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Thread: Can this mold be recovered?

  1. #1
    Boolit Man
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    Can this mold be recovered?

    Bought a $10 burner to heat my mold but after reading the temp with a laser it could only reach about 200F. This lead to a lot of wacking on the side of the mold to release the bullets and it got messy from the inside with bits of lead clinging inside and on top of the below the sprue plate.


    Is the first option to heat up the mold and scrape the lead with a wooden pick and what can i find at my local CVS or hardware store to clean the mold from any residue left over?



  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master

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    A wood popcycile stick with the end cut square will push a lot of that off with little force The point of a bamboo skewer stick will clean the grooves easily. What dosnt come off with this you can carefully heat the blocks and wipe off with a coarse cloth, burlap, heavy flannel or denim work well. Final clean with dish soap and water with a tooth brush.

  3. #3
    Boolit Man
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    Thanks I'll try that

  4. #4
    Boolit Master Yodogsandman's Avatar
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    You can also heat it up to casting temperature and rub with a cold ingot.
    A deplorable that votes!

  5. #5
    Banned
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    It looks better than the molds I use. I clean stuff with Synthetic ATF. But then you have to clean the atf off well with alcohol. Seriously though, at least it is not scratched up. I can tell you what not to use... wire brush, sand paper, hydrochloric acid, oven cleaner, Comet cleanser, wood chisel, heavy rasp, grinding wheel... all these things could cause harm to the aluminum block of your nice mold.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    Kroil and dont clean it off

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    Dennis Eugene's Avatar
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    Nope can't be salvaged at all. Just send it to me and I will dispose I of it for you free of cost. You only pay for shipping. Glad to be able to help. D. C.
    Dennis Eugene "You know why no one panic buys 30-06? Because people who shoot 30-06 don't panic"

  8. #8
    Boolit Man
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    I was able to scrape most of the clumps of lead droplets by scraping with a wooden kabob pick. Soap and scrubbed with a toothbrush and heated up to 300 for a final wipe down. I dabbed some CLP brake cleaner over outside of the mold but I can't seem to get rid of the charred areas. Do you guys mostly have sparkly mirror finish molds or does the charred marks give it character and should be left alone? Gonna try my luck casting with it again tomorrow. Sending the hot plate back as it only gets my mold up to 300 and shuts off when it reaches max temp. I had better results when I left it hanging over the casting pot.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master D Crockett's Avatar
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    what I do to get the mold up to temp. is just dip one corner of the mold in the lead for a few seconds bring it right up to where I can cast with it . hope this helps . D Crockett

  10. #10
    Boolit Master

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    Oven cleaner

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Be carefull with oven cleaners some will etch aluminum. the outside can be cleaned with a scratch pad if you want to. but it dosnt matter a lot.

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    Is the first option to heat up the mold
    Yep - got a gas kitchen stove or an electric one?
    Regards
    John

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
    HeavyMetal's Avatar
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    country Gents info is the best, the wood popsicle stick and bamboo are the ticket.

    Also, as you've just learned, the mold needs to be hotter. If you can't find an open top coil hot plate cheap dip a corner of the mold in the alloy your using until the lead doesn't stick to the mold, being very careful how far into the alloy you go, alloy will fill guide pin holes and all kinds of fun stuff happens after that, LOL!

    It is easier to cool the mold than it is to get it hot so have at it!

    I have found that if I set my hot plate at just under medium with my custom made steel mold holder set on the coils I can have the molds and the alloy ready to go just about the same time, provided I give the hot plate a 5 minute head start!

    Got my hot plate at wal mart of under 20 bucks but that was a few years ago, it is absolutely positively a fact that you need one with the exposed coil heating element the enclosed type will not get hot enough, or worse, will self destruct from internal heat after a session or two of casting, I've had my unit at lest 6 years and it's never failed me!

    HM

  14. #14
    Banned

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    No that mold is shot. You had better send it to me so I can put it rest!

  15. #15
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    You could dip the whole mold in the lead, I dip most of the mold in when I do 2 hardnesses of lead in 1 boolit

    Sometimes the ole grey matter works a little slow:
    I have flooded the affected surface with 750 - 800* lead and the specks peeled off with the lead.
    Last edited by Grmps; 10-22-2017 at 04:32 PM.

  16. #16
    Boolit Mold
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    Please write after you try how you did it and what is results. I'm interested in. Also, have one similar situation.

  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master

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    fill a glass with Kroil and let it soak for a week. Clean with Comet and a Toothbrush. Ignore what's left and try casting, if it works don't worry about the color
    I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled

    It is not with strength one will prevail; those who oppose The Lord will be broken

  18. #18
    Boolit Master

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    degrease it, soak in Mercury for a bit, remove it spray off and start casting. Lead dissolves in Mercury at room temp. be careful -no little ones around

  19. #19
    Boolit Master Moleman-'s Avatar
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    heat it up till the lead melts and wipe it off with a dry cotton cloth. Those yellow fuzzy cotton gloves at the hardware store work great for soldering. Get a little solder where you don't want it, you can wipe it away with those gloves before it solidifies. If they're damp that can give you a steam burn though. Works the same on an aluminum mold.

  20. #20
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    I heat my molds up with a propane torch. Gotta be careful not to burn the handles but it works QUICKLY. I got a hotplate because people were saying that is the way to go. I don't use it at all anymore. Once my mold is hot I mold them up quickly. That way the mold doesn't have a chance to cool down. I generally do about 8 moldings per minute. That works for me. It may be against everything that a person should do, I don't know. It's just way it works for me. As far as having little bits of lead on the mold, the reason they are there is because the mold is too cool. I would just melt them off with a torch. Problem solved in a couple of minutes.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check