Applause to LEE

[Jeffrey]

Long story short: LEE 6 cavity mould, broke cam plate from handle. Happened because I did not properly (fully) close sprue plate before pouring lead into cavities. Broken plate / handle sent back to LEE along with check for $25 and request to send me new assembly. They sent me a new assembly and my check marked "VOID". Thank you LEE for fixing my mistake. Lesson learned: make certain the sprue plate is fully closed so the cam can do its job.

[nagantguy]

Lee, for any real and precived flaws in design and quality control does make a usable product at an attractive price point and they do stand by the stuff they make, I've had one bad die and one horrible mold and both were fixed or replaced at no.cost of me.

[fryboy]

Customer service depends a lot upon the customer ... Call up being a royal pain/body appendage/etc and expect less than stellar service ( but those kind blame the company for that too ..) Call or send a civil and polite message usually one gets the same in return ( the lesson ? In essence you're going to reap what you sow/portray )

[Mk42gunner]

The next time you fail to fully close the sprue plate, and it will happen eventually, put a screwdriver between the cam and mold block. This will allow the cam to work and hopefully prevent breakage.

Robert

[MT Chambers]

I don't want to interrupt the Lee Love-in but maybe that part shouldn't have broke in the first place (pot metal).

[HangFireW8]

The next time you fail to fully close the sprue plate, and it will happen eventually, put a screwdriver between the cam and mold block. This will allow the cam to work and hopefully prevent breakage.

Robert

Or just heat it soft with a propane torch.

[fryboy]

Sigh ....

Pot metal usually refers to cast zinc or an alloy of zinc/aluminum ( also known as zamak) ,some say that everything Lee makes is pot metal ... The myriad of reasons may be many but ill informed/ignorance comes to mind ...

I don't know how or why but I've never broken this part ( dumb luck ? ) yet it sure looks like sintered metal to me ...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintering

[MT Chambers]

It may well be but that is a part that should be made of steel, how much does a small piece of flat bar cost? C'mon man!!

[HangFireW8]

I've never broken any of mine, either, but I have used the torch trick on 2-bangers of all makes, when I get impatient and lock up a cold mold.

[fryboy]

Thought I checked once and a magnet was sticky to it but ..the 6 cav handles are more or less the same and while drilling thru them to put pins in the handle ( used to use roll pins I now use brazing rod peened ) I'd sometimes see brass/bronze colored shavings ,I suppose that powdered metal ( mostly steel/iron ) is cheaper to make but do agree that with the sheer number of these parts people break a forged part would be more durable ...thought someone here offered real steel replacements once ?

[WILCO]

It may well be but that is a part that should be made of steel, how much does a small piece of flat bar cost? C'mon man!!

Create a business, produce a quality product, be successful, gain market share while retaining market base and let us know. I vote with my wallet. LEE Precision gets my vote more often than not.

[RogerDat]

While I enjoy driving a Cadillac I am not thinking I'm going to drop the money to put one in my garage. I have I think 8 Lee molds, that represents a lot of calibers I got to cast for while at the same time saving at least $400 not spent on molds and available for other reloading purchases.

That could have been the $400 I had available to jump on the purchase of 400# of printers lead. Or around 11 boxes of primers, could have been 15# of powder, or the money I had available for dies, brass or any number of other items. I don't mind spending $80 or even $100 on a top quality mold if it is in a style or weight I desire. I expect those molds to be a Cadillac as compared to the good solid Chevy molds I bought from Lee. Very few things from Lee have disappointed me, other than some of their directions, man some of them could only be less clear if written in Chinese rather than English.