Sticking CB in Lee mould

[popper]

Really made a mess this morning. New 6 hole RD 30-30 mould won't release bullets well. Cleaned real good, lubed with 2 cycle oil and preheated to 400. Have a hard time keeping the 4-20 pot below 700 ( on 3, 1/3 full #2). Sprue cut OK, but bullets won't drop so I pushed them out with a dowel. Super shiny with wrinkles and poor fill-out. That's OK, but finally got the mould stuck closed. Cranked the hot-plate up and melted the lead from the mould, but now the mould has lead all over it. How does one clean this up? Scrape with a tooth pick when cold or hot?

[Ben]

UUUUmmmmm, that's not good.
You may have to soak the mold with KROIL, ( then wrap it in a hvy gauge plastic bag ) and put it in the deep freeze overnight to have a chance of getting the mold blocks clean again.

[Red River Rick]

Take a hammer and pound vigorously................salvage lead and then throw the mould in the garbage. That's what you get for buying a cheap mould!

RRR

[runfiverun]

my first thoughts too rick.

just melt the lead off.
fill your pot up.
and get the mold hotter.

[stubshaft]

Your alloy is too cold.

A light tap on the mold handles will help pop the boolits out.

Heat up the alloy in your pot, put the base of the mold in the alloy and the lead will melt off.

You can also use the corner of a lead ingot to "erase" the lead off of the mold.

Spray with Kroil and let it soak for a while then use the lead ingot trick on a cold mold.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

+1 on Stubshaft's suggestions for straightening things out. Three things that lead will not stick to; cast iron, aluminum and stainless steel. If your mold has been really properly cleaned and the temp is right then there should be no sticking. Some people use 2 cycle oil successfully to lube molds and many use Bullplate as well. I use a carpenter's pencil, but an ordinary pencil will do....graphite is a good lubricant. If there is not any burrs on the cavity edges then the bullets should drop out of the cavities with a tap or two on the handle hinge. If you have to resort to whacking the mold repeatedly then you have something impeding the bullets from getting out of the cavities and usually it is a burr or burrs on the edge(s). You can spot them with a magnifying glass/loupe and they have to be removed. Wrinkled bullets=poor fillout=metal too cold. Having to push, pry or dig bullets out of a mold is not the way to do business, so go back to square #1 and set things up over again. Aluminum molds will not rust so keep them clean and don't put anything in them except alloy that is the right working temperature. Well cast bullets that shoot well can come from Alu molds if you take the time....with patience to learn and follow their ways. Generally Aluminum gets rid of heat faster than iron so you have to use a higher temp. If you get frosting...not to worry as it doesn't effect the accuracy. You can shine the bullets with #0000 steel wool or simply back down a bit on the temp until the frosting goes away. Don't get discouraged and keep practicing....You'll get it right. LLS

[HangFireW8]

Been there. Dropped melt into a cold Lee 6-banger and I couldn't cut the sprue and the thing seemed soldered shut. Had a bunch of lead on the outside, too. I knew from reading this site that if I forced the sprue handle I'd break something.

I just heated it up until lead started melting out, started with the mold pre-heater hot-plate, finished with a propane hand torch over a cookie sheet. Keep the heat as even as possible so you don't warp the mold, thus the pre-heat, and keep the torch moving. Eventually when things are hot enough the lead will come off. It's made to operate at that temp, just don't hit a cold mold with a torch on one side and leave the torch there.

How did it all go so wrong for me? My mold pre-heat hot plate was off, so my pre-heated mold was actually pre-chilled. Oops.

HF

[popper]

I have 2 2 hole mould I really had to work on to clean up. This one is a RD design by Lee and was MUCH cleaner, even through magnifier. I'm just beggining to cast so lots of OJT to do. It helps to get the good advice from those who have been there-done that. Thanks. I'll melt the lead off and clean it again. Practice, practice.

[MtGun44]

Lee molds work perfectly well, as a general rule. Heat it up and wipe off with an old
junk towel, and it should clean up. You may need to scrub the cavities with a toothbrush
and Comet to remove burrs and properly clean it.

Bill

[DLCTEX]

It sounds as if you main problem is the mould being too cool. Some people sell their own brand of mould and some just never were able to make their mould work and have a prejudice against Lee moulds. Their advice is never helpful. Remove any burrs from the mould, clean, and preheat by dipping the front corners into the melt. The warm mould will drop boolits much better, whether aluminum or steel. Members that are willing to work through issues will find the way to make it work, thousands do.

[MT Gianni]

You post that you were running your pot @ over 700F, 1/3 full #2 alloy. I have never let my pot get that low unless I am emptying it. I have to keep mine @ 7-8 to maintain 700F with a 3/4 full pot. I suggest that your thermostat is off as your melt is telling you that your alloy is still cold. How did you preheat? Was the hot plate or oven set to 400 or did the mold surface temp hit that? How long was the mold in the heat? If you are using an infrared thermostat you are not getting a correct reading. I find that 20 minutes on a 350 hot plate warms up almost any mold.