Is LEE starting a new mold making process?

[Changeling]

I have heard that LEE is incorporating a "NEW" process for making there molds. Is there any truth to this?

[runfiverun]

for their 2 cavity's.
they have already done did it.

[hylander]

for their 2 cavity's.
they have already done did it.

I just got one the new 2 cavity molds.
I wish they would have added a set screw to the sprue plate screw, comes loose first use
Heading out to the garage now to D&T it for one.

[Danderdude]

Anybody have pictures of the new 2cavs? I might buy some if they've been improved.

[Chicken Thief]

[exdxgxe4life]

Any experience in dropping a better boolit?

[tg32-20]

I have several of the new molds and they have worked good for me till the last one I got.

The first time I used it the pins moved back into the block and the two halves did not line up at all. I pushed them back but three or four casts latter they did the same thing. They were so out of alignment the boolits were not usable. Pushing them back in till everything lined up and then staking the pins in the mold body with a small screwdriver seemed to work. But this should not be the standard fix for these new molds.

I contacted Lee, more just to see what they would say and all they said was push them back in and stake them. They are not about to admit they have a problem. Oh yes, the guy tried to suggest that I had cast with it too hot. I heat the mold on a hot plate to about 350 and cast at 700.

Did it drop a better boolit, not till I polished the cavities.

Tom

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Here are a couple that I received recently from midsouth.
30 cal 180gr RN
45 cal 300gr RF



the 45 dropped great and a good size.
the 30 dropped a little small and probably needs leementing also...I'll try it a couple more times before I know for sure, as I wasn't casting with my normal rifle alloy, I just cast a few with WW while I was casting something else.

I also received a 50 cal 440gr from FSreloading a few days after this photo was taken. It had an unusal coating of cutting oil and aluminum chips. but that is easy to clean, I haven't cast with it yet.

[Ben]

Nice Cats ! ! !

[tonyc1234]

Looks good! Lee is one of my favorites, a good product for a fair price.

[koehlerrk]

I have two of the new Lee molds... One is a 45 cal 230gr conical tumble lube that casts beautifully, drops easily, and needs a set screw for the sprue plate screw. It came loose last night, second casting session with that mold. I'll drill and tap it before I use it again.

My second is a 50 cal muzzle loader combo mold, makes a 0.490 round ball and a 320gr REAL boolit. Cast one batch with that one and again, drops good but the sprue screw is loose, so I'll drill and tap it also.

My question, is when is Lee going to make 6 cavity molds again? I could really use a couple.

[fredj338]

Why does Lee continue make things that have to be fixed to work? You would think if they were redoing their two cav molds, about time, they would make them work properly. No staking, no doing your own set screws, etc.

[Jack Stanley]

Jon , the judges there don't look to pleased with your choice of molds you may have to work a bit at convincing them . ( tuna helps )

Jack

[41 mag fan]

Why does Lee continue make things that have to be fixed to work? You would think if they were redoing their two cav molds, about time, they would make them work properly. No staking, no doing your own set screws, etc.

You'd think that over the years of having molds and other products sent back, they'd up their QC to save money by having to send out replacements or having to refurbish ect ect. But they must be making a ton of profit off their products to not change this.

[JIMinPHX]

In general, I am a pretty big fan of the new style 2-cav molds from Lee. I've had real good luck with that type of bullet nose dowel pins in the fixtures that I have made with them.

My one complaint is that Lee chose to fly cut the surfaces too fine. I would have preferred that they use a faster feed rate when cutting, to leave bigger vents, like they do on the 6-cav blocks.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Jon , the judges there don't look to pleased with your choice of molds you may have to work a bit at convincing them . ( tuna helps ) Jack

I think their reaction was more like, "you woke us up to take photo's of standard production Lee molds? next time make it a NOE, AM or a MP"

[leadman]

I have one of the new molds also and the pins came loose. I staked them but also found the the male pin is too short to fill the female pin for a close fit, or the female pin is has too large a hole (keep your mind out of the gutter!). Not bad but just a little looser than I would like.
One of the pins holding the block to the handle is also screwed in on a slight angle and was binding but I tweeked the handle so it closes correctly.
I spoke with John Lee awhile ago and told him that I would be willing to pay a little more to get a product that does not need to be fixed before it will work. I think most casters would agree. When you compare the price of Lee tools to what other companies are charging I don't see how Lee can charge so little.

[Springfield]

I stake all the pins in my LEE 6 cavs before I even cast with them. I don't setscrew the pivot until it comes loose, and about half of them don't.

[Changeling]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the honest information. It appears that nothing has really changed with "LEE". They still make cheap molds that one has to play with to have a decent mold, when all they had to do was build it right, as Fred basically said, now they seem to be right back where they started !

I think I am going to look at some other molds, I contacted MP with my desires but haven't heard back yet.

I like the Lee design that you guys are refering to, especially the LARGE meplat, so now the quest for a quality mold maker with something along those lines and hopefully some responses to there accuracy.
I might have made a mistake in my requesting the weight I did, not sure exactly, due to some spine injury from a wreck.
Recoil didn't use to bother me but now my doctors "Hollar at me" about shooting again.

[w0fms]

Hmm.. I had the alignment pins come loose on the second casting session with the the TL452-230-2R 2 cavity also... might need to do the set screw. On my TL358-158-SWC 6 cavity, no such problem.

Well, what do you want for $20 for the 2 cavity molds? Even if I do have to drill and tap and add a set screw or two.. they are still cheap....