Question for the mold makers.

[Lights]

Here is a question for the mold makers or others out there. Have you ever hard coat anodized your aluminum molds? The stuff is stuff and will not need lube between the sprue plate and the mold.

[tomme boy]

Someone here did that. I think it was Run5run or Larry gibson. Said it worked well when they did it. It added 0.001" or so to the mold. So if it already cast at say 0.452", it would cast at 0.451"

[1500FPS]

I believe geargnasher anodized a mold one time. Don't quote me though.

[Lights]

Someone here did that. I think it was Run5run or Larry gibson. Said it worked well when they did it. It added 0.001" or so to the mold. So if it already cast at say 0.452", it would cast at 0.451"

That would be about right hard coat does have a thickness to it.

[tomme boy]

I think you are right. It was Gear

[Jailer]

It was Gear.

[runfiverun]

it was Gear, he and I were discussing it, and I didn't have any aluminum molds at the time.
we were actually working on the anodizing and plating processes for another reason.

[NoZombies]

Some original Ohaus aluminum molds were anodized as well. (like the ones they made for Thompson Center)

I've used a few, and while they were good casting molds, I'm not sure it added enough benefit to be worthy of the cost and complication.

[tomme boy]

I think it will also have a life span. Don't know how long that is, but I have wore out a couple of frying pans that were anodized.

[dromia]

What problem would anodising fix?

[Lights]

What problem would anodising fix?

No need for sprue plate lube and the sprue plate would never scratch the mating mold surface. Hard coat Type III is tuff stuff. This is NOT the same as color anodize at all. It does add thickness though.

[btroj]

Adding thickness is a problem.

Why cut a precision cavity just to perform an action on it that can destroy those precise measurements?

[country gent]

Also keep in mind adding thickness in a mold .001 is actually .002 so it will add up fast. I have had to add holes occasionaly to aluminum parts that have been hard annodized in the auto industry, we used carbide to "break thru" it then drill. It is very hard slippery coating. I would also worry about it forming sharp corners with a small radious. We sent some small molds out for T.I.N. coat and they cast much beter in production after. But we were casting aluminum and the casting machines had a shot tube that put the molten metal in under pressure.

[Lights]

Not a problem. I make plastic injection molds for a living. When we coat parts of the mold. We build them parts with the coating thickness taken into account. The people that do coating and anodizing have the thickness down to a science and can tell you what it will add to the surface. O hell I am just going to build a mold myself and try it.

Country gent: I too use carbide to break thru the HC.

[btroj]

What is the extra cost gonna be on a mould? And extra time too.

At some point a guy needs to decide if extra cost and wait is worth it. Moulds made the old fashioned way lasted us this long......

[1500FPS]

Lyman made the first Maxi-Ball molds for TC. I had one and they were anodized and did they cast really good bullets. They stayed very clean and no lead stuck to them. I think it's an improvement on an aluminum mold.

[swheeler]

I have a couple of the gold anodized TC molds, one 50 cal maxi corroded and the anodizing flaked off. I think if it was such a great idea all aluminum molds would be done so, notice the TC molds are discontinued.

[1500FPS]

I have a couple of the gold anodized TC molds, one 50 cal maxi corroded and the anodizing flaked off. I think if it was such a great idea all aluminum molds would be done so, notice the TC molds are discontinued.

Their discontinuance may be due to the fact that S&W bought TC and has closed some of their plants as noted in a post in another area of this forum. I do not believe it has anything to do with the molds being anodized.

[btroj]

I think TC stopped the moulds long before SW was an issue.

I don't think a small shop like NOE is gonna make money by anodizing moulds. New tolerances to deal with. Another vendor to deal with. More cost. More time. New processes.

As a business venture it just doesn't have legs

[swheeler]

I think TC stopped the moulds long before SW was an issue.

I don't think a small shop like NOE is gonna make money by anodizing moulds. New tolerances to deal with. Another vendor to deal with. More cost. More time. New processes.

As a business venture it just doesn't have legs

Agree^

[1500FPS]

I think TC stopped the moulds long before SW was an issue.

I don't think a small shop like NOE is gonna make money by anodizing moulds. New tolerances to deal with. Another vendor to deal with. More cost. More time. New processes.

btroj,


As a business venture it just doesn't have legs


That makes a lot of sense, especially the tolerances problem.

[swheeler]

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg234/kmw3291/TC50cal_zps3d504c09.jpg (http://s249.photobucket.com/user/kmw3291/media/TC50cal_zps3d504c09.jpg.html)cell phone picture for your enjoyment

[geargnasher]

The last forum update killed off the image hosting software that had the pics in them, but a search should reveal the thread where I anodized a Lee 457-340-RF. Yes, the coating adds thickness, how much depends on how long you leave it in the bath one can expect half a thousandth to a thousandth coating thickness. I wanted to use mine for .45 Colt anyway so didn't care. The coating makes the boolits elliptical like beagling does, but the net result leaves them the same as original perpendicular to the parting line, and smaller along the parting line. This would not be a good method to use for small-caliber boolits riding the ragged edge of too small already, but it completely eliminates the galling, sticking, and alignment problems associated with Lee two-bangers. I'm really glad I did mine, it's the best-casting two-cavity Lee that I have.

If your anodized aluminum corrodes, you aren't taking care of it properly. Don't blame the coating.

Gear

[swheeler]

That makes a lot of sense, especially the tolerances problem. I think if you have to anodize an aluminum mold to get it to cast well you probably just need experience in casting.

[NoZombies]

Lyman made the first Maxi-Ball molds for TC. I had one and they were anodized and did they cast really good bullets. They stayed very clean and no lead stuck to them. I think it's an improvement on an aluminum mold.

Actually, while Lyman did make some TC molds, they were all made of Iron and still marked as Lyman molds (in the *6XX cherry range if memory serves). The Aluminum molds were all made by Ohaus. I believe their discontinuation coincided with Ohaus halting mold production in general.

As I said earlier, I would simply question the cost/benefit ratio. (That is to say, it may, or may not make sense to some manufacturer at some point)

One thing I wouldn't mind seeing would be one of Lee's old HP designs with both blocks and the HP pin anodized to see how everything reacted. I would be that it might help with HP release issues. But since Lee doesn't make those molds anymore, it wouldn't have a lot of practical application, even if it made a huge improvement.