavity base) and cause a gap. If you find either to be the case, correct your mold-handling technique to prevent this.

Hope this helps, good luck. :drinks:

[dragonrider]

Check the alignment pin holes on both side carefully, look for material that has been raised abound the pins or the mating holes,. If it is there carefull smoothing should reduce the gap.

[Nate1778]

Man thanks guys that was quick. I have yet to take the handles off and see how they line up as when I noticed it they were still up to temp. I like the smoke bit to the mold to see high spots as it seams something is keeping it open, I just can't see it with the naked eye. It may be from quick slamming as the last time I was using it I was definitely in the groove and moving right along. The mold has scene several thousand rounds from myself and who knows how many from the previous owner. Lets just say it is well seasoned, and my favorite mold. Not just cause the bullet rocks in my gun but they just fall out of the mold with no effort. I will continue to mess with it and report back on the results and perhaps a cause.

[EMC45]

I have a mold I got from a guy who sold me all his reloading/casting gear. He had a group of Lee molds and one that was a Lee .358 150gr. SWC that is no longer made. He told me it was no good and to throw it away. It has grinder marks and hammer beat marks on it. It had a bad gap and the blocks wouldn't line up AT ALL!!! I am a tinker and could not throw it away! I cleaned it and took some dental picks to it and cleaned and picked and hoped it would work. It works now and will throw a pretty decent bullet.

[mooman76]

I have occationally gotten moulds from ebay and elsewhere that we abused. Some slightly and some a little more. I got deals on them because the previous owners were honest about them. Some they were even over honest and I found they weren't as bad as they said. I fixed them all. Some don't throw perfect bullets anymore but are still quite usable. I even had a mould that was giving me fits and I took it out in the garage and abused it a little but later on had a change of heart and fixed it too.

[atr]

I have a mold which is doing what you describe,,,it too was with one of my favorite molds

I eliminated the problem by tightning up the handles which had gotten way to sloppy....I also cleaned the face of the molding blocks by using a very soft wire wheel....I can still see just a "touch" of light but way better than before and it doesnt seem to affect the quality of the casting.