hoopla

[RP]

I dont like using water on my moulds just me so i shoot a new mould with carb cleaner it removes any oil fast and is gone fast also. Preheat it and cast and I get good boolits. I have a rust problem in my area so when iam done I give them a shot of Kroil oil. With Kroil I dont worry about cleaning them again I just preheat and start casting with the Kroil it dont effect the boolits I think sometimes it even helps some. Brake cleaner leaves something behind not sure what but it feels like oil and will not clean like carb cleaner also some brands of carb cleaner the cheap stuff is not all that great you want some that evaporates fast that tells you its the good stuff.

[44man]

About the "tinsel fairy", I am somewhat new to casting boolits but I have cast Dive Weights and fishing sinkers all my life and have met the lady while doing so. However, about a month ago, while melting some range lead that was given to me, I met her. She is UGLY!!!!! A couple of the peas size burns are just finally healing. She has make a believer out of me. Not sure where the water came from but it was not much to do the spray job that it did.

If you meet the fairy, run fast to the sink or tub and pour cold water on the burn for a half hour. You will not get blisters and minimum scars.

[Shuz]

If I get a new to me mould that shows sins of oil or grease, I have found that spraying with a commercial carb cleaner or brake cleaner is an easy way to clean the mould. I'm not saying hot soapy water doesn't work. As others have said, it works for them. What I am saying is that this lazy old phart has found spraying to be easier for me.

[buck1]

HA! I agree completely. The only reason I use denatured alcohol is that, to me, it is quicker and easier. Dries faster, too.

I spray with WD40 to store just for pice of mind, and hose them off with brake cleaner because it fast and easy.
apply WD40= 10 seconds.
clean mold=20 seconds.
I am lazy what can I say! LOL...Buck

[excavman]

I agree with 44man, WD40 is some bad stuff aroung guns. I have heard it will remove bluing but I ain't going to try it to find out.

BTW, the toothbrush was invented by a hillbilly ------ if anybody else would have done it they'd of called it a "teethbrush"....

Larry

[44man]

I agree with 44man, WD40 is some bad stuff aroung guns. I have heard it will remove bluing but I ain't going to try it to find out.

BTW, the toothbrush was invented by a hillbilly ------ if anybody else would have done it they'd of called it a "teethbrush"....

Larry

It will not in itself remove bluing but it will allow the blue to rust in humid conditions.
Even painted surfaces sprayed with WD-40 will rust if it is damp. Come look at the metal stands on my wood working tools that I thought would be protected by the junk. I actually think it makes metal rust faster.
If you want a good spray, get Birchwood Casey Sheath. Another name for it is Barricade, same stuff. WONDERFUL on anything.
Believe me, paste wax is 1,000,000 times better then WD-40. It was made to flush off water and that is the end of it. You better wipe it off and put something else on the metal.

[mpmarty]

I have a habit of using lacquer thinner to clean molds. I also store mold blocks in sealed cans of lacquer thinner. It works for me.

[XWrench3]

i have gone through all of the above mentioned ways to clean out molds. the thing that make them work right is casting with them. even a stuborn mold, that will not cast right, will eventually"break in" for the lack of better terminology. if the mold is reasonably clean, cast with it for a while. i have had one of them take 41 fill-dump cycles (my 40 cal lee 6 cavity mold) to straighten out. but once they do, they work fine after that.

[DIRT Farmer]

I tried something different on one of my moulds, I had a deer rib bone going to the dog in a scrap bowl while I was casting in the shop. I just touched the top of the mould plate, the sprues fell off and the top of the mould stayed clean for about 200 casts. Almost like seasoning a skillet

[Centaur 1]

I'm still fairly new to casting, but I'm really good at cleaning things. I worked in the space launch business and a large part of my job was to clean parts to a LOX compatible clean. For those who are unfamiliar with liquid oxygen, it will react with a violent explosion if contaminated with hydrocarbons or particulates. The standard procedure for cleaning was to first scrub with trichloroethane (Brakleen), followed with a scrubbing in isopropol alcohol. It's the same thing as rubbing alcohol, but look for the 100% alcohol over the 70% if you can find it. This is the point where we put stuff in our large ultrasonic cleaner, but it's not necessary for what we're doing. The final step used to achieve this high level of cleanliness is the tricky one, we wash it with distilled water and Joy dishwashing detergent. That's it, our secret weapon to achieve a LOX compatible clean is Joy detergent. I've bought three Lee molds recently and the only thing I did to them was wash them in the kitchen sink. So far my bullets look pretty good once the mold gets up to temp.

As far as WD-40 goes, it was never designed as a rust preventative. It was developed for General Dynamics to use on their "Atlas Centaur" missile program. (You guys now know where my username came from). The missile was first built as an ICBM during the cold war, and they were to be launch from underground silos. When the Air Force decided to convert their ICBMs from cryogenic propellants to hypergolic propellants, the need for the Atlas missile went away. That's when it was decided to convert them into space launch vehicles. Well they started trucking these missiles to Cape Canaveral to start a new business launching satellites into orbit. The structure of an Atlas rocket is really cool, its skin is .020" thick stainless steel and it contains no internal support structures. In other words it's nothing but a huge stainless steel balloon, that relies on internal pressure to keep it upright and stable. One of the first unplanned problems that was encountered was the Florida humidity. When the rocket was loaded with liquid oxygen, it quickly became covered in frozen condensation. So much ice was accumulating that the rocket was too heavy to leave the ground. Here's where WD-40 (water displacement formula #40) makes its debut. Aerospace technicians would take 5 gallon buckets of it and paint it on the outside of the rocket. The thinner would evaporate and leave a film on the outside of the Atlas rocket. Now on launch day they still get an ice buildup on the rocket, but now when the engines ignites they take about 6 seconds to come up to full thrust and during that time the vibrations from the 3 main engines break the bond that the ice has on the WD-40. Without the extra weight of the ice clinging to the side of the rocket, they were able to successfully transform an old ICBM into the rocket that John Glenn used when he became the first American to orbit the Earth. Sorry for the long explanation, I just love the space business.

[44man]

The long explanation was well worth it, thank you!