Rusty mold question??

[Andrew Quigley]

Howdy ya'll


I've been casting a few years now. Mainly for my 45 Colt, 45-70 and my blackpowder pistols in 36cal and 44cal.
Been looking for a mold to start casting 38's. Checking out E-bay for bargins. I've seen a few that had slight rust on the outside or inside. Outside doesn't worry me but I've been wondering if ya could clean the inside with some wd40 and very fine steel wool and not ruin the mold.
What do ya'll use??

[grouch]

I cast a bullet, set the mold containing the bullet on a heat source, melt the bullet in the mold, and insert a pre - heated nail. When this cools, I chuck the nail in my electric drill, wet the inside of the mold, and use Comet or Ajax or equivalent to scour out the rust.
So far it's worked and not damaged a mold. The fine steel wool and WD 40 should be very safe and should work if the rust is not too bad.

[felix]

It seems to me that if you wanted an oversized mold without beagling, a quick and controlled rust job before turning the mold with a commensurate boolit will work fairly good. I personally don't care if a mold is rusty or not, provided the booits from it shoot as intended. No, I don't like the idea of having rusty tools because it goes against my grain like everyone else's. That is the problem with society in general, though. Cars just run better when they are clean, right? Everyone would puke if they saw the crap crawling around on their skin. ... felix

[RayinNH]

If the rust is in the grooves, boolit spinning with a fine abrasive works well. If the rust is on the body, an eraser made for erasing ink works well. Rust on the outside can be removed with a wire brush or fine abrasive paper...Ray

[imashooter2]

Electrolytic rust removal. Link to the process:

http://www3.telus.net/public/aschoepp/electrolyticrust.html

A quick and dirty set up:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/imashooter2/pictures/ERR-out.jpg
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/imashooter2/pictures/ERR-in.jpg

[Andrew Quigley]

I don't know bout me, electricity & water!! I'm the one of the three who's liable to get hurt!!

[Rick N Bama]

Howdy Andrew, I'm just down Hwy 157 from you in Cullman Cty. There's several of us Bama foks here.

So where do you shoot?

Rick

[Andrew Quigley]

North Alabama Regulators, over in Grant. We're a cowboy action shooting club. Try to get over to Swan Creek near Decatur for a little range time. Live in Florence though.

[Leftoverdj]

There's the crusty rust which means pitting underneath and the light surface rust which is more like browning. I've never had any problems from the light kind. Being lazy, I just tumble one block at a time in my case tumbler. My media is heavily laced with Boni Ami cleanser, and the tumbler has more patience than I do.

[Navahojoe]

Hi Andrew,
I'm in Huntsville. Shoot at Larry's Pistol and Pawn.
regards,
NavahoJoe

:castmine: so I can :Fire:

[imashooter2]

I don't know bout me, electricity & water!! I'm the one of the three who's liable to get hurt!!

Pretty hard to get hurt on low amp DC, but as Harry Callahan would say, "A man's got to know his limitations."

[Bob B]

Pretty hard to get hurt on low amp DC, but as Harry Callahan would say, "A man's got to know his limitations."

WHY not just bullets in the rusty mold, this willremove the rust without any extra work and no danger of being shocked and will be bullet ahead. Bob B

[imashooter2]

WHY not just bullets in the rusty mold, this willremove the rust without any extra work and no danger of being shocked and will be bullet ahead. Bob B

How will casting bullets remove rust?

[lurch]

A thought on the electrolytic rust removal:

Afterwards, the blue surface finish will probably be removed from the mold. Oil it up after the electrolysis or it will rust faster than you would believe - especially in a humid environment (aka Eastern NC). I tried this with a badly neglected Lyman Mag 20 crucible that I got second hand and it was showing signs of surface rust again within a day of coming out of the bath and dried off. After using the thing a couple of times, a surface oxidation formed that prevented further rusting.

[Doughty]

Somebody on the list here mentioned using EvapoRust to clean a mould. I got some at an Auto Zone store. It worked really well on light rust or heavy. You can Google for it and find the site where it tells all about how it works. You can order online but then you have the cost of shipping. Good stuff.

[axxman928]

What a bunch of guys on this site. Super. The fellas just answered one of
the questions that I was going to ask on rust removal. Thanks a lot guys.
Sure made my day. axxman928