Lee 6 cav pin problems

[atom73]

I have a lee 6 cav 230 gr RN mold that I have only used three times in casting. I treat it well, open the sprue plate with a gloved hand and I dont bang on it with anything. Bullets drop fine but this last time the mold was having trouble closing all the way and also opening after sprue cutting. Further investigation revealed that it was sticking on the nose pin (at the end) with the near pin coming free easily. When I finally stopped pouring (it was sticking so bad) the pin was so stuck that I almost had to pry the two mold halves apart. I didnt want to marr the mold so I was able to free the pin by wiggling and tapping with a dowell, I also checked the pin and seat, both shiny (no burs). What could be going on and what are my possible solutions?
Mike

[Doby45]

Lube that pin with some Bull Plate and it may need to be seated a little deeper.

[atom73]

This might be a stupid question....what is bull plate and how do I seat the pin deeper? Are there any substitutes for bull plate that I may have around?

[arjacobson]

Yep-lube the pin. Mine did the same thing. I use a very small shot of spray type graphite on the pins.. No more problems

[JIMinPHX]

Bullplate is accepted by folks on this board to be the best sprue plate & mold pin lube out there. I agree with that. You get it from Bullshop. He is a member of this board. You can look him up here - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=100396

My second best lube was a combination of high temp grease from the auto parts store & never seize, 5:1, but Bullplate is much better as it lubes at least as well & doesn't leave a mess caked on for you to scrub off later.

Bullshop is out in the boonies of Alaska. Their mail box is far enough away from the house that it doesn't always get checked everyday. If they are a little slow in responding to a request, please be patient. They will respond.

A few gentle taps with a mallet will generally seat your pin a little deeper. Arbor presses work well too. If you want to get fancy, you can figure out how much you want to move it, then make up a little jig from a piece of material the correct thickness with a hole drilled through it. Most people just use a hammer of some sort. Soft nose hammers are usually best, but others will work if you are gentle.

[RobS]

I would start with some pin/sprue plate lube. Bull Plate is excellent and I've also used higher quality synthetic 2 cycle oil as a close substitue. Just a small amount applied with a Q-tip will suffice.

If that doesn't work:

Seating the pins further down will work if the female bushing on the other block half is the correct diameter. I had a Lee six cavity mold that wasn't, so I took a drill bit (don't recall which one I used) and cleaned out the hole as well as took off the burrs. Don't get crazy with drill bit size selection as much larger and you'll end up with slop and play between the mold halves resulting in poor block alignment; the mold won't close properly.