Lee 6 cavity questions

[Blammer]

Everyone loves the Lee 6 cav, except me..... 2 or 4 cav is what I do my best work with.

Does Lee make 2 or 4 cav customs?

Can you order a 2 or 4 cav instead of a 6 cav when doing a custom mould?

How much do they cost? What's the scoop on them?

[NuJudge]

Single, double, and six cavity:

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1191016669.3558=/html/catalog/custom.html#CUSTOMMOLDS

[Blammer]

cool! is there any reason I can't get a double cavity on one of these group buys?

[NuJudge]

Essentially you will be running your own group buy of one.

CDD

[Blammer]

so you can't "piggy back" on 2 cav with a bunch of 6 cav and not pay the $100 set up fee?

[Lloyd Smale]

why would you want to. The 2 cavity would still cost you probably 30 bucks and is junk. At least the 6 cavity will hold up a while and make more bullets while it does it.

[mtgrs737]

Just get a six cavity and only fill four of them with lead!

[Adam10mm]

so you can't "piggy back" on 2 cav with a bunch of 6 cav and not pay the $100 set up fee?

Probably. They can cut as many molds as you want with the design so I don't see why they can't cut the same mold in 6 cavs and then throw a 2 cav in the mix. I'm sure Lee will do it for the same setup fee. The fee is for the cherrie, not the blocks, IIRC.

[MT Gianni]

Lee doesn't use a cherry it's all cdc. The set up for a 6 cavity being different than a 2 cavity because of block size means you pay a new set up fee. Gianni

[Sundogg1911]

wow....i'd never go back to a 2 cavity Lee. they seem to fall apart in my hands in no time. The 6's eventually do too, but I get enough boolits out of them to make it worthwhile. They seem to be a higher quality than the 2 poppers.

[Adam10mm]

I like the cam-lock sprue on the 6 bangers.

[Lloyd Smale]

sundog you hit it on the head. I hear guys all the time say they have 2 cavity lees that last them there lifetime. Im here to tell you they dont cast like you or I do. I can absolutely trash one in one casting session. At least the 6 cavitys tend to self destruct after you get a pretty good stash of bullets anyway.
wow....i'd never go back to a 2 cavity Lee. they seem to fall apart in my hands in no time. The 6's eventually do too, but I get enough boolits out of them to make it worthwhile. They seem to be a higher quality than the 2 poppers.

[Ricochet]

I guess I'm not rough enough on my moulds. I haven't had a 1 or 2 cavity Lee mould tear up on me yet. I've had single cavity moulds get slightly out of line from debris so I had to realign the blocks to close the sprue plate, but the six cavities much more frequently get jammed with debris so they don't close tightly and make oversized, finned bullets.

[Sundogg1911]

I really don't think im all that rough on them, but I don't baby'em either. I treat them the same as my; Magma, Lyman, H&G, Ballisti-Cast, RCBS, and Saeco's but It's rare that I have to fix any of them very often. (other than tighten up the sprue plates, bull plate lube them, or tighten up the handles) I will buy the Lee sixers, because they're so cheap that I (Usually) get my money out of them before tossing them in the scrap pile.

[Ricochet]

I haven't gotten anywhere near throwing a mould in the scrap pile yet.

[454PB]

I still have the first single cavity Lee mould that I bought about 30 years ago. Granted, it has only cast a few thousand boolits, but I have several two cavity moulds that have cast many times that. I wish I could watch you guys cast with Lee moulds to see how you are destroying them so quickly.

A double cavity Lee mould sells for around $19, and will cast enough boolits to pay for itself in one day.

[Single Shot]

You guys must be rough on molds.

I used Lee two cavity and six for casting thousands of bullets a month that I sold on Traitor Bay.

Did this for four years with no mould issues.

[georgeld]

SO tell me why you're scrapping them out instead of sending back to Lee for
complete rebuild at half price????

I've just started casting in 1958 and the only time I've had a major problem was a 6 cav
38/SWC the sprue pin stripped out. I sent it in for repairs and they sent me a brandnew
set of blocks at n/c.

That mould had cast more than 40 gallons of boolits and didn't owe me anything. I sure never
expected them to replace it. I sent a check for $20 or 25 to cover postage. They returned the check with a ticket in another mailing.

I'll be happy to provide my mailing address and reimburse anyone the postage if you'll send me your junked molds. My e'mail is handy, just let me know.

[Sundogg1911]

I threw out the 2 cavitys because I didn't feel it was worth getting more. they don't last long at all for me. I cast thousands a month. I would forever be sending them back. The 6's get me several thousand before i trash them. Never broke a magma, or H&G other than the occasional stripped sprue plate screw, bent sprue plate, or broken handle. Same with Lyman, RCBS, Saeco, Ballisti-Cast, Etc. I think if I were rough on the moulds, Id be breaking these as well. The 2 cavity Lee's are great for people that they work for. I recomend them to people just starting out casting because they're cheap, and fairly easy to get a nice boolit. :drinks: I just dont recomend them for people...well.....people like me! [smilie=1: I'd go broke replacing them.

[will52100]

Just out of curiosity, are you using a ladle or bottom pour? I find the bottom pour a necesity with my 6 cavity moulds. I prefere the bottom pour for my two cavity moulds, but for my single cavity 458 500 grainers I like ladle pouring. With the bottom pour I just shove the six cavity on cavity a time and make one continues sprue.

I haven't ruined a mould yet, but I have had a bit of trouble from one lee six cavity, my fault, I warped the sprue plate from dipping in a water bucket. I bent it back straight and only cool like lee says, seting it on a wet towl, and haven't repeated the problem.

I agree the two cavity moulds are pretty much junk, but for the money I can get a lot of bullets out of them. I primarily use them to test a bullet design, if I like it I get a six cavity made. Oh, and for round balls. I'd love to get a six cavity round ball mould made, but lee told me they could do it.:confused: That said I'm casting for me and no one else, so they should last me a life time nearly. I haven't ruined a two banger yet.

[Sundogg1911]

I use only bottom pour. I have a Magma pot and a few Lee drip-o-matics.
When I cast, I usually go about 16 hours with a mould (2 days ) I run 3 hand moulds at a time. That seems to be what works best for me. 4 moulds throws me off trying to keep the moulds hot enough and 2 moulds gives me frosted bullets. I usually cast several thousand in a day (I don't cast every day) This gives me the most consistant boolits using the same alloy for each lot and I use a PID thermostat controller to keep the temp + or - only a few degrees.
The Lee sixers do get a work out, but I still don't feel that I abuse them. I never change the temp. quickly with water or even a wet rag, and with the sprue handle I don't smack the sprue plate with a wood dowel rod. (although I do tap the hinge with one to release the boolits) I really don't like any of the drop out, our mould release sprays because they tend to slightly change the size of the bullets and make things a little less consistant. One of my H&G moulds usually takes a very stern whack to drop'em free, (even after polishing the cavitys) but that mould seems to like that because it's never givin' me any trouble.

[will52100]

Doesn't sound like your abusing them, and sounds like you got a heck of a set-up. I normaly cast for 2-3 hours at a time with one mould at a time. So far I've cast about 10,000 bullets from my 45 mould, and maybe 3-4 thou. from my 44. Sounds to me like your simply wearing them out.

I do use the drop out spray and brush on, but mainly to coat the sprue plate and top of the mould. I do put a good coat on the inside of the cavities, but most of that gets polished of with commet and a cast bullet with a screw in it and a battery drill. Once I get them so the bullets pop out I never put any more release agent in the cavities. I wear thin leather gloves and have never had to beat on the sprue plate to get the sprue off. Simply falls into my hand most times.

What is wearing out on yours? The sprue plate or the attachment pins, ect?

Oh, and I've got one of thouse lee drip-o-matics, it does drip while using, but I put a ignot mould under to catch the drips. Also I can turn the screw on my and it stops dripping if I stop casting for a few minits or something.

[Sundogg1911]

I have the hinges break, warped sprue plates, and the sprue plate handle usually cracks or breaks. I also wear the out where the sprue plate handle comes in contact with the mould. I used to gouge the top of the Lee moulds, but Bull plate lube fixed that problem. I usually do what you do, but I use either polishing compound or toothpaste to polish the mould. If they're really bad I use a rubbing compound with a heavier grit.

[will52100]

So far the only problems I've had after cleaning up the cavities is the handles sliding off. I fixed that by drilling and putting a brass brazing rod in them. I wonder if maybe it's the sustained time at heat that's doing it, or just the amount of casting and a couple of years down the road mine will wear out?:-?

[leftiye]

I've got a pot for melting alloy to feed my main pot that has the wood handle held on with muffler putty. I burned the steel shank into the handle, then put some putty into the hole and pressed the handle on again (squeezing the extra out). After it set up (24 hours) it has stayed nice and tight ever since.