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Thread: Mold Mallets

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    I use a pair of welder's gloves. You can pickup a set at home depot for about $13 bucks. I have an ancient pair that I use when melting down wheelweights. But occasionally I get a bullet that won't come out and use a 1" piece of dowel that I got from home depot. Frank

  2. #22
    Boolit Master versifier's Avatar
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    Cool

    Tex,
    I weren't me. Yard sale special in a box of other old tools. There were a couple of wood lathe chisels in there I wanted. I think someone tried to use it outside when it was well below zero as there were pieces missing from the peen and the flat side. When it's that cold and machinery gets frozen up it's a bitch to work on and many frustrated farmers and plow truck drivers reach for their trusty "Ford Wrenches" when things get down and dirty. MY own personal "Ford Wrench" is a ten pound sledge, but I can't do that kind of work anymore so I just lend it out, stand by the woodstove, and watch out the window.
    Born OK the first time.

  3. #23
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    Get yourself a rawhide mallet with a head that's about 1.5" X 3.0". Not sure what mine weighs. I've been using it for years and have not found the need to even reshape the head. No marks on the moulds either. Much better than wood.

  4. #24
    Boolit Grand Master Char-Gar's Avatar
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    In 1965 I bought a 16" hammer handle at Sears. It is still in service, although a mite smaller on the whacking end.

  5. #25
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    I buy a hardwood shovel handle at the store and cut it into 12 inch lengths. They usually last about 6 months to a year each.

  6. #26
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    I'm surprised nobody has used the lead hammer I mentioned. Maybe it never caught on or maybe it's only necessary for gang molds. I haven't used one myself. Brownells has a lead hammer mold.

    The first mallet I bought was an RCBS for $6 in the 70's. It lasted about 2 weeks. I couldn't believe how fast $6 went. I've bought 1.5" wooden poles from the home center and the chips fly with them but they're cheap. Like the others said, the shovel handles lasted about the longest.

    I just thought after all these years there was something more high tech out there everyone was using. I saw a poly mallet on Buffalo Arms that describes as follows:

    "Made from high density poly for longest possible life, 1 1/4" x 12". This is probably the last mould mallet you'll ever need."
    http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,1972.htm

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by 30yrcaster
    I'm surprised nobody has used the lead hammer I mentioned. Maybe it never caught on or maybe it's only necessary for gang molds. I haven't used one myself. Brownells has a lead hammer mold.
    -snip-
    I've got a lead hammer. Forkin' thing is heavy. Can't see why you'd need anything like that to cut sprues or shake out stuck bullets.

  8. #28
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    Along with the standard shovel handle. I also use a flat piece of aluminum stock with pins, that go around the sprue plate to make a long handle, so I dont have to beat some of my more stubborn molds, DM

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by imashooter2
    Can't see why you'd need anything like that to cut sprues or shake out stuck bullets.
    The reason for the lead hammer was several as explained to me from Hensley & Gibb back in the 80's.

    The weight of the hammer required no effort to cut the spru especially with an 8-10 cavity gang mold.
    It didn't damage the spru plate.
    Finally, after it gets beat up, you just dunk it into the pot and cast a new one of the same alloy of course. You never need to buy another mallet.

    Also, if I remember correctly around the same time, Brownells came out with their lead hammer mold which they still sell today.

    I don't get to talk to high volume casters at the range and recently found this site just for casters. I figured I'd get a chance to see what type of equipment others are using. All my stuff is quite old but still works. It looks like not much has changed over the years.

    Thanks for all the responses.
    Last edited by 30yrcaster; 01-02-2006 at 07:41 PM.

  10. #30
    Boolit Mold hopper_64's Avatar
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    I use a hickory hammer handle. It looks rather funny in the end but has lasted for 3 years so far.

    Hopper

  11. #31
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    I cut a stick from an old broomstick. It gets the job done without damaging the aluminum moulds.

    I once cut a stick from a broken pick handle and it damaged one of my two cavity LEE moulds. Too dense and too heavy!

  12. #32
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    I use a small dead blow hammer when needed. I tried the rawhide mallet, it just seemed to bulky. Most of the time I just use a leather glove on my right hand.


    Robert

  13. #33
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    You can make a lead head deadblow hammer from WW alloy. Just use a pipe nipple stuck in a pot of masonry sand for the head mold. Then you can drive it out, and drill a hole for a wood dowel handle. When it gets battered, make bullets from it. If the nipple isn't preheated, it shrinks enough to drive out easily with a punch.
    Greg S

  14. #34
    Boolit Master on Heavens Range
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    Get the Sears hammer. I like it the best of all utensils that I have tried over the years. Picture enclosed.
    felix

  15. #35
    Boolit Buddy
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    use a hickory hammer handle and I think it is over 12 years old.....knocker end is "weathered" but still works fine....any handle wood will work, ash, hickory...I bet elm would be sweet as it is difficult to split...would never buy a mallet

  16. #36
    Banned 45 2.1's Avatar
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    I make my own casting mallets. I turn aged hickory to 2 1/4" diameter about 3 1/2 " long and add a 10" handle. I've wore out three of them so far and will have to make another in the next year or so.

  17. #37
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    I use a hammer handle with the whacker end wrapped in about 1/4" of electrical tape. When the wood starts to show through, I re-wrap it. That has only happened once in 10+ years.
    Joe

  18. #38
    Boolit Master slughammer's Avatar
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    Gang Molds

    I started out with several 4 cavity molds and I quickly beat a hammer handle into splinters. Didn't even comprehend how they used hammer handles in the books. (I knew NO other casters). I then stepped up to a big plastic hammer. My hammer is much like the one Felix gave the link to, it's just that mine has got to be at least 3lbs. The 6 oz one would be great for 1-2 cavity molds.

    Also when cutting the sprues on the gang molds, I rest the mold on the work bench. Trying to hold a 5lb mold and then whacking it with a 3lb hammer would surely lead to damage in the wrist over the long term.

  19. #39
    Boolit Master BABore's Avatar
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    I use a 12-14" length of hockey stick. My partner collects the broken ones where he plays. Usually get 3-4 pcs from one. It's not as hard as hickory, but it's laminated hardwood. They also make excellent shooting sticks. I attach two pcs together with a shoulder bolt and put a thin derlin washer between them.

  20. #40
    Boolit Master FISH4BUGS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 30yrcaster
    I just thought after all these years there was something more high tech out there everyone was using. I saw a poly mallet on Buffalo Arms that describes as follows:

    "Made from high density poly for longest possible life, 1 1/4" x 12". This is probably the last mould mallet you'll ever need."
    http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,1972.htm
    I bought one of those. It WILL be that last one I will ever buy. Over 3000 bullets cast and hardy a mark on it...this with 10 cavity H&G moulds, 4 cavity Lymans and a smattering of 2 cavity moulds.

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