Do I have a bad mould?

[oneMOA]

Just beginning to cast boolits and working thru some issues with the process. My mould is a Lyman 457132, single cavity, and is the Postell bullet @ 535 gr. I'm using Lyman handles. The mold will not open unless I tap repeatedly with a wood mallet on the hinge pin. Once the mould opens the bullet will not drop again without repeated tapping. The mould seems to bind on the lube grooves because I can see the nose beging to open up while the lube grooves still resist. I've tried smoking the mould and that makes no difference. This will make it difficult to keep a fast pace between filling and dropping and keeping the mould hot.

This mould is new and was cleaned before using with soap and water, and brake cleaner.

Do I have a defective mould?

[cdngunner]

Nope, just a new one.

Could be burrs left from machining.

Start reading, lots of posts on how to break in a mold.

[Tatume]

Probably not. I suggest you clean the mold again with hot water and dish detergent (I like Dawn). Then lube the hinge in your handles, and the pins in your mold. A little dab of bullet lube when the mold is hot will lube the pins well (don't get it in the cavity). Sometime when you have some excess lube sitting around, warm it and mix with graphite for a really good pin lube.

Also, when you see the mold trying to open unevenly (as you describe), give a little tap on the nose end of the mold.

You might find that the mold improves with use. There could be the tiniest of burrs on the cavity.

[Ben]

Remove the mold from the handles, see if the mold will open and close properly with no handles on the mold halves.

Your problem may be the handles , not the mold itself ? ?

Ben

[monadnock#5]

Although unlikely, Lyman has, in the past generated off center holes in the blocks. If you have one of these, you will be sad.

[mold maker]

Too many variables left to give a solid answer. Are the alignment pins too far out? Are there machining marks on the sides of the grooves? Are you swinging the sprue plate completely off the other half of the mold? Did you preheat the mould?
Starting out there are lots of questions/problems to be overcome. Is there someone near by, to mentor you?

[oneMOA]

Remove the mold from the handles, see if the mold will open and close properly with no handles on the mold halves.

Your problem may be the handles , not the mold itself ? ?

Ben

Ben, Yes I thought about that and the mould halves don't seem to bind with the handles removed, but then again there is no boolit in the mould and the binding seems to be comming from the lube groove portion of the boolit. There is some play between the handles and the mould halves which I would assume is for self alignment. As suggested, I will clean the mould again with soap (Dawn) and water then brake cleaner and lube the mould pins with a tiny bit of boolit lube.

[oneMOA]

Too many variables left to give a solid answer. Are the alignment pins too far out? Are there machining marks on the sides of the grooves? Are you swinging the sprue plate completely off the other half of the mold? Did you preheat the mould?
Starting out there are lots of questions/problems to be overcome. Is there someone near by, to mentor you?

I assume the pins are as they should be since the mould halves open OK with no boolit in the cavity. There doesn't appear to be any machine marks in the mould or on the boolit to cause the problem. Yes, I am swinging the sprue plate off to the side and out of the way. The mould was hot but not enough I'm told. Should be 450 or so and it was at about 250 at the most. The nearest caster I know lives about 45 minutes away, so not really close. I tried to call him for counsel but he is away for the weekend.

Since becoming a member of this forum I've spent hours browsing the threads for knowledge and I have learned a lot. I have spent several hours on youtube watching casting videos, again trying to educate myself. I know there are many knowledgeable casters here who may provide suggestions and I will try them all until one works. Sometimes the process is as much fun as the end result. :smile:

My lead is pure or with a small amount of tin added in if that matters, and thanks for all the replies.

[Ben]

I think you have two options :

( 1 ) Send the mold back for a replacement , since you say it is a new mold.

( 2 ) Spin a bullet coated with fine abrasive compound in the mold cavity to remove the burrs that seem to be present.

If you decide on # 2, here are instructions,

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?47669-More-quot-Lee-Lementing-quot

Ben

[725]

Lube the pins and hinge after a hard cleaning. Heat the mould and with a tiny bit of Kroil oil & a Q-tip, wipe the entire cavity really well. Wash out all the lube grooves with a thin coating of Kroil. End up with a almost dry cavity and cast. Cast hot. It goes against the norm to kroil the interior of the mould, but it works. Too much will yield wrinkles in the boolits. The right amount will cure some mould ills. It's a new mould that probably just needs a good work out.

[atr]

I agree with Ben's suggestion #2

[Gtek]

First- Welcome to the madness. Have you tried opening and closing the mold empty at temp, this will remove the question of pin/hole issues. What does parting line look like on boolit- groove area? If boolit mic's round get after it, if not back it goes. Tough call on sending back, I myself would attack it. Strip blocks and lay them on their backs, find an X-ACTO knife. Using one side of cavity as base, slide tip up other side and see if there is a rollover from machining into cavities paying special attention around lube grooves where problem may be. If found, take the X-ACTO blade or a carpet knife and VERY, VERY lightly drag/scrape edge at 90 degrees. If edges were found and scraped, cold blue with Q-tip, fire pot and go see. If not found better I would be tempted to drop five or so using COWW or up to Lino as cool as I could to get the biggest boolit I could. Find somebody with a lathe, masking tape bullet and center drill for tapping either 3/16" or 1/4". Coarse thread in this application seems to work better. Using nothing less than 400, 600 I like best. Some people roll boolits, that does not do it for me. I take a small artist brush and put it where I want it, very thin even layer confirming nothing on face. Short Bolt/washer/nut using nut as jam nut insert in boolits behind. Variable speed drill/socket head in one hand and mold in handles in other. Grip handles really tight, clockwise run drill as slow as you can. Locked hands, floating elbows and arms run for a couple seconds. Brake-clean, cold blue and go. SLOW AND LOW IS THE WAY TO GO, YOU CANNOT PUT METAL BACK! Being a .457" size makes things easier, and while your at it might as well attack plate. Radius all bottom edges on plate, whip around on a flat plate on some wet 320 for confirm and cold blue back. Inspect counter for sharp edge to bottom. "Do I have a defective mould?" you will need to tell us. Once again, Welcome to the MADNESS!

[oneMOA]

I believe I have found the problem or at least likely suspect. After the input from the Forum this morning, I set about giving her another good cleaning and after that a close inspection. With close examination under the highest magnification I had available and under the right angle of light, fine burrs revealed themselves on both edges of each half of the mould right around the lube grooves. The burrs were on both sides of the boolit so I don't think they came from the rotation of the cherry. I think if that were the case the burrs would have been on one side only. Now I don't know how molds are made exactly but this one appears to have to some final machining on the mating surface of both halves because the burrs were in the mould cavity, or folded over into the mould cavity.

I read on this forum where another caster used a pencil eraser to clean up some edges, and I found that method to work pretty well. An exacto knife in the corners of the lube grooves finished it up nicely. I used a scraping motion and light pressure and only enough to remove the burrs.

It will most likely be the latter part of next week before I can test the mold under casting conditions. I'll post the results here. Thanks again for all the replies and I must say this forum is shapeing up to be a great wealth of information.

[chuebner]

I had exactly the same problem with my Lyman 457132 mold with Lyman handles. Spun a bullet in the mold with toothpaste and went to a set of Lee 6 cav. handles. Problem solved and less strain on the wrist.

Charlie

[skeettx]

REMEMBER
Lyman made two size handles, one for small block and one for large block
The Large block handles were for double cavity mould and large single cavity bullets
Could you happen to have a small set of handles?
Mike

p.s. fun reading
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?167586-Lyman-mould-handles-Large-Small

[gwpercle]

Once you get the burrs removed, run a Q-tip across the edge , the cotton will snag any burr. Then a casting session or two will season the mould and boolits will begin to fall out with a gentle tap.
Your mould is not broken, it is just new and needs to be deburred and broken-in with use.
Keep working with it.
And that tip about using Lee 6-cavity handles is a good one, all of my Lyman blocks are starting to get Lee handles.
Gary

[oneMOA]

I'm sure I have the correct Lyman handles for this single cavity mould. The Lee handles are cheaper so I'll go that route with my next Lyman mould. Spinning a boolit with toothpaste looks like a good idea as well. My Wife gave me an old pair of panty hose to test for any more burrs. I'm thinking the panty hose wrapped around my finger tip and swiped from the inside to the outside of the cavity will show up any additional burrs. I have a friend who uses that method to check for split case mouths on his Cowboy Action rifle ammo. He claims it works great for detecting the smallest split.

[skeettx]

Remember this 45 Caliber Single Cavity moulds take the Double Cavity handles
Mike