Use of Lee Molds

[mstarling]

Guys,

I wanted to try an aluminum mold and a friend wanted a 500 gr .458 Mold ... so he bought me a Lee to try.

I have cast bullets for 40+ years but have not used an aluminum mold before. All of mine are H&G, Ballisti-Cast, NEI, or Lyman with steel blocks. I use a bottom pour RCBS furnace and WWs. Will size them on a Lyman 450.

I read that they must be meticulously cleaned before first use. Have PurplePower and lots of elbow grease. How about hitting them with varsol first and then the PurplePower?

I understand that a lubricant should be used on the sprue plate. Don't have any of the Bullshop lube handy ... what would you suggest until some can be acquired? (Metal based anti-sieze or powdered moly disulfide work?)

Any other helpful hints?

Thanks a bunch Guys!

[454PB]

I use Gun Scrubber, Qtips, and a toothbrush to do the initial cleaning of Lee moulds. I also use no lube on any part of the mould.

I have the same mould you do, and it is a slow caster. By that I mean the volume of lead compared to the volume of aluminum is great, so it takes time to cool between fills.

[mstarling]

I do already cast .375, .458 and .475 rifle bullets. On big bullet molds I usually alternate two ... to allow them to cool between pours. Even then, there is time to clean up the sprue and move the bullets between pours. Is a pretty slow thing ... but yields good bullets.

[warf73]

I've never had much issue with the BIG Lee Alum molds getting overly hot and having to wait between pours (more than a few seconds).
I run my pot between 775~825*(with WW and about 1% tin) to get good fill out and a nice rhythm going. I can say that once the mold gets to the point were its taking a few seconds after I fill the last hole and being able to cut the spur its time to add metal to the pot. So while the pot comes back up to temp after refilling the mold is cooling, and once she hits 775* I'm back at for the next round.

Hope this helps probly doesn’t but you never know.

Warf

[454PB]

warf73, that big 500 gr. Lee boolit is only available in single cavity.....and that's part of the problem. I've even resorted to using a damp cloth to help cool the mould, and found that the boolit actually "bends" if done too much.

[mstarling]

454PB,

The mold I have is a two holer. I'll bet it needs to be run at a lower temp and/or run more slowly than similar or larger steel molds. Should come to operating temperature faster I'd think.

[mooman76]

Mstarling,
I was thinking the same. I've been casting the Lee's for years and cooling was never a issue. If it is taking too long to cool I just turn the melt down. As far as maticulously clean, I have never had to go through all that some here say you need to do. Boiling and scrubing and scrubing. I just give a light cleaning with a tooth brush and some cleaner in fact I have got over anxious a few times and forgot to clean but I top pour an have never bottom poured and I understand it is a totally different issue.
If all that scrubbing works for others and that's what they want to do great! As far as lube I've been using WD-40 for years and works ok. I spray it on while the mould is hot so it dries quick. I have some of the Famous Bull plate lube on order and will give it a try son!

[454PB]

Well I stand corrected. My Lee 500 gr. .458 mould is 25 years old, and at the time I bought it, it was only available in single cavity. Yes, aluminum moulds require a bit of a learning curve, but they work just fine.

[HeavyMetal]

Be careful what you spray on an aluminum surface!

I am not familar with this "purple Power" But a ton of stuff has hit the market in the last 2 or 3 years and most of it that starts out with the word "purple" is a Sodium Hydroxide base cleaner. The rest are Potassium Hydroxide.

These are the base chemicals in the solution and both will eat aluminum for lunch!

Pitting would be the first, and worst, sign of bad things going on!

Every store that sell this stuff should have an M.S.D.S. information sheet on the product in the store. That will tell you what the base chemical is and, if you look down the page far enough, it will show a heading called "Reactivity"!

This will tell you what it will do when combined with other materials such as aluminum.

By the way the reaction between sodium based cleaners and aluminum produces Hydrogen Gas!

Suggestion: Don't light a match!

[warf73]

warf73, that big 500 gr. Lee boolit is only available in single cavity.....and that's part of the problem. I've even resorted to using a damp cloth to help cool the mould, and found that the boolit actually "bends" if done too much.

Ya 454PB I was referencing my 6 cavity 458 molds. Sorry I wasn't much help on this subject. I try really hard to stay away from single and 2 cavity molds, it is a bit harder to get a good rhythm down with them, well for me that is.

On my 2 cavity Lyman I run the pot around 700* and get OK rhythm but like I said above I just don’t like the 1 or 2 cavity molds. Nothing worse than casting for an hour and getting around 350 boolits.

[mstarling]

Heavymetal,

Am a Ph.D. chemist and had planned to test the PurplePower on some 6065 scrap stock as any material that is a sufficiently basic hydroxide will eat aluminum. Would be a terrible way to lose a mold and it wouldn't take long! Thanks for the reminder though :???:

I finally noticed the sticky abt what one can do for Lee molds. How many folks found it necessary to polish the cavity surfaces of Lee molds?

Must admit that I am a little skeptical of aluminum molds in general. I like the idea of being able to use molds for a very long time. Am still using molds I bought in the 60s. Cast some 240 grain 44 mag projectiles day before yesterday with a 38 year old H&G mold I bought new. Probably should not worry about that any more. At age 62 aluminum molds will probably outlast me :roll:

mike

[AlaskaMike]

I've got 3 six-cavity moulds I got through group buys here, and I think all three have small burrs or other tiny rough spots, because they don't release the bullets very well. Somebody suggested lightly rubbing the cavity edges with a piece of hard wood, and I think I'll try that before I try polishing the cavities with toothpaste, baking soda or something else.

Mike

[Boomer Mikey]

You can use artist's graphite or carpenter pencil graphite on the sprue plate and mold blocks as a dry sprue plate lube.