My first new mould and need advice

When my dad passed I got 4 of his Lyman moulds from the 70’s, I’ve been casting .45’s with his 454190A. Well I just got my first new mould, an NOE 2 cavity 44 in aluminum. The instructions say to season the mould by first washing it good in hot soapy water, then put I on a hot plate at 350-400 degrees, take it off the hot plate, let it cool to room temp, and repete the procedure 3 times. They say it will help seat the alignment pins. I don’t have a hot plate, but could I just use the kitchen oven and heat the mould to 350-400 degrees, take it out and let it cool to room temp, then repete that procedure 3 times before I start to cast with it?
Thanks
Paul

I never used to bother,but if the mold develops loose pins,its a pita,so best to follow instructions to the letter with ally molds.......I think the general idea is to bake some lube into the clearance that develops as the ally expands......and if you are banging the halves together the pins might shift.......like they do in Lee molds until the holes carbon up.......

Set it on top of your lead pot to get it hot and repeat 2 more times after the cool down. Also after all that smoke the cavities with a match or two

Clean it good and thoughly rinse it. dry good a blow drier is a quick way. Heat cycle, the oven should be fine remove the handles though, 350-400* wont be good on the wood. Several little things that help out with a new mould are Pre Heat it before casting, this can be a hot plate or on top of the pot. Lube with 2 cycle oil sprue plate hinge, bottom of sprue plate and top of blocks, alighnment pins. Another trick to lessoning wear is a short piece of angle iron 3/4" X 3/4" x 8"-10" long set this on you bench point up and rest mould on it when closing it. This helps to pre alighn the pins when closing lowering wear and stress on the pins. Aluminum angle can be used also. Its the flat that's needed.
Have an old plate or cookie sheet to set blocks on when heat cycling while they cool.
With lube and care the new mould will last several lifetimes.

All I ever did was hold the mold over the flame on my gas stove. Before I had a laser temp indicator was guess that the mold reached the proper temperature. From what I read here or another gun board was to let the molds cool on their own. Do not attempt to speed up the cooling process by dipping the mold into water. Your guess is as good as mine about cooling but it sounded like good advice so I followed it. Before I read this post I thought it was twice, never did it three times before I smoked the cavities.

Cooling mold metals in water can cause warping.

Only molds I season are brass ones. Aluminum........smoke with a beeswax candle flame lightly and, preheat to FULL casting temps on electric hotplate (GET ONE!!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!!) and start dropping perfect boolits. Has worked for over a long time with over 15 AL molds. I have NEVER washed/degrased a mold...new or old. Cold molds & lead cause wrinkles......NOT grease/oil in them.

Do what you need to do.

Banger

If you have a toaster oven use that instead of the regular one. I always degrease and heat cycle new molds. It helps even w/ aluminum. W/ brass it's a must unless you want to potentially ton a mold. Following Al's instructions is a smart move. One thing you want to do is lube it after heat cycling. I let one go for two days and the steel was starting to rust.

Put mine in the oven 3 cycles at 375 degrees. Once done I just went to town casting.

It's good to follow the manufacturers directions. However, All I do with new aluminum NOE molds, I have accumulated a number over the years, is to boil them in a SS pot on the gas range in Dawn DW soap and water for about 45 minutes to an hour. Then let cool. This cleans any preservative and coats the mold and cavities with an oxide. Then just heat and cast. Has worked well for me.