New Lee Mold Issues

[Swampman]

I tried my new 405HB - .459 mold today. I managed to get 2 good bullets out of it and now I can't get the bolcks to fit together well enough at the bottom to keep lead from leaking out. I've cast a lot of bullets with Lee molds but I've never had so much trouble. I've looked it over really well but I can't see why it won't close. I'm gonna send it back. I hate this because I was really excited about this design.

[leadhead]

Try lubing the 2 pins at the bottom of the mold.
Denny

[Beekeeper]

Don't say that Swampman!!
Mine just arrived today and was gonna check it out tomorrow.
What lead did you use ?
Was planning on 50/50 , lead.W/W


beekeeper

[Swampman]

Wheel weights.....

[Ragnarok]

Hmmm...I just used my new Lee 405 hb mold today as well. First time.

Worked well I thought...I did have a bit of trouble with lead smearing under the sprue-cutter..and got a few small bits inbetween the blocks...which caused me to discard some 'winged' bullits back to the pot.

These were the first hollow-base bullets I've cast

Didn't get any bits of lead in the workings of the blocks maybe?

[6.5 mike]

Try setting the mould on something flat when you close it, I do this with all my moulds & it really helps the lees. A couple of them it's the only way them will match up at the bottom when closing.

[Pigslayer]

I have this problem with one of my LEE molds. I keep a towel on the bench top when casting for the bullets to fall on. I have to tap the corners of the mold against the edge of the towel covered bench to get them to close . . . everytime.

[tuckerdog]

I've had this issue w/ lee molds in the past, as they said above tap the mold upon closing and lube the pins. lead on the blocks of a soft lee mold is a real @#$%^ to remove w/o damaging the blocks

[Hang Fire]

I have found this to be a common fault at times with the Lee molds.

I found the best way to overcome it is to have a 1/4" thick, flat and smooth aluminum plate on top of a electric hot plate. (any flat surface might suffice) By setting the mold on the flat surface they close easily every time. I did not come up with the idea, several members here on CB have discussed same in the past.

The aluminum plate on the hot plate with the heat turned on high also makes a good place for sitting molds to preheat or keeping them hot.

[Hang Fire]

Try setting the mould on something flat when you close it, I do this with all my moulds & it really helps the lees. A couple of them it's the only way them will match up at the bottom when closing.

You beat me to it Mike, I posted near same after you.

[BCall]

Try setting the mould on something flat when you close it, I do this with all my moulds & it really helps the lees. A couple of them it's the only way them will match up at the bottom when closing.

Unfortunately this does not work with the Lee hollow base or hollow point molds, as the pin holder sticks out from the handles beneath the mold blocks. If you set it down to align it like you do a standard Lee mold, you are just resting it on the pin holder and it does nothing to help align the blocks.

[Swampman]

I finally got it to stop leaking but I have yet to cast a useable boolit. I followed the instructions carefully but I'm still getting wrinkles and wings. Maybe my bottom pour Model 61 doesn't flow enough lead for this big boolit. I cast about 50.

[Maven]

Swampman, Those CB's need to be cast HOT, at least for the first dozen or so. When you get perfect fillout on both the body and cavity, you can drop the temp. to ~775 deg. F. The wings indicate the mold isn't closing properly, but I don't have a simple solution to that problem without examining the mold.

[DLCTEX]

Heat the base pin with a propane torch, if that's where the wrinkling occurs. If in other places you may need to clean it extra well. I have had two new Lee moulds that were a real pain to get the lubricating oils off. Beyond that, the mould may need extra preheat.

[Tonto]

I'd try polishing all steel parts with a dremel brush carefully to see if there is a burr of some sort messing with you, paying close attention to the piece that forms the hollow then hit it all with mould release. LEE ain't NOE but they are usually great moulds for the money, just need a little tweaking.

[cajun shooter]

First I would look at my alignment pins and polish them with a Dremel tool. Then use either Bullplate or similar mold lube.
The biggest problem is that the LEE moulds require running at least 750 degrees of alloy temperature with the mould being preheated on a hotplate or other heat source.
The Lee moulds will not reach the proper heat range by placing on the edge of the pot.
You also have to have a wet towel or similar cloth to place the mould on every 4-5 pours.
If your bullets are frosted that means you are in the zone and need to stay there or a wee bit lower.

[ricksplace]

I have the same mold and the same problems. Thanks for the advice, I'll try your suggestions.

[Swampman]

I'm going to try Lee-Mentining tonight.

[Swampman]

I finally got a few good bullets but the lead is pretty hard. Will they shoot ok over smokeless?

[MikeS]

While not a HB mould, I just bought a couple of Lee 2 cavity moulds that I had lots of trouble getting them to close properly. When I mentioned it here I got some advice that worked well, as well as I figured out some fixes on my own that might help.

The first thing is to tighten the nut & bolt on the handles until the mould won't open, then back off the nut slightly (I was recommended to back it off 1/4 turn, but I only backed it off 1/8th of a turn). This helped quite a bit. Then I removed the pins that hold the mould blocks to the handles by drilling out the portion of the hole that's peened over. Once the blocks were off the handles I saw that the holes the pins go thru in the handles are oversized with lots of slop, and the holes extended out from the handles (when they made the holes it moved metal out of the way, which made the metal around the hole higher than the rest of the handles. I took a ball peen hammer, and peened that extended area until the pins didn't fit in the holes anymore (you have to be careful not to over do it here), then I reassembled the blocks on the handles, and tapped the pins in place with a hammer, then a punch to get the pins in deeper that flush, and finally I re-peened the ends of the holes to keep pins in place should they come loose of the handles.

Once all this was done, the mould blocks close in perfect alignment! There's still some play in the mould blocks (they're not glued to the handles), but there's no play up and down, and this is where most of the misalignment of the blocks happens. I personally like the sprue plate facing the opposite way they do from the factory (I like them facing inward, like most 4+ cavity moulds are mounted), and so I mounted them this way when I remounted my mould blocks, but that's no needed to make the blocks align properly by fitting the pins by doing this fix.

[MtGun44]

The universals solution is

"Your mold is too cold and is not clean enough."

Scrub cavities with toothbrush and Comet.

Turn up the heat, cast faster, DO NOT admire your work. Fill, cut, dump; fill, cut, dump;
fill, cut, dump --
as fast as you can go until they start working. Sort them out later.

Bill

[geargnasher]

It's very simple:

1. Use Bullplate on the alingnment surfaces, if the mould blocks hit even close to each other they will glide into place. Lube the HB spud alignment groove as well.

2. Preheat the mould by closing everything up tight and dunking the front, bottom edge of the mould about 1/4" deep in the melt for about 30-45 seconds. This will drop the pot temp 50-75 degrees so be careful.

3. Cast FAST, don't let the mould cool off once you get it hot. Think three pours a minute, four is better if you can manage with the HB configuration.

Gear

[nanuk]

MikeS: thanks for the info on the handles.

that is an area that many won't know to check.

[DODGEM250]

One thing I learned about my Lee 12 gauge slug mold and .58 Minie mold is get it hot hot hot and pour it fast. Both HB molds of course. My first 25 bullets were nothing but sags and wrinkles. The hotter the mold got and the faster I poured, the prettier the bullets were.

[MikeS]

Nanuk: Glad I could help.

Beekeeper: Off topic, but I'm curious, do you own the car in your avatar? It's kind of hard to tell from such a small picture, but it looks like either a 1920 or 1921, I used to have a 1914 Runabout, and I'm sorry I ever sold it!

[Dirty30]

I have had this same problem with this mold, but it usually occurs after I have been casting awhile. I will try lubing the whole thing up good. I havn't had this problem with my lee round ball mold, so I assumed it had to do with the HB portion.

[sharpshooter81]

I got this mold a week ago....same problem....wouldn't close tight on the bottom....LISTEN TO ME!!!...lol.....Loosen the bolt that holds the handles together!!! Do it!!! I loosened mine up quite a bit, the handles will almost feel a bit sloppy but it works AWESOME...close everytime and it gives me excellent boolits.....do yourself another favor and file that base pin flat (thats right, you wont have hollow base boolits anymore) you are not going to gain anything by shooting that hollow base boolit!! The sides of the hollow base are too thick to expand and seal the bore (like the hollow base is designed to do)....File that puppy flat, not only will your mold cast better, but you will also make a slightly heavier bullet (416-418 grns).....try both of the above, you wont regret it!!