Fix for LEE mould handles

[BoolitSchuuter]

I've noticed lately while casting, the handles on my Lee six bangers are getting loose. A quick tap on the table reseats it while casting. I was curious if others have had this problem and how they corrected it?

[geargnasher]

The Lee six-cavity commercial handles are famous for this, I've had them fall off on the floor when opening the package. The simple fix for me is to slather the tangs with JB Weld and press them back on. I've also tapped them on tightly and drilled/pinned with steel roll pins or brass rod stock. Very nice handles once you fix this, and it's best to fix all of them before use or the handles will slip off at the worst time, like when your mould is over the quench bucket!

Gear

[Ben]

Tap the handles completely off. Clean the metal with brake cleaner.
Mix some slow curing JB Weld and coat the metal and the interior of the wood handles
and tap them into place. Let it cure for 24 hrs. Your problems are now history ! !

This is an example that I did about 3 yrs. ago, you can see how much it has moved since
that date.



Here is the same technique applied to some Lyman 4 cav. handles :

[theperfessor]

Gear and Ben are right on. I now preemptively glue the handles on with JB Weld as soon as I get them out of the box.

For all the anti-Lee folks out there: I've also repaired virtually every other brand of handle the same way - if they aren't pinned on they WILL fall off sooner or later...

[BoolitSchuuter]

This has got to be some kind of Cast Boolit record!
Question asked and answered with two solutions, with pictures in 17 minutes!

Gawd I love this Forum.

[Ben]

if they aren't pinned on they WILL fall off sooner or later...

No truer words have been spoken !

Ben

[AbitNutz]

There are also three other brands, that while cost more are just better.

The best ones, IMHO, are from KAL machine in Canada. $34.00. I like these because they open the widest.

Next would be Mihec's. $23.00 from the other side of the planet.


And Dick Dastardly's at BigLube.com. His are $19.00 but I have never tried them.


However, I also have more than a couple of pair of Lee's that I have epoxied to death and they work.


The one thing that none of these give you is the cam handle for the sprue plate. I split two, not one but two right down the center so all I have is a steel tang.


The solution to that is also from KAL as he makes a much better cam handle. last I looked it's not on their website but they were like $17.00.


So here's the downside. I have newer BigLube mold that while it looks like a Lee mold it just isn't. It is heavier and has a set screw where the sprue handle cams. Several other details make me believe this is not a Lee mold or if it is, it's very custom.

I had the first 3 cavities turned into hollow points by Hollow Point Mold Service. Erick does incredible work.

I then got some of Jim's steel sprue plates. They have a trough and it fills the mold fast.

I then put KAL handles on it and KAL's better sprue plate cam handle.

The mold makes great bullets but it ain't light anymore. It's not up to an iron mold but that flipping around and upside down to drop the bullets...just a wee bit more tiring now.

However, the mold works just freakin' awesome...and my somewhat more tired right arm still works fine. When you add it all up I've spent more than a bit on this but it's what I wanted.

[geargnasher]

I like the JB Weld better than the pins myself, one of the ones I pinned ended up drying out and shrinking some more, so it was a little loose. Very annoying, so I drove out the pin and epoxied it.

If you manage to break the sprue cam handle on a Lee six-banger, replace it with one from a junk Lee two-cavity mould or go get a wooden file handle from a good hardware store and epoxy it on the tang.

Nice copper ferrule, Ben, looks like many of my wood chisel handles, throw the cheap steel ferrules away, turn down the handle to fit hard copper pipe fittings, and press them on. I like to freeze the handles overnight to dry and shrink the wood before installing the ferrules, that way they stay put.

Gear

[Char-Gar]

I had a set of Lyman handles and I used 50/50 epoxy and 30 years later they are still good to go. I would expect JB Weld to work as good or better.

[Ben]

JB Weld is some good stuff for securing mold handles - - - -PERMANENTLY ! !

[AbitNutz]

If you want to get really serious....not to say JB Weld isn't, 'cause that stuff could glue a politicians mouth shut....

Might I recommend Marine Tex. I have a boat and brother this stuff is resistant to heat, water...all of it. Maybe not mother-in-laws....but we have duct tape for that.

[azrednek]

I can't say how it applies to mold handles but as far as using JB Weld on anything the quick dry stuff isn't worth a Tinker's Darn. Be patient and use the slow curing stuff and it dries as hard as a rock.

[runnin lead]

Red silicone,the stuff in a tube .
I had the same problem with Lyman handles.

[Ben]

azrednek

Notice my comment in # 3 above :

Mix some slow curing JB Weld

I ( like you ) don't have any use for the quick set JB Weld.

[azrednek]

Ben couldn't help but notice!! Guess I'm still po'd at JB and never pass an opportunity to take a cheap shot at their quick drying stuff. Use of the word "stuff" was said to avoid offending anybody.

I bought quick dry as an impulse purchase, didn't notice or was I even aware the new fast drying. It was sitting in a display box marked "sale" at the cashier's counter at a hardware store. Can't remember the cost but the price was right and it never hurts have some JB Weld handy. A few weeks later I tried using the quick dry repairing an antique cast iron ash tray stand. It held for about week when the broken piece fell off. I wound up taking it to have the stand sand blasted, used some real JB Weld to repair it and spray painted it. The real JB Weld is still holding now apx 5 years later.

Sorry Ben, not trying to change the gist of the thread but I do like to take advantage of an available opportunity to slam JB's Quick Dry when ever possible!!

[CWME]

For a cheap instant fix I tap the handle on tight, drill a hole through the metal ferrule, wood, metal handle, and wood on the other side. I am careful not to drill through the ferrule on the other side. Heat up the pot and mold. First pour is into the holes I have drilled. Touch up the "sprue" with a file and your good to go casting away. Handle fix on the cheap.

[Von Dingo]

Me being me, I always grind a few notches in the surface getting the J B Weld. Extra permanent?

[War Eagle]

I did the same thing Von Dingo, I used a flat file and cut a few notches into the tang prior to coating with epoxy and resetting them into their handles. I think it adds a mechanical lock should I not completely degrease the metal prior to epoxy-ing. Probably over engineered given the tool but I know I won't have to worry about them.

[Topper]

J.B. weld is good stuff.
Since nobody mentioned it, golf club epoxy (black) or original Brownell's accu-glass.
I found a post on a knife forum where they tested a lot of epoxies and other adhesives. These were the only to survive the 30 cycle dish washer test.

[JIMinPHX]

I must be the one lucky guy that got good handles right out of the box. Maybe I should go buy a powerball ticket or something.