More " Lee - Lementing "

[Ben]

I received a used , 2 cav., Lee 105 gr. SWC from a friend here on the board yesterday.

A nice mold, when I attempted to cast with it this morning, the two bullets didn't want to drop & release from the mold very well . I took a super sharp exacto knife and cleaned up the edges of both cavities. I thought that would " do the trick", not so , still no joy........! The mold continued to be very stubborn about releasing the bullets from the cavities. The old routine of tap-tap-tap on the hinge bolt to get the bullets to release.

So I thought.....Time to spin a bullet in the cavities. PRESTO ! ! !, that made all the difference. The bullets jump out of the cavities now.

If you have a Lee mold ( or for that matter any other mold ) that is stubborn about releasing it's bullets, I highly recommend this process.

Photos:

Here is my abrasive compound :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0001-22.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0002-16.jpg

Here is the coated bullet after it has been spun in the mold cavities :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0003-17.jpg

I used my cordless drill on slow speed :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0005-11.jpg

Once the cavities were smooth, the mold really began to produce some very nice bullets , I cast these in a fairly short period of time. The way the mold cavities were sticking prior to the Lee Lementing process, this would have been near impossible :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0010-5.jpg



Bullets are very round and you can see what they mike. I can use these in 38 Spec., 357 Mag., and size them down a little more and use them in the 9 mm Luger also :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0008-7.jpg

[beanflip]

pics of the mold would be nice after the polishing you did. must be an aluminum mold mine is doing the same thing. I smoked and it helped out but they dont fall out. watch out from all the taping on the mold the pins will come out or become very loose! I will be sending mine back to Lee

[PatMarlin]

Awesome Ben.

What would be an accurate way to drill the boolit and intall a screw so it would be dead nuts center?

I was thinking I would chuck piece of rod, or drill sized that was close and slid inside the mold block acvity. Set my drill press vice and centered the cavity, remove it and place the boolit inside to drill, then check center again.

How did you do it Ben?

[beanflip]

to center drill it a lathe works fine then I taped it ( 1/4-20) thats what I did... now going to get some compound to polish my mold

[PatMarlin]

That's a great idea.. :drinks:

I've got to learn how to align my lathe if it can be done. The 3 jaw chuck is turning drill stock at at least .010 out.

It's a harbor freight cheap chicong 3-in-1.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I bought a double cavity mold of same caliber/wt/style you have some years back from the "return section" of Gander Mountain. It gave me fits. Had to increase venting and remove all burrs as you did. The resultant bullets deliver 1.5 in groups at 50 ft from my FEG PA-63 .380 ACP over 1.2 gns Red Dot and Federal small pistol primer. Mild target and rabbit load.

[Ben]

Pat:

This probably sounds a little " non - precise " to all the lathe owners out there.

I took the bullet and set the nose on a wood block with the base pointing up. I then took a small finish nail that I'd sharpened and placed it by " eye balling " as close to dead center as possible and lightly center punched a hole. I figured if I spoiled the job, I'd toss the bullet back into pot and remelt it. Then I'd pick up another , and so on and so on.....until I got it right. To my own amazement, the 1st one came out just fine.

I picked a super sharp drill bit that was 1 size smaller than my screw threads and drilled my " pilot hole ".

The rest is history.........worked great for me, your mileage may vary.

Best,

Ben

[Doc Highwall]

If you hold the mould in one hand and the drill in the other hand with just enough force that they don't fall out of your hand, they will wobble and find there own center. I learned this while learning about turning necks on cartridge cases.

[Ben]

beanflip :

I think you wanted to see the mold cavities after the " Lee Menting ".

Here is a pic, both cavities are very slick and very smooth now...... :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0003-18.jpg

[NSP64]

Good job Ben, I use CREST tooth paste, just enough to make them smooth. I leement all my lee molds:drinks:

[Ben]

I've heard of the tooth paste idea, as soft as this aluminum is, I'd think it would probably work just fine.

Ben

[beanflip]

Nice job Ben on the mold job. Thanks for showing me the mold.

[crabo]

Pat:

This probably sounds a little " non - precise " to all the lathe owners out there.

I took the bullet and set the nose on a wood block with the base pointing up. I then took a small finish nail that I'd sharpened and placed it by " eye balling " as close to dead center as possible and lightly center punched a hole. I picked a super sharp drill bit that was 1 size smaller than my screw threads and drilled my " pilot hole ".

Ben

I have done this several times and it's been a pain to get center. I used Ben's idea, but I took a spring loaded center punch to get the center indention and it works really well.

Crabo

[TexasJeff]

And I, in turn, learned this from Crabo--he showed me what he was doing and how to do it the very first time I ever saw a boolit born of the silver stream.

I use Mother's Aluminum polish to finish off the polishing job after the initial round of either toothpaste or Comet/Ajax, or a mild compounding/lapping agent.

Once finished with the first polishing go-around, I clean the cavities thoroughly with brake cleaner and a toothbrush, then some denatured alcohol to remove any remaining residue. A q-tip swapped in the Mother's then in the cavity, then on the new boolit finishes it off VERY nicely.

I've yet to get a screw perfectly centered on the boolit--so I just make sure I slowly rotate it in the cavity until it gets seated and "finds its groove."

The result is some very clean, slick cavities that produce fine-looking boolits.

Jeff

[Ben]

I'm learning a good bit from a lot of you guys. Many thanks for your input.

Best to you,

Ben

[Buckshot]

............On a base pour mould you have the sprue cutoff to use to help center your punchmark. Your eyeball is amazingly accurate in centering stuff up (Reason peep sights work so well). In fact if the sprue is off center this is easily recognizeable and your eye can compensate to get the punchmark centered to the boolit's OD. Best if you do this centering with the boolit out of the blocks, as the blocks' size may defeat the eye's ability to center things up as well.

It was mentioned earlier, don't clamp the blocks in a vice or anything when lapping. Hold the drill motor in one hand and the mould in the other. Run the drill fairly slow hold the 2 losely to let them wobble around however they need to.

................Buckshot

[Ben]

" Run the drill fairly slow hold the 2 loosely to let them wobble around however they need to. "

That's exactly how I did mine, it worked out great ! !

Many Thanks,

Ben

[jonk]

I have a few stubborn Lee molds. One in particular (9mm mak) mold was giving me fits. So I tried leementing using a little comet cleanser as an abrasive, mixed with enough water to make a paste. Now the mold fills out better and 99% drop without tapping- and if I DO need to tap, just the lightest touch and they drop.

Next I gotta try it on a 30 cal 200 gr mold of theirs.

[STP22]

..."you have the sprue cutoff to use to help center your punchmark"

Good grief, I never looked at getting the tap centered using what`s already at hand as a guide... Sheesh!

:rolleyes:

[Miner]

Of course I would overlook the easy button. :roll:

[docone31]

I cheat.
I open the sprue plate, put a 1/4-20 nut over the cavity, fill and let solidify. That gives me two castings with a way to turn it. I then open the mold let the castings fall out.
I take the castings, smear some Clover on them lightly, put ONE casting in a cavity, lightly close the mold, and turn as I close it. I do this with both cavities. When the castings spin easily I then either consider it done, or switch castings and spin again.
Piece of cake.
I then toss the castings with nuts in the pot. I recover the nuts when I shut the pot down.
The grit, being corundum floats on the melt.
I cast a few in the mold to clean out the residual grit.
Simple for me. But, effective.
I had a mold I had to clobber with a rawhide mallet each time to get release. Now, I just tap it with my dowel I use for opening the sprue plate.

[Beaverhunter2]

Here's how I drill the center of a boolit for Leementing. I actually have a mould to do today.

I don't have a lathe so I use my drill press. It's one of the cheap ones they have at Harbor Freight. I put the drill bit in the chuck- point up. Then I run the drill down until I can grab the bit with the vice I have on the drill press table. I open the chuck to release the bit and run the drill back up. I chuck the boolit in the drill bottom down (gently or you'll squash the boolit). Then turn the drill on and run the boolit slowly down on to the bit.

It works pretty good.

John

[cabezaverde]

I have done this using JB Bore paste for the abrasive. Works good.

[madcaster]

Good job Ben, I use CREST tooth paste, just enough to make them smooth. I leement all my lee molds:drinks:

Now THAT makes it a Crested Leemented Mould!:kidding:

[cabezaverde]

I also did one this weekend with a product called Bartenders Helper, or Friend, or something like that.

Made a paste with water, and it was a lot cheaper than JB paste.

[mtgrs737]

I use Crest toothpaste, I don't worry about getting the boolit drilled perfect if it wobbles a tad it seems to work just fine anyway. You are only polishing the cavities anyway and not removing much material.

[dubber123]

I did a Lee .512" 500 gr. mould today. I managed to drill off center. I didn't seem to matter, as you are turning the drill relatively slowly anyways. 1 boolit with some 320 grit compound, and it went from actually tearing some of the drive bands off, to falling out. It's so easy to make such a drastic improvement, more casters should try it.

[Ben]

dubber123 :

You're right, more casters should be doing this. It takes a troublesome mold and turns it into a smooth running piece of machinery.

Thanks,
Ben

[mag_01]

I use automotive rubbing compound to polish my molds with a small piece of cloth chucked up in a drill.

[armyrat1970]

It's amazing. I have a 30carbine Lee Mold that was not dropping bullets unless I pounded a little on the bolt. I thought about toothpaste to clean it. Did but have not tried it yet. Was thinking I didn't want to use anything to abbrasive and round off the edges. Will try to drop some bullets through it this weekend. If the toothpaste doesn't work I will try Brasso with Q-Tips and toothbrush.

[35 Whelen]

I have a Lee "Fat 30" from a group buy a couple of years ago. I was never real satisfied with it as some of the cavities weren't perfectly round and bullets didn't want to drop out. I too worked it over with a sharp knife but that didn't help. So, I decided to Lee-ment. I used some bore lapping compound I got in a kit from Verel Smith. I used the nut-method (works best if you drop the hot bullet/nut into a bucket of water to make it harder). I lapped the cavities as instructed, and the bullets drop out fine. Problem is, now I have a "Fatter 30" mould because instead of a .316" bullet, I get a .320" bullet!!:groner: Oh well. I have a Savage Enfield with a .315" bore I suppose I can use it in.
I guess Lee uses soft aluminum. I also have an LBT mould and an NEI mould that seem to use much harder, better qualiy aluminum.
Incidently, I "Lee-mented" a couple of Lyman moulds and WOW! what a difference! The bullets fall out unassisted!
35W

[Ben]

I'm surprised that your Lee opened up .004.

I've Lemented many molds with a slow speed drill and lapping compound and didn't increase the as cast dia. more than .001

[35 Whelen]

I'm surprised that your Lee opened up .004

I was shocked. It never occurred to me that it would open up that much.
35W

[PatMarlin]

That Fat-30 mold was one thee best shooting GB molds I've ever purchased if not the best. One heck of a good boolit.

[Bret4207]

I used a cheap center gauge on the base, made my cross line and center punched. Worked for me.

[4719dave]

thank god for the boolit gods you guys are GREATTTTTT.ill be doing my lee 6 banger monday

[Echo]

That's a great idea.. :drinks:

I've got to learn how to align my lathe if it can be done. The 3 jaw chuck is turning drill stock at at least .010 out.

It's a harbor freight cheap chicong 3-in-1.

I was told many years ago that one jaw-tightener on a 3-jaw would always be more accurate than the other two. You might try checking it out.

[PatMarlin]

Lordy- I was in my mid 40's when I wrote that comment ...:shock:


I don't think I've even turned on that lathe since then either.

[NHlever]

That's a great idea.. :drinks:

I've got to learn how to align my lathe if it can be done. The 3 jaw chuck is turning drill stock at at least .010 out.

It's a harbor freight cheap chicong 3-in-1.

If you can find or make a flat piece of steel with a hole in it large enough to fit over the "stepped" outside of your lathe chuck, you can open the jaws tight in that hole, and then clean up the jaws to run more true. It isn't a perfect way of doing things (it's better, but harder to put a round piece of stock as far back in the chuck as you can , and then close the chuck on that. Problem is that leaves a step that then has to be bored out)

Another trick an old toolmaker showed me one time is to take the piece you want to center, and chuck it up in some rotating chuck that runs pretty true. Ben, even your portable drill will work ok if you can clamp it somehow in a padded vise, etc.. Now take a pointed tool like a three sided burr knife ( I used to make some using a worn out three cornered file.) By holding the burr knife nearly 90 degrees to the axis of the spinning boolit gently touch the point of the burr knife against the base of the boolit near, but not necessarily in the exact center. Carefully swing the burr knife ( with a handle!) away from you, and towards being on the same axis as the boolit is spinning. The point of the burr knife will naturally find the center, and make a nice center hole to now use to drill the boolit. I guess old jeweler's lathes didn't have tailstocks, and that is how they centered parts to be drilled on them.

[6.5 mike]

Anybody ever try Semi-Chrome polish ? I know it has a very light pumice in it. Works great on german silver knife fittings. I did the comet,nut & spin thing at the house last time off the boat, but didn't get a chance to cast any afterwards. Used Ben's set screw trick at the same time on the spruge plates. All 2 hole lee's.

[nanuk]

I use Crest toothpaste, I don't worry about getting the boolit drilled perfect if it wobbles a tad it seems to work just fine anyway. You are only polishing the cavities anyway and not removing much material.

I always thought Crest was used to "Prevent" cavities, not polish out the ones you already have.