Lee handles and Lyman molds, the Truth.

[Prince555]

Thanks to everyone for all the information and also the Great pictures.
Some Very Helpful info & suggestions.

[trixter]

Do they come with the molds, or the handles, or do you have to come up with them on your own?

Thanks

[Suo Gan]

Do they come with the molds, or the handles, or do you have to come up with them on your own?

Thanks

They come with a mold.

[Finnmike]

Great post - I need some handles for lyman moulds and my questions have been answered!! Thanks!

[MikeS]

The Lee handles definitley are good value but beware the wood handle to metal fit, they tend to drop off at the wrong time.

And this problem (the wood coming loose) is NOT a problem exclusive to Lee handles! I've had handles from several companies, as well as some of the custom mould makers that make many of the group buy moulds where the wood handles come loose from the metal!

Either gluing the wood to the metal, or pinning them in place is something that all mould handles should have done, either by the maker of the handles (preferable), or by the owner of the handles.

I have a handle made by Red River Rick, and they're a much higher quality product than the Lee handles, but they also cost 3x as much as the Lee ones! I don't know if it's a fair comparison to compare the 2 different handles, any more than it would be fair to compare a Dodge to a Lincoln!

I prefer to keep each mould mounted on it's own set of handles, but I don't think I would be able to do that if it wasn't for the price of the Lee handles. I've had the wood come loose on them, but then I've had the wood come loose on much more expensive handles as well.

[Yooperdad]

I have been searching and reading posts trying to find out about the sprue handles on Lee molds. The main mold handles are great, but I have developed cracks in the wood of the sprue handles on both 6 cavity molds that I use.

Is there an easy fix to reinforce them, both before and after they crack? I expect others are having the same issue and have found ways to deal with it.

Thanks,

Mike

[jvg5576]

I have been searching and reading posts trying to find out about the sprue handles on Lee molds. The main mold handles are great, but I have developed cracks in the wood of the sprue handles on both 6 cavity molds that I use.

Is there an easy fix to reinforce them, both before and after they crack? I expect others are having the same issue and have found ways to deal with it.

Thanks,

Mike

I've glued them with Gorilla Glue and JB Weld. If they're cracked, I wrap with heavy tape first.

[Yooperdad]

Already used the tape treatment and it works. Just asking.....

[GabbyM]

JB Weld.
Mix it up then fill the handle and insert the metal tang. Wire tie the wood handle to pull it back into shape. Excess JB Weld will extrude out.

[Yooperdad]

JB Weld had not crossed my mind and I have some in the shop. Thanks GabbyM and jvg5576, just the kind of suggestion I was hoping for.

[happy7]

Lee handles are great value! But they do have downsides. For one, the alloy they are made from is very brittle, and they will break. This really is a problem when you are using a very heavy mold in which the bullets don't let go easily. It is also a problem when you encounter another fault of Lee handles, and that is when they are out of alignment. A fair percentage are misaligned, but only slightly. But some are misaligned to the point to where the mold will not close normally. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BEND them straight. Any attempt to bend a Lee handle will cause it to break into two pieces.

The other limitation on Lee handles is that they don't open very wide. For single cavity molds, this is not a problem, but on multiple cavity molds, especially with long bullets, this can be an issue.

Having said this, I have a lot of Lee handles, and am grateful for them. Lee makes having a handle set for each mold almost affordable.

[Harter66]

I have a small hoard of single moulds ,Maxi's and RBs . Can you gang them on the LEE handles ? If I'm on my own I will try and report in a week or so.

[MtJerry]

I have a small hoard of single moulds ,Maxi's and RBs . Can you gang them on the LEE handles ? If I'm on my own I will try and report in a week or so.

Hmmmmmmmmm .... interesting idea ...... my mind is working on this one.

[MT Gianni]

I have a small hoard of single moulds ,Maxi's and RBs . Can you gang them on the LEE handles ? If I'm on my own I will try and report in a week or so.

I thnk you would have alignment problems with their 6 cavity handles. I don't know if it would be possible with an old LY 4 cavity nutcracker.

[dromia]

I've never had mould handles drop out with Lyman, RCBS or KAL from new but I have with Lee. The other makes handles have only become slack when the wood has charred over time.

The other problem that I've had with Lee rather the other manufactures is that the holes for the mould screws are sometimes too close to the edge of the metal and it opens releasing the pin or it cracks under normal use, I don't pound my mould BTW.

Yes Lee are cheap, they get the price by having you do their quality control for them (the IKEA business model) and they use cheaper materials that will need more fettling to work and maintenance to run. If you don't mind that then Lee are a really good buy for you.

[MikeS]

Unlike other mould handles such as the KAL handles, or Mihec handles which use steel that's cut to shape (lazer cut, or otherwise), the Lee handles use a metal called Sintered Metal. Basically what that is, is powdered metal (iron? iron & brass mixed?) is put into a mould the shape of the item to be made (in this case a mould handle), then it's heated until the powder melts/fuses together. This is a relatively cheap way of making a large quantity of an item (making the mould is expensive). This method is fine if the part is used as it is. When you start filing, grinding, etc. to the handles they loose strength much quicker than they would if made from steel plate. Also they can't be bent, they will simply snap rather than bending.

Within their limitations the Lee handles are a great product. Comparing them to quality handles like the KAL handles, or even the current Lyman/SAECO handles (they're made by the same company, just machined slightly differently depending on which company they're being shipped to) is kind of like comparing a Yugo to a Rolls Royce. They're both the same basic product, but one is the high end product, the other the low end product. I have over 30 moulds (I just counted them earlier today), and they all have their own handles attached. Most of the handles are the Lee handles, but I do have some of the better ones as well. I have a set of the KAL handles for a Lyman 4 cavity mould, I also have a new Lyman handle on another 4 cavity mould. I also have a couple of Mihec handles as well, and all of these are of a higher quality than the Lee handles, but if I had to spend the money to buy all higher quality handles I wouldn't be able to have a set of handles for each mould.

The Lee handles do the job as long as you don't use them as hammers, or beat on them, etc. If you treat them with respect due a quality tool (I wouldn't mistreat any of my handles) they will give you good service. And should one break, it's not a big deal to replace them, I think the 'street' price on Lee handles is somewhere around $12.00 or so, less than half the price of most other handles, and a third the price of the more expensive ones!

[Elkins45]

I have never understood why the Lyman handles are made with the center swell rather than just a straight taper. That makes them have a bias for 'squirting' forward out of your hands. Regardless of the other qualities I think they are much more comfortable than the Lyman handles for extended use.

Now that I own a wood lathe I may just pull the wood off my few pairs of Lymans and modify them to suit me, or maybe even make my own from some locust saplings I cut last year.