Mold handle question

[Possum]

Anyone ever had a problem with mold handles being to long for the mold to close completely? I thought I was having trouble with a single cavity 429244 mold closing and turns out the handles were not applying enough leverage to the mold to get it to close securely. The handles were touching right at the end stopping the mold from closing a hair's width in measurement.

By the way, my 429421 had the same problem and now looks like it closes tight now. I wonder if my groups will shrink now?:mrgreen:

[Jon K]

If you have the wrong handles on they may not close. Especially Lyman single cavity, may need to modify(new holes) or use small handles.

Jon
:castmine:

[floodgate]

Possum:

Jon's got it; Lyman made the handles in two sizes for the older small single-cavity blocks and for the larger double-cavity (and single-cavity for larger boolits) ones - and even there we see a lot of mis-fits. Generally, the large handles on the small blocks can have the problem you encountered, while small handles on large blocks sometimes are awkwardly far apart for long casting sessions. Furthermore, you need to be sure the front and rear parts of the handle jaws are clear of the inside face of the block slots; if they aren't, that too can keep the blocks from closing fully. You can fix that by a few strokes of a file at the contact point at front or back of the jaws. in your case, opening up the holes won't help. Rasping away a bit of wood where the handles meet will provide an immediate fix. The newest Lyman handles are supposed(?) to work with either size blocks, and the few I've checked, they seem to do so. If that doesn't do it, PM me and I may be able to turn up an extra set of small handles.

floodgate

[IcerUSA]

Take a round file to the handles where the mold hits and shave off a little till the mold closes and you should be fine, my Lee handles for the six bangers does that too, just a few strokes and shes better than new :)

[Mr Peabody]

Yep', seems to be two sizes. I ended up with both