Humidity giving me fits

[x101airborne]

Well, after 7 years of drought, we are having the summer of our lives. Lots of little rains almost every day. Really good for the hay crops, the pasture ranchers, etc. Unfortunately it is wreaking havoc on my moulds. What can I do to not only stop the rust on the sprue plate, but also the white crusty stuff on the mould blocks? I have had an idea, although probably idiotic like most noob ideas are.... I was thinking of taking a 1 oz bottle of Bull Plate, a 1 oz bottle of straight lithium grease, and 5 oz of alcahol as a carrier and use it as a spray. When the mold is hot and just done casting, I could spray it down and prevent rust.

PROBLEM is.......
I have to clean that crud off every time I want to use the mold. Dang if that wouldnt get old quick.

Does anyone know of anything that will prevent rust but burn off at a lower temp? Such as heating a mold up and say, at 350 turn to nothing? A little ash for a couple pours and good to go? I am really looking for a solution. Other than moving to Nevada.

[Longwood]

Maybe some silica jell packets in baggie's with each mold.

[tomme boy]

I use them blue paper shop towels. The heavy duty ones. Spray it down with your favorite oil. I spray both sides. Just enough to get it in the paper. Not sopping wet. Wrap the mold with it, put a rubber band to hold it over the mold and thats it. But mine are in my basement. I know most of the people in the south do not have basements, but thats where I do my casting. So that is where they are stored.

[smokeywolf]

Desiccant packs as Longwood said.

I have had good results from LPS #2, Ballistol, and G96 gun spray for rust prevention. I suspect all 3 of those will clean off with denatured alcohol or mineral spirits.

smokeywolf

[Longwood]

Silika jell is cool because it changes color as it absorbers water.
Put it in the oven until it dries and changes back and it is like new again.

[runfiverun]

2 stroke oil is meant to burn and be ashless when it burns.
i dunno if it does so at 350 though.
but i'd bet a quick spray off with brake cleaner would do the job.
it does in my garage anyway's

[geargnasher]

Trey, dig around and find a post that CBRick made last year sometime about rustproof mould storage. I don't remember all the details but in involved silica gel and I think Ziplock storage containers. I keep my moulds lightly oiled on the outside, wrapped in industrial oilpaper, and stored in oiled cardboard cigar boxes. The boxes of iron moulds get stored in the gun safe, the others over my casting bench which is inside a bombproof, climated-controlled room. No rust in there!

Gear

[Castlead]

Ammo can with VCI paper (free) or VCI emitter ($10 on line). No cleaning no corrosion no problem.

[dragonrider]

"I was thinking of taking a 1 oz bottle of Bull Plate, a 1 oz bottle of straight lithium grease, and 5 oz of alcahol as a carrier and use it as a spray. When the mold is hot and just done casting, I could spray it down and prevent rust."

Don't know why you would use the lithium grease, but sprayin the mold with the mix would work ok, but not when hot, wait until cooled or the oil will just run off the mold. My mold are in my basement and I use a dehumidifier so rust ain't much of a problem for me. Placeing your mld in an ammo can with dessicant pacs is another method that I understand works well.

[chboats]

I have had good luck storing mine in air tight containers. As soon as they are cool enough put them back in the storage box with the other molds and a desiccant bag . It has worked so far.

Carl

[Longwood]

Many products come with small Silika Jell packets.
I save and open many of them and put the contents in a clear, jar or shatter proof container, with lots of tiny holes in the lid.
A pint jar in the corner of a safe is a good thing to do.
For smaller cabinets and draws, I like the little olive or pimento jars because they take up very little room and can be put directly into a low temperature oven.
Tell your wife and kids to also watch for and save them.
I get a lot that is white and hard to tell when it gets wet so I try to add some of the color changing type so I can tell when it needs to be dried.
Over the years, I have collected nearly a half gallon of it.
Those little squares of cardboard they put in mold and die boxes helps prevent rust also.

[blackthorn]

You should be able to get silika gel at your local hobby store in bulk.

[dragonrider]

At a local hardware store they sell a moisture absorbing salt of some kind, I don't remember the name of it, but if it gets wet enough it will drip moisture and that moisture is highly corrosive. Just a thought to beware of were you place your dessicant or whatever it is that you are using.

[montana_charlie]

I once knew a welder who was very picky about the condition of his welding rods.
In his estimation, any 'stick' stored in a drawer or a cardboard box was bound to absorb some amount of moisture from the humidity in the air, and be rendered less than 'perfect' ... and he insisted on perfection in his welds.
This was in Montana, where humidity is usually quite low.

He built a rod storage cabinet which I don't think was airtight, but it had a light bulb inside that kept the interior pretty warm.

The idea may have a use in mould storage, and a Christmas tree bulb can make a lot of heat in a smallish space.

CM

[fcvan]

I lived a mile from the coast on the CA/OR border for over 20 years. They don't measure annual rainfall in inches there, it's 4 to 6 feet. No rain, no fog belt, no redwood trees. Humid enough? I have only had one mold get rusty and it was even reasonably stored so it was my fault.

I leave alloy in the mold blocks. I store the molds in their original boxes. The rusty mold was put in a cotton sock, bad idea. NOW, I keep the molds that don't have original boxes in at least a closed cardboard box. Another poster here stores his in a rubber maid style tote box and I am thinking of doing the same. The humidity in CO is way lower than the CA north coast so it shouldn't be a problem anymore. Frank

[pmer]

Some where on this board is info about using Kroil on molds and casting them damp with kroil. I tried it with a Lyman 2 cavatiy and it made nice boolits.


I just saw it. It is a sticky in the Cast Boolits section

[geargnasher]

Actually, having seen your setup, I think getting a room dehumidifier would help a bunch. When you run AC in a room it only dehumidifies to a point, and when you shut it off all the water on the evaporator evaporates back into the room, plus right after you shut it down any humidity in the air condenses right away on cool metal in the room. You could stick a dehumidifier out there and leave it running all the time, it would help the AC work better, too.

Just a thought.

Gear

[JIMinPHX]

I was thinking of taking a 1 oz bottle of Bull Plate, a 1 oz bottle of straight lithium grease, and 5 oz of alcahol as a carrier and use it as a spray. When the mold is hot and just done casting, I could spray it down and prevent rust.

PROBLEM is.......
I have to clean that crud off every time I want to use the mold. Dang if that wouldnt get old quick.


I believe that Lee Liquid Alox, thinned with mineral spirits is pretty much the same as cosmoline. That will give good protection, but still leave you with crud to clean each time.

I would probably just toss the molds in an ammo box with a good seal & add a few little descant packs.

[Old Caster]

It is easy to clean oil off of a mold by using brake cleaner spray. I spray when finished casting and the mold is cool with a liberal dose of WD 40. When I clean the oil off, I take off the sprue plate and clean it and relube it at the pivot. If I am going to cast some more in just a few days, I can get away without doing anything. -- Bill --

[GT27]

Use rice,its a natural desiccant!A light lube,put em' in a ammo can,and your good to go!

[MikeS]

Actually if you give the entire mould a thin coating of LLA (thin as in as thin as it should be on a boolit), it will keep the rust away, and you can just preheat it, and start casting without removing it from the cavities. That's what I do with the few iron moulds I have left. On my brass and aluminum moulds, I usually have a coating of Bullplate on their sprue plates, and other steel parts, and that's enough to keep them from rusting. Now you know what it's like here in FL where our driest days are humid!

[.22-10-45]

It gets pretty humid here in MI, some of my moulds only get used once a year or so..I have been spraying them while still slightly warm with Mould Saver..contains lanolin. This should be avail. at most industrial supply houses. Cleans up with brake cleaner, or hot soapy water.