Mold care???

[TCTex]

I have been looking for maintenance and care instructions for my Lee six cavity molds and have hit a road bump. It is easy to find the lubing instructions for the pins and the cleaning new molds, but what about cleaning used molds? What is the best method or way to clean the lead off the sprew plate?

Any other thought, ideas, or comments would be welcomed.

Thanks

Duane

Ps, I am starting to get a few nice molds and would really like to have them around for a while. The last thing I want to do is damage a nice NOE, Accurate, MiHec, Seco, or Lyman mold just because of my ignorance.

[Wally]

I have been looking for maintenance and care instructions for my Lee six cavity molds and have hit a road bump. It is easy to find the lubing instructions for the pins and the cleaning new molds, but what about cleaning used molds? What is the best method or way to clean the lead off the sprew plate?

Any other thought, ideas, or comments would be welcomed.

Thanks

Duane

Ps, I am starting to get a few nice molds and would really like to have them around for a while. The last thing I want to do is damage a nice NOE, Accurate, MiHec, Seco, or Lyman mold just because of my ignorance.



You can heat with a propane torch, as it just starts to melt, wipe quickly with a cotton cloth. Or use the mold and as it heats up with use, you can do the same thing....wipe with a cotton cloth.

[TCTex]

That works! Thanks for the replay!

What about storage? Lee recommends lubing the steel contacts and storing. I only generally use a mold once or twice a year. I just cast a couple hundred bullets and life is good. LOL

Is there anything suggestible for iron or brass molds besides spraying them down with something like Rem Oil?

Duane

[runfiverun]

make sure it is something you can remove.
you have humidity to worry about down there.
a light coating of oil and a plastic bag should do it.

[MtGun44]

Use Bullplate lube. Removes lead smears as you cast, never will come back.

PM Bull Shop and see if he is selling again. Search on Bullplate lube and read about
it and how to use it. Hint: VERY sparingly.

Bill

[Bullshop]

Should be an email link or web site at the bottom. You can also PM.

[MikeS]

As others have said, if you're lubing the alignment pins with BullPlate or equivelent, that should be enough to keep rust off of them. Their six cavity moulds have aluminum sprue plates, so unlike other moulds, they can't rust, so as long as the few steel parts have a light coating of BullPlate, you should be good to go.

[JD Yellowhammer]

The best rust protectorant I've ever found is Eezox. I spray my molds with it after use, then store in a sealed plastic box. It would probably work as a lubricant when casting but I prefer other stuff, so I clean off the Eezox before casting. (it's great for cleaning and lubing guns, too)

[TCTex]

Gents, thanks for all the responses!!

Bullshop, give me a couple of weeks and I will place an order. All of my mad money has been going towards molds lately… LOL

I have three iron molds, a brass one on the way, and a respectable amount of aluminum ones. I just don’t want to have a NOE or a nice Saco go bad because of my ignorance and stupidity.

Duane

Any other thoughts or storage ideas? Again, this is for iron and brass molds as well.

[spfd1903]

For cast iron molds, one easy storage method is wrapping the mold in VCI paper and putting it into a ziploc bag. Nothing to wipe off.

[TCTex]

LOL!

My only problem is that I am not going to take my handles off my certain molds. I had to drill out the Lee hands 1/64th of an inch to fit the Saco mold and my Lyman mold wears the only Lyman handles I own. I guess that is the advantage of be able to buy 11.00 handles from Lee…

What about buying a rubber-maid tote that I could stick my nice molds in? All of my Ranch Dog molds stay lubed up and in the original boxes. I could make a humidor for molds… It just might work… [smilie=1:

Duane