I screwed up my lee 6 cavity mold...

[LAKEMASTER]

i think, forgive me im new, like only 17lbs of lead bullets new....


i think my front alignment pins are misaligned, and i believe it happen due to my own failure to (season)my mold..

THANKS TO NOE, I NOW HAVE A SHEET THAT RECOMMENDS A CERTAIN WAY TO PREP THE MOLD BEFORE INTENDED USE...

OK!!!!! so is there a way or tried and trued method to realign the pins? i have started to tap on the bushing with a proper punch and it has made my gap smaller, but i was wondering if theres a special way to PROPERLY align them...

[RobS]

Once you have the pins aligned you can peen them in place

[bangerjim]

I have NEVER seasoned a Lee 2 or 6 cavity aluminum mold. Ever. I just smoke "em with a beeswax candle (only) and start pre-heating to cast temp immediately. Never had one warp. I don't even clean and scrub and scrub and clean them like some insist is necessary. Wrinkles are caused NOT from grease but from a cold mold and under-temp lead. Save the Dawn for dishes and brake cleaner for your car brakes.

I DO season brass molds (heat very hot 3x) to get that nice orange patina built up B4 casting.....or you might "tin" the mold and have lead sticking.

Good luck on aligning your pins. Should be fairly easy.

banger

[LAKEMASTER]

i was going to go ahead and do it on my own but i was afraid if i said "yeah took a punch to my alignment pins today and made em better"people would have freaked out lol.

ill report later with my findings

[osteodoc08]

First, let's have you describe the problem so that we can verify the issue. If it's not a pin alignment issue, it's best not to mess with the pins. If it is, we can walk you through appropriate corrective action. As they say, pictures are worth a thousand words. Don't start hammering away at your mold.

[leadman]

It is more common for lead on the face of the mold to hold the mold open than the alignment pins, unless you got one of the Lee molds that the pins are somewhat loose in the mold.
As written above, more info and pictures would help.

[gwpercle]

Since you are so new to all this , I think the best plan would be returning it to Lee and let them do the fixing. If not done right, you get to buy a new mould, the first one then becomes a "lesson" in how to ruin a new mould. Aluminum moulds need a light touch and knowledge on how fix them.
Gary

[Springfield]

If the pins are moving into the mould further, causing the mould to be loose and not align,you just need to take them off the handles and tap them forward until they are almost flush again. Then use a pin punch and peen a bit of aluminum over the back so that can't do this again. It's not you, LEE's do this most of the time. They will work their way forward, too, and sometimes fall out of the mould, especially if you cast in large batches and the mould gets hot. All my(Lee) pins are peened in place from both ends the day I get them. NOE, Accurate, HM2, and other high quality molds don't seem to have this problem, but then again I don't run quite the volume through them. for teh most part LEE's are for my pistol/blasting ammo and the others are for more quality ammo.

[Seeker]

No, you didn't screw it up. My first 2 cavity Lee Bullet mold did the same thing. I contacted Lee and they said they would send me another one after I sent them mine. Nice gesture, but I figured a new one would eventually do the same thing as it's a very poor design if you ask me. So I declined the offer. I have one older Lee round ball mold, and it has 2 round, roll pin type line up pins mounted into the blocks sideways and they are solid. With this one, after I read about different fixes (including peening them in) I drilled and tapped the block and put set screws in, tightened them up and have cast approx. 1000 boolits with it with no problems. I kept checking them for tightness at first but they remain solid.

[LAKEMASTER]

141808

Here's the gap. No lead is present

[osteodoc08]

If not an alignment pin issue and blocks are clean, your blocks are warped. Send it back....and buy an NOE.