Improved Sprue Plates... Any Interest?

[JIMinPHX]

I've been fooling around with some different modifications to sprue plates lately. I've been finding that larger sprue wells & venting on the underside can improve fill out on molds that were once problematic. Has anybody else played around like this on their sprue plates before?

[crabo]

I made a new one for a RCBS 250k that was larger and thicker. I used a hacksaw and a die grinder. It worked so well I bought a 90 degree carbide countersink to make a new pretty one. The one I made worked so well, I never bothered with making a new one.

I use the countersink all the time to open up the holes on a lot of my sprueplates, especially on the larger, heavier boolits.

[JIMinPHX]

I went to a thicker material for the sprue plates that I made too. That's how I got the bigger sprue wells. I found that 3/8" was too thick, but 1/4" seemed about right.

[mrbill2]

I made mine about .340 thick and used a 60 degree counter sink. I made some for double and single cavity and they work real well.

[oldtoolsniper]

Top punches, PID's, lube and now I have to make sprue plate modifications too! More tools!

[jmsj]

JiminPhx,
I made one for a Lee 6 cavity Tl358-158-swc mold. The hole nearest the handles had become ovaled out and wasn't cutting the base of the bullet very well.
I used a piece of 1018, 1/4" thick, worked better than the factory piece ever did.

[ANeat]

I make mine with a big trough .

This is a 9 cavity core mold

[Marvin S]

The last mold I made has a sprue plate 1/4" made from some factory surface finished 4130 plate. It is serving me well, and don't think it will ever warp. Those are some nice ones Jim.

On my swan shot mold I done as ANeat did on his and made a trough.

[ktw]

Somebody made up a batch of thick sprue plates that looked a lot like the ones in JIMinPHX's pics and sold the extras here a year or two ago. I forget who it was. I bought a pair and really like them.

Red River Rick (KAL Tool & Die) sells high quality thick after market sprue plates for Lyman and RCBS molds.

The mold rebuild kits you can get from Lyman come with thicker plates that you'll find on many of the older lyman molds.

I have replaced the sprue plates on most all of my one and two cavity Lyman and RCBS molds with plates from one of the above sources. I have a big stack of extra thins ones if someone is looking for some.

-ktw

[JIMinPHX]

Red River Rick (KAL Tool & Die) sells high quality thick after market sprue plates for Lyman and RCBS molds.

Wow, I didn't know he was doing that. Those look really nice & the price is darn reasonable.

[JIMinPHX]

ANeat, how is that trough working out for you? I had considered doing something like that, but I wasn't sure if it would help or hurt.

[JIMinPHX]

Top punches, PID's, lube and now I have to make sprue plate modifications too! More tools!

Top punches...geeze, that seems like forever ago you were fooling with those. How did those end up working out for you?

[RobS]

Well Jim you are on the path that many mold makers are on. Dan at Mountain Molds uses a very large and thick sprue plate with huge sprue wells vs production molds. Veral at LBT actually has vent lines cut on the top of his blocks to help with base fillout. Bruce at BRP also has a textured top to his mold blocks as well. For aluminum molds I would go with the vent lines or texturing being on the top of the aluminum block as having this done to the steel sprue plate I assume would be much like a cheese grader on the top of the aluminum block.

[leadman]

I had a H&G mold with the trough, was a 4 banger in 44 cal. The trough was good once the sprue plate was warmed up. Thought about doing it to a Lee 6 banger but thought it might weaken it too much.

The sprue plate on an old Saeco 2 cavity 38 caliber mold is the best I have used. It swings from the middle of the side on one of the handle screws, has small holes with sharp edges. Never cuts a jagged sprue of pulls metal out of the base. Just have to dip the handle in the molten lead to heat it so the lead will go thru the small holes.

[crabo]

I'd like to see a traditional sprue plate for the Lee 6 cavity that I can whack with my stick. I also like the troughs in my sprue plates.

[AbitNutz]

I'd like to see a traditional sprue plate for the Lee 6 cavity that I can whack with my stick. I also like the troughs in my sprue plates.

Absolutely! I would buy that in a heart beat for my Lee 6 cavity molds....

[Greg5278]

I ground a relief on the bottom of the sprue plate to let air out. The relief was .0015" deep, and about .200" wide. I does not leave a mark on the bullet base, and is not apparent unless you look at the bottom of the plate. It does not clog or get filled up with junk. I use the same type of venting on my molds.
Greg 5278

[JIMinPHX]

Absolutely! I would buy that in a heart beat for my Lee 6 cavity molds....

Would you guys want that to be made out of steel or aluminum?

[HORNET]

Jim, you probably need to work them out of steel to avoid problems with galling the mold surface. It would also be easier for you to blue the steel ones rather than anodizing aluminum ones. You might even want to think about offering different sprue hole opening sizes. The ones that I've made for my self I've usually started with small holes (.096") and opened up if needed, but that's mostly on .30 cal or smaller.

[Doby45]

Steel for sure.. I have a 6 banger that I would love a trough in like a H&G sprue plate..