Question about Geo A Hensley #50

[reddog81]

I picked up a couple of molds recently and one of then is a 4 cavity Geo A Hensley mold from when they were in San Diego. Based on what I read this means the mold is from the '30's or early '40's. The exterior of the mold is in OK condition and the interior and cavities are in excellent condition. The one problem with the mold is that is doesn't quite close all the way. I can slide a .0025 feeler gauge down through the middle of the mod. The closer to the handles the larger the gap. The cavity furthest from the handles is tight. And the feeler gauge will not fit and no light can be seen here. I cast some bullets last weekend and they all measure .359 to .361.

I tried to remove the handles to get a better view of what's going on an possibly put the mold in a vice and try to seat the pins a little deeper, however once the screws holding the handles to the mold are removed the mold does not break free. It would seem the mold and handles are attached in some other manner also. Anybody have any clues on how to remove the handles on this old mold? Any ideas on how to get the faces of the mold to sit closer together?

An I being an idiot trying to tinker with this old mold because it might be some kind of valuable collector piece?

thanks in advanced for your help.

[paul h]

My guess would be there is probably a small ding on the edge of one of the faces of the mold that is preventing it from closing all the way. You could put a light coat of prussion blue on one of the mold faces and see what gets blued on the other face and then go from there.

Can't help on what is keeping the mold 1/2's on the handle, but rust or crud can lock them in pretty solid.

[John J]

My guess on what's holding the mold to the handles is that some spilled lead has gotten in between them

once you get the blocks off hold them in your hands and close them together there should be a very slight movement when you wiggle them

to adjust the pins put some oil in the pin holes on the back of the blocks and let sit for a bit then take a brass punch and whack the pin in just a bit and keep checking on how the blocks go back together it may take several whacks to do it.

John J

[country gent]

First to check is are the blocks able to swivel on the handles freely? this allows them to alighn with each other. Then check for burrs and dings on alighnment pins and holes really look at the ones closest to the handles. Check for small burrs on edges of the blocks faces. Check for lead smears dings and other burnt on crud on blocks faces. When inspecting use a good magnifying lense and strong light, Look for bright spots that indicate a high point rubbing. A q tip lightly worked around edges will leave cotton fibers hanging on burrs also. From wha you described Im bettingthere is a build up between handles and blocks not allowing them to swivel and alighn. Should be 1 screw in each block holding to the handles. remove these and any pins that may be in the holes ( some moulds use a dowel pin to hold blocks to handles with a set screw to hold it in place). Lightly tap with a wood dowel or soft faced hammer to remove blocks from handles. Look for lead smears or other build ups. Look closely in corners of blocks for radiouses and build ups. Look for bright spots on handles and smears or build ups.

[Dragonheart]

Some photos might help get your answers.

[rintinglen]

Removing the set screw on my 4 cavity #50 does not remove the roll pin that holds the mold on the handle. Try tapping the the nut on the bottom of the handles.

[reddog81]

I believe there are pins holding the handles on and those won't fall out of the block. I realized the screws were not long enough to hold the handles to the block and there is an extra piece inside the screw hole. At first I thought the screws had broken but hopefully that is not the case. I have tried to get the "pins" holding the handles on free but nothing has worked. Any advice or tips would be appreciated.
I believe the pins may be seated out too far and that is preventing the rear half of the mold from closing. I have done the inspections suggested by country gent in post 4 but the mold face is in great condition with no defects or burrs. The mold blocks pivot freely and appear to have a full range of motion.
in will try and post some pics tomorrow when I have access to a computer.

[reddog81]

I have attached 2 pictures. Hopefully they show up...
Note that the screw does not go all the way through the handle. i have not had any luck getting the dowels/pins to drop from the screw hole.
Tonight I plan to try and set the alignment pins closets to the handle part of the mold back further. Any suggestions on how to do this and not screw up the process are appreciated.

[John J]

That is not the proper screw for a 4 cav mold.

My next guess would be that someone has driven a pin in to the handle hole if it doesn't just fall out. hopefully its a roll pin and you can pull it out.

can you post pic of the screw holes?

[reddog81]

Here's a pic of the underside with one screw in and one screw next to the mold. The mold is from the 1930's or early 40's so I'm sure they changed over time.

[rintinglen]

Mine has a roll pin under the screw. you may try running a bit of penetrating oil in there, and then trying to run a drill bit by hand in the hole to see if it breaks loose.

[SSGOldfart]

Do the mold half wiggle on this handles ? I bet they have been dropped at some point and are now press fitted around the handles

[country gent]

SOme times those pins get a build up of crud around them. ( have also seen some loctited in place) Work at them slow and easy like a Kenetic bullet puller would hold the handles lightly closed or easier is a block to keep mould blocks open and allow handles to be held closed together tighter. With a lead or soft faced hammer tap on handle picot bolt letting blocks bounce away. Do this over an old towel to catch the pins when they drop out. I hold the blocks with sprue plate up and tap under side of pivot bolt with the soft faced hammer. In this case its the bounce that does the work. Blocks move pins want to stay in place. A little of this and pins will fall out on towel.

[ncbearman]

I have yet to find a mould that would not free up with a steady diet of Kroil. Keep dropping Kroil down those holes and tapping it to loosen up the pins in there. Take the sprue cutter off and tap the top of it with a wood block as a buffer between the mould and your hammer. It may take several days of Kroiling and tapping but eventually it they will break free. Also soak the rest of the mould with Kroil where the handles come in contact with the mould. After each casting session I clean off all lead build up while the mould is hot then completely soak in Kroil. The next casting session they boolits are jumping out of the mould.

[xd45forever]

Take a light and look in the hole to see if its a roll pin. If it is you may be able to take a small wood screw and lightly thread it into the roll pin and pull it out.

[John Boy]

I have yet to find a mould that would not free up with a steady diet of Kroil

And I have found a 'quick diet' of a 50:50 mix ATF:Acetone does the job better & faster. Even salt water rusted bolts/nuts

[ncbearman]

And I have found a 'quick diet' of a 50:50 mix ATF:Acetone does the job better & faster. Even salt water rusted bolts/nuts

sweet...........

[Texasflyboy]

You have a very early 4 cavity mould from the mid to late 1930's. Characteristic of these early moulds from George A. Hensley were the turned and fitted woodscrew style head screws and rivet hinge handles. The screw you removed, in your photo, appears to be too short to be a pin style screw, which makes me suspect you either have a two piece screw or the screw broke, either style resulting in a short pin being the actual method to hold the block to the handles. To remove the block, you're going to have to remove that trapped pin that is holding the handle. Once this pin is removed, your blocks should move more freely with a new screw/pin.

I would strong suggest you use the services of a qualified machinist to do this task, unless you posess the skill and equipment yourself.

Both block halves, when fitted properly, should have a bit of back and forth movement on the handles. Your description of your problem leads me to think the pin on the block you removed the screw from is bent, and it preventing the block from moving fore and aft to self align when you close it.

Your handles are also the very early, non adjustable, hinge rivet style. They cannot easily be adjusted for wear, so you're going to have to be very careful of handle/hinge pin wear as this allows the blocks to drop out of alignment and cause egg shaped pin alignment holes to develop over time. If your alignment pin holes aren't egg shaped, your hinge is fine. If you're starting to get egg shaped holes, I would suggest prowling eBay for an inexpensive set of 4 cavity handles (.250" width on the jaws) that come with many low bid #50 blocks. The new style of handles (early 1940's is when they began to appear) have a threaded bolt and nut (vs. the rivet) and also a threaded bolt hole in the hinge to allow for easy adjustment of the block closure.

More info on handles:

http://www.hensleygibbs.com/casting/thickthin.htm

If the screw heads on your woodscrew style screws aren't stamped with one or two dots, make note of which screw goes with which hole. After the screws were inserted into the blocks for the first time, the edges were machined to match the contour of the blocks, as shown in your photo. 99% of the time if you put the wrong screw on the wrong side you will never get the rounded edge to align. Which is why they abandoned this design.