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View Full Version : New Lee Molds Arrived Today! Help!!!



Bad luck Bill
08-09-2006, 01:44 AM
Hi All,

Imagine that, needing more advice with a Lee mold! :mrgreen: One of them is a tumble lube wadcutter that was actually very sweet out of the box, the boolits dropped without a problem and the sprue plate was perfect! Unfortunately, the other mold was not as nice as the first.

The second mold is also a tumble lube design....158 gr. SWC and the sprue plate is way too tight. I need to hit it a few times and hard! Just to close it for the next pure! How does one go about loosening up a sprue plate on a Lee Double cavity mold? The bolt that holds the sprue plate on is a phillips head but it doesn't budge when I tried to loosen it. What gives? Is there a "trick" to getting the damn thing to loosen or what? I also had some fill issues with this mold, though the other full wadcutter mold was excellent all around. I wish this one was as perfect as my wadcutter mold!

Any help would be much appreciated,

Bad Luck Bill. :castmine:

Buckshot
08-09-2006, 01:51 AM
..............That's about all you can do is to loosen the screw. Set it somplace low enough so you can put a screwdriver on the screw and then lean over it. Put the palm of one hand over the screwdriver and lean your chest on your hand. Use the other hand to turn the screwdriver. Don't turn it very much. Lee uses self taping tech screws. I've found that once loosened or removed, they're pretty much toast for re-tightening.

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

Bad luck Bill
08-09-2006, 01:57 AM
**** Buckshot! Don't those idiots at Lee have anything close to what is usually known as quality control? They should have a set screw in them like Lyman uses! Man! I hope that I don't over do it. What happens if I do go to far and the screw won't go back in? There should be an easy way to fix it up, no?

BLB.

Buckshot
08-09-2006, 02:01 AM
............Bill, IF that should happen then just D&T for a 10-32 sockethead screw, then D&T in from the side for a 6-32 setscrew.

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

Bad luck Bill
08-09-2006, 02:24 AM
I must be getting dumber as time goes on Buck...I just hit the screw with a generous amount of Remington Teflon gun oil and the sprue plate loosened right up proper! I just hope this is a permenant fix (And I think it will be). I guess there's always a chance that it could tighten back up after heating it to temp for casting but I think everything will be okay from this point on. I did get that "Drop out" graphite spray in the mail today from Midway....I wished I had new about this forum before I bought two cans of it! From reading posts and conversing with more experienced casters (Thanks George!!!) I found out how to fix sticky molds.

Now I got to find a use for this stuff...maybe it makes a good bullet lube? Has anyone ever tried it for that purpose? Seems like it would be similar to Moly or something. I've never used Moly before, all the older guys told me to stay away from it. Is that the majority opinion on this forum?

BLB> :castmine:

Bass Ackward
08-09-2006, 06:36 AM
I've never used Moly before, all the older guys told me to stay away from it. Is that the majority opinion on this forum?

BLB> :castmine:


BLB,

That is probably the consensus. But mostly because we are cheap.

There is a multitude of uses for that stuff. Like painting the outside of a steel mold to keep from rusting. Or spraying it in a clean bore so you don't have to load some low velocity lead for bore prep to keep from leading on the first shot. (Most leading actually starts from the first shot in a squeakey clean bore) Stuff like that.

357maximum
08-09-2006, 06:46 AM
"Most leading actually starts from the first shot in a squeakey clean bore) "

Bass


I take a shot flass full of melted lube and mix it with an equal amount of jojoba oil (any oil should work) and soak some patches with it, before shooting a squeaky clean bore, I simply run a patch down the bore then shoot like normal..something like bore butter would proably work also....FWIW

Michael

454PB
08-09-2006, 01:17 PM
The Lee moulds utilize a spring loaded "wavy washer" on the sprue plate to apply pressure downwards on the sprue cutter. I've found that this washer can be rebent to apply more pressure if needed, or flattened to apply less pressure.

wildkatt
08-09-2006, 07:26 PM
I received a double cavity .45acp lee mold that I ordered from Midway that I examined as per instruction from boolits.com posters. It seemed well made except that across the backside of the sprue plate there was a band of very fine straight line tool marks. The band was about 1/2 inch wide and each mark was very uniform. The marks were so uniform and so straight that I thought that they part of a new design of Lee molds. E-mail response from Lee indicated that they were not and Lee offered to send me a replacement sprue plate. Anyone run across this or have any info?

wildkatt

drinks
08-09-2006, 08:56 PM
I use the graphite spray to lube the handles and the sprue plate, both the underside and the screw pivot.
Graphite is nearly the ultimate high temperature lube, it does not evaporate and leave gum and varnish as oils do.
I expect you will have the sprue go back to sticking as the Rem Oil gives up the ghost.
On all brands of sprue plates, I deburr the hole with a tapered drift, then take a gray slip and polish the underside of the sprue plate, stops drag and scoring.

Maven
08-09-2006, 10:10 PM
drinks, You polish the undersize of the sprue plate with a gray slip. What is a "gray slip" as I haven't a clue as to what you're referring to?

Oldfeller
08-09-2006, 11:09 PM
Betcha it is what we would call xxx grit wet or dry sandpaper .... a "grey" slip of paper ??

Dinks, I agree that using only dry stuff is best, my favorite dry slickum that I like to use is moly powder (Mos2 powder). Like your graphite, once I have wadded a bunch of powder inside the sprue plate hinge area and scrubbed it into the top surfaces I never have to do anything to the mold again -- ever.

It's dry, it does not "contaminate" the casting process ever and it does not need to be renewed. Very similar to your graphite powder. Lots of people rub pencils over the tops of their molds and the bottoms of their sprue plates, all they are doing is embedding graphite same as us.

As far as the stinking cheap LEE self tapping screws, use a tiny dab of green removeable locktite on a toothpick applied down inside the threaded hole, put the screw in place first (along with your wad of dry powder stuff in the appropriate places) and set the hinge screw tension to exactly what you want it to be -- then pre-heat the mold without moving the joint any more at all. The locktite down deep inside the hole will set up on the threads and hold everything stationary until you break it free with some vise grips or an impact driver. This is an alternative to drilling and installing a side set screw as some will suggest you do.

Oldfeller

Oldfeller
08-09-2006, 11:24 PM
Wildkatt,

Those are the sanding marks put on the flat of the sprue plate where LEE's punch press vendor is attempting to sand off some REALLY UGLY die burrs caused by damage to his tooling. He is supposed to vibratory finish the plates enough to totally remove all his sanding marks BEFORE he heat treats them. But he doesn't, it is good enough for LEE .....

You will find it very hard to remove enough material to take these sanding marks down to ground zero. I'd call LEE, ask to speak to Doug in the Mold Room, then ask Doug to please pick you out a nice clean sprue plate that won't tear up the face of your mold. Doug is the only one in a position to "cherry pick" you a good sprue plate as most of them now have the sanding marks as there is a hell of a burr over by the bent hook on most of the steel sprue plates we have seen in recent years. All you are really getting is a plate that happened to stay in the vibratory finisher long enough to get all the sanding marks off the flat surface before it was heat threated.

And yes, I have seen sanding marks left on the anodized aluminum six banger plates too -- once again you can't fix it without removing your anodized hard surface coating, so go ask Doug for a cherry picked replacement plate.

Oldfeller

PatMarlin
08-10-2006, 01:25 AM
drinks, You polish the undersize of the sprue plate with a gray slip. What is a "gray slip" as I haven't a clue as to what you're referring to?

Ditto.. :drinks:

Dye
08-10-2006, 01:38 AM
Bad luck Bill
To remove the sprue plate from a Lee Mould clamp it in a soft jaw vice firmly.
Get a good Phillips driver that fits the head of the screw.Take a soldering iron and heat the head about 2-3 min try to remove the screw if it don't break loose,heat it another couple minutes ,it will break loose.To install use a tooth pick and a small amount red locktight and screw it in the proper amount. I have not done hundreds this way but have done enough to know it works

Be carefull Dye

44man
08-10-2006, 08:30 AM
A "slip" is a small sharpening stone, mostly made for sharpening an axe head or other tools. The sides are very flat and do not wallow out like other stones.
When I make my moulds and sprue plates, I take a fine finish cut on each surface with an end mill. I leave the marks as they let the parts glide, provide small places for the plate lube to grip, vent the top of the blocks and prevent damage from galling.

Newtire
08-10-2006, 08:43 AM
For those stuck Lee sprue plate screws, I clamp a vise-grip onto the head and give it a sharp rap. Hint...clamp it as tight as the law allows as you get about one chance.

PatMarlin
08-10-2006, 10:01 AM
Weel dog gone. I learned something. And here I thought I knew it all. ...:mrgreen:

Hey-

Where can we see some pics of your home brewed molds 44m?

Buckshot
08-10-2006, 10:58 AM
..............Bill if you take up paper patching that Lee Mould Drop out stuff make a good lube to spray on the patches. I don't like to do that as it makes the dazzeling white paper look gray like the slug so people can't admire those stupendous looking slugs :-) But it does work for that.

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

44man
08-10-2006, 03:45 PM
I have posted many here, but have deleted many so I have room for more pictures. If you want, I can take more for you.

drinks
08-10-2006, 05:51 PM
As 44 said, a slip is a small stone, used to finish metal, they are Novaculite, also called Arkansas stone, a crypto crystaline rock, mostly Silicon Dioxide.
They come in 2 colors, gray and white, with the gray being more coarse.
They are usually the last step before final polish on custom knives.

44man
08-11-2006, 09:02 AM
Here is one of my moulds. First try at a double cavity. It is aircraft aluminum and the sprue plate is stainless steel. I use Rapine handles because they are only $14 each.

44man
08-11-2006, 09:22 AM
As I have posted many, many times, I have never had any luck lapping a plate. De-burring with a stone is OK but actually lapping, whether on glass or whatever never makes a plate flat. The leading edges always cut faster then the center no matter how it is moved so that it is no longer flat. The figure eight stuff will not work either. I always give up after hours of work and put it back under the mill. One thin cut over the surface will give me a perfectly flat surface that fits the blocks.
It is amazing how fast a plate can be ruined with a few strokes on emery coated glass. Wet or dry sandpaper is worse because it bunches at the leading edge of the strokes even if glued down.
Lapping the top of the mould blocks will do the same thing. I will just not do it anymore! I hate to see light between the plate and mould top.
When I clamp my blocks in the mould vise, the first cut is always with an end mill to flatten the top surface in line with the mill head. Then I cherry the blocks. This way the boolit base is always square. I will NOT touch this surface with any form of lapping. The swirls from the end mill are perfect for venting and anti-galling. I have never had a mould top gall or scratch or collect lead.
One important thing to do is to round off all edges of the sprue plate and polish these. You will have trouble if there is a sharp edge or corner.

PatMarlin
08-11-2006, 10:23 AM
That's cool 44. Mold making fascinates me.. :drinks:

wildkatt
08-13-2006, 06:09 PM
Oldfeller,

Thanks for the info.

Wildkatt