Cleaning Lee Mould

[thirtythirty]

Hello, I am having difficulties with a Lee 309-170gr mould of mine. It is not aligning properly. Initially I thought it was as a result of one of the pins backing off (and that definitely was a part of the problem) however the problem persisted. I gave the mould a good clean (to be honest, it was pretty filthy). This also helped, however again, not all better. I am now thinking that it may be a bit of carbon clogging in the vent lines, however I am not sure how to get this out. I've tried using a piece of wood but it seems to be too encrusted. Same goes for dish-scrubbers and tooth brushes. Any advice would be appreciated.

[country gent]

Hit the local grocery store and by a pack of bamboo skewer sticks these have a nive sharp point and are hard tough "wood" work great for a lot of chores. If your carefull the point of a exacto knife blade will clean then a scribe ice pick or awl also works. with the metal tools be light handed as they can cut and scratch aluminum.

[thirtythirty]

Thank you, that was helpful. I just started casting yesterday and today with my second (new) lee Mould (.309-113gr) and it is also now not aligning properly. I checked it yesterday and it mated perfectly. I cleaned it today before I started casting (after casting yesterday) however I can still tell that the bullets are ever so slightly off (I can see the imprint of the two mating halves of the mould on the Boolit). I am using beeswax to lubricate the pins, so I don't think that's it. I'm somewhat confused as this is almost brand new. Any ideas?

[retread]

I have a number of Lee six cavity molds and have been pretty happy with the results. The 2 cavity, however has not been so good. The newer models with the real alignment pins are better than the older style but do not compare to the better quality molds. IMHO. I understand that the price is attractive. I started out with Lee molds but since then I have patiently collected higher quality molds to replace the lee 2 cavities. Now I am doing the same by replacing some of the six cavity with higher quality 4 cavity molds. I doubt that I will replace them all but I will replace them as the opportunity arises. Takes time, be patient.

[turtlezx]

try 2 stroke oil for pin lubing
also try setting it on a flat surface when closing the mold

[Wally]

Buff carefully with 0000 steel wool...

Hello, I am having difficulties with a Lee 309-170gr mould of mine. It is not aligning properly. Initially I thought it was as a result of one of the pins backing off (and that definitely was a part of the problem) however the problem persisted. I gave the mould a good clean (to be honest, it was pretty filthy). This also helped, however again, not all better. I am now thinking that it may be a bit of carbon clogging in the vent lines, however I am not sure how to get this out. I've tried using a piece of wood but it seems to be too encrusted. Same goes for dish-scrubbers and tooth brushes. Any advice would be appreciated.

[tazman]

I had a Lee mold that the previous owner had used a spray release agent on it and let it build up. Needless to say, it didn't work correctly. Nothing wanted to take the gunk off until I soaked it in automatic transmission fluid for a couple of days. After that the gunk came right of with a plastic bristle brush.
The mold works fine now.
Had to do the same thing with a Lyman mold once.

[Rcmaveric]

That's sad to hear. My Lee two cavity molds work great for several years now. I boil them in soapy water and scrub them down with a greeny weeny and acetone to remove all the build ups of waxes, lubes and carbon.

[centershot]

Thank you, that was helpful. I just started casting yesterday and today with my second (new) lee Mould (.309-113gr) and it is also now not aligning properly. I checked it yesterday and it mated perfectly. I cleaned it today before I started casting (after casting yesterday) however I can still tell that the bullets are ever so slightly off (I can see the imprint of the two mating halves of the mould on the Boolit). I am using beeswax to lubricate the pins, so I don't think that's it. I'm somewhat confused as this is almost brand new. Any ideas?

No. NO. And NO! Don't use that stuff to lube your mold, you've already found out why! Use some synthetic 2-stroke oil as a mold lube, or get some Felix lube and use it. I use synthetic 2-stroke oil and this is how it is applied.

1. Shake the container and remove the cap.

2. Using a Q-tip, swab the inside of the cap, that's all the lube you'll need.

3. With the mold up to casting temp, the cavities FILLED and the sprue plate closed, stroke once down the side of the mold under the edge of the sprue plate on the side where it swings open.

4. Stroke once around the end of the plate where it pivots.

5. Cut the sprue. LEAVE THE CASTINGS IN THE CAVITIES! Keep the mold closed. Turn it over and stroke the Q-tip lightly along the leading edge of the plate.

6. Turn the mold right side up and pivot the plate 2-3 times.

7. NOW, open the mold and drop the castings.

8. Lightly touch the Q-tip to the alignment pins.

At some point during your casting session you'll feel the sprue plate start to drag a little bit. Repeat the lube process. Back in pre-historic times casters used bullet lube and beeswax and other stuff to lube their molds. Today we know there are better things to use. Avoid the mess, especially with aluminum molds. I have a number of two-cavity Lee molds that have been absolute boolit-makin' rock stars sine the first day I used them! I take good care of them, they make me lotsa' boolits in return! Love my Lee's!

[gwpercle]

Scrub it with a toothbrush and , my favorite cleaner , acetone.
It might need a little soaking time prior to scrubbing and it might take two soakings and scrubbings but they will come clean. And to my surprise the acetone didn't melt the toothbrush's plastic handle ! I was expecting it to .

This cleaned up several that were gunked up with layers of burned on beeswax, soot and spray on black graphite (mould release).
Just use synthetic two stroke oil to lube, moulds stay much cleaner.
The trick to lubing is "Sparingly" moisten a Q-Tip with STS oil , rub it over block top , with boolits in the cavities, then wipe off the surfaces with old rag. That's all you need. I always used too much and would contaminate the cavities.

There is also a good sticky in this heading, the last one I think, that will expand on the subject.
Gary

[jeff100]

When lubing with oil, follow the advice to apply the oil sparingly. I recently started lubing my molds with 2 cycle synthetic oil. I followed the advice to lube sparingly with one exception, I lubed the threads of the sprue plate pivot screw, thinking that the oil on the threads would be in the tapped hole in the mold. When I started casting I had a lot of trouble with wrinkling, oil was getting into the boolit mold cavity. On further inspection, I could see that oil was coming out of that pivot screw hole and flowing across the top of the mold. I had to stop casting and clean/degrease the mold (again) and relube properly and SPARINGLY including the threads on the sprue plate pivot screw, problem solved. Someone here on this site advised 'if you can see oil on the mold, you have used too much oil'. Having some experience now, that seems about right... JJ