Am I the only one who didn't like Kroil in the mold?

[Patrick L]

Was this an internet scam cooked up by the folks at Kroil or or something? After reading the extensive threads about how great it worked, I couldn't WAIT to get me some. Well, guess what happened when I put oil in my mold? I got wrinkled boolits, just like evey piece of "traditional" casting literature said I would. I felt like a fool! I thought maybe it needs to work in, I'll just keep casting. After 15 or 20 cycles I said forget it!

Maybe because my molds weren't problematic to begin with, but I don't get it. I cleaned them out, smoked them back up, and went back to casting perfect boolits.


So count me as the lone dissenter!

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive had mixed results with it too

[cheese1566]

Heck, I cannot even find it! Last week I did find a machine shop supplier an hour away who had a few cans of the silicone Kroil. I know you can order it direct and through other vendors like Brownells, but i just hate ordering on the internet for something under $10!

I guess if it works for you, keep it up! Someday I may tinker with it, but what I'm doing now works for me (I sold the majority of my iron molds!)

[44fanatic]

Ive used it once on a Lyman 2C mold. Put it on with a qtip, then wiped excess with a qtip. First 20 boolits were wrinkled, then they started dropping easily from the mold with no wrinkles. Have not cast since then.

[462]

Applying Kroil to a mould's cavities is no different than any of the myriad other methods and tricks we casters do to create a better and more productive casting session, and the perfect boolit...what works for some will not work for others.

While Kroil transformed a rather troublesome mould into one that dropped boolits immediately upon opening the blocks, it has marginally improved the performance of others and made no difference in the rest.

It's my experience that each mould is unique, with its own set of circumstances that allow it to cast at its optimum. It falls upon me to discover what those circumstances are and, then, maximize them. Interestingly enough, I've not found that smoking a mould made a whit of difference.

[Calamity Jake]

I tried it and didn't like it

[Tazman1602]

Tried it and didn't like it at all. Tried mold release and didn't like that at all although it is good to coat your ingot molds with to keep the "stickies" down.

Keep the mold clean and smoke it a bit and zero issues for me.

Art

[mooman76]

I wouldn't go as far as to say I didn't like it but... I searched and searched here to get some. Couldn't find any so I finally broke down and ordered some. I tried it and of coarse you are going to get some wrinkled boolits at first because applying it cools down the mould some. I some no change though. I've had better results using WD40. It dries almost instantly on a hot mould but it too will cause wrinkled boolits at first because it cools the mould. I don't really bother with it either any more. I don't regret getting the Kroil though, but I will use it for other thing such as a solvent. I think it probably works best on new unbroken in moulds but that is just and educated guess from what I hear here.

[Maven]

Tried it in 2 molds, a Ly. #245496 and a Dixie .60cal. RB. While it did no harm, it didn't improve things either. I.e., it didn't improve casting any more than smoking either did using wooden matches.

[RobS]

Did you wipe out the mold with a rag after you applied it. I used Kroil once on a PITA iron mold; applied it to the mold and let things set over night. The next day I wiped all excess off the mold blocks and cavities, preheated on a hotplate twice (heated it up, let it cool, then heated it backup) and then started to cast. The mold worked much better after doing this. It may have been your technique in which you used the Kroil.

[GP100man]

I read these posts & have mixed feelins on tryin it , down in my heart I know it`s a lubricant!

[mdi]

Kroil don't lubricate much. It's good point is it creeps into extremely small places. I have used it to get lead out of a barrel; it seems to creep between the lead and the steel of the barrel. I'm not a scientist/engineer/metalurgist (sp?) so I can't explain any better than this. It works as advertised for me. I did try it in an old Ideal iron mold but got wrinkles just like regular oil for the first dozen casts, then the mold went back to good boolits that had to be banged out of the mold.

[405]

I remember the bandwagon, elixir threads about it too. Hook, line and sinker- many followed :) No, any type of oil inside the cavites is headaches for fill-out. Some of the mold release agents, soot, carbon, graphite, moly, bluing, etc.... are different agents entirely. Somtime they help... but oil- no. The only time I'll oil the inside of a mold is for rust prevention for long term storage

[prs]

I've never even read the sticky at the head of this page RE Kroil. When I get a mold, I wash it with diish wash soap and rinse with hot water. When dry, I lightly smoke it with a basswood splint. I start casting and after it reaches working temp I keep the boolits with no problems. However, I do have one or two molds that were a PIA to drop without whacking; a TC 454 Maxi and a Lee "improved" hollow based Minnie. Reckon I will at least read the Kroil sticky.

prs

[Von Gruff]

I tried it as there had been so much fuss made of the product. I had some on hand anyway as i put it my Ed's Red. After a casting session I applied it to the cavities and put the mould away. I am fortunate that I live in a dryish enviroment with not humidity problems so rusting is not a problem When I next went to prepare for a casting session I didn't (as I usually do) wash the mould with detergent in boiling water. I just put it on the edge of the gas heat ring as the alloy melted and when all was at the right temp started casting. First drop was too hot so cooled the mould ( read vigorous waving about to create air stream) and went to casting good boolits straight off the bat. So a one time try was positive and when I finished the session I again splashed liberal amounts of kroil in the cavities and put the mould away. Need a few sessions to confirm but I think I will continue using it this way.

Von Gruff.

[doghawg]

I tried it a couple of times and wasn't happy.

[KYCaster]

I tried Kroil and didn't like it.

I've also tried various mold releases and smoke from various sources. I haven't yet found anything that works better for me than a clean mold.

Jerry

[runfiverun]

i think the trick is to apply and heat it out.
a couple of treatments works best.
i don't use kroil but i do use krown, penetrating oil, in a spray can.
i keep my molds sprayed with it when not in use.
i wipe the molds down with a rag and heat them up, it seems after 5-6 cycles things do improve.
i have also applied it in the middle of a session with an aggravating square grooved mold.
yeah you lose a few pours but i had previously broken a stick on the bolt of the 4 cav's handles.
some molds no diff though.

[azjohn]

I used it on an RCBS mould that I cut the sprue to soon while casting (neighbor was talking to me) I soaked the mould for a couple days and it removed a lot of the mess that was on the block. Steel wool on thesprue cutter and it is like new. I wiped off the excess and started casting with it. My first few casts were wrinkled; but now all is back to normal. I am now using it to clean my barrels. All in all pretty happy with it.

[troy_mclure]

i can get cases of kroil locally, both jugs and spray.

ive tried it on all my moulds. i didnt notice any difference.

[calaloo]

Didn't try it. The whole idea struck me as hairbrained. Clean moulds work best.

[theperfessor]

Haven't tried it because I haven't needed it. Same with smoking a mold. Maybe I'm just lucky but I don't have any molds that won't work properly with a good cleaning and a little judicious deburring. But if it helps somebody else then go for it.

[Tom W.]

I tried it, but I prefer using Rem Oil. I'll lightly spray the molds after they cool. At the next casting session it only takes about five pours before I start to get good boolits.

[prickett]

I wouldn't go as far as to say I didn't like it but... I searched and searched here to get some. Couldn't find any so I finally broke down and ordered some. I tried it and of coarse you are going to get some wrinkled boolits at first because applying it cools down the mould some. I some no change though. I've had better results using WD40. It dries almost instantly on a hot mould but it too will cause wrinkled boolits at first because it cools the mould. I don't really bother with it either any more. I don't regret getting the Kroil though, but I will use it for other thing such as a solvent. I think it probably works best on new unbroken in moulds but that is just and educated guess from what I hear here.

I apply Kroil before I put my moulds on my hotplate. By casting time, there is no temp difference (i.e. cooling) and my boolits drop easily from a mould that otherwise requires a boatload of whacks to get them to drop.

[rintinglen]

I hold with those who hold with "no oil" in the mold. Kroil boils or burns out quicker than traditional oils. but so what. I am wasting 7 or 8 casts instead o' 20 or 30? How bout I preheat my mold and start getting good boolits from the get go.

[casterofboolits]

I hold with those who hold with "no oil" in the mold. Kroil boils or burns out quicker than traditional oils. but so what. I am wasting 7 or 8 casts instead o' 20 or 30? How bout I preheat my mold and start getting good boolits from the get go.

+1 Count me in with that bunch. I scrub my iron moulds with a diluted solution Daawn dish washing detergent and rinse several times with hot water and blow dry with canned air. I then smoke the cavitie lightly with a Bic lighter. Heat the moulds and start casting with almost zero rejects.

Oil of any kind will not touch my moulds while casting.:Fire::Fire:[smilie=s:

[shotman]

you didnt read how to use it send me the mold when you get it back it WILL cast good boolits it works if you are smart enough to follow what I told everyone in posts.
I bet your eggs stick in a cast iron skillet too
SEASON the mold do you understand SEASON the mold
have no connection to Kroil I just know if you do it right it works

[XWrench3]

my thoughts on the subject are this. in some molds, it either creaps in behind something, and the heat from casting pushes out of the pours. or, as it burns off, it fills the pores up with carbon. that of course, is in an iron mold. my personal experience using it in alumunim molds was outright aweful. i had to flush and scrub and scrub and flush to get it all back out so they would cast right again.

[Recluse]

In my mind, intentionally putting oil in the cavities of a mold to get it to cast better would be like putting rust in the barrel of a gun to make it shoot better. :veryconfu

But whatever works, I reckon.

I prefer clean molds.

:coffee: