Mold mis alignment

[GP100man]

I CAST A FEW WITH MY LYMAN 358477 & THEY LOOK LIKE THE MOLD IS NOT QUITE LINED UP, I WENT TO LUBE EM & ONE HALF OF A SIDE HAS LUBE & OPPOSITE ON THE OTHER SIDE
THE NEXT TIME I HAVE THIS MOLD CLEAN I`M GONNA CLEAN THE VENT LINES GOOD & KNOCK THE PINS OUT A LITTLE.

ANY IN PUT IS GREATLY APPERETIATED!!!!


GP1OOMAN

[Heavy lead]

Is this a new mould? I had a recently purchase Lyman 452424 that was so misaligned it casted a oval boolit .457x.445, I sent it back.

[GP100man]

Heavy Lead

i purchaced it used, from an estate sell off.
i like the pb & it drops a 154gr boolit with 50/50 stick on & WW
i cast about 200 to try out , then went to size & lube em & noticed the lube as described
the boolits fall out of the mold .
is an equally out of round boolit out of balance????
i`m thinkin of loadin some up in 38spl & go see how they fly.

GP100man

[Heavy lead]

I guess you never know until you pull the trigger on it. Might suprise you, especially with a soft alloy.

[GP100man]

would lappin help ??????
as a last resort though.
i gotta get em under some magnification to see whats what.

GP100man

[garandsrus]

GP100man,

Sorry, I don't understand your statement that 1/2 the boolit is lubed and the other 1/2 is not (if that's what you said). In this case, wouldn't the problem be with the lube sizer only delivering lube to 1/2 the size die instead of with the mold?

If you rotate the boolit 180 degrees and run it back through the lube sizer, is it properly lubed?

You may have some hardened lube stuck in some of the size die holes.

When you close the mold, are the top of the blocks lined up? Do the cavities appear to also be lined up? If so, you should be fine...

John

[Buckshot]

..............Hmmmmmmm. I'm with garandsrus on this. If you meant to say the boolit was SIZED on one side of the parting line, and not the other then yup, your blocks are mis-aligned. If it was lube, the check your die.

If you suspect block mis-alignment, check for daylight between the blocks. Also, grasp a block half in each hand then place them together, then try to twist them back and forth. Also check for any rocking motion by pinching opposing corners. Inspect the perimeter of the alignment pin holes to check for proud metal.

................Buckshot

[725]

I have one so misaligned. I sent it back to Lyman. They offer a rehab service. The naked boolit was produced just a little off proper alignment and when sized the "half lubed" thing became appearent. Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with it. Still waiting to have it returned. It was an old, well used mould. Just hoping it will be serviceable when returned.
PS. Lapping will only aggrivate the error, I think. Would probably end up with an egg shaped boolit. That's why I sent it back to the company. If you lap it, let us know how it looks when you finish.

[GP100man]

to all:
the lube groovesare full it`s that the lube ooozes up the side really thin & that`s where the
boolit does`nt touch the die
Buckshot :
yep i cleaned & put some magnification on my old eyes & there`s proud metal on the female block ,both holes , almost equal to each other& you can twist the blocks approximatly.010-.012 .
they will pinch end to end but not side to side .010-.012
is this what happens when some one beats the bejesus out of em , or heat warpage, both ????
trash or fixer uppers????
600 paper & a flat surface????
ping, i mean peen the dis placed metal back in the alignment holes????

GP100man

[Buckshot]

"i mean peen the dis placed metal back in the alignment holes????"

..............That would depend on if the holes were wallowed out below. The expressed metal DOES have to be removed one way or the other. To peen it back would take a light touch and some judicious tapping with a light hammer and a broad flat nosed punch. However if there is much metal it would be best to do that, and THEN wipe the face on some oiled 400 wet or dry paper on a flat surface.

After that a hand held 60* countersink rotated evenly in each hole should take care of it. In blocks I've seen like that, just getting a nice shiney ring of even width ( maybe 0.020" max) all the way around works. This gives you a new edge for the hole, and the small bevel helps to guide the pin in. And you will for sure have to tap the pins in just a bit deeper.

"is this what happens when some one beats the bejesus out of em , or heat warpage, both ????"

Basicly it's just caused by incautious or heavy handed use. Slapping the blocks back together, especially on ill fitting handles causes the problem. The blocks are cast iron and the alignment pins are steel.

"trash or fixer uppers????"

Oh I'm sure you can get them back to casting just fine. Just drive the pins in enough to get good solid closure without any wiggle woggle. If they're opening with a bit of drag, but that's the only way you can get the looseness out, so be it. It will work itself out. Be sure the blocks don't just flap all over on the handles.

..................Buckshot

[JeffinNZ]

I had the same issue with my 311008 I bought second hand. It was throwing bullets .310 x .316. I did just as Buckshot has said and it came right instantly. Clean up the pin alignment holes with a countersink tool, REAL gentle and careful like, put the two halves together and drive the pins in just a SHADE.

Worked a treat. Now throwing bullets .312-.313 'round' again.

[anachronism]

In some cases, you can use your old case deburring tool to clean up the alignment dowel holes. Don't use your good one, use the one you bought a replacement for, but didn't toss because it might still be good for some big caliber rifle you once thought of owning. I've revived some really rough moulds by doing this, then cleaning up the parting faces with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper (with oil) on a piece of glass. Then reset the dowels.

[GP100man]

thanks to all :
i took a 5/8 punch & squared it up , lined it up perpindicular & pushed the proud metal almost
level then countersunk the holes rubbed flat on wet dry 400 with oil .
the tricky part was i knocked the pins out too far & took a peice of brass & pushed em back in started measuring & walaaa perfect,the top of the mold won`t even catch your finger nail. just a little sticky when cold but fine at temp .
cleaned em up cast a few ,they don`t look like 2 halves stuck together .

the mould instantly became very sticky, so i lapped with a paste of 3in1 oil &comet.
degreased & now they fall out again & size good & square.
took alittle time, but with all the help good boolits fall from this mould once again.
THANKS TO ALL!!!!!!!


GP100man