MikeS
02-20-2012, 05:17 AM
Hi All.
Many people here on the forum know that Erik from hollowpointmold.com does great work making regular boolit moulds into hollow point moulds. But what many might not know is that along with that service Erik can fix a multitude of mould problems!
A while back I bought a used SAECO #458 eight cavity mould off eBay, and the mould came with a replacement sprue plate made by a machine shop local to the seller, one with no boolit mould experience. Well, the sprue plate was made fairly nicely, nice and thick, then hardened. On the surface it looked like a nice sprue plate, but once I tried the mould I knew there was a problem. First off the sprue holes had the counterbore only half way down the hole, and the hole on the bottom was nicely chamfered. This made for a nice looking sprue plate, but it meant that in order to cut the sprue it required lots of pounding on the sprue plate with a mallet, and then having to pry the sprue off the plate! I've had some other moulds where the counterbore wasn't deep enough, but it was a simple matter to drill the counterbore deeper, but not on this mould, as it is hardened really hard!
After talking to Erik (via email) I sent the mould off to him to see if he could fix it. He had said he might be able to drill the holes deeper with a carbide cutter, or if he couldn't he would make a new plate. When I got the mould back at first I thought Erik had made a new plate, that's how nice it looked. Upon further investigation I realized that if he had made a new sprue plate he would have returned the old one, this one WAS the original sprue plate. He not only drilled the sprue hole counterbores deeper, but he also ground both the top & bottom of the plate, so it's now nice and flat, but he also cleaned up the trough that the sprue plate had, and drilled a hole for a sprue plate cam lever. He was able to do all this while the sprue plate was hard, he didn't anneal it so he could work on it.
So I've added a sprue cam lever made by RedRiverRick, a really nice lever made from steel, not the **** Lee makes them out of, and so I have a nice 8 cavity mould that was brought back to life with the help of Erik & Rick! And Erik's price was as amazing as the work he did, drilling the counterbores, drilling the cam lever hole, cleaning up the trough, and of course grinding the plate flat, all on a plate that's hardened really hard, all for under $50.00, add another $17.00 for Rick's cam lever and for less than $75 I have a mould that's not only usable, but a joy to cast with as well (I hope, haven't had a chance to cast with it yet)! Here are some pictures of the finished sprue plate mounted on the mould:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33510159/IMG_0144.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33510159/IMG_0145.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33510159/IMG_0146.jpg
Many people here on the forum know that Erik from hollowpointmold.com does great work making regular boolit moulds into hollow point moulds. But what many might not know is that along with that service Erik can fix a multitude of mould problems!
A while back I bought a used SAECO #458 eight cavity mould off eBay, and the mould came with a replacement sprue plate made by a machine shop local to the seller, one with no boolit mould experience. Well, the sprue plate was made fairly nicely, nice and thick, then hardened. On the surface it looked like a nice sprue plate, but once I tried the mould I knew there was a problem. First off the sprue holes had the counterbore only half way down the hole, and the hole on the bottom was nicely chamfered. This made for a nice looking sprue plate, but it meant that in order to cut the sprue it required lots of pounding on the sprue plate with a mallet, and then having to pry the sprue off the plate! I've had some other moulds where the counterbore wasn't deep enough, but it was a simple matter to drill the counterbore deeper, but not on this mould, as it is hardened really hard!
After talking to Erik (via email) I sent the mould off to him to see if he could fix it. He had said he might be able to drill the holes deeper with a carbide cutter, or if he couldn't he would make a new plate. When I got the mould back at first I thought Erik had made a new plate, that's how nice it looked. Upon further investigation I realized that if he had made a new sprue plate he would have returned the old one, this one WAS the original sprue plate. He not only drilled the sprue hole counterbores deeper, but he also ground both the top & bottom of the plate, so it's now nice and flat, but he also cleaned up the trough that the sprue plate had, and drilled a hole for a sprue plate cam lever. He was able to do all this while the sprue plate was hard, he didn't anneal it so he could work on it.
So I've added a sprue cam lever made by RedRiverRick, a really nice lever made from steel, not the **** Lee makes them out of, and so I have a nice 8 cavity mould that was brought back to life with the help of Erik & Rick! And Erik's price was as amazing as the work he did, drilling the counterbores, drilling the cam lever hole, cleaning up the trough, and of course grinding the plate flat, all on a plate that's hardened really hard, all for under $50.00, add another $17.00 for Rick's cam lever and for less than $75 I have a mould that's not only usable, but a joy to cast with as well (I hope, haven't had a chance to cast with it yet)! Here are some pictures of the finished sprue plate mounted on the mould:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33510159/IMG_0144.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33510159/IMG_0145.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33510159/IMG_0146.jpg