Do you have a dedicated set of handles for every mold you own?

[asp]

I don't. I have more molds that I use than I do handles.

[bruce drake]

I have more molds than handles but my goal is to eventually have dedicated handles to each mold.

[farmerjim]

Until two weeks ago I had a dedicated set for each mold, but I just bought a mold without handles.

[cbrick]

Do you have a dedicated set of handles for every mold you own?

Not even close. With 70+ molds and counting what could I possibly do with 70+ handles? Just storing 70 molds with attached handles would take up several times as much room. Storing over 70 handles would take up a good deal of space and be a hassle in itself.

I've about 10 sets of handles in various makes and that is more than plenty.

Rick

[44man]

I use Rapine handles for my molds and switch blocks because I have so many molds. I bought them from Ray for $14 each but he retired.
I have the two sizes of Lyman handles and switch blocks made by Lyman and RCBS.
Handles are too expensive.

[btroj]

I have about 5 sets of handles. I own over 20 moulds. I don't use but one or two moulds at a time so why spend that much money on handles?

I also don't own a gun case for every gun I own.

[HighHook]

You only cast with a few molds anyway. You get to look closely at the mold and oil while changing handles. Works for me...

[MikeS]

I voted that I have dedicated handles for each of my moulds. At the moment that's not true, I do have 3 moulds without handles, but that situation will be fixed soon as I order more handles. I find that the constant removal / replacement of the handles wears the threads on the moulds, and makes it harder to get the screws to stay tight. There's nothing like tapping on the hinge pin (nut) of a set of handles to get a boolit to drop out and have a mould half fall off! I've had that happen a couple of times before I decided to dedicate a set of handles to each mould, and luckily it was toward the end of a casting session, and I was not water dropping the boolits! Aluminum moulds are particularly risky as to wearing the threads, and iron/steel the least, with brass moulds somewhere in the middle.

[bobthenailer]

I have about 15 handles for about 25 moulds, i switch the handles on my 2 & 4 cavity moulds and for my 5, 8 cavity Saeco moulds i leave the handles on, i have Saeco ,RCBS and one of each of Lyman small & Lee 6 cavity mould handles.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

a couple of my molds have dedicated handles because of their uniqueness (a herters and a MBT).
others are custom modified Lee handles ( for Saeco 4 cav., Lyman 4 cav., and ??? I know there is more).

I think I have 3 sets of unmodified Lee handles for about 50 molds that'll use them.
Jon

[bruce drake]

regarding molds and handles. consider it a mild form of OCD. It looks right to me that way. Same reason I scrape out primer holes before I reprime. Not needed all the time but its a pattern for me.

[John Boy]

Have separate handles for all the 1 - 2 - 6 cavity blocks that I cast with except those molds made with attached handles ... such as the Ideal blocks and tong tools


Same reason I scrape out primer holes before I reprime.Bruce, those of us who clean their cases in a rotary tumbler with burnishing solution and media ... never have to take the time to scrape out the primer pockets! :bigsmyl2:

[dragon813gt]

I used to have a set for every mold. But it became apparent very quickly that the handles take up to much room. I can store about twelve molds w/out handles in the space where two w/ handles would fit. I don't have nearly the amount of molds as some here. But I know I will eventually have a lot more.


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[cbrick]

As you get more and more molds it gets less and less practicle to have handles for every mold aside from the storage issue.

SAECO handles are now $42.00 (Midway)
RCBS handles are now $37.50 (Midway)
Lyman handles are now $33.00 (Midway)

If you could get all handles for $30.00, I have 70 molds and 30 X 70 = $2,100 in nothing but handles not counting any tax or shipping.

How many MP, NOE, Mountain Molds and Accurate molds or powder & primers could I buy for two thousand one hundred dollars?

Rick

[captaint]

I must have at least 30 or so molds. I probably have 7 or 8 sets of handles. The only mold that I have no handles for is the H&G 4cav 50. I was dumb enough to buy it without the handles. Been thinking, now, I have to get a 4 cav from Ballisticast and handles to go with. I'll have to be sure to get the mold cut to match the old one. They're not necessarily the same. Ballisticast will work with you on that. enjoy Mike

[Shiloh]

I have molds that I don't use a lot. I have around six handles.

Shiloh

[mdevlin53]

i am one set short but i'll fix that

[MT Chambers]

I have about 200 molds, and prolly 3 or 4 proper handles for each make, Lyman 2 cav., Lyman 4 cav., RCBS, Saeco, Hoch, etc. I don't modify handles and just buy the correct ones for the mold.

[Walter Laich]

I started out with the goal of handles for each--gave that up pretty quickly as $$ went to new molds. Amazing how they accumulate behind your back

walt

[btroj]

My thinking is like Rick. Instead of tying up money in 20 or 30 sets of handles I spend my money on moulds or components.

MikeS, try a bit of Bullplate on the screw threads when replacing the screws after putting on handles. I find it makes a big difference.

[meotai]

Yes. I only have 1 mold. = )

[Old Caster]

I don't need many handles because I take the molds apart before every casting session to clean and lubricate them anyway. I still have a mess of them laying there because different molds take a lot of different handles but I feel like others here that they take up too much room and some of the molds don't get used very often anymore. One proper handle for each type is good enough and usually a casting session will amount to around 1 K of bullets and I feel like it needs to be cleaned and lubed by this time anyway. -- Bill --

[SP5315]

I have somewhere around 80 molds. I have a few handles for each brand and size. All of my steel molds are stored in Pelican 1060 cases. If every mold I owned had handles it would take up 15 times more room. The older I get, and the more I acquire, space is becoming more scarce.

[Wal']

Hey, have 13 molds, only been at it six months, casting that is.......... 4 molds with dedicated handles & another 3 Lee + one Mihec.

Have enough for now to cover all the mold brands I have but if I find cheap eBay, or giveaway like deals, will pick them up quick smart, can't help myself. :( :) :-D :roll:

[MT Gianni]

I have about 50-60 molds and 15 or so handles. That includes the ones on the lee sc & dc molds. I never run more than 3 or 4 molds per session so it would be silly to invest in what I would not use.

[jethunter]

Molds are a lot easier to store when they don't have the handles attached. If you take the handles off for storage like i do it doesn't make sense to have handles for every mold.

[drklynoon]

I keep one set for each type needed. Basically one large RCBS and one LEE 6 cav. I try and stay away from single cavity molds if I can.

[Bigslug]

My attitude on the matter is "How few handles can I get away with?"

I figure I may run two molds at once, and some molds need a certain type of handle, but after that. . .sheesh! This hobby eats enough space as it is!

[zxcvbob]

I have almost as many handles as I do molds. I think I'm about 1 handle short; 2 at the most. But about half my molds are Lee 2-bangers and they come with handles.

[rond]

All my moulds came with handles.

[1Shirt]

I dont count the handles on lee molds, but I have about 8 pairs of handles for Lyman, RCBS,Saeco,Herters molds, etc.
1Shirt!

[Crashbox]

I only have two moulds so far, but I have handles for each of them so I voted accordingly. I have yet to cast my first projectile but I have virtually everything I need now.

[uscra112]

Was just thinking about this the other day. Thought I see how many more handle sets I'd have to buy to have one for each mould. Answer: about 40. Ain't gonna hoppen, mon. I've got 30 motorcycles, too. Does that mean I need 30 helmets?

[Elkins45]

I have a 1:1 ratio if you count my Lee two bangers. :)

I have a set of Lyman single cavity I bought with a mold attached for $15 at a flea market sale, and a couple of Lyman two cavity sets.

For everything else (NOE, Mountain, MP, Lee 6) I have three sets: one Lee, one MP and one Lee ground to fit RCBS.

[ukrifleman]

All but one of my moulds are Lee which as we know, come with handles included. The exception is an RCBS .264 140gn silhouette mould for which I purchased a some Lee handles.
ukrifleman.

[Shuz]

I don't need many handles because I take the molds apart before every casting session to clean and lubricate them anyway. I still have a mess of them laying there because different molds take a lot of different handles but I feel like others here that they take up too much room and some of the molds don't get used very often anymore. One proper handle for each type is good enough and usually a casting session will amount to around 1 K of bullets and I feel like it needs to be cleaned and lubed by this time anyway. -- Bill --

My feelings exactly!

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

a handle for every mold , but only cause all my molds are Lee at the moment and i don't have that many molds (6) , and lee handles don't cost that much

[jonk]

I'm close, but I do have a few molds that only get used once or twice a year, that don't have dedicated handles.

[Hank10]

I have more than 150 moulds and maybe half that many handles. It would be nice to have handles on all of them but I have handles on the ones I use the most. Once in awhile I have to change one. H10

[RCE1]

I've started using the Cabine Tree locking handles. I have only one set at the moment, but they are pretty much universal. I think they are the best handle solution I have seen yet. Totally worth the money.

[casterofboolits]

Nope. Too many moulds. About 200. I have five Saeco handles, eight or ten Lyman four cavity nutcracker handles, all my H&Gs have dedicated handles. Then a couple each of Lyman and RCBS two cavity handles. The most moulds I cast with are three at a time.

[mpmarty]

Inasmuch as I only have two hands, I've got a couple of handles. Around 30 molds though. The handles I have have been re-drilled for several different molds.

[stubshaft]

LOL- the molds take up enough space on my bench. If they all had handles I'd have to store them in their own room!

[plainsman456]

Wished I did have a set for all of them.

[Ron in PA]

25 molds but 3 handles

[jlm223]

I only have five molds, have handles for all of them.

[Boolseye]

I prefer not to be changing the handles around on my 6-bangers more than necessary, so I have handles for each mold.

[alamogunr]

I have a bunch of Lee 6 cavity molds. I only have 7 handles for them. Those handles fit Mihec and NOE molds too. I'm even considering removing the sprue plate handles from the Lee 6'ers so they don't take up so much room. I'm looking at the Snapware containers that cbrick mentioned in a thread on mold storage. I would probably leave the sprue plate handle on the molds I use most but the others would be removed and thrown in a separate box.

I have a few handles for RCBS, SAECO and Lyman molds too. I have 5 H&G molds and they all have handles. I bought the H&G molds before the prices went out of sight.

[1bluehorse]

I don't own that many molds, a couple for each caliber I cast for, and I only cast for 45 colt,44mag,357mag and 45-70..and right now I have 4 sets of Lyman handles with no molds attached..3 are brand new that I've had for several years, I think the price on the boxs is 34.95..

[rhadamanthos12]

This is on my to do list, I want to have a dedicated set of handles for each mold. I think the plan will be to buy a set or two each paycheck till im caught up.

[No_1]

I have many moulds and many sets of handles. I have found it easier to clean and preserve the moulds with the handles removed and re-attaching the handles takes no time at all. At one time I thought I needed to have each mould ready to go and even came up with a cubby-hole mould storage unit idea made of 2" PVC but once I got my Master Caster I moved away from hand casting so now I have a ton of moulds I never use.

[KCcactus]

When I only had 3 molds I used, I had handles for each. I'm up to 10 molds now, but only 5 handles. As long as I have enough that I don't have to take handles off a still hot mold, I'm happy. Most of my new molds are brass and they take a long time to cool. I rarely use more than 3 or 4 different molds in a casting session.