Spruce scaring

[isaac0071]

Hello, I'm new to casting and have lee 125 grain 9mm mold and a lee 175 grain 40 s&w mold. And the spruce plate is scaring the top of the molds.

[MT Chambers]

Spruce will do that.

[isaac0071]

Will hurt the anything my bullets are ok.

[bangerjim]

Sprue plates made out of spruce can and will scar!!!!!!!

If your SPRUE plate is made of metal, and sounds like the molds are aluminum and not spruce, there are small dings along the leading edge of the plate. You need to take a VERY fine file or VERY fine emery cloth and smooth the edge. You will see exactly where the high spots are as there will be gouges in the top of the mold blocks where they travel over the tops of the blocks.

If you do not fix it, the high spots will keep scratching your mold blocks!

And beware of cocker spaniels as they just love to pee on spruce trees!

banger

[isaac0071]

Thank you I'm learning a lot off this forum.

[bnelson06]

Find some very fine sandpaper and a flat block. Sand both the bottom of the SPRUCE plate and the top of the MOLD till they are flat, that'll fix the problem.

[isaac0071]

And sorry for my miss spelling, sprue is scaring my mold. Love auto correct

[bnelson06]

Just a friendly poke and some good advice

[isaac0071]

Thanks for the advice I'm learning some good stuff here.

[bangerjim]

I jest hait speling corecting fones and cumputirs!


HA.......ha!


Hope you get your plate smoothed out OK.

banger

[PalmettoProjectiles]

it could be some galling too, i had that happen with some molds. listen to the guys talking about emory or stones to get rid of the scarring, then get some moly spray. i kept putting off moly spray and messed up molds because of it. get the dang spray.

[twc1964]

I had the same problem with all my lee molds. I found a new. Sharpening stone in my garage in fine grit and just lubed it and lightly stoned the face of the spue plate. I also stoned the top of the mold blocks to clean them up. Ate swings smoothly now. All is good in my world.. for now.

[gwpercle]

Keep an eye on the top of the Lee block, the aluminum is soft , the steel sprue plate is hard and it's easy to scar the top. First thing, before you start casting , is to smooth the underside of the sprue plate. They sometimes come from the factory with a rough edge. And watch for lead smears or galling and stop and remove it. It just gets worse if you don't. And you will want to clean the underside of the plate and block top after every casting session.
Don't forget to lube the mould, I like the Permatex Anti-Seize Lubricant for this.
Welcome to the wonderful world of boolits,
Gary

[cbrick]

Don't know about moly spay I've never used it, may work well ??

Search this forum for Bullplate Lube and how to use it, it is the preferred mold/sprue plate lube. Don't get any lube into the cavities, none, nada.

Rick

[Gtek]

Lee, Lyman, etc., new, used, who ever, what ever. Sprue plate comes off out of the box. Entire radius on bottom perimeter edge worked, then floated on 600 wet for look see on bottom, counter worked if required. Time machine still at calibration lab, cannot back up and fix gouge! Many years ago scarred brand new on fisrt swing, NEVER AGAIN.

[Cmm_3940]

Don't let aphids get into your spruce. They'll make galls, and that could be scary...

http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Pests/cooley1.htm

(sorry, had to say it.. :) )

600 grit wet sand paper on a perfectly flat surface like a sheet of glass. Place the mold blocks together, top down on the paper, and smooth out the galls. Polish the underside of the sprue plate the same way. I like to hit it again with 1500 grit, but that's probably not necessary. If the mold is badly galled, start with 320 paper first. A very thin coat of synthetic 2-stroke oil, bullplate lube, or even beeswax on the sprue plate will keep it from galling. Keep it out of the cavities. The anti-seize compound recommended in the directions from Lee has NOT worked well for me (are they still doing that?).

[Cadillo]

Scared me !@#$less just reading about it!

[MT Chambers]

Keep an eye on the top of the Lee block, the aluminum is soft , the steel sprue plate is hard and it's easy to scar the top. First thing, before you start casting , is to smooth the underside of the sprue plate. They sometimes come from the factory with a rough edge. And watch for lead smears or galling and stop and remove it. It just gets worse if you don't. And you will want to clean the underside of the plate and block top after every casting session.
Don't forget to lube the mould, I like the Permatex Anti-Seize Lubricant for this.
Welcome to the wonderful world of boolits,
Gary
The "spruce" plate on lee six bangers are made of "pot" metal not steel, but it is prolly still hard enough to scar the mold if it has any burrs on the edges.

[btroj]

Lube, like Rick mentioned, is your friend.

I like Ester 100 Ac oil from the auto parts store.

[John Boy]

Find some very fine sandpaper and a flat block. Sand both the bottom of the SPRUCE plate and the top of the MOLD till they are flat, that'll fix the problem.Better yet - go to Harbor Freight and buy the set of diamond sanding blocks mounted on an aluminum pad. One wants a flat sanding the diamond blocks are ideal