Brand New Lee Mold

[starman2112]

Got my first mold yesterday and i'm very excited to start casting, my question is, what do you initially clean your mold with?

[glockky]

The last 2 Lee molds I have bought I just took an old toothbrush and scrubbed them with some dish soap and hot water to degrease. Then I lubed with bullplate when I started casting.

[MT Chambers]

Soap and hot water and/or brake cleaner spray, followed by lots a Q-tips.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

the new Lee 2 cav. molds.
First, I rub the cavity to mold face edges with a wooden dowel to remove any burrs, then I break the top edges [seam between the mold halves under the sprue plate] with a diamond honer, then I use the Diamond honer on the edge of the sprue plate that could gouge the top of the mold when closing the sprue plate.

Then I would clean the entire mold and sprue plate with hot water and dish soap with a toothbrush. Preheat and start casting.
GoodLuck,
Jon

[DLCTEX]

+1 on the above post. I have had to really get some of my new Lee moulds smoking hot to cook out oils even after repeated cleanings. I just dunk them in the melt and cook them a while, then let them cool down. I have had to do this to 3 moulds that just wouldn't quit wrinkling the boolits.

[bangerjim]

Funny you should ask this question today!

There is a discussion in another thread about the scrubbing and cleaning and scrubbing and cleaning molds.

Well...... I just received a 2 banger 30 cal Lee mold today and I did NOT clean it.......AT ALL (!) as a test. It had a very light coat of manufacturing oils all over it. Just smoked it with a beeswax candle ( NOT paraffin) and started dropping bad boys perfectly from the VERY 1st pour.

I really feel the many old wive's tales all over this site and YouTube about cleaning & scrubbing & scrubbing & cleaning molds are waaaaaay over done. I have the proof!

I pre-heat my molds on a hotplate so they are up to temp B4 starting.

bangerjim

[IROCZ]

I just got my Lee312-185 last Thursday. I hit it with carb cleaner and lubed the sprue plate with permatex anti seize as per the instructions. After 3 fills I was dropping nice projectiles. Lee must be getting better. It drops COWW at .314 and about 190grs.

[Stephen Cohen]

I just picked up two new ones, .358 125gr RF and 358 158gr RF, both got the lementing treatment right off. The effort one takes in doing this is well paid for in long levity, in my view.

[500MAG]

Lee molds? I heat them on a hot plate then clean them by filling them with lead hundreds of times.

[Muddydogs]

I'm with the simple crowd on this, I have 7 Lee molds and all I have done with each mold is scrub them in the kitchen sink with hot water, dish soap and the wifes scrub brush. Pre heat mold on hot plate, apply some Bullplate lube and cast away. I have start to sand the leading edge of the spure plate as they are usually uneven or have a burr which will scratch lines on top of the mold blocks.

[bob208]

all I ever do is take them out of the box set them on the pot while the lead is melting. then start casting.

[Wally]

I just picked up two new ones, .358 125gr RF and 358 158gr RF, both got the lementing treatment right off. The effort one takes in doing this is well paid for in long levity, in my view.

Excellent choices..I have both. Very accurate and they cast beautiful bullets. The 158 RF has a BB, but it is a small one and IMHO is no big deal....others may disagree. I used it in the .357 magnum and its' "little brother" in the .38 Special.

[docone31]

I get a large Chinese Soup container. I put mineral spirits in the container, then soak the mold for two days. I then heat my melt, set the mold on the melt while it is melting. I then cast.
I look for a six second freeze on the sprue. I believe the heat evaporates the mineral spirit residue and this acts as a mold release untill the mold gets oxidized.
You will see a lot of flakes in the soak container, first time.

[Wally]

+1 on the above post. I have had to really get some of my new Lee moulds smoking hot to cook out oils even after repeated cleanings. I just dunk them in the melt and cook them a while, then let them cool down. I have had to do this to 3 moulds that just wouldn't quit wrinkling the boolits.

Best to spray the cold molds with Carb cleaner or Gumout....outdoors. Let them dry. Then lube the alignment pins/areas and you will be good to go. To prevent galling on the sprue plate screw area I lightly touch the hot sprue plate screw with a candle. After 50 casts, I repeat. Works very nicely.

[hanleyfan]

maybe I am cautious, but I heated cycle my molds 3 times and than clean them in hot soapy water and rinse with clean hot water and than hit them with brake cleaner preheat them to operating temperature, lube the mold and cast.

[Wally]

I coat my Steel/Iron molds with oil. When I need to use, I merely wipe off the oil and spray with Carb cleaner or Gumout (outdoors) and let it evaporate...it works remarkably well.

[Browningshooter]

I just picked up the C309-170-FP the other day. I scrubbed it down with dishwasher detergent and hot water and that took care of the oils pretty good. Went to casting with it and dropped the obligatory bad boolits for the first few fills. I tend to cast hot and fast( cause im cheap and want good fill out in the mold without the cost of adding much tin ) so getting the blocks hot doesn't take long. Once it was warmed up they were beauties falling from the blocks or needing just a tap.

I think sometimes folks have the "extended wrinkle boolit syndrome" because they start slowing down to inspect the blts too soon and in so doing they allow the fast cooling aluminum blocks to cool too much in between pours....Ive been there. Wash the blocks, warm the blocks, lube the blocks. I cast at least 4 pours and dump them straight into the sprue bucket without looking at them-5th pour start to inspect. Of course this is just what works for me. I have 5 Lee molds and they have all been great casting molds.

-Will

[starman2112]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/13/gezatene.jpg

Cleaned my mold with just soap and water, here are some of the boolits that passed inspection. Not bad for a first time caster

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Yep, very nice for your first time and the first time with a 'new' mold, especially with a new 'Lee' mold. while many times a Lee mold will work great out of the box, many times it won't, whereas most any other brand will almost always work great out of the box.
I'm glad you had some good luck.
Jon

[Colorado4wheel]

the new Lee 2 cav. molds.
First, I rub the cavity to mold face edges with a wooden dowel to remove any burrs, then I break the top edges [seam between the mold halves under the sprue plate] with a diamond honer, then I use the Diamond honer on the edge of the sprue plate that could gouge the top of the mold when closing the sprue plate.

Then I would clean the entire mold and sprue plate with hot water and dish soap with a toothbrush. Preheat and start casting.
GoodLuck,
Jon

Exactly. Don't even think of sliding the sprue plate the first time till this is done.

[Buzz64]

Nice job, 2112. Every time you cast (or break-in) a new mold you'll learn more. Secret is to cast more and buy more molds!

[Deep Six]

I just dunk them in acetone and wipe the residue out of the cavities with a paper towel. After the acetone has been wiped off and/or evaporated, I touch a q-tip with lube on it to the alignment pins. Next get it hot by holding it in molten lead. Once it is hot, open the sprue plate and lubricate the pivot pin and underside of the sprue plate. After that it's ready to go. It usually takes about 10 casts before it's up to temperature and the remaining junk/lube gets worked out of the cavities. After that the bullets are usually keepers. I do find that the lee molds need to have the sprue plates re-lubricated more often than other molds. The one I was using the other day needed it after about 25 casts.

[1bilmr59]

I think it is time for a mold is harder to cast hp boolits

[warf73]

This is how I do my molds,

I take the mold apart and apply dish washing soap
82340
Scrub it up really good with a toothbrush.
82339
Now that its all pretty
82338
I reasemble the mold buy using BP or 2 stroke oil at the pivot point.
82337
82336
Then preheat the mold and cast away
82341

Might not be the best way but it works for me.

[DLCTEX]

I've had new Lee moulds that cleaned easily and dropped good boolits right off. I've had three that dropped wrinkled boolits despite repeated cleanings and pre heating, until I dunked them in the melt and got them way too hot, then allowed to cool. They then cast normally.

[capt.hollis]

Ive got a Lee 6 banger, and have tried not cleaning it. Anyhow after a few hundred cast with it, its still chunking wrinkled bullets. Guess I better clean it, lol.

[Dales66Ford]

I do it the same as warf73, works for me so far

[gwpercle]

The heat cycling thing (bringing mould up to casting temperature and slowly cooling ) and scrubbing in between seems to help Lee moulds get to throwing unwrinkled boolits. I did this twice with two new moulds and after the second scrubbing they both were dropping good boolits without wanting to stick in the cavity, dropped right out with no smoking or anything.
I did the scrubbing with acetone and a toothbrush, not crazy about getting water in mould, sprue plate , pins and handles...don't want anything rusting.
I used synthetic 2-stoke oil for luberication and that worked perfectly. Appreciate the tips.
Gary

[colt 357]

spray with brake clean and sit on top of my pot to heat up

[enfieldphile]

spray with brake clean and sit on top of my pot to heat up

Spray brake clean (walmart brand) is my method to clean the mold too.

After cleaning, I sit the mold blocks aside for a few minutes. then I take a metal rod (2.5' long) and wrap an old cotton rag soaked in gasoline around the end. I secure the rag w/ a bit of metal wire. I stand the rod in one of those hollow bricks. The burning rag will really coat the inside of the mold w/ soot! I also coat both sides of the sprue plate. Assemble the mold, sit it on top of the pot to warm. Have the pot @ the highest temperature to begin with. A bit of beeswax or Boolit lube on a toothpick is touched to the pivot points as the mold warms. Once you begin casting watch the boolits and bring the pot temperature down as you cast.

Perfect boolits every time! :lovebooli

[Maven]

I ordered 2 Lee molds from Titan Reloading (top of screen) and highly praise their service. I ordered late Sat. PM and rec'd them today. The molds are a 160 gr. roundnose "ballette" (nominally .452") which I want to try in my Rem. 1858 cap & ball replica and a .454" RB also for the Rem. 1858. Both molds are the new design. While the former was perfect right out of the box with only a small amount of Leementing needed, the latter (RB mold) was just the reverse. The blocks wouldn't close tightly so I decided to manipulate the locating pins. That didn't help. I next removed the pins entirely and filed and trued the mating faces of the blocks. That didn't work either as there was still a visible gap. At this point I knew I couldn't return the mold to either Titan or Lee. As I had nothing to lose, I placed the mold in my bench vise and tightened it with all my strength...several times, with the blocks in normal position, inverted, reversed, etc. I'm happy to say it now closes as it should with no gap when held up to a light source. Btw, the sprue plates on both molds needed minor filing and truing so they wouldn't gall or otherwise drag on the mold top. In short, 1 perfect mold and 1 imperfect one don't inspire a lot of confidence in Lee Precision's quality control.