hoopla

[44man]

I continue to read posts that say to use brake cleaner, boil the mold and do a million things to clean a mold. Some of those products recommended actually leave residue. I have never understood this hoopla! [smilie=1:
I have drawers full of molds of every make along with all I have made. Not a single mold ever has a problem casting a perfect boolit from the first to the last if the mold is pre-heated properly.
I use nothing but dish soap, an old toothbrush and hot tap water to wash a mold. It takes only a minute or so.
I just re-cut a .44 mold to .50 Alaskan because the .44 was not the right size. Hand made cherry and I use WD-40 at the last for cutting lube. A short trip in the laundry tub and it is ready to go.
Every Lee, Lyman, RCBS, Hock, home made or whatever just gets washed in the sink.
A zillion posts to say clean the mold, clean the mold, clean the mold, well guess what, most of the junk boils away when the mold is heated unless you packed it in grease or wax to store it.
OK, if the mold is a mass of slop, use brake cleaner or acetone, then wash in the sink and go cast.
I have no rust problems so I just throw the cool mold in the drawer with nothing put on them. When I need that boolit, the mold is ready to cast once it is hot.
The thing to think about is to use a product that is easy to wash off if you live in a humid place where molds rust. It is hot and damp here but the de-humidifier keeps my basement dry. Stuff in the garage will rust.
It just amazes me that when anyone has a problem, 98% of the answers are about cleaning the mold and it is just not so.

[Doby45]

The one mold I have so far, all I did is what you said. Now I did get my water hot in a pot on the stove. But a good dipping in that hot water with some dish soap then a good brushing with a plastic fingernail brush (same as teethbrush) and I was droppin'em like they were hot.

[lwknight]

I never have cleaned any of my molds. Just get em hot enough to melt lead one time and whatever oil exists is gone.
Well , maybe wiping excess oil out with a paper towel might be called cleaning.

Anyway , 44man, I agree. Its all hogwash.

[ghh3rd]

44Man, I saw that you said that once before and tried it on my most recent mold (Lee). I actually think I got good boolits faster than when I used brake cleaner etc. Future molds will also receive the dish soap, warm water, and old toothbrush treatment.

Randy

[Hickory]

Let us know how thw 50 Alaskan works out for you.
Like to see how it shoots too.

[JeffinNZ]

Dishwash, tooth brush and hot water is how I clean mine also. Just don't tell SWMBO that I use her brush though......................

[Maven]

"Just don't tell SWMBO that I use her brush though...."

+1 to what 44man & Jeff said. Jeff, you're a man after my own heart as I sometimes tell my wife I use HER toothbrush to clean around the toilet bowl.

[casterofboolits]

I have to vote for a mild solution of Dawn and a toothbrush too. I usually scrub the cavities with a tooth brush and rinse in hot tap water and repeat two or three times, then blot the mold with a paper towel to remove excess water.

I pre heat the molds on the top of one of my RCBS ten kilo pots. Once the molds and sprue plates are warmed up I smoke the cavities with a Bic and spray the bottom of the sprue cutter and the top of the mold with dry graphite film lubricant. This helps in reducing lead build up and eliminates galling.

The molds begin to produce good boolits within a couple dumps.[smilie=w:

[jmsj]

I too have been guilty of using brake cleaner, acetone, alcohol, white gas and electrical contact cleaner to clean new molds. Yesterday I received a Lee mold and tried just boiling water and Dawn dish soap. I preheated the mold as usual and it started casting keepers a lot faster than any method I have used previously.
jmjs

[44man]

Let us know how thw 50 Alaskan works out for you.
Like to see how it shoots too.
Not for my gun but tests will be forthcoming in the future. My first mold cast beautiful boolits but I allowed too much for shrinkage and they were too big. I guess I can re-cut them for shotgun slugs, hate to waste blocks.
Glad to see so many like soap. I want to make casting easier for all. It is usually something else when a mold won't work right off. If I can get WD-40 off with a little soap, anything else will wash off.
Except for the time years ago when I stored a mold with beeswax all over it! :bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2: That taught me not to read books.
Well, it sure didn't rust! [smilie=s:

[Wayne Smith]

HA! I agree completely. The only reason I use denatured alcohol is that, to me, it is quicker and easier. Dries faster, too.

[Fire_stick]

Thank you 44man.

[RobS]

Yep.........dish soap (Dawn), hot water, put on handles, preheat mold and cast away.

I have Kroiled a mold once as the bullets were a bit picky about releasing and it worked.

Then again I have also lapped a mold or two as well.

So..............

1. Wash the molds with hot water and Dawn for all practical purposes

2. Kroil the mold if needed to assist with dropping of bullets

3. Lap the mold "Leementing" if all else fails for bullets to drop freely

FWIW

[bigboredad]

I think there is a whole lot of hoopla going on and probably scaring r overwhelming new casters. there is a ton of good info on this sight but there is a ton of hoopla as well. Remember the basics and remember why you got into casting and start having fun again

[Doby45]

Kinda the same as the "tinsel fairy", not to say she don't exist. But, it is made out to be that if you even have the thought in your head of having a nice tall glass of water your lead pot will suddenly erupt into a volcano of death and destruction.

Mold prep is the same way. I thought I was going to have to soak my molds for a month in mineral spirits and then burn them with a torch from the top of a natural gas processing plant and finally says prayers to each of the "known" religious symbols and a few I have no idea about. Much to my surprise my very first pour ever had boolits dropping out like crackheads in high school. They could not get out of the mold fast enough. All I did was wash it off with hot soapy (dawn) water and an old nail brush.

[Von Gruff]

I dont even use a brush on mine, just a quick squirt of dish soap in the cavity and sit the mould in a s s bowl while the jug is boiling, pour the water over it and swish it a couple of times. Residual heat dries as I take it to preheat and we are good to go.

Von Gruff.

[DLCTEX]

I too thought that all the cleaning advice was hoopla until I gay a new Lee mould that just would not stop wrinkling boolits. I cleaned it with soap, Comet, boiling, brake cleaner, heated it, and still the problem persisted. After two days I finally dunked it in the melt and left it until it was so hot the alloy would not harden for a minute. I let it cool down some and it went to casting and never was a problem after that, just cast like my other moulds. I recently got another, a RD mould, that gave the same problems and was cured in the same way. My theory is that some oil was in the mould metal and had to be cooked out, but whatever, it worked.

[dukenukum]

All I ever do is quick wipe with rubbing alcohol and a coat of mold prep never had any trouble. :cbpour:

[44man]

Heat does do something. I always heat my mold in a little mold oven on a hot plate to 500* and the first boolit will be perfect. I have a problem when I want to use two molds because the oven only holds one so I set the second on top. Then I just play the propane torch all over it to bring it up to temp.
Pre heat is even more of a problem when I use three molds! :holysheep
Dipping my large blocks in the melt is too hard even with a 20# pot.
The torch is the easiest way and it sits on the bench all the time.
I REALLY hate casting a pile of boolits to get the mold hot
I do not know how deep oils can penetrate aluminum but I suspect it is not very deep. Maybe some oils just dry on the surface like WD-40 will do if left. That might gas when hot.
I know WD-40 will dry and gum so bad it will freeze up a firing pin in a bolt rifle. NOTHING dissolves it and it has to be removed mechanically. Keep WD-40 away from your guns! Never spray it in a lock either. The junk will NOT prevent rust either.
I only use it for cutting oil on aluminum and wash it off after cutting.
NEVER store a steel mold with WD-40 on it or you are in for a rough time. Use mold prep, Bull Plate or Kroil.
I know farmers that buy WD-40 in 55 gal drums to spray farm equipment. It all rusts away anyway. But they also spray guns and you would not believe how many I had to fix. I wish the stuff would go away! :killingpc

[Pirate69]

About the "tinsel fairy", I am somewhat new to casting boolits but I have cast Dive Weights and fishing sinkers all my life and have met the lady while doing so. However, about a month ago, while melting some range lead that was given to me, I met her. She is UGLY!!!!! A couple of the peas size burns are just finally healing. She has make a believer out of me. Not sure where the water came from but it was not much to do the spray job that it did.

[RP]

I dont like using water on my moulds just me so i shoot a new mould with carb cleaner it removes any oil fast and is gone fast also. Preheat it and cast and I get good boolits. I have a rust problem in my area so when iam done I give them a shot of Kroil oil. With Kroil I dont worry about cleaning them again I just preheat and start casting with the Kroil it dont effect the boolits I think sometimes it even helps some. Brake cleaner leaves something behind not sure what but it feels like oil and will not clean like carb cleaner also some brands of carb cleaner the cheap stuff is not all that great you want some that evaporates fast that tells you its the good stuff.

[44man]

About the "tinsel fairy", I am somewhat new to casting boolits but I have cast Dive Weights and fishing sinkers all my life and have met the lady while doing so. However, about a month ago, while melting some range lead that was given to me, I met her. She is UGLY!!!!! A couple of the peas size burns are just finally healing. She has make a believer out of me. Not sure where the water came from but it was not much to do the spray job that it did.
If you meet the fairy, run fast to the sink or tub and pour cold water on the burn for a half hour. You will not get blisters and minimum scars.

[Shuz]

If I get a new to me mould that shows sins of oil or grease, I have found that spraying with a commercial carb cleaner or brake cleaner is an easy way to clean the mould. I'm not saying hot soapy water doesn't work. As others have said, it works for them. What I am saying is that this lazy old phart has found spraying to be easier for me.

[buck1]

HA! I agree completely. The only reason I use denatured alcohol is that, to me, it is quicker and easier. Dries faster, too.

I spray with WD40 to store just for pice of mind, and hose them off with brake cleaner because it fast and easy.
apply WD40= 10 seconds.
clean mold=20 seconds.
I am lazy what can I say! LOL...Buck:castmine:

[excavman]

I agree with 44man, WD40 is some bad stuff aroung guns. I have heard it will remove bluing but I ain't going to try it to find out.

BTW, the toothbrush was invented by a hillbilly ------ if anybody else would have done it they'd of called it a "teethbrush"....

Larry

[44man]

I agree with 44man, WD40 is some bad stuff aroung guns. I have heard it will remove bluing but I ain't going to try it to find out.

BTW, the toothbrush was invented by a hillbilly ------ if anybody else would have done it they'd of called it a "teethbrush"....

Larry
It will not in itself remove bluing but it will allow the blue to rust in humid conditions.
Even painted surfaces sprayed with WD-40 will rust if it is damp. Come look at the metal stands on my wood working tools that I thought would be protected by the junk. I actually think it makes metal rust faster.
If you want a good spray, get Birchwood Casey Sheath. Another name for it is Barricade, same stuff. WONDERFUL on anything.
Believe me, paste wax is 1,000,000 times better then WD-40. It was made to flush off water and that is the end of it. You better wipe it off and put something else on the metal.

[mpmarty]

I have a habit of using lacquer thinner to clean molds. I also store mold blocks in sealed cans of lacquer thinner. It works for me.

[XWrench3]

i have gone through all of the above mentioned ways to clean out molds. the thing that make them work right is casting with them. even a stuborn mold, that will not cast right, will eventually"break in" for the lack of better terminology. if the mold is reasonably clean, cast with it for a while. i have had one of them take 41 fill-dump cycles (my 40 cal lee 6 cavity mold) to straighten out. but once they do, they work fine after that.

[DIRT Farmer]

I tried something different on one of my moulds, I had a deer rib bone going to the dog in a scrap bowl while I was casting in the shop. I just touched the top of the mould plate, the sprues fell off and the top of the mould stayed clean for about 200 casts. Almost like seasoning a skillet

[Centaur 1]

I'm still fairly new to casting, but I'm really good at cleaning things. I worked in the space launch business and a large part of my job was to clean parts to a LOX compatible clean. For those who are unfamiliar with liquid oxygen, it will react with a violent explosion if contaminated with hydrocarbons or particulates. The standard procedure for cleaning was to first scrub with trichloroethane (Brakleen), followed with a scrubbing in isopropol alcohol. It's the same thing as rubbing alcohol, but look for the 100% alcohol over the 70% if you can find it. This is the point where we put stuff in our large ultrasonic cleaner, but it's not necessary for what we're doing. The final step used to achieve this high level of cleanliness is the tricky one, we wash it with distilled water and Joy dishwashing detergent. That's it, our secret weapon to achieve a LOX compatible clean is Joy detergent. I've bought three Lee molds recently and the only thing I did to them was wash them in the kitchen sink. So far my bullets look pretty good once the mold gets up to temp.

As far as WD-40 goes, it was never designed as a rust preventative. It was developed for General Dynamics to use on their "Atlas Centaur" missile program. (You guys now know where my username came from). The missile was first built as an ICBM during the cold war, and they were to be launch from underground silos. When the Air Force decided to convert their ICBMs from cryogenic propellants to hypergolic propellants, the need for the Atlas missile went away. That's when it was decided to convert them into space launch vehicles. Well they started trucking these missiles to Cape Canaveral to start a new business launching satellites into orbit. The structure of an Atlas rocket is really cool, its skin is .020" thick stainless steel and it contains no internal support structures. In other words it's nothing but a huge stainless steel balloon, that relies on internal pressure to keep it upright and stable. One of the first unplanned problems that was encountered was the Florida humidity. When the rocket was loaded with liquid oxygen, it quickly became covered in frozen condensation. So much ice was accumulating that the rocket was too heavy to leave the ground. Here's where WD-40 (water displacement formula #40) makes its debut. Aerospace technicians would take 5 gallon buckets of it and paint it on the outside of the rocket. The thinner would evaporate and leave a film on the outside of the Atlas rocket. Now on launch day they still get an ice buildup on the rocket, but now when the engines ignites they take about 6 seconds to come up to full thrust and during that time the vibrations from the 3 main engines break the bond that the ice has on the WD-40. Without the extra weight of the ice clinging to the side of the rocket, they were able to successfully transform an old ICBM into the rocket that John Glenn used when he became the first American to orbit the Earth. Sorry for the long explanation, I just love the space business. :smile:

[44man]

The long explanation was well worth it, thank you!