Yay! First boolits! - and broken sprue handle

[aviator41]

Well, I went from wanting to cast to my first boolits in a matter of just over a week. I cast my first .45 boolits this afternoon. I used a Lee 6 cavity .452 mold and after the third group, I managed to brake the sprue handle. Dang it!

So, I stop casting and fashion a new sprue handle, then it's back to casting bullets. All in all, I managed to cast 100 or good boolits after putting my first 4-5 sets back in the pot and tweaking the temp to get rid of wrinkled bullets.

Is it common to break the sprue handle on Lee 6 cavity molds? seems like a really BAD place to use sintered metal, which is exactly what they've used. my replacement piece is made of tool steel, so I don't think I'll have a problem with the replacement, but am I going to have to make a replacement for every mold I buy?

[R.M.]

Sounds like you waited too long before you cut the sprue. Cut it too soon, and you'll get smearing on the top of the mold, too late, and it gets hard to cut. Find the right amount of time to wait, and go to it.

[aviator41]

Hm. I guess maybe. I actuated the sprue cutter as soon as the lead on the sprue frosted over.

[mikedp]

As soon as you see it frost over...cut the sprue. Ooops I see you did that. I don't have a 6 cav, but from what I've seen, it shouldn't be that hard.

[blademasterii]

I have broken one as well and discovered the cause. For the first 10 casts or so I only fill two chambers. Then add one cast a few more, add one more cast a few more. Basically the mold was too cold to fill all 6 chambers. After I started warming up my mold this way I get usable boolits faster and dont damage my mold. When I broke mine I just tigged it back up. There are advantages to having the keys to the shop. :D

[aviator41]

Agreed! I thought about trying to weld it back together, but it broke right at the pivot point and it seemed like making a stronger handle was prudent.

Mine felt like it was binding, but even then I wasn't putting much pressure on it, I was really shocked that it broke.

[tengaugetx]

If you don't preheat your mold the spru is verry hard to cut if you fill all 6 cavities in the cold mold.
As was mentioned earlier, I do not fill all 6 cavities when the mold is cold. I fill two cavities with an empty cavity between them for a few cycles. Then I go to three with spaces in between for a few pours. After that I pour all six cavities. I broke a handle before I went to this method.

[462]

Sadly and unfortunately, an all to common problem. Pre-heat the mould, using a hot plate and "mould oven", and the problem goes away. Another benefit of a properly pre-heated, is first cast keepers.

Until Lee starts using a better metal, the levers will continue to break. The cost of constantly replacing broken parts, under warranty, must far outweigh that of using appropriate materials.

[snuffy]

93824

I didn't do it! Borrowed to a buddy, he brought it back like this. I sent Lee an email with this pic as an attachment, they sent me two new ones in the mail, took 3 days. I used one of the new ones, took the old one to work, welded it with a wire drive, looks like it should hold.

[Dale53]

The advice given here to either pre-heat the mould on a hot plate (that's what I do) or to start casting with just two cavities, then three and so on until the mould comes up to temperature is EXACTLY on point. A LOT of us have broken Lee handles by being ignorant of that method. After we learn, few of us ever have another problem with the handles.

Just a thought or two...

Dale53

[MtGun44]

One of the reasons not to learn on a 6 cav. Make your inevitable, normal mistakes on
a two cav mold is a cheaper and easier plan.

Bill

[aviator41]

Point taken. Hate that I busted a piece, but thankful I have the ability to fix it. I will be more careful about temps in the future.

[rsrocket1]

A broken sprue handle typically happens when 1- you wait too long before you cut the spure. 2- you didn't close the sprue handle fully before casting.

1. Learn to cast at a rhythm. No more than about 5 seconds after you see the lead freeze over, but not too soon, otherwise you get lead smeared between the sprue plate and mold.

2. If you don't close the sprue plate handle completely, you will never get enough leverage to open it and will break it before you cut the sprue. If you accidentally fail to completely close the handle, get a flat blade screwdriver between the mold slot and the sprue handle tip to act as a spacer. Then you'll have enough leverage to cut the sprues.

I have molds in 9/38/40/45 and they're all Lee 6 bangers. I learned on the 45ACP and it worked great. Watch folks on Youtube and learn. Cowboy T is a good instructor. You can also see some pretty bad techniques too.

[zomby woof]

Rookie mistake. Happened to me too. You just learned a lesson. Warm up the mold as stated above.

[btroj]

One of the reasons not to learn on a 6 cav. Make your inevitable, normal mistakes on
a two cav mold is a cheaper and easier plan.

Bill

Not to mention that a new caster should be focused on making a few good bullets, not lots of bullets.

[mistermog]

Ive broken 3 lee sprue handles. One of the techs there wrote me a note when I shipped them my mold back they said make SURE The handle is fully closed so it can cam open and then pull the sprue plate.

As soon as you see the puddle 'frost' and turn solid, count to 3 and pop it open.

[aviator41]

Not to mention that a new caster should be focused on making a few good bullets, not lots of bullets.

While I do agree that a new caster(me) should concentrate on the process and learn to make good quality boolits, I've never been one to start small. on the up side, the boolits do look very good.

[HeavyMetal]

It's always good to learn from your mistakes, hot plates are cheap and you will need one as you get more into casting particularly if you start using two 6 bangers at the same time, LOL!

I will also suggest you look at the picture posted by snuffy and it doesn't look like it has been Lee mented yet so for both you guys look it up and do it.

Basic stuff really a set screw added to hold the pivot bolt for the sprue plate and a dry wall screw set into the mold block as a contact point for the sprue plate lever. because that is noe steel on steel you won't wear away that part of the aluminum mold and have that issue to deal with in the future.

I think a sticky is still up showing pictures and such. Trust me you'll be glad you did it!

[lead-1]

I have been thinking of getting a couple 6 cavity molds so I am glad to see this posted or I probably would've broken a sprue also. I preheat my molds but now I know to use a different process with the 6 holers. Thanks.

[ubetcha]

Isn't there a vendor on this site that makes steel replacement handle to eliminate this concern? I thought I read it somewhere here.

[badgeredd]

Isn't there a vendor on this site that makes steel replacement handle to eliminate this concern? I thought I read it somewhere here.

Red River Rick, A.K.A. KAL Tool & Die........

Edd

[ubetcha]

Thanks edd. I guess my memory isn't completely gone.:grin: