Mold Conditioning

[Harter66]

6061 T6 is what everyone claims to make their mould from .

Little tidbit , the MS and AN Aviation standards were established in 1939 and remain unchanged . Kinda makes me smile at the claim of parts made from Aircraft billet .
Some of the worst castings I've ever handled were lead control surface balance weights . Voids , garbage in the cast , surface slag , all in a single ruddavator counter balance on a 1950 Beechcraft C 35 .

The process control is better and does produce a better product even if the standards are 85 yr old .

[44man]

WD-40 is not water soluble.

Dish soap. Never let WD-40 dry. Wash when wet.

[Bzcraig]

In regards to lube and wrinkles, I should have been more clear. I cleaned the mold and ran it dry to see if I could duplicate the wrinkles. I was molding great from both cavities then lubed the sprue plate and immediately had wrinkles. I've had to rewash a mold to fix that or I have waited it out with a dozen or more cycles to get rid of the wrinkles. In any case, I got through it all and the 2 cavity Lee mold is doing great!
I too use a hotplate to preheat the mold and maybe drop it back on for a minute or town in the middle of a run if I feel the mold is colling down a little.

The key to keeping lube out of the cavities is to fill the mold, cut the spruce, then use a qtip with lube on one end on the underside of sprue plate and hinge screw then use dry side of qtip to absorb excess.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Check with LBT (Lead Bullet Technology) for some lube sticks.

Small cylinders of a wax like material with I suspect possibly some graphite included. A few inches long and about the thickness of the small pencils you see once in awhile.

Take your hot molds and QUICKLY touch the lube stick the hinge point and your mold is lubed.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[MT Gianni]

Butane will have an oily smoke, use a stick match.

[TexasGrunt]

Butane will have an oily smoke, use a stick match.

Most stick matches have a wax coating. You have to let that burn off. NOE recommends a butane lighter. It's all I use. Never seen oily smoke from doing it. Every time I've had to smoke a mold with my butane lighter boolit quality has immediately improved.

[w5pv]

All I use is Kroil,the best that I have found,no smoking or other preparation just clean and go to casting

[JimB..]

my blocks are scrap aircraft aluminum. It is tough stuff. It does not oxidize.

I don't have any reason to question your results, but you've reached an incorrect conclusion, it does oxidize, and pretty quickly at that.

[gpidaho]

What I've found to be an excellent lube for my moulds, both iron and aluminum is dielectric silicone grease. A little bit goes a long way and it doesn't migrate into the cavities. Can be found at auto parts stores. Gp

[Harter66]

In truth the A/C aluminum does oxidize but is corrosion resistant so the oxide layer behaves like bluing on steel being a controlled rust .