Loose Sprue Plate?

[ohiochuck]

I have an older Ideal mold that has a slightly loose sprue plate. The bolt holding it cannot be tighten any more. How can I fix it so this mold is useable?
Thanks!
Jim

[RickinTN]

Jim,
It may be usable as it is. Some of my molds work well when the sprue plate will swing open under it's own weight. The other fix would be to put another washer on top of the sprue plate, which will allow you to tighten it up.
Good Luck,
Rick

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

,l in ...

[tomme boy]

Did you loosen the set screws first?

[220swiftfn]

I have one (452488) that the shoulder of the screw bottomed out leaving a bit of "wiggle" (too much, the plate could lift off the blocks)..... So..... I used two Belleville washers and all is well again (I can't remember if this one started as a split washer mold or not......)



Dan

[happy7]

You could also have cold lead in the bottom of the hole that the screw goes into.

[leadman]

I found almost all of the old Ideal and Lyman of any vintagwe need a bottoming tap run thru the set screw hole. I think these are threaded with a taper tap only and the screw binds in the hole about the time it just starts to tighten against the pivot bolt.

[gimling]

I would just tap it to the next size up and replace the bolt. here is a inexpensive set.

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/tap-die/40-piece-sae-carbon-steel-tap-and-die-set-39391.html