Sprue Plate

[ColColt]

I think I may have a problem with a mold. The sprue plate doesn't seem be perfectly flat against the top of the mold and is creating overflow to a greater or lesser degree in the middle and far hole(3-banger). Consequently, it's impossible to get the boolits into the size die without pinching off the excess at the base and even then it's a push to get it in. Could this be a somewhat warped sprue plate or possible a problem with the mold itself, which is aluminum?

I tweaked the screw that hold the plate by loosening and then tightening and that seemed to do no good. If you hold the mold with handles attached up toward a light source you can see a little space between the plate and mold...especially from near mid point on forward. A yellow stickey edge slides right through the space.

[SwedeNelson]

ColColt

New sprue plate is in the mail.
If it doesn't help box the mould up and send it back.
Will fix, replace or refund your money.

Sorry for the inconvenience
Swede Nelson

[ColColt]

That's fine, Swede. I was just trying to get an opinion from others as to whether it's something I've overlooked or not doing. as I don't recall this being a problem before.

[SwedeNelson]

ColColt

Not a problem
Just wanted to make sure I didn't leave you hanging.

Regards
Swede Nelson

[smokemjoe]

In wished Lee would take care of me with the same problem like your taking of your customer. Joe

[geargnasher]

ColColt, the only thing I can add is make sure there isn't a built-up ridge of galled aluminum under the sprue plate near the pivot screw, or an accumulation of lead debris under there where you can't see it that's lifting the sprue plat like that. When you have the sprue plate off, you might clean it up and check it for flatness with a straightedge to see if warpage is the issure or if it's just being pushed off the blocks by hidden debris or gouges in the mould blocks.

Gear

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I've found that I get that same "flashing" out under the sprue plate if I am casting too fast. I solved the problem by either slowing down and allowing some air flow over the sprue plate (hold it in front of fan) or holding the sprue plate to a very damp old washcloth (you will need to periodically refresh the washcloth to keep it cool -- I rinse mine in a big bowl of water). The "flashing", I believe, occurs when the sprue plate is too hot to allow the poured alloy to cool properly. I've had this occure with Lee, Lyman, and even "custom" molds. Every mold is different. You need to learn to listen to what each one wants. Hope this helps.

[ColColt]

No, gear it's a new mold and happened from the beginning so nothing under there. It has to be the plate or perhaps the block in that you can drag a fingernail over the block, side to side between the holes and feel just a slight rise on one side. We'll try the new plate first and go from there.

[ColColt]

This is rather odd. I took the plate off including the screw and just sit the plate on top of the mold and it's perfectly flat with no daylight showing between plate and block. However, when I put the plate back on and only screwed it in a few threads all looked well until I began tightening it a little more so the plate wouldn't fall free of it's own weight and saw the gap again. It was not tight and in fact needed to be tightened more to be usable for casting as it was too loose otherwise.

[SciFiJim]

Sounds like it may be warped near the pivot screw. I've seen it before with other molds (not NOE). If you tighten the pivot screw too much it will lift the opposite end of the sprue plate. Do as Gear suggested and check the sprue plate with a straight edge.

I know that Al is sending a replacement sprue plate, but I am curious as to what is causing the problem with the existing one.

Looks like the mold could use some sprue plate lube as well. Those drag marks on the top of the mold are pretty pronounced.

---
Looked at the pictures again. Check to see if there is a burr around the middle sprue plate hole. That might cause the plate to pivot up.

---
Looked at the pictures a third time. Check the corner across the short distance of the plate from the pivot screw for a burr. That looks like where the main drag marks are coming from.

[Bigbore4me]

ColColt

Not a problem
Just wanted to make sure I didn't leave you hanging.

Regards
Swede Nelson

Customer service doesn't get better than that! Impressive.

[AggieEE]

Something that I've seen on some Lee molds is the screw gets overtightened and it pulls up part of the mold metal into the "clear" area at the base of the sprue plate. Gear was pointing in that direction when he suggested cleaning the sprue plate/screw. I hope the new plate fixes everything.
AggieEE

[ColColt]

Looks like the mold could use some sprue plate lube as well. Those drag marks on the top of the mold are pretty pronounced.

The drag marks were there before I did an casting but that doesn't bother me. I got the new plate today and put it on and was going to wait until this weekend to try it out but, it got the best of me and I knocked out about 100-150 after I got home. That seemed to be the problem. I didn't detect any burrs anywhere. The new plate seems to work fine and there's no problem getting the base of the boolit in the size die as before.

I put a straight edge across the old plate and you could see a little daylight from one side to the other which to me indicated a slight warp. The boolits I did this evening early all weighed on average 151.5 gr whereas before they varied between 153.5-155.2 gr I suppose due to the extra material at the base and you had to shove the base into the size die...not now.

Thanks, Swede!!

[SwedeNelson]

ColColt

Glad to hear.
Sorry it got through.
Thanks again for being one of our customers

Swede Nelson

[KYCaster]

28 minutes from complaint to response!!!

Try to beat that Dillon.....Lee.....RCBS.........ANYBODY!!

Thank you Swede, for taking good care of your customers.

EVERY company will occasionally ship a defective product; that's just the way it is...How you handle the complaints is the measure of your commitment.



Jerry

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

NO! body beats the Swede!

Anybody want to guess why I have a dozen or more NOE moulds and six on order?

Rich
Sua Sponte

[44man]

Proud to have fellas like Swede!
Plates drive me nuts too when I make a mold and a lot of it IS THE METAL. I tried everything with a bad plate until I just put it back in the mill and mill it flat again. Then it is very important to round off and smooth all outer edges.
Sometimes there is stress in the metal and just bringing blocks to temp will make the dumb plate squirm.
I have tried lapping every which way but it always makes a rocker.
I thought about heating them red hot, cooling before milling.
When I but my blocks in the vise, the first cut is always to lightly mill the top again. The best thing I ever did was to leave the end mill marks on the blocks and under the plate. The microscopic marks seem to hold any kind of plate lube, reduce friction and prevent scrapes and gouges.

[paul h]

If I was only making a few sprue plates for personal molds I'd just buy precision ground tool steel, much less work than fighting carbon steel.



A stick of 3/16" oil hardening tool steel will make quite a few plates.

[MikeS]

ColColt

Glad to hear.
Sorry it got through.
Thanks again for being one of our customers

Swede Nelson

Being sorry is no excuse! NOE let a bad sprue plate get thru. We need to teach him that this is totally unacceptable, I think we should all fly to UT bring all our NOE moulds with us, and demand a refund, as it might have been us that got that bad sprue plate!


In all seriousness, the kind of customer service we get from Swede is something most can just dream about! Amazing that he had a replacement part in the mail before it was even asked for, you can't get much better than that!

Now if I could just find an alchemist that can turn aluminum into brass, I'll be a very happy camper! I would say turn aluminum into gold, but does anyone know how a gold mould would cast?

[fcvan]

With service like that it makes me want to order an NOE mold! Frank