I bought two Arsenal aluminum 5 cavity molds a while ago. I finally got one of them out and fired up the pot.
I am not happy.......at all. I had a horrible time getting the mold to open reliably, as in most of the time it wouldn’t open. I realized the alignment pins are not cone shaped, but slightly beveled cylinders, which means the halves won’t pivot open, they have to come straight apart.
I did lube the pins, and tried both my Lee and M&P handles, but it was absolutely the most frustrating casting session in a long time.
Am I missing something? Is there a technique issue? I did try keeping the block halves parallel, with little success.
Any advice?