Lee Six Cavity Mould

[chunkum]

My first Lee six cavity arrived a few days ago. The recently touted Lee 430-310-RF.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/PhilHarris/CastBullets-Data/Lee430-310-RF.jpg
I've read and heard mixed messages about Lee moulds in general but I've used them and kinda come to an "understanding" with them. This one is brand new to me. Do these big moulds have any particular quirks or preferences for getting them to throw good bullets in regard to "break-in", casting temp and any other "neurosis" anyone's discovered in their make-up. Any helpful suggestions for things to do and things to avoid with them would be greatly appretiated.
Best Regards,
chunkum

[steveb]

Ive only been casting for 3 months now but I followed the instructions for cleaning and smoking the mold from Lee. I have also found that my six cavity likes to be run hot.

[sundog]

Chunkum, it's still a Lee mould. Check for burrs and alignment. I have a bunch of the 6-bangers and I lee-ment all of them. I remove the sprue plate, d&t a set screw for it, stone block tops and sprue plate, deburr and lube alignment pins, lube sprue plate screw, sprue plate hold down screw, smooth the mounting screw holes in the handle channel, deburr cavities. One thing to watch for is the nut coming loose on the sprue cam handle.

Some of the fellers have reported very good results using Bull Plate - I haven't tried it yet. You'll prolly want to run the 6-bangers hot, and in doing so sometimes the sprue smears. Apparently Bull Plate does a good job preventing this. I like to pour the cavitiy furthest away first and work toward the handle. As the last one pours just starts to skim over I work the cam - do it while the sprue is still soft and it is alot easier.

Oh, one other thing I do is to chamfer the mating edge of the top of the blocks very lightly with a fine stone. I do this with ALL of my moulds. It produces a vent line under the sprue plate and helps the bases fill out completely.

After the first batch is cast get a couple or three boolits from each cavity, kept seperated, and measure and weigh them to be sure that all six holes are at least close to being the same. Nice to know if one or more are out of spec. The ones I have are usually real close.

You can do as much or as little to these moulds as you want, and they work purdy durn good for the price. One of the best values I know of. sundog

[chunkum]

Many thanks. That's exactly the kind of information I wanted.
c.

[Ranch Dog]

Nice tips Sundog! I guess I'm on the "as little" end of the scale becuase I just wade in. Could you elaborate on... "I remove the sprue plate, d&t a set screw for it...".

[steveb]

Nice tips Sundog! I guess I'm on the "as little" end of the scale becuase I just wade in. Could you elaborate on... "I remove the sprue plate, d&t a set screw for it...".

Yes, nice tips Sundog!

R.D. I just done this to my mold also, check it out...

http://reloadingandlevergunning.blogspot.com/2006/05/lee-six-cavitycam-to-mold-block-fix.html

[sundog]

Michael, I use an 8-32 set screw on the sprue plate hinge screw on the side of the block, so I can adjust the tension (I like mine a little loose) on the sprue plate and make the hinge screw stay put, just like on RCBS, Lyman, etc. The reason I use 8-32 is if it ever strips I can go back in a use next larger. Once the sprue plate hinge screw is removed (so that the black tops and sprue plate can be stoned and chamferred) it won't hold anymore anyway. Drilling is done with whatever # bit is required for the 8-32 tap and I've always used just a hand drill (drill press would prolly be better) and never had one fail. Cleaning up the block tops and sprue plate bottom usually garantees that the block tops are not going to scratch or gaul. If you do this, don't get the sprue plate too loose or the boolit bases with have a little tit on them - the sprue will not cut off real good.

I suppose I should post a pic of one of my lee-mented moulds.

The handle mounting screwholes I mentioned earlier need a little explanation also. In order for the blocks to ride comfortably on the handles without binding (which can contribute to alignment pins sticking) I use a flat file to smooth them off in the groove where the handle fits.

During casting, after I dump a load of boolits, I gently lift (just a little up pressure actually) the sprue plate back onto the blocks instead of simply sliding it across. This helps, too. When I have them all apart for lee-menting, all of the edges are lightly chamferred where they would normally slide back and forth so that there are no sharp edges anywhere.

Okay, so I'm a little anal about Lee moulds. I figger if I'm going to stand there for several hours casting, I would at least like to have nice boolits and a mould I can reuse. btw, I still have the first mould I ever bought in the early 70s, a Lee 357 WC SC, and it still works (been lee-mented a couple times), though I rarely use it anymore since getting hooked on the 6-bangers.

Moulds are kinda like NEW farm equipment. You can use as is or do a little work on it and get it to work the way you want it to. I only have a couple of moulds that needed almost nothing done to them when I got them, a David Mos custom 358009 Imp DC and a SAECO #301 4-banger.

I like wood stick matches best for smoking moulds. Do not use mould release on aluminium moulds.

Is all this necessary? Naw. But I don't apologize for doing so much work on my moulds either. sundog

[Leftoverdj]

Do not use mould release on aluminium moulds.



Eh?

I coat the whole mould except for the cavities with spray graphite. Prevents smearing and galling and lets me be a lot more casual about lubing while casting. I don't use it in the cavities because Lee cuts their cavities small, not because they use aluminum.

Am I missing something?

[SharpsShooter]

Eh?

I coat the whole mould except for the cavities with spray graphite. Prevents smearing and galling and lets me be a lot more casual about lubing while casting. I don't use it in the cavities because Lee cuts their cavities small, not because they use aluminum.

Am I missing something?


You really need to try Bullshop's sprue plate lube. I can cut sprues while they still wiggle and not smear the blocks. Really great stuff and you only user a tiny bit. I recently ran a 6 banger for an hour as hot as my lee 10 pound pot would go and produced over 600 perfect boolits, no rejects and no smearing, galling etc.

[steveb]

I suppose I should post a pic of one of my lee-mented moulds.

A picture tutorial would be real nice for those of us who could benifit from these LEEmented procedures:-D (subltle hint,hint[smilie=1: )

[Uncle Grinch]

One thing I have found out with Lee moulds is to keep the sprue plate hinge point lubed. According to the Lee reloading manual, this is the most common failure or error in using their moulds...ie not lubing the sprue plate.

[HORNET]

One thing that I've found to help some multi-cavity molds is to vent between the cavities. I usually stand a utility knife blade on its edge fairly centered between the cavities with the block supported and give it a firm tap with a 4 oz. hammer, then clean out any burr in the existing vents. Stole this from some old 4 cav. Ohaus molds that looked like they'd run a small end mill between the cavities. Keeps the lead in one cavity from blocking the vents in the adjacent cavity.[smilie=1:

[klausg]

Hey Gang-

I'm in complete agreement w/ steveb about the pictorial, idiot-proofed version of the LEE-menting technique. I think that I understand what you all are talking about, but before I start messing around with my molds I'd like to make sure I know what you're talking about. I know LEE's are inexpensive but I still don't want to wreck one. FWIW, thanks

-SSG Klaus

[MT Gianni]

I have broken two Lee sprue plate handles and now my routine is to pour the front cavity after heating the mould for 2 bullets. Then I move to the first 2 cavitys for 2 pours and add a cavity each time until sprues cut easily on all 6 cavitys. Then I start to keep bullets. YMMV, Gianni.

[floodgate]

steveb:

"A picture tutorial would be real nice for those of us who could benifit from these LEEmented procedures."

The MOST important thing to remember about "Lee-menting" is that you MUST complete the FULL process before opening the box the mould comes in.

floodgate

"BURN BEFORE READING."

[sundog]

DJ, my comment about mould release was meant to not use it for the cavities, not the rest of the mould. In fact, handle mounting screws and mounting surfaces, the top sprue plate, etc, would benefit from a little 'slippery'.

I happened to be in NAPA yesterday so I got a can of the spray graphite. Cleaned my cornbread ingot mould when I got home and gave it a shot to keep it from rusting. That stuff looks pretty good.

I took a few pics last nite and when I get to work later I'll see what they look like. If they're any good I'll get them posted. sundog

[Ranch Dog]

Good info guys... Keep it coming!

[sundog]

http://home.valornet.com/corkyconnell/mould_pics/mouldpic1_35pc.jpg

[sundog]

http://home.valornet.com/corkyconnell/mould_pics/mouldpic2_35pc.jpg

[sundog]

http://home.valornet.com/corkyconnell/mould_pics/mouldpic3_35pc.jpg

[sundog]

http://home.valornet.com/corkyconnell/mould_pics/mouldpic4_35pc.jpg

[sundog]

http://home.valornet.com/corkyconnell/mould_pics/mouldpic5_35pc.jpg

[chunkum]

This thread is exceeding superlative. Great responses. Sundog, thanks for sharing your experience and insight. Thanks to everyone with helpful hints for their input. What a great forum!
c.

[klausg]

sundog- You are the MAN! Thanks brother, it's true a picture is worth 1000 words! Now just to make sure, you guys are also talking about D/T a flat head screw for the cam of the sprue plate to ride on, (on a six-banger); correct or am I lost as usual? Thanks again for the pics.

-SSG Klaus

[steveb]

Thanks for posting the picts Sundog. The pictorials are better for me as it alows it to sink through my thick skull!

Klausg, I got the idea from http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=4790 and didnt notice a picture of the set screw for the cam so I posted the one I done.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a199/steveb3006/For%20Blogs/SIXCAVITYSCREW.jpg

I could have gotten the screw a little more centered for the cam but it works.

[klausg]

steveb- Big thanks to you also; I think I might finally know what needs to be done to my GB 32-98K when I get it. As chunkum expressed, this thread is a good one, thank you very much to all. Take care guys

-SSG Klaus

[cherok9878]

good photo Sundog, thanks.
What is best sprue plate lube to use untill I can get the bull plate.

[Ranch Dog]

Great photos guys!

During my last casting session with my original TLC432-285-RF 2-cavity last week, I was a little worried about the condition of the mold when finished. It had galled into the block and I was wondering what to do about it. I took it apart and lapped the bottom of the sprue plate and top of the mold blocks with some lapping grit and lapping blocks. It cleaned up like new despite having thousands of boolits run through it! I'm definitely going to walk all my molds through this.

Like cherok, I'm going to order the Bull Plate but wonder what to use until it arrives. Got pressure work to do and it consumes a lot of boolits.

[rmb721]

Alumicut is a cutting oil specially made for aluminum. It keeps the threads from being torn out while tapping.

[Poohgyrr]

:drinks:

Great thread, thanks and it's printed out for my records.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Thanks Sundog, a picture says a thousand words and then some! Mick.