prep new Lee 2 cavity

[DLCTEX]

I would recommend anyone recieving a new 2 cav. Lee to not open the sprue plate, just remove it and deburr the edges without swinging it open. The last three I have gotten gouged the top of the mould as I swung it open, or maybe the installer did it when he closed it. I opened the package with a new 429-240 today, removed the tape, ans swung the sprue plate open to a gritty, scratching sound. The edges of the sprue plate apparently are just as they were when stamped out. A quick bit of file work and some abrasive cloth took care of that. I then drilled and tapped for a set screw for the sprue plate screw, as experience tells me it will be better to adjust it so that the sprue plate swings more freely and prevent the galling that will inevitably occur without it even if you lube the pivot. I apply anti-seize to the set screws and pivot points on the plate. This took about 30 minutes and then I cleaned the mould with brake cleaner and got to casting. This one dropped really well without having to polish the cavities with comet and a spun boolit. The boolits measured .434 X .4345. They should do nicely sized .430 when I get some gas checks.

[Bullshop Junior]

I couldn't get the sprue plate screw loose on the last lee mold I bought. It was so danged right and it was impossible to open without being oiled by hand. The screw would not come loose. I heated it with a torch till the aluminum started to look like it was gonna run and even hit it with a impact hammer and couldn't get it to move. I ended up filing the sprue plate a little thinner to get it to work right...

[DLCTEX]

If you have access to a drill press put a good phillips #2 bit in the chuck and use the drill press to apply downward pressure while turning the chuck with large channel lock pliers with the jaws cushioned. I have broken the most stubborn screws loose this way. Use anti-seize when going back.

[Bullshop Junior]

If you have access to a drill press put a good phillips #2 bit in the chuck and use the drill press to apply downward pressure while turning the chuck with large channel lock pliers with the jaws cushioned. I have broken the most stubborn screws loose this way. Use anti-seize when going back.

Tried it. Couldn't get that Sonofagun to turn with anything.

[Gtek]

Left handed thread maybe like mine? Not kidding.

[Bullshop Junior]

Left handed thread maybe like mine? Not kidding.

I never even thought to try that...I'll try it tomorrow.

[Ben]

Left handed thread maybe like mine? Not kidding.

UUUmmm, When did Lee start using a left hand thread pattern on the sprue bolt ?

[DLCTEX]

I haven't found one yet, but who knows? Try vice grips?

[bangerjim]

Never had those kind of "fixes" with any of my many MANY Lee 2 and 6 banger molds!!!!!

So what if the top of the mold gets a few little scratches from the sprues? Does not cause bad boolits!!!!!! Several of mine have minor "swipe" marks for years. I just touch the bottom of the plate without taking it off......with an ultra fine lathe finish file and all is well.

And I have NEVER EVER cleaned a new mold.....ever. They drop perfect boolits the 1st time as long as they are preheated on a hotplate and lead is at correct temp. I have never seen the need for all this cleaning and scrubbing and scrubbing and cleaning that people insist must be done. Oil is usually NOT the culprit for wrinkles........try a cold mold and /or under temp lead.

And.............I use beeswax for pin & joint lube!

LH threads??????????????? I really doubt it.

banger

[MT Chambers]

At the factory if they bugger the right handed thread, they just force a left hand threaded screw in it's place.

[Wally]

Never had those kind of "fixes" with any of my many MANY Lee 2 and 6 banger molds!!!!!

So what if the top of the mold gets a few little scratches from the sprues? Does not cause bad boolits!!!!!! Several of mine have minor "swipe" marks for years. I just touch the bottom of the plate without taking it off......with an ultra fine lathe finish file and all is well.

And I have NEVER EVER cleaned a new mold.....ever. They drop perfect boolits the 1st time as long as they are preheated on a hotplate and lead is at correct temp. I have never seen the need for all this cleaning and scrubbing and scrubbing and cleaning that people insist must be done. Oil is usually NOT the culprit for wrinkles........try a cold mold and /or under temp lead.

And.............I use beeswax for pin & joint lube!

LH threads??????????????? I really doubt it.

banger


I find all that you say to be very true. I have yet to ever clean anew Lee mold. Those scratches mentioned...I remove the sprue plate and polish up with very fine sandpaper...then buff 0000 steel wool. I then let the sprue plate be loose so it opens via gravity so that I get no more scratches. They are caused by the sprue plate being too tight. And I use beeswax as a pin & joint lube. I touch a piece to the hot spue screw when it is closed and the mold has bullets in them....just a little is all that is needed, I reapply after 30~50 casts.

[gwpercle]

DLCTEX, great advice for "new" double cavity Lee moulds. I had no trouble removing the sprue plate screws from my three "new" Lee's, and they loosen a bit during casting but I just snug them back up with screw-driver. My "old" style Lee moulds don't loosen while casting but I couldn't remove the plate for smoothing either. That screw would't budge so I left them alone and smoothed them as best I could while on the mould. If a screw don't loosen easily I just leave them alone...too easy to bugger up.
As for getting all the cutting oil out ot the blocks I let the last one soak in acetone for 2 or 3 days.... that got ALL the oil out. Other than that I like the "new" 2 cavity moulds.
Gary

[Changeling]

I've listened to what a lot of you guys have said about treating a new mold.
I just received one a week or so ago and it looks perfect except for some gouges due to spru plate swing against the blocks. I'll correct that and tooth brush the heck out of it with toothpaste as often suggested, then I intend to boil it on LOW BOIL (212 degrees) for a couple hours with some dish detergent.
If I end up with oil floating on top I'll do it again and again till it stops!

[bangerjim]

If you are interested in my long-time personal experience with oil in molds...............read on.


1st, as I have stated, I do NOT clean my new molds......ever.

I cast a lot of hot melt glue (HMG) 38's and 45's with my Lee 2 & 6 bangers. I use (original formula) Pam for the lubrication IN THE CAVITIES for a release agent. And I cool the molds with an ice cube rubbed along the bottom after injecting the glue. The HMG boolits just fall out!

Now.....here comes the interesting part that may cause some heartburn to some.................when I switch back to hot lead casting, all I do is wipe the mold cavities off/out well with a dry shop rag and Q-tips! NO degreasing, no scrubbing, no boiling, no scouring...........perfect lead boolits the 1st drop from a properly preheated (most important) mold. NEVER any wrinkles from oil inclusions....and there IS a bit of good old greasy PAM in there! Definitely. A thin film of it floats on the top of the water dump I use for the just-cast boolits, so the tiniest bit of it is in the cavities. It just comes out on the first few drops of hot boolits. And I PC everything and have never found there is any carry-over of the tiniest bit of PAM "lube" to muck up the PC sticking/baking to the boolits.

So much for the myth of an itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny coating of oil causing wrinkles. Wrinkles can generally be traced back to: 1) mold and lead under-temps, 2) alloy composition (lack of Sn), and 3) casting expertise. I have seen the proof.

Shoot away at my actual personal proof if you are so inclined. I love a good debate among friends. I am only reporting what I have experienced with many molds used alternately between HMG and Pb casting for a long time.

And I hope this may lend some help or ideas to those new casters now with us that are having un-explained problems with wrinkles........it may NOT be oil. It probably is the temperature.

In the end, you must do what you feel is best for your molds and casting experiences to yield quality boolits for you needs. Food for thought.

"We report.......you decide". :coffee:


bangerjim

[DLCTEX]

I have had numerous new Lee mould that cast wrinkled boolits even if the mould is preheated to the point of heavy frosting. I have had to heat cycle them several times before the oil burns away and I get good boolits. The sprue plate on the three new style 2 cav. mould I have gotten didn't scratch, they gouged. However, I find scratches of any size unacceptable.

[Edmrb]

Well gentleman, I have yet to cast my first round and I an totally confused on how to approach using a new Lee 2-cavity, or a new rcbs 2-cavity which I assume is steel. I thought that if I lay the mold on my pot while the lead was melting that all would be well with the world. I guess I have to back and read all the manuals again because I feel that I have missed something very fundamental. I will probably get slapped for posting this in the wrong place but i think I am following the thread. If not please let me know where & how to ask questions in the right place. For instance I have a question on the proper roll crimp on a 44spl. that I just finished ( for the first time).I just don't know where to post the question. I'm not trying to be a SA, I just want to get it right.

[bangerjim]

You will not "get it right"..............the first time or possibly the 10th time..........but each time you learn something.


Don't overthink it...............good casting techniques do NOT come from reading "all the manuals". It comes from getting out there and doing it and seeing what works and what does not. You are not going to permanently ruin anything if you make garbage boolits. Just remelt them!

Experience is the best teacher. Use the info from here and all the "standard manuals" as guidelines. As they said in Pirates of the Caribbean........it's not so much rules, as guidelines."

We all started somewhere, somehow with not-so-perfect boolits. But we learned from our mistakes. Edison said he had leaned 1000 ways NOT to make a light bulb. So it is with casting.

Heat that pot up......heat that mold up (a hotplate really works well!) and cast some of those little guys!

You can always scrub and clean and clean and scrub you mold later if you think it will solve your problems you may encounter. Temp and alloy mix are the important things. And practice.......practice......practice!

Welcome to the madness!

banger
.............the day you quit learning....is the day they nail the lid on your coffin.

[Gtek]

Yes, I said left hand. It even has LH 300ACC on top of block. I tried to really remove that tight screw and set it down. For some reason I looked and there was a piece of paper in box 4"x3.5"
NEW, always tight left-hand screw.
To loosen, turn clockwise.
To tighten, turn counter-clockwise.
"LH" denotes left-hand thread
ain't lied to ya yet!

[Edmrb]

Thank you for the words of wisdom and encouragement.

[enfieldphile]

Agreed! You can have "identical" molds, and one may take a slightly different technique to get good boolits then the other one! Some molds like the mold tipped to get all the air out, others want it held level, etc. I have one steel mold that will turn out beautiful boolits, but only if it's heavily smoked. I have one Seaco mold, even if ice cicles were on it, good boolits would eminate from its cavitiies!

Of course trying to remember the charactertistics of 20 different molds can be trying @ best!

"...it's not so much rules, as guidelines." LOL, in my 20+ years in the Army (been retired since '96), we had a route-steppin' batalion commander, Bill Leapus (Leapin' Bill Leapus) who, if he liked a regulation, it was LAW! But, on the other hand, if it didn't fit his global views, then it was: "just guidelines".


You will not "get it right"..............the first time or possibly the 10th time..........but each time you learn something.


Don't overthink it...............good casting techniques do NOT come from reading "all the manuals". It comes from getting out there and doing it and seeing what works and what does not. You are not going to permanently ruin anything if you make garbage boolits. Just remelt them!

Experience is the best teacher. Use the info from here and all the "standard manuals" as guidelines. As they said in Pirates of the Caribbean........it's not so much rules, as guidelines."

We all started somewhere, somehow with not-so-perfect boolits. But we learned from our mistakes. Edison said he had leaned 1000 ways NOT to make a light bulb. So it is with casting.

Heat that pot up......heat that mold up (a hotplate really works well!) and cast some of those little guys!

You can always scrub and clean and clean and scrub you mold later if you think it will solve your problems you may encounter. Temp and alloy mix are the important things. And practice.......practice......practice!

Welcome to the madness!

banger
.............the day you quit learning....is the day they nail the lid on your coffin.