Need Some Help with Galling In My Freechex II, Please

[Jeff H]

Is anyone using any lube at all on their aluminum stock or inside their check maker?

I made a bunch of checks a year or so ago when I got this and had absolutely no problems. It was stored as carefully as my moulds and looks like it did the day I got it - as does the material I got from Yonkie.

Today, I get three or four checks before I start to get galling inside the forming die just as the cups are formed. I even had a couple of the bottoms punch out and gads what a mess! I only have one thickness of material in strips and it is clean and bright - same as I used before.

I searched and all the results regarding galling came up "LEE moulds."

Jeff

[Jeff H]

It just hit me that I had used LPS-1 very sparingly inside the tool last time. I didn't know if it was doing any good at the time but it bothered me not using any kind of lube at all, so it may just have done some good. I'll try it tomorrow after I clean my die up again and hone a nick out that I made when things popped apart and tumbled together while removing one of the blown out checks.

[JeffinNZ]

Sounds like the alloy is too soft. You shot them yet?

[Jeff H]

Sounds like the alloy is too soft. You shot them yet?

Yes, I have, at least the ones I made when I got the check-maker. The material is Yonkie's coil stock seems a tad soft compared to some other material I have tried, but it worked fine the first time. The sides of the cups came out bright and shiny and today they came out dull and rough.

Regarding the ones I shot, they did work harden enough from forming that annealing made them seat better and hold on much better. They leave no visible trace of fouling in the bore and hang on all the way to and into my backstop, which is a section of very tough wood.

I know it was the same material too because it was this specific batch of stock which gave me what this bullet wanted and I stashed it with the GC maker because it's one of the only two GC bullets I intend to use in anything but the .22s.

Thanks for the suggestion, Jeff. Maybe it is too soft for normal operations and a lube would be appropriate in this case. For what little LPS-1 I was using, I didn't really think it was doing much. I hope I am wrong about that and that when I try it tomorrow it will be OK.

[n.h.schmidt]

Jeff H
Here is something that works for me. Coat the side of your aluminum that becomes the outside of the check with Johnson's paste wax or the like. Just get some on a rag and wipe it on the strip.I don't wipe it off,I punch them right away. It's fast, cheap and not very sticky.Should not cause the checks to stick in the tube. I don't have any trouble with galling.
n.h.schmidt

[Jeff H]

Jeff H
Here is something that works for me. Coat the side of your aluminum that becomes the outside of the check with Johnson's paste wax or the like. Just get some on a rag and wipe it on the strip.I don't wipe it off,I punch them right away. It's fast, cheap and not very sticky.Should not cause the checks to stick in the tube. I don't have any trouble with galling.
n.h.schmidt

Now, I like that idea a lot. Not being tied to an expensive and specialized lube is always a plus and I have paste wax in my wood shop and with my casting stuff. I use it a lot and don't know why I didn't think to try it.

I'll give is a shot. I got the mandrel and die separated and, in the process put to dings in the cutting edge which displaced metal both inward and outward, so I had to hone those out. Ran the job by my Dad (40+ vet tool and die maker) for approval and set back up. The LPS-1 was what I was missing so I now know it was lube that was my problem. I will still try the paste wax though because it will be easy to swipe the strip before running it through the die.

Thanks, n.h. and Jeff.

[Jeff H]

n.h.,
The paste wax works like a dream. No stopping to swab a little LPS-1 once in a while, and, best of all, it seems to be easier on my check-maker.

Thanks. I love solutions that involve common household products which also have many other uses.

[n.h.schmidt]

I can't take credit for the idea. I'm just the first to bring it up.I used to try wd40 and various other oils. While they lubed the aluminum ,they also caused the checks to stick instead of falling through.
n.h.schmidt