Cleaning a mold?

[kellyj00]

I've got a 45acp lee 6-cav aluminum mold that I pickup up used, it's pretty sooty...but that's not my major concern.

At some point, a few months ago, we were experimenting with making "pykrete" bullets from sawdust-impregnated ice. In order to make the mold water-tight we used toothpaste. Now, there's an interesting dried minty-fresh lining where the mold halves meet and I'm wondering what I should do, if anything before beginning casting with this mold.

Can it be burned off by pre-heating the mold? Should I just scrub it off? Could I run the mold through the dishwasher?

Once clean, is it ready to cast again or do I need to coat it with something?

Thanks!

[dromia]

I'd give it a good scrub in boiling water and a little detergent, dry it good and cast with it. I'd see how its does first before doing any prep on it other than the ubiquitous Bull plate lube which is a must for mould lubing.

[montana_charlie]

I used to think toothpaste was a good 'mild abrasive' for cleaning things.
So, I would use it on stuff...including a two-banger round ball mould for my Hawken.

As time went by, I noticed I had to keep switching to thicker patches to keep my loads tight.

Finally, I was using the toothpaste on the mould while watching a long movie (The Longest Day). When the movie was over I quit scrubbing, and went to rinse the mould.

Guess what...the mould was sparkling white, smelled fresh and clean, and (as advertised) had NO CAVITIES!
CM

[kellyj00]

good deal... I'll just wipe it down and see what happens.

[StrawHat]

I used to think toothpaste was a good 'mild abrasive' for cleaning things.
So, I would use it on stuff...including a two-banger round ball mould for my Hawken.


Guess what...the mould was sparkling white, smelled fresh and clean, and (as advertised) had NO CAVITIES!
CM

Charlie,

You Sir, are not right.

I, can appreciate that.

[HORNET]

I'll agree with dromia. That stuff might take a little while to thin out. Also works good for patching nail holes in the sheetrock where SWMBO couldn't decide where she wanted things hung.

[AlaskaMike]

At some point, a few months ago, we were experimenting with making "pykrete" bullets from sawdust-impregnated ice.

I gotta ask--how did the pykrete bullets turn out, and did they shoot well?

Mike

[kellyj00]

alaskamike: not sure... Haven't loaded them up yet. Still sitting between other science fair projects in the freezer.

all: cleaning the mold didn't affect the performance either way. Tonight I'm going to leement the molds as the bullets were sticking last weekend.

Thanks for all your help. I'm hooked on this hobby.

[Wayne Smith]

alaskamike: I'm hooked on this hobby.

I think making pyecrete boolits qualifies as truly hooked!

[Leftoverdj]

The easy way to clean moulds that need serious cleaning is to drop one half at a time into your tumbler for about four hours. That's probably overkill for just toothpaste.