Lee mold failed me on ita first outing...

[jeepvet]

After I broke my second cam I was on the phone with Lee telling them just big a piece of garbage there 6 cavity molds were. The guy very politely told me that if the sprue plate is not completely closed when you pour, the cam action is lost and there is a straight pull on the handle. This in turn puts a large amount of pressure at the bolt hole and causes it to snap. He put two new cams in an envelope and mailed them to me at no charge. After that I started making sure that the sprue plate was completely closed before I pour and have not broken a cam in several thousand bullets.

Now, the question is, "did I just get some better cams or is this really the problem?". You decide.

[rsrocket1]

After I broke my second cam I was on the phone with Lee telling them just big a piece of garbage there 6 cavity molds were. The guy very politely told me that if the sprue plate is not completely closed when you pour, the cam action is lost and there is a straight pull on the handle. This in turn puts a large amount of pressure at the bolt hole and causes it to snap. He put two new cams in an envelope and mailed them to me at no charge. After that I started making sure that the sprue plate was completely closed before I pour and have not broken a cam in several thousand bullets.

Now, the question is, "did I just get some better cams or is this really the problem?". You decide.

Its a matter of physics and leverage. If you ever have a brain fart and don't close the sprue plate completely, the force on the cam goes up exponentially. Just take a screwdriver of the proper width, stick the blade between the mold and the cam and the sprue will cut as easily as it would if it were in the correct position. Been there (brain fart) and done that and it works!

[cwlongshot]

Thats a very distinct possibility!

Ill pay closer attention next time I cast with it!

Ill post up LEE’s reply. Kinda intrested myself!

CW

[HangFireW8]

The new process is on the Lee website. Download the form, fill it out with a pen, and mail the mold back. You'll get email updates from the time they receive it until you het it, or a new one back.

I just did this last month. Fast and painless. Got a new mold.

This month I returned an RCBS 08-170-FN that was casting shifted .001". I enclosed a letter describing the problem. Got it back properly adjusted and some example pressure cast Linotype boolits. It took a few more days than Lee but it came back tested.

Good service in both cases, simply by following instructions. New Post Office priority rates hurt a bit more, though.

[Liberty1776]

It's easy to get into a rhythm when casting and fail to lube the mold as you proceed.

Elvis Ammo mentions how he lubes a mold at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6oNEmWh-J4

He uses Full Synthetic 2-cycle oil on a rag and a cotton swab to apply to the index pins.

I've taken to a dropper bottle and the rag. If I don't keep the lube a-coming, the sprue plate and the mold halves don't work right and I get flashing because the mold halves don't mesh intimately.

1. Put some Full Synthetic motor oil on a rag. Not soaking, but enough.
2. Fill the mold and cut the sprue.
3. Before dumping the boolits, wipe the rag across the top of the mold halves and the bottoms of the cast bullets in their cavities.
4. Wipe the underside of the sprue plate
5. put a drop on the hinge bolt of the sprue plate
6. pick up a drop on a cotton swab and touch it to the index pins

NOTE: do not lube like this with the cavities empty or you'll get oil in the cavities and make it hard to get good fillout.

I also use a Permatex high-temp anti-seize compound for aluminum on the sprue plate hinge bolt

If you don't lube the sprue plate, you will eventually gall the aluminum mold blocks under the sprue plate.

Keep Lee dies lubed. We're not dealing with steel here. It's much-softer aluminum.

That's a good tip above to be sure to close the sprue plate completely before casting. All the more reason to keep it lubed.

[Liberty1776]

Thanks everyone!!



I'm a welder... generally ALLOT bigger stiff than this... But I have a small machine here so I figured WTH its already ruined.. I have no idea the metal used here... But its not a dangerous thing so I prepped it and welded it up.

Time will tell...

Thanks again for all the tips guys, this place rocks!!

CW

So what was your welding process? TIG? What filler metal did you use?

Inquiring minds want to know!

[cwlongshot]

Tig machine is always busy, would have been better, but as you mention and I dont know what its made from.
I used a small 115 Hobart MIG and unshielded .030 SS wire. Heavy sheetmetal machine. Worked well, applied like spot welding or tacking. Good penetration observed as seen, no degradation. I stayed away from hole as much as I could, but still had to true hole with round file back to round.

Was a last minute thought as I was checking the guys in the shop it came to me. So I did it. Nothing to loose as I aint gonna deal with the nonsense of paying again, shipping back, waiting for permission for replacement. Then waiting in return shipping. Any company that cannot work with me, on my word or with pictures of problem at hand, isnt worth my money or time. Thats simply a poor business model. Not to mention, and on top of a poor quality materials built product.

If the send me a new handle, great, Ill have a spare. If they dont, they dont, they simply re inforce my opinion and if It breaks again, Ill buy or make a better one.

BTW, When I started with this mold, it was cleaned, brushed out with nylon bristle brush, lubed and warmed. It produced good, useable bullets 3-4 cycles in. I am impressed with its bullets and how even they are from the start. I rotate fills front to back and back to front and rest the mold when it gets too warm.

IMHO, the problem wasnt my miss handling but could have been not fully closed spure plate. I am gonna look at the tails on the bullets and see if any/many are off center. That will tell me right there. This is my 4/5 6 hole mold from LEE and I must have a dozen two cav. I have all but worn one 40-145 out. But it still casts a decent bullet! I wish they offered a 6 holer for the 40-145 but they dont at this time.

Thank you again for the flow of knowledge!! MOST appreciated!

CW

[cwlongshot]

OK,
I culled the bag this AM... I don't find any with a overly off center tail. I doo see a few frosted, so I did get a lil hot at times. (I like frosted bullets, they are some of the best bullets.) I found a couple with minor fins, also a couple with slight wonky/ smeared bases. So I wasn't closing the mold perfect. But only a few, so probably closest to handle and not completely set showing if anything too quick a spure cut or too hot a mold.







This is a good cross section, I took some from everywhere in the group at random. Tell me what your more experienced eyes see.

Long story short, nothing I see, showing not completely close plate.

As I mentioned, The handle didn't feel right form the very first use. But as it was hot, I didn't stop to investigate further. My safety glasses are not prescription, & don't have magnifiers, so I wouldn't likely see any problems anyhow.

But no worries, it happened and is done. Hope fully, last time with any issues with it.

CW

[Springfield]

IMHO you need to cut the sprues sooner. Some of them have little towers on them, mine never have that. It makes the spsprues much more difficult to cut. FWIW I have been using LEE moulds for over 15 years, have about 35 of them, and i have never broken a sprue handle. When I use a MIHEC, Accurate or NEI muld I just push the spru plate with my hand to cut, so I am cutting much sooner than yo do. 10 seconds on a small bullet is a bit too long, go maybe 2 seconds after the sprue goes grey after cooling. Longer just makes them too hard.

[frkelly74]

I looked up the part on the Titan website and they are sold for $3.98 each, Postage will be $7.20 priority mail. It is the same amount of postage for up to 6 parts , 8 parts goes to a little over $8. If it were me, The next time I was scratching the itch for a new mold I would put a couple of the cam levers on the order to mitigate the postage charges somewhat. Also, there is the " cheap insurance " factor . In my experience , the part that you have spares of will not be the part that breaks

Looking at the bases of your boolits I do see that some of the sprue cuts look like the metal was a little cool when cut. The part in question is absolutely the weak link in the system, No question about that. They are not stout like Lyman and RCBS that will take some hammering. I like to open the sprue as soon as the metal is not runny any more, before it has reached full hardness.


What he said /\ /\ /\

[cwlongshot]

Odd, I do see the "towers"... Only ones that get left any extra time are those that are cast and set down to cool a bit. Other than they as soon as the puddle solidifies/frosts I cut it. Also NEVER EVER with the mallet, always hand pressure alone.

I also just got a Email back for LEE... NOT!

"CW,

We received your inquiry, we will respond to you within 24 hours. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 7:30am to 3:45pm CST. Due to advanced anti-spam filters on some email accounts, if you don't hear back from us within 24 hours, please check your spam or junk folder.

When replying, please make sure that the ticket ID is kept in the subject line to ensure that your replies are tracked appropriately.

Looking for a replacement part? There are two options to obtain a replacement part:

The first replacement part is free, you are just responsible for the shipping to your residence. You can place your order for the part on our website. The free part will appear once you add the item into the shopping cart.

-or-

Mail the part in to the factory below for a no charge replacement.

Lee Precision, Inc.
4275 Highway U
Hartford, WI 53027 "

CW

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

cutting a set of sprues when the frozen sprue puddle is too cold, is how I broke the one Lee 6cav cam lever that I broke.
Not to say that's what happened in your case.
Anyway, I was pulling quite hard on the cam handle, and when the sprues let go, I ended up yanking the handle back and up, at a slight angle, due to the inertia of my arm muscles (read Hamfist, LOL) ...the non-linear pressure on the sintered metal cam, which is quite brittle, easily snapped it.
that's my 2¢

[Conditor22]

You can get all the available replacement parts for $7.55 shipped from Lee

https://leeprecision.com/parts/bulle...8-125-rf-parts

6 cavity SPRUE PLT BLK ANODIZ SC1160 with sprue plate $9.02

[popper]

Don't touch the cut handles when pouring.

[Echo]

From my own experience and from what I've read about others experienced from Lee...it seems to vary...email them a Photo of the broken part and the receipt or invoice from where you bought it, and you will likely get them so send out a part free of charge. But then again, they might just tell you to order the part from their website...if that is the case, it will be free, but you will be charged shipping.

Also, I have many Lee 6 cav molds, and I have broke one of those cams too. It's pretty common for them to break, I keep a spare in the drawer, just in case I break another one.

Roger that - I've done that with Lee, and a replacement was on the way post haste.

[cwlongshot]

I got another email yesterday from LEE!

Says my parts have shipped!?!??

Guess they are sending parts now!!! Did they read this posting??

CW

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I got another email yesterday from LEE!

Says my parts have shipped!?!??

Guess they are sending parts now!!! Did they read this posting??

CW

I'm not surprised.
The first email was just a boil-plate first response, probably sent out by a automated software, instead of a human. Once a Human seen your email/issue, they fixed you up.

[Conditor22]

JB is correct. anytime you email Lee you get an automated response. then, depending on how busy they are, a human will get back to you in a day or 2.

I usually try to talk with Petter when I call, they all are friendly to me on the phone.

Lee is a CB sponsor, it would make sense for them to watch the threads occasionally.