Lee QC Flagging

[Tar Heel]

I've noticed a few posts lately about Lee molds and some failing QC regarding the molds. I received my new Lee dual cavity 309-170-FP mold today and immediately noticed the new block design. I also observed a significant gap between the mold halves on the bottom of the mold (top of bullet). I think these will go back....actually I know these will go back. Someone had mentioned Lee was using some new machining method. Anybody know what that is?

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[bosterr]

They gap like the 379-250 I just got. After I lubed the alignment pins with synthetic lube and started casting, they closed right up.

[Tar Heel]

They gap like the 379-250 I just got. After I lubed the alignment pins with synthetic lube and started casting, they closed right up.

Seriously now bosterr....you really had a gap this bad that resolved by lubing the alignment pins? Because I would love for that to work and save me a bunch of time.

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[Ben]

That looks like a pretty nasty gap to me.

You should have a mold that is within specs when you take it out of the box. That one ISN'T !

Send it back. The more they get back that is wrong, the more they will pressure quality control to " improve ". Then we all win.

Ben

[Silverboolit]

Send your pix to lee and ask what you should do. If they want it back, ask for a return lable. You should not have to pay freight on a defective item.

[Tar Heel]

No worries. It's going back. I have already initiated the process via email to customer service.

[Tar Heel]

Anyone know what new machining process they are using?

[Ben]

It most likely had a quality control sticker wrapped around the mold.
The last one I got was " Shirley ". Someone in Q/C blew it on that mold.

Ben

[Tar Heel]

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Really? All you have to do is hold it up to a light on the ceiling to see it doesn't line up. I guess handles, aluminum, sprue plate, and oil means it's out the door. Darn.

[tomme boy]

Lee will not pay shipping at all. Good luck.

[HeavyMetal]

Lee's QC has been a pet peeve of mine for more years than you can imagine and hit or miss really is complimentry.

I haven't seen the new two cavity mold blocks in person but I figure some time with a real fine needle file would fix the one you got by removing all the burrs.

However I see no reason to do someone else job, particularly when I paid to have it done right in the First place.

Returning it is the way to go, don't be surprised if it gets returned to you with a note saying nothing was wrong with it but maybe not.

Lee's QC still has a long way to go but I hear the Customer Service people aren't as rude as they used to be.

Keep us in the loop, I keep hoping someone at Lee actually looks at this site but I don't think so!

[Tar Heel]

I'll keep ya all posted. I may just order one from Accurate but really wanted a cheapo to keep the 300 WM shooting a tad less expensively. I have about 6 or so Lee molds and have not had any issues with them. This is the first mold I have had any issue with. I am quite surprised this made it past QC. It is not a burr issue or a metal flange or some other minor detail than can be corrected with the judicious application of a correct polishing agent. This one has a doggone bulge in it.

You can see from the pics it has about 1/3 less mass than the older molds. I'm wondering how this will affect it's temperature retention. Oh well...I'll await their response on Monday. Y'all have a good weekend.

[Ben]

HeavyMetal

I keep hoping someone at Lee actually looks at this site but I don't think so!

Lee people may not be visiting the site, but thousands of potential mold buyers are looking at things like the above here on this site.

The advent of the internet causes information about a company like this to spread quickly, good or bad..........

[freebullet]

If lee won't pay shipping i would call whoever you bought it from and let them know the product they shipped you is defective and you need them to give you a refund.

Lee 356-95 had similar gap. Tapped the pins & bushing in a scooch, was still tight but wore in with use.

[Tar Heel]

If lee won't pay shipping i would call whoever you bought it from and let them know the product they shipped you is defective and you need them to give you a refund.

Lee 356-95 had similar gap. Tapped the pins & bushing in a scooch, was still tight but wore in with use.

I bought it directly from Lee. I tried through MidwayUSA where it was backordered. When it became available, they wanted to charge me a $3 minimum order fee, on top of the $12 shipping even though the original order was for over $150. Since two of the items were "back ordered", I also didn't qualify for the special offering for >$150 orders. I was born at night guys, it wasn't last night. I'm done with Midway too. Don't worry....Larry is too busy hunting all over the world to read all this. He finances those trips with all the folks paying the "stupid tax"....I mean "minimum order fees" and $12 shipping fees when it only costs $5

[Gtek]

Tar Heel- how is the scar, oops, sprue plate? Remove hinge bolt- pitch. Find 3/8" with shank of .375"ish. Pop handles off, put halves in 400 degree oven. When at temp remove, align, and press in mill vise on insert line. Tried the punch thing, not too accurate. Had to go proud and set back. I was trying to avoid a $180 swing at an experiment and now have considerable time in a RCBS handled, detailed/worked over sprue plate, five sides milled mold. Working this weekend, maybe next week dropping. We gets what we pay for, I was hoping for just a little more. One question- did yours come with left handed screw in plate? There were some possible non-believers a while back and I need somebody to check my six. Thanks, - Lar

[ubetcha]

I also had a 170gr Lee mold that had light coming through. If you looked at it from the front you could see that one of the mold block's was mounted to the handles at an angle. Also that half of mold was very tight on the handle and would not pivot like the other half. Took it back to Lee and they tried to fix it but wound up giving me a new mold. Good thing I live about 12 miles away.

[Tar Heel]

Tar Heel- how is the scar, oops, sprue plate? Remove hinge bolt- pitch. Find 3/8" with shank of .375"ish. Pop handles off, put halves in 400 degree oven. When at temp remove, align, and press in mill vise on insert line. Tried the punch thing, not too accurate. Had to go proud and set back. I was trying to avoid a $180 swing at an experiment and now have considerable time in a RCBS handled, detailed/worked over sprue plate, five sides milled mold. Working this weekend, maybe next week dropping. We gets what we pay for, I was hoping for just a little more. One question- did yours come with left handed screw in plate? There were some possible non-believers a while back and I need somebody to check my six. Thanks, - Lar

Lar....Without all the tooling to dork with it, I'll just have to return it. I certainly, like most, realize it's a $20 mold and expected such, but Jeez....the thing should close properly. You are correct sir about the LH screw in the plate. Attached is the included instruction sheet identifying this feature. The screw is not physically "identified" as a LH screw. In other words, it's not marked in some fashion to that effect with a "ding" or "tick" or "score". The etching on the mold does however say "LH 309-170" which may mean LH screw? Had you not asked, I would have assumed it was a RH threaded screw. Who reads instruction sheets anyway....

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[Gtek]

I will advise removing plate without even swinging it that first time and remove all the stamping knife edges. Thanks for the six check there Tar Heel. Good Luck with return, but I would get it to about 400 quick and give her a good squeeze square on bottom over BOTH buttons at same time. The alloy should expand more rapidly than the buttons and find proper set. I bumped mine around smacking/tapping on them.

[Tar Heel]

Well....I had CROW for dinner tonight. This morning, Monday, Lee responded to my inquiry and suggested that I prep the mold as indicated in the instructions. After smoking the mold and lubing the alignment pins and hinge pin, I threw two casts and on the third cast, she was casting perfectly. After the heating, the halves are lining up with no gaps. I had contemplated casting with it to see what would happen but was afraid to in case Lee wanted the thing back.

There you have it folks. The product fooled me and worked just fine. Lee customer service has probably had a lot of emails like mine and yet responded in a very fast manner and politely asked me to follow the included instructions with the mold. Granted I thought the thing was defective but it was not.

Thanks for the support and fine bullet mold. Here is a picture of the first run. I need to work out a cadence and casting temp but they aren't too shabby.

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[fredj338]

Lee's QC has been a pet peeve of mine for more years than you can imagine and hit or miss really is complimentry.
!

This has been my exp as well, very hit or miss. Get a decent one, they work fine, get one like that, it has to go back & Lee rarely pays shipping. So the inexpensive mold starts to get pricey. I don't expect much for a $30 mold or even the more expensive 6cav, but they really should sort of work without doing a bunch of tweaking.