MikeS
04-21-2011, 08:36 PM
Hi All.
I just bought a 311041 2 cavity mould off eBay, and this is a NOS mould. I only have a few Lyman moulds ( this one is my 5th), but this one has some differences from others, so I thought I would ask about them here. First thing is this one was made 05/2008, and the screws that hold it to the handles have a straight blade slot. I have another 2 cavity mould that I had thought was about the same age, and it has hex head screws to hold the mould to the handles, so I was wondering when Lyman switched from straight bladed screws to hex head? This mould does have a hex head screw to lock the sprue plate screw, just like my other newer mould (I have one other 2 cavity mould that is marked Lyman, and has all straight blade screws). My new mould is also the only one I have that is marked with the date it was made.
Another thing I'm curious about is that this new mould has a 3/16" thick sprue plate, and all my other moulds have 1/8" thick sprue plates. Also, when did Lyman start adding letters after the mould number? I have 2 Ideal SC moulds, and they are numbered with the first 3 digits then a space, then the last 3 digits. The DC moulds I have all have the six digit number as a single number, and the 2 newer moulds also have 2 letters right after the digits (not separated by any spaces, or anything), this mould is 311041EV and the other one with letters is 358477AV. Do these indicate what part of the year they were made, or which machinist made them?
I realize that none of this info means a thing, compared to how the mould casts, I'm just kind of curious.
I just bought a 311041 2 cavity mould off eBay, and this is a NOS mould. I only have a few Lyman moulds ( this one is my 5th), but this one has some differences from others, so I thought I would ask about them here. First thing is this one was made 05/2008, and the screws that hold it to the handles have a straight blade slot. I have another 2 cavity mould that I had thought was about the same age, and it has hex head screws to hold the mould to the handles, so I was wondering when Lyman switched from straight bladed screws to hex head? This mould does have a hex head screw to lock the sprue plate screw, just like my other newer mould (I have one other 2 cavity mould that is marked Lyman, and has all straight blade screws). My new mould is also the only one I have that is marked with the date it was made.
Another thing I'm curious about is that this new mould has a 3/16" thick sprue plate, and all my other moulds have 1/8" thick sprue plates. Also, when did Lyman start adding letters after the mould number? I have 2 Ideal SC moulds, and they are numbered with the first 3 digits then a space, then the last 3 digits. The DC moulds I have all have the six digit number as a single number, and the 2 newer moulds also have 2 letters right after the digits (not separated by any spaces, or anything), this mould is 311041EV and the other one with letters is 358477AV. Do these indicate what part of the year they were made, or which machinist made them?
I realize that none of this info means a thing, compared to how the mould casts, I'm just kind of curious.