Rebuilding Old Lyman Mould Master pot

[scrapcan]

This is a bit of a different question on the rebuild. My heating element is in good shape. I have a problem with the connection for the removable cord.

Where the cord plugs onto the two prongs, the prongs are no longer held together. The material that was holding them together looks like a mica rectangle with holes in it the correct distance apart for the prongs.

My question is what should I use to replace the mica that has fallen apart?

I am sure it needs to be no conductive, but what should I look for that will have some heat resistance as this thing is close to the pot and could get pretty hot.

I will try to get a picture of what the material looks like.

Thanks for the help.

[beagle]

I used a piece of pheolic (garolite) once and that lasted for a while but the heat got to it finally so that's no solution.

I sure wish someone would take one of the old Mouldmasters and rebuild it from scratch as a labor of love and then start repairing them at a reasonable cost.

Many old pots out there that need repairs and unfortunately, the companies don't support them very long....RCBS excepted./beagle

[oneokie]

This is just a WAG without pictures, do you have room to use something like welders chalk?

This place sells sheets of mica/isenglass;
http://www.antiquestoves.com/st/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=2

[Lloyd Smale]

i have one of the old 10lb lymans and its been about the best pot ive owned. I wish they still made them. they seem more durable then the new lyman or rcbs 20 lb pots.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Instead of trying to use the old cord, get a piece of silicone rubber zip cord with plug, as used on clothing irons, and crimp it to the end of the wires going to the pins. A used iron will only cost you a buck or two in a junk store. I recently bought two when making a home made heater for my Star sizer. Cover the connection with high temp silicone sealer/cement.
Morgan

[scrapcan]

Isenglas is what I was trying to come up with yesterday, didn't they use it to insulate ovens a fair bit ago? What about a piece of bakelite, anybody know where to get a 2 to 3 inch square piece?

I agree with the need for repair and replacemetn parts. This old pot is the best I have had, it just needs a little tlc from time to time.


Morgan,

I had thought about replacing the cord and doing away with the removable cord, but it is kind of nice having the removable cord. I am however looking at just putting in a piece of sheet metal and fidning a cord as you suggest. Just need to make sure the cord will withstand the temps of the pot.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Years ago, silicone rubber was invented by GE, as a replacement for the cloth covered asbestos insulated wires on their appliances. This included toasters, irons, electric ovens, and soldering irons, to name a few. My original Lyman Moldmaster uses the large style "iron cord" the kind used on steam irons in the past. These large plugs clip together, and are made to be serviced. My Lyman Moldmaster XX, uses the newer style cord with the small plug you see on coffee pots. I believe the new Lyman and RCBS now use an attached silicone heat resistant zip cord like all steam irons now use. The small Lyman pots that come with their bullet casting kits do.
A silicone cord can withstand over 450ºF. If you crimp it to the wires coming from the heating element with bare butt connectors, it should be fine. Cover the bare connections with RTV silicone. Make a little sheet metal cover with a Romex connector or heat resistant strain relief (the iron you removed the cord fron will have one), to bring the wire through, to cover the end where the plug went, mount using the two screws that held the connector shield and leave the back open for air.

If you're determined to replace the board holding the pins, Isinglass, which is actually a sheet of mica, is very difficult to work without cracking. The boards which replaced it originally were asbestos, don't know what they replaced them with. The best place to obtain some would be in an old toaster, found in a junk store.
Morgan

[Typecaster]

manleyjt—
Re: oven insulation. You may be thinking of vermiculite, which is expanded mica (you can flake it apart and see the mica layers). It's a superb insulator. In my days as a glassblower, we used to pack laser tubes, etc. in vermiculite to keep them warm until we could get them into the annealing oven. Little tiny bits are used in potting mixes—they hold moisture extremely well.

Richard

[MT Gianni]

Eisenglass was also used as the windows on older gas heaters and wood stoves. Gianni

[Typecaster]

Funny term, isinglass, as it is used for both the "mineral" (mica) and "something organic" from the bladders of fish that my parents said was used to preserve eggs...

In the old days, (according to my, father who just turned 97), on the farm they'd dunk fresh eggs in isinglass and let it dry. It would seal the egg shells and keep the eggs from spoiling. This was obviously before refrigeration, but he first plowed using a horse-drawn plow—the steam tractor was a radical invention.

Richard

[WineMan]

We use Isinglass (fish, usually Sturgeon swim bladders) in the wine industry. It is a protein and when mixed with wine (in very small amounts) it will remove harsh tasting phenolic (tannins etc) materials from the wine. The same sensation as when you drink red wine and your tongue feels coated is the proteins in your saliva being combined with the wine tannins. We also use egg whites, skim milk and gelatins for the same purpose but Isinglass is very specific and gentle. All of these products are insoluble and are removed by settling and filtration. New allergen regs may change the way we do things or at least let people know what we are doing.

Wineman

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Funny term, isinglass, as it is used for both the "mineral" (mica) and "something organic" from the bladders of fish that my parents said was used to preserve eggs...

In the old days, (according to my, father who just turned 97), on the farm they'd dunk fresh eggs in isinglass and let it dry. It would seal the egg shells and keep the eggs from spoiling. This was obviously before refrigeration, but he first plowed using a horse-drawn plow—the steam tractor was a radical invention.

Richard

That was water glass (sodium silicate), not Isinglass. The same stuff we used to cement in shotgun top wads. You used to be able to get it in the drug store.

Remember the line in the old song "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" "...and Isinglass windows you can roll right down...."?
Morgan

[scrapcan]

Morgan,

I will look around and see what I can find for a cord. My pot has the small connector as you mentioned. The thermostat is still in good order on this pot so all I have to do is attache the wires with lug terminals, so that shoudl nto be too bad of a deal.

Thanks for the help guys and the education on eisenglass and isinglas.

[Leeammo]

I don't know if this info will be of any help but I was looking for a part for my Saeco Model 24 pot almost exactly 7 years ago. The folks at Saeco told me to go to
Kings Kiln Repair
9100 E. 83rd St.
Raytown, Mo.
64138
816-358-9220

Don't know if they are still there but if they are they can probably supply you with some materiel to fix your pot. Lee

[scrapcan]

Leeammo,
Thanks for the info I will follow up on it. I am in the process of making a ceramic insulator plate. I have two of the four holes drille dthat need drilled and should have the old girl back in top shape soon. I need to get some of the projects done, before I tear something else apart.

[Dave B]

I got that part from Lyman 3-4 months ago.

[Quality NUt]

I saw this thread a couple days ago and remembered rebuilding my old Lyman melter. But I couldn't for the life of me remember what I used for the electrical transition from cord to element.
Well, yesterday I was cleaning out some STUFF and came across the material I used for that "transition plate". Evidently, this was a good move because I have run some temperatures high enough to burn off the paint even though insulated with cerawol.
That material was cut from an old abrasive blade for a circular saw.
I really expected the element to expire due to the way I've operated it at times. THAT thing is tough.
I know the rebuild on that unit was done at least 5 years ago.
Oh, yeah. Almost forgot... I used stainless studs through the fabricated plate and high temperature nickel connectors.
Hope this rambling is useful to someone.....

[scrapcan]

Thanks for the help all. I ended up making a plate out of ceramic smooth tile. we will see what happens. The tile was non-conductive for electricity, not sure what will happen with heat. the old pot is up and running once again. and as stated here and before these old pots are tough.

[454PB]

Just for future reference, Micarta is non conductive and extremely heat resistant. We used it to rebuild rheostat contacts on the excitation circuits of generators. Some of these ran well over 300 degrees for years on end.

[walnutred]

When I had to rebuild that part of my Mould-Master I scratched my head for days trying to decide what to put there that would be non-conductive and heat resistant.

Ended up going down the the local auto repair shop and getting an old carburetor base plate gasket. I cut it down and thinned it down then replaced the cord with an appliance cord fro a coffee pot. It's only been a couple years but so far it seems to be working.