Lead under Sprue plate

[pt4u2nv]

What is the best way to remove some lead smearing from under the sprue plate and on top of the mold. It isn't a whole lot but I can't seem to get it off. I have tried a bronze brush and it does nothing. Got the mold pretty hot and tried to brush it off it off and that did not work either.

[Edubya]

Get it hot and wipe with your leather glove or a towel. The lead will smear again if you cut the sprue too soon.
EW

[Horace]

Try using a carpenters pencil and a hard cast lead bullet or piece of linotype. These items work and do no harm to the mold. Horace

[RobS]

Bullshop BullPlate Sprue lube will help with what you have there and makes casting soooooooooo much easier. They are a sponser her...............look at the bottom of the page for their link.

[MT Gianni]

Until your bullplate lube arrives go over the bottom of the plate and the top of the mold with a #2 pencil. The graphite will remove the lead and act as a temporary lube.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

These usually appear in the places that you have them because you are moving the sprue plate before the sprue is solidified. One way to get rid of the smears has been pointed out; heat the parts and rub with a piece of burlap or rag. the other way is to take an ingot such as one like the little bricks cast in the Lyman, Lee, Saeco or RCBS ingot molds and presing down on it...forcing a corner to rub on the smear. The smear lead will stick to the ingot corner and go away. This will work with heavy smears/buildup. The moment you see a smear starting you should get it out of there....continuing to cast will make it thicker/heavier. Cooling the sprueplate with a damp folded pad of cloth will help. Using a small fan blowing air across the mold blocks will also work, and slowing down by letting the sprue puddle change color and set up before cutting the sprue itself. Small, light or thin smears can be gotten off with a pencil(lead) but it can't take too much pressure like an ingot(corner). Some folks use a single edge razor blade, but you have to let the blocks cool off before using that method and you have to be real careful not to scratch the surfaces of the plate or blocks. Bullplate lube works well and a tad of powderd graphite also can help, but the key word is prevention. LLS

[neilin]

I do the following with my Lyman steel molds. At the end of a casting session, while the mold is still hot I will touch the area the lead has smeared to with paraffin. The paraffin melts onto the leaded area, then I put the mold under the lead pot and pour a little molten lead on the smeared area. Let it solidify a few seconds, and then I pull it off with a leather gloved hand. The lead I poured from the mold comes off with the smeared lead. I may have to repeat the process.