hunter74
03-27-2013, 09:43 AM
Hi experienced casters…..this would be the right place to seek advice I guess.
Some weeks ago I purchased an 9mm MP mold from a fellow on another forum. It was a 6 cavity MP 140 gr FB mold in aluminum, and he had never used it, so it was brand new in the original wrapping. I have heard nothing but good things about these molds so my first casting session was quite a surprise. One of the cavities was quite stubborn and would not release the boolit without a serious beating to the hinge. A lot more than I’m comfortable with a quality mold like this. I tried with several different temps on the lead and on the blocks, with the same result. On all the other cavities the boolits almost jumped out so I inspected the mould more closely and quit the casting session to do this thorough. The boolits from the problem cavity all had a dent near the base on one side. I’m quite sure this is the problem, and the boolit is “hanging” on an imperfection on the edge of the cavity. A closer look revealed burrs and tooling marks on the top, when the blocks were closed and it clearly was a big dent on top of the cavity causing the dent in the boolit. It looks like a small piece of the edge of the cavity to one side is missing. I doesn't look like this have happened during shipping. Looks like tooling marks and a "bad cavity".
Now that the cause of the problem was revealed, I had to try something to fix it. I used a rondell and a cleaning paste like JB to polish the rough edges of the cavity. I have tried this several times but the result is always the same. The boolit is clinging to the cavity and requires a beating to release. If I had purchased the mold new from MP Molds I would have returned it.
It casts a big pile of boolits fast so it sure would be grate if this was sorted out. Can you give me a good advice regarding this matter? The cause of the problem is clearly a bad cavity but I’m afraid of doing it wrong so I would ruin the mold. I have read about "Lee menting" but I am not comfortable by doing this myself with a quality mold like this. That was actually the reason for buying a quality mold, to not perform these "repairing tasks", if you know what I mean.
Thank you!
Oh... by the way. I attached some photos of the problem cavity, if I understand how :) The problem cavity is the second from the left6553065531.
Some weeks ago I purchased an 9mm MP mold from a fellow on another forum. It was a 6 cavity MP 140 gr FB mold in aluminum, and he had never used it, so it was brand new in the original wrapping. I have heard nothing but good things about these molds so my first casting session was quite a surprise. One of the cavities was quite stubborn and would not release the boolit without a serious beating to the hinge. A lot more than I’m comfortable with a quality mold like this. I tried with several different temps on the lead and on the blocks, with the same result. On all the other cavities the boolits almost jumped out so I inspected the mould more closely and quit the casting session to do this thorough. The boolits from the problem cavity all had a dent near the base on one side. I’m quite sure this is the problem, and the boolit is “hanging” on an imperfection on the edge of the cavity. A closer look revealed burrs and tooling marks on the top, when the blocks were closed and it clearly was a big dent on top of the cavity causing the dent in the boolit. It looks like a small piece of the edge of the cavity to one side is missing. I doesn't look like this have happened during shipping. Looks like tooling marks and a "bad cavity".
Now that the cause of the problem was revealed, I had to try something to fix it. I used a rondell and a cleaning paste like JB to polish the rough edges of the cavity. I have tried this several times but the result is always the same. The boolit is clinging to the cavity and requires a beating to release. If I had purchased the mold new from MP Molds I would have returned it.
It casts a big pile of boolits fast so it sure would be grate if this was sorted out. Can you give me a good advice regarding this matter? The cause of the problem is clearly a bad cavity but I’m afraid of doing it wrong so I would ruin the mold. I have read about "Lee menting" but I am not comfortable by doing this myself with a quality mold like this. That was actually the reason for buying a quality mold, to not perform these "repairing tasks", if you know what I mean.
Thank you!
Oh... by the way. I attached some photos of the problem cavity, if I understand how :) The problem cavity is the second from the left6553065531.