I bought a lyman 31141 from ebay. I took a chance on it, as the pictures were not super detailed. I didnt pay top dollar though.
Its a 2 cavity.
When I received it, the blocks would turn one against the other, as if the pins were not protruding enough. It had some metal raised around the alignment holes. I started by stoning the face to remove the raised metal. No problem there, as soon as the stone started to take the bluing off the face of the stone the raised metal was gone. I expected no more issue.
I mated the two and drove the alignment pins further out, into the holes. After a few tries, the play was gone. Now the problem.
The blocks are misaligned even without any movement. They were turned slightly one to another. It appeared that the holes had been peened from closing the blocks together hard or wrong over a long time. So I thought about it a minute and decided if I opened the hole up at the mouth I could drive the pins further into the hole, thus engaging the undamaged portion. I gently chamfered the end of the hole with my dremel and polished it with 1000 grit paper. I tapped the pins again, further out, and into the holes.
It seems to have helped, but not all the way. Now, the top of the blocks are the same height and they are not twisted one to the other. BUT they are still off center slightly one to the other. In other words, while the tops are flush, the sides are not.
Im not sure what to do to make it better. I am going to guess it'd probably be just a very slight line and they would probably look decent and shoot okay.
However, I want it to be better If It can be.
I could further move the hole back into the block and drive the pins further out. Maybe I didnt move past any damage that was there? I moved it id guess .010 max. They fit together now, like new blocks.
I could cast with it and see how it does and shoots.
I could drive the pins out and file them shorter and rotate them in a drill and round them again. The pins dont seem deformed, but this is what im learning towards.
Anyone else got any ideas?
~Bazoo