The Right Handles Pic Thread!!

[Suo Gan]

The right tools for the job. It can be confusing I know. Someone has sold you a set of Large Lyman handles on your favorite internet auction site. You get them and you notice they are no 'larger' than your set of small handles! I think I was jipped :). Or you bought a set of what you thought was a pair of handles for your 4 cavity Ideal mold, THEY WON'T FIT!!

Here are some answers.

Picture 1: Lachmiller (Penguin) forrunner of Ohaus and RCBS Mold Handles. Lachmiller made some great molds but they require a special handle or mods to another handle. RCBS mold handles will not work (usually) as they are just a little too thick.

Picture 2:
Lee 6 cav mold handles. Will work on most styles of molds. They work great on Lyman single, doubles, Saeco, NOE, and Mihec molds for instance. Not as well made as KAL or Saeco and you will not get perfect mold alignment especially with heavier molds like brass.

Picture 3:
Old T/C Lyman style. Wider opening and will not work without some mods on anything other than single cavity Lyman (or T/C) molds. Note the tapered wood, and wider/shorter metal prong tips as compared to standard Lyman handles. I love this style handle for single cavity Lyman molds.

Picture 4:
New Style Lyman 2 cavity mold handles.

Picture 5:
Old Style Lyman 4 cavity 'nutcracker' handles. Lyman 4 cavity molds have a thinner handle slot milled into them than their 1 and 2 cavity molds. Incidentally Lachmiller molds will work with these handles.

Picture 6:
Old Lyman 'large' 2 cavity mold handles. These work on 2 cavity Lyman molds and 99% of Lyman 1 cavity molds. Note the prong tips. See how they are cut so that they can accommodate a wider block than the small set of handles? They are the same dimensions as the small size handle. Large is referring to their opening width capability, nothing to do with length :).

***Esoteric purely anal retentive mumbo jumbo*** Also note that some handles are squared off (like handles in pic 6) with ss ferules and others are rounded (like the set of smalls in pic 7) and noticeably thinner wood with brass ferules. The squared off handles are not as easy to have a handle twist or slip off because it is a square shank inside the wood not a round one like the older style.***

Picture 7:
Old Lyman 'small' 1 cavity mold handles. Most of these are round style. Some have wider prongs. Nothing like using a small handle for ease of casting with your single cavity Lyman mold!

Picture 8:
RCBS mold handles. RCBS uses a narrower channel in its mold blocks. Lee handles will not work on them.

Picture 9:
Saeco handles old style with the dark wood and 2 holes on each prong. These are meant to be used on 1,2,3,4 cavity Saeco molds. These will work on NOE 2 and 3 cavs and Mihec 2 and 4 cavity molds using the forward hole.

Picture 10:
T/C single cavity mold handles. This is the newer style and they are pretty cheaply made. They work well on single cavity Lyman molds however. Brass colored metal.


MORE TO COME! If you have something to add please do!

[Suo Gan]

Pic 1:
Ohaus mold handles. Ohaus made a nice line of single and double cavity molds. These handles fit them.

Pic 2:
New Style Lyman 4 cavity mold handles. Compare it to the picture of the new style 2 cavity handles in the first post (pic 4). Note that the prong ends of the 2 cavity are machined flat about halfway back where the machining stops. The 4 cavity prongs are machined all the way back for the use of the longer 4 cavity mold blocks. Note the rivet that goes through the handles (hidden in the first groove).

Pic 3:
New style Saeco mold handles. These can be confused with the new style Lyman handles. Here they are side by side for comparison. They are indeed different. They will not work on Lyman 4 cavity molds as they are too thick for the handle slot. Look at the brass ferules, the Saeco handles have a longer ones and they are lacking the rivet that goes through the handles too. These will not work with NOE or Mihec molds due to the alignment hole being too far back.

[Suo Gan]

Pic 1:
Cramer Mold Handle. Cramer molds and handles are excellent in quality and performance. They were the forerunner of Saeco who bought them out in the early 50's. And in many peoples minds are probably one of the best molds you can own. What I have found with Cramer molds is that they had their handles fitted to a specific set of blocks at Cramer facility. Therefore not all Cramer handles will necessarily fit another mold block without mods. Just something to be aware of.

Pic 2:
Modern Bond Bullet mold and handle. They are distinctive, and have raised lettering on the handles so they are not hard to identify. Excellent tools.

Pic 3:
Cramer gang mold blocks. The block has female threads and the handles are male threaded.

[Dale53]

Here's a picture of the Mihec handles. Note that the metal parts are solid steel (not cast) and the ferrules are stainless tubing.

I drill all of my mould handles right through the ferrules and insert a roll pin (tension pin) and grind flush. This totally eliminates wooden handles coming off the steel and then breaking. If the handles are loose, I first apply Gorilla Glue and then pin them. This applies to ALL makes.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/Dale53/MiHecsMouldHandlesSelects-3824.jpg

Dale53

[cbrick]

Suo Gan, great post and great info. I see a sticky here..

Rick

[94Doug]

Very helpful.

Thanks

Doug

[Dutchie]

indeed , a handy sticky.

but gorilla glue, heat safe glue ?

[Suo Gan]

I do not want to tread on the thin ice around H&G molds and their various handles. I am by no means an expert on them. I have never bought a set of H&G blocks without a set of handles attached. If I ever do, I am going to get a set from Red River Rick (member here). They are really fine pieces of work.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=56554

Rick also makes fine all steel handles for most bullet mold blocks and a nifty all steel cam lever to replace the too often broken OEM Lee 6 cavity cam lever.

Are they NICE or what! 8-)

[Suo Gan]

Thanks for the pictures of the Mihec handles and your riveting process Dale. I had a pair of Lyman handles that had split wood one time and I put a rivet right in the middle of the handle. Did you know that steel was a good conductor of heat and I had to develop a weird process of handling them so I would not get burned? Who would have known? I have used RTV to very good success for gluing the wood on. It will even save old, dry, cracked wood from cracking more.

Apply Kroil to the hinge of a Lyman mold if it is tight or hitchy. Warm it and work it back and forth.

If your Lyman mold hinge is loose. Place it on a hard surface like the anvil of your vice, and hit it with your small sledge. It is easier to smack it than unsmack it, do a little at a time and check to the correct tightness. Usually a couple whacks with a large hammer will tighten it up nicely.

[Suo Gan]

Quiz time, what are these two?

[crabo]

indeed , a handy sticky.

but gorilla glue, heat safe glue ?

works great! I've never had a handle come off with gorilla glue.

[buyobuyo]

Will the new style Saeco handles also fit NOE/Mihec molds like the old ones?

[Suo Gan]

Will the new style Saeco handles also fit NOE/Mihec molds like the old ones?

I started mixing and matching a couple sets of handles with NOE and Mihec molds. In this picture you can see the old style handles with the forward hole. This means the four cavity Mihec mold fits barely and since the four cavity NOE mold is a little longer it is too large. A 3 cavity NOE will fit them, but larger than that they do not. The bolt in the old style handles is right beneath the sprue cutter and kind of gets in the way, something to be aware of if you like it facing you. Thank you for the question.

Any of this handle stuff getting any clearer...:veryconfu

[DLCTEX]

Suo Gan: Lyman large 2 cav. and new style lyman 2 cav.

[MikeS]

BTW, on the T/C handles, I can verify that the are in fact made from some alloy of brass, as I've ground a few to fit SAECO 2 cavity moulds (and RCBS) and the color is not just a plating on top. If they're actually brass, or bronze, or what, I couldn't tell you, only that the color is thru the metal, not just a plating on top. Also, I believe the SAECO handles, as well as the new Lyman ones are being made for them by Scoville. At least that's what the ferrule on a set of SAECO handles I have here say. I also have another set of Cramer handles (or really early SAECO) that also say Scoville on the ferrule. I got these handles with a very early SAECO #12 mould. I do believe that they were fitted to individual moulds, as those handles won't fit any of my later Redding made moulds. It does make sense that a 3rd party would be making handles for several mould companies

[BCall]

Thanks for all the pics and descriptions. Very nice.

My Lachmiller handles also have Scovill on the ferrules. I was wondering if that was the for the whole set or just the ferrules. The brass T/C handles I had were too thin to work with any of the single cavity molds I have. They would have to be shimmed to work, but that was just that one set. I've never gotten another.

Wish I could find a couple of set of Ohaus handles to go with the Ohaus molds I have! Not that I need them, as my Lyman handles work OK, but I would still like to have some just to go in the collection. If someones got some, I'd trade some good Lyman handles for them, and maybe thow in a little boot!

Thanks, Billy

[Kull]

Great thread, should be a sticky. Answered many little questions I had about mold handles.

[HDS]

I wonder about the nutcracker style, do they have any advantages over the regular kind?

[Mk42gunner]

I wonder about the nutcracker style, do they have any advantages over the regular kind?

Yeah, they make you totally reevaluate your casting method:kidding:.

Before I bought a 4C Lyman, I thought the nutcrackers would be okay, and they do work; but after using one, I am planning to buy a set of the newer plier type 4C handles.

I'd like to see this thread a sticky also, it is nice to be able to actually see what the particular handles look like.

Robert

[runfiverun]

i'm linking this to my sticky some tips that may help.

[Sgt Petro]

This would make a great sticky!
I actually searched for this topic when i first started buying used molds.

[runfiverun]

it's in there, there is a lot of linked stuff like this in that sticky thread.
I am compiling stuff that will help there, the thread itself wanders around a bit with tips and a lube discussion.
and then on page 5 the links to stuff like this start.

[45nut]

very worthy of a sticky! nice work!

[TenTea]

Yeah, they make you totally reevaluate your casting method:kidding:.

Before I bought a 4C Lyman, I thought the nutcrackers would be okay, and they do work; but after using one, I am planning to buy a set of the newer plier type 4C handles.

I'd like to see this thread a sticky also, it is nice to be able to actually see what the particular handles look like.

Robert

I have an older Lyman 4 cavity of the vintage when *nutcracker* handles were in common use. I have no handles, but I want to put the mold into service. Can I assume that the *new style* (pliers type) Lyman handles designed for the 4-bangers will fit without issue?
Thanks much!

[M99SavNut]

Just now came across this thread, and have a couple of things to offer which may be of help or usefulness:

First, post #8 mentions H & G handles and the molds attached to them. Info I have read indicates that the H & G handles were made individually for the molds that were fitted to them, and one couldn't count on any interchange between molds and handles working as desired. I have a couple of sets of these molds, and they came with handles. I've seen them sold separately on eBay, and figured that was done perhaps out of ignorance (thinking there was no problem with interchanging them with other molds or handles), or perhaps out of a desire to get a few more bucks????

Secondly, I had a problem, the reverse of the one stated in the bottom part of post #9 (a loose hinge on a set of Lyman handles), where I had a Lyman handle that was quite difficult to open or close, and no kind or amount of lubrication helped. I center-punched and drilled a hole in the hinge pin part way thru the pin, and kept at it, by stages, 'till it loosened up. There's still plenty of metal in the pin, and the hinge now works as it should. Maybe the handle's previous owner had applied that "tightening" hammer a bit too vigorously, but a gentle application of the drill bit relieved that stress?

Anyway, hope this is useful, on both points discussed.

Jess

[Blammer]

Here are NOE's handles he sells. They are really good!

7649176492

[Char-Gar]

I have quite a few handles. Here are two Cramer handles with a SAECO in the middle. You can see they are quite different. I will suspect you will have to modify another make.

[squidtamer]

Is it just me? Or are most of the photos in this thread missing?
Unfortunately I could really use some help from the first post :-/