Galling under sprue plate on lee mold

[Strtspdlx]

so I recently got this mold. I have casted with it 3 times. I was trying to heat cycle it to break it in so each session was about 2-300 bullets total. I did use beeswax for lube on the pins and the sprue plate bolt and hold down. and I deburred the edge of the sprue plate with a stone when I first bought it to try and prevent this as it started scraping the top of the mold lightly and now its galled enough to lift the sprue plate a little and causes a little ring around the base that probably doesn't cause anything bad but I can see it and it aggravates me. I don't know what I'm doing wrong and causing this but if I can figure it out id be happy. Thanks

[turtlezx]

id grind a little more off the sprue plate where its hitting

[Dusty Bannister]

Did you also lube the bottom of the sprue plate? Looks like there is something that needs smoothing on the edge of the plate that has created the mark on the mold top.

[RogerDat]

Well you can pretty clearly see where it needs more stoning from the drag marks. Might even be worth a bit of draw filing with a fine file before stoning. Any chance the sprue is getting cut before it is quite fully hardened?

NOE makes a base chamfer tool that will trim any flash off of those bases if you want or need to. They have one that fits in drill or power screwdriver and one that has a handle for doing by hand.

Seems to me I sometimes have trouble with the Lee pivot screw for the plate backing out a bit if it has no set screw to lock it.

[Bzcraig]

Those marks are very symetrically spaced between each cavity, which is odd. I sure can't tell by looking at the photos. Have you tried to lightly rub a cotton ball over the mold/sprue plate to see if there are burrs? That's all I've got.

[retread]

I had that trouble with Lee 6 bangers. Aluminum on aluminum galls. As soon as your disturb the anodizing on the sprue plate you are really in for more galling. I ordered machined steel sprue plates for all my 6 bangers. End of problem. I do not remember the name of the outfit that makes them but as I recall the were about $17 each. Well worth it!

[retread]

OOP! Duplicate

[retread]

KAL Tool and die. They are still a Vendor Sponsor here. Great parts. They also have the lever that can snap when trying to open the sprue plate when your mold is too cold.

[Jeff Michel]

Cast with your mould until it's up to temperature, leaving the bullets in the cavities and lubricate the sprue plate and the top of the mould with a cotton swab dipped in two cycle synthetic oil. You hit the pins and hinge at the same time. Just the barest amount will serve. You won't get rid of all the galling but it will mitigate it considerably. Excessive tin will lead to smearing on moulds as well.

[TXCOONDOG]

Cast with your mould until it's up to temperature, leaving the bullets in the cavities and lubricate the sprue plate and the top of the mould with a cotton swab dipped in two cycle synthetic oil. You hit the pins and hinge at the same time. Just the barest amount will serve. You won't get rid of all the galling but it will mitigate it considerably. Excessive tin will lead to smearing on moulds as well.

+1 ......the two cycle synthetic oil is what I use to season my moulds.

I also deburr a new mould and sprue plate before casting, if needed.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I know some that have claimed success with beeswax, I have never tried it, but I know it will scorch. I use full-synth 2 cyc oil...as per these instructions.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?137982-Mould-Lube-Instructions-(works-with-BullPlate-too)

[longbow]

I'd go with polishing the bottom of the sprue plate using valve lapping compound or fine emery cloth on a flat surface then chamfer the edges of the sprue plate again using fine emery or a diamond hone so it is smooth and shiny. Then use sprue plate lube or synthetic 2 stroke oil to lube the bottom of the sprue plate/top of the mould... just a very light coating. Graphite may help too. And make sure you get lube right to the pivot as well as that is a prime place for galling if not lubed.

Lee moulds are fairly soft aluminum so any dragging is asking for galling but that looks easily repairable at this stage. You might have to lightly polish the top of the mould to flatten off any raised aluminum as well. Again, fine emery on a flat surface should do it. Be careful to keep the mould flat as you polish as you do not want to round the surface. Fine to me = 240 grit or finer and preferably finishing with 400 to 600 grit.

[Idz]

I solved the problem on my Lee molds by spraying the plate and mold top with Frankford Arsenal mold release spray. It also greatly reduced lead flash on the bullet bases.

[Freightman]

I had a old LEE do that I got used took the plate off put it on a flat firm serface with 600 grit emery cloth and oil and smoothed it out the plate and top of the mold to get rid of the marks . Never did that again .

[Strtspdlx]

I did read the link and that was very helpful. I was always afraid to get the lube under the sprue plate as I have had beeswax get into cavities before and leave a nasty coating. I will have to try the 2 stroke oil, also the mold blocks scratched when I first bought the mold the very first time I opened them out of the packaging and went to inspect them. when they shear the material for the sprue plate the pressure leaves a burr, I took my stone and removed that burr on the entire side the sprue plate contacts. I also deburred the mold and it still happened. I had one lee mold this hasn't happened too. all the other molds I have, have done this after minimal use. Then I set out to correct it and it either stops or I cant control it and then the mold is junk.

[John Boy]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong and causing this but if I can figure it out id be happy.The sprue plate is clamped down too tight. Loosen the screw until when you flip the mold the sprue plate swings open easily. Then smooth the bottom of the plate on a sharpening stone or diamond plate

[ShooterAZ]

Before I even use a Lee mold, I will carefully de-burr the leading edge of the sprue plate with a dremel tool. I also religiously use Noe's sprue plate lube. http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=85&products_id=726&osCsid=9vkg1ueqvn27hqsmnpakeqpre6 . One drop on a q-tip is all you need. Swipe it on the underside of the plate, and wipe any excess off of it with a paper towel or cloth. A little bit goes a long way.

[gwpercle]

Get both the underside of the sprue plate and the block top clean and smooth .
600 grit Wet-or-Dry with oil backed with a flat surface. Remove any burrs , rough edges or galling smears. If you don't things just go from bad to worse.
Whenever you see galling stop and clean it off. Course cloth and steel wool work for me.
Lee moulds should be deburred , de-rough edged and smoothed before ever trying to cast with them. Lee can't afford to do much TLC to them so they get to you in a rough condition.
Clean it up , smooth out surfaces and sharp edges and things will be OK.
I keep a hard flat oil stone just for this kind of work and wrap 600 grit paper around it for a flat backing.
The underside of your sprue plat needs a good cleaning and smoothing out flat and level.
Gary

[flyingrhino]

I had that trouble with Lee 6 bangers. Aluminum on aluminum galls. As soon as your disturb the anodizing on the sprue plate you are really in for more galling. I ordered machined steel sprue plates for all my 6 bangers. End of problem. I do not remember the name of the outfit that makes them but as I recall the were about $17 each. Well worth it!

+1. I had the same issue and resolved it by going to steel sprue plates.

[Tackleberry41]

Lee molds do it easily, its the cheap aluminum alloy they use for molds. I lube my Lee the same as my NOE, Lees still gall alot. Ive even tried swapping sprue plates, to know its not a burr or something. Its just hard steel rubbing on a cheap AL alloy.

[g17]

One of my first Lee molds looked something like yours after a few uses. I now use a pencil and rub the entire bottom of the sprue plate until it's colored and haven't had a problem with any of the others. I also dab a q-tip in 2-cycle oil, blot it and touch to the pins and bolt once the mold is heated.

[dragon813gt]

also the mold blocks scratched when I first bought the mold the very first time I opened them out of the packaging and went to inspect them.

The same thing happens w/ almost every NOE mold that I've bought. I treat them w/ kids gloves until I can get the sprue plate off and stoned. I wish all sprue plates were finished to the level of Mihec's. His are the only brand I don't have to do a thing to.

[John Boy]

What's the secret to loosen a Lee sprue plate screw to enable the plate to be flipped holding the handles? I've got a new Lee 2x that the sprue plate screw probably has been tightened with 200 plus lbs of torque - zero capability to loosen the screw

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

What's the secret to loosen a Lee sprue plate screw to enable the plate to be flipped holding the handles? I've got a new Lee 2x that the sprue plate screw probably has been tightened with 200 plus lbs of torque - zero capability to loosen the screw

If you want the sprue plate opening function reversed, wouldn't you just remove the mold blocks from the handles, and then remount them in a reverse fashion?

[Daveco]

Hello John Boy! About the sprue plate screw- on all of the Lee molds that I have, the screw that the plate pivots on has left hand threads. (Mine are all two cavity versions.) Could that be why yours seems to be so tight?

[RED BEAR]

The first thing is to get rid of the galling that is there a very fine file used lightly will take it off the mold .i would suggest a wet stone on the spruce . Then 2 cycle oil for mold lube. I just put a few drops on spruce smear it to cover the whole thing then wipe off with rag or paper towel . I actually take the time to polish bottom of spruce.

[John Boy]

Daveco - thanks for the left hand threads info. I tried it but the bolt will not move. Even cut a slot of the bolt head for more torque. So I just swallowed hard and stoned the bottom of the sprue plate and the top of mold to remove galling scratches. I'll give it another try when the mold is hot at next session

[Rich/WIS]

On any mold I get I disassemble and go over the edges of the sprue plate with a deburring wheel and before I reassemble I give the bottom of the plate a coat of mold release spray. I then put a dab of hi temp copper anti-seize on the pivot point. While the plate is off I stuff cotton balls into the cavities and lightly spray the top of the mold with mold release. Any excess release will scrape off when the assembled mold is oped and closed. I use synthetic 2 cycle oil as a lube for the alignment pins and the hinge pin when using the mold. The aluminum sprue plate and aluminum mold will gall unless lubricated.

[RED BEAR]

Be warned i have broken these screws before they will come lose and yes i do know they are left hand.

[Ozark mike]

I'd run it flat on a stone and knock the high spots down. I like a lot of Lee equipment but I do a lot of finish work on em

[gwpercle]

I did read the link and that was very helpful. I was always afraid to get the lube under the sprue plate as I have had beeswax get into cavities before and leave a nasty coating. I will have to try the 2 stroke oil, also the mold blocks scratched when I first bought the mold the very first time I opened them out of the packaging and went to inspect them. when they shear the material for the sprue plate the pressure leaves a burr, I took my stone and removed that burr on the entire side the sprue plate contacts. I also deburred the mold and it still happened. I had one lee mold this hasn't happened too. all the other molds I have, have done this after minimal use. Then I set out to correct it and it either stops or I cant control it and then the mold is junk.

After getting the underside of the sprue plate and top of blocks all cleaned , smooth and level, lubricate like this. Fill cavities, let sprues harden (cutting early causes smears and galls) open sprue plate but leave boolits in cavities with bases exposed, use a Q-Tip dabbed with a drop or two of synthetic two stroke oil and rub a micro thin film of lube on the top of blocks and underside of sprue plate...the thinnest of films ...then take a rag and wipe off the film ! What remains will lube the plate and not contaminate the cavities ... knock out the boolits and resume casting.
When you notice any hint of a smear...Q-Tip apply and wipe . Be sure and let sprues harden before opening a mould...most common cause of smears .
And remove any smears as soon as spotted...they just get worse and will damage aluminum blocks .
Gary

[Willbird]

I have seen some folks on youtube get the mold nice and hot, I'd run it hard until you have to wait quite some time to cut the sprues, then wipe the underside of the plate hard with a rag with just a little synthetic 2 stroke oil on it to remove any lead deposits.

Bill

[MT Chambers]

Lee molds do it easily, its the cheap aluminum alloy they use for molds. I lube my Lee the same as my NOE, Lees still gall alot. Ive even tried swapping sprue plates, to know its not a burr or something. Its just hard steel rubbing on a cheap AL alloy.

Lee doesn't use steel on anything, it is pot metal (scintered metal) rubbing on very soft aluminum, it is the aluminum that causes the problem of galling. The op's problem can be fixed by flat sanding both the mold and/or the sprue plate (usually the sprue plate).

[oger]

I use a very large honing stone until it pretty well evens out the plate then with a Q-tip then apply Red-Line 2 stroke synthetic racing oil to the surfaces of the mold (make sure to have bullets in the mold) and plate. Got an old toaster oven at a garage sale set it to 400deg with the door open and the handles sticking out while the pot is heating. Haven't had any problems since unless I let the mold get to hot and it starts smearing lead on the top.

[CeeHoo]

Here is a two cavity Lee .358 WC mold that just keeps deteriorating. Previously I had had good experiences with Lee two cavity .457 round ball mold which worked smoothly with just minor rounding off the corners. I thought the WC mold to be the same but unfortunatly problems arise at casting temperature. After the first session surroundings of the pivots screw were already scored pretty badly so I ended up removing all the raised spots of the damaged area with flat diamond stone. Then I stoned the bottom (and re-rounded the corners) of the sprue plate to make sure it would be just as flat as the top of the blocks. I probably should have left the plate more rough as I went up to 2000 grit.

I checked the sprue plate fitting with marking blue and it seemed to contact evenly and rotate smoothly at room temperature without scratching the blocks. However, it all changed, again, at casting temperature. Even though the contact surfaces had been wiped with rag containing some 2 stroke oil it took maybe ten pours until scoring near the pivot screw started to appear. Beeswaxing the pivot screw didn't help. The only way to get sprue plate turn smoothy again was to remove it competely and wipe the pivot area with the 2 stroke oil rag before putting it back together. Unfortunately, after another ten pours the plate got sticky again.

I guess one of the contributors was the pivot screw tightness. To keep it from loosening it had to be kept tight. At end of the session I tried some steel wool around the screw threads and looser tension. It seemed to work at first but after a while the screw started to loosen again. I guess having a set screw is the only way to go.

After just two sessions, the blocks look like this.

https://img.aijaa.com/b/00930/14764124.jpg

[marek313]

I get the whole smooth flat surface idea and all but I'll bet no matter how much you smooth both ends you'll still have problems. What I found was that my cutting plate was getting tiny specs of tin stuck here and there and I ended up with the same scratch marks. Now I check my sprue plate every couple mins and if I notice any tinning I scrape it with a wooden stick to get it off and lube it again to prevent any new spots.

You can see some spots look like they collected lead because they are slightly raised. I believe thats tin collecting there. Tin tends to stick to other metals quicker then lead alone.

[Slugster]

I have had similar trouble with a couple Lee molds though not a bad as yours. What I do is to diamond stone the underside of the sprue plate (very lightly) stone top of mold blocks (again very lightly) then I rub a #2 pencil all over the top of the blocks and underside of sprue plate. Graphite in hard stick form, yep, pencils are graphite and work extremely well for this purpose. Reassemble mold, heat to casting temperature, and lube pivot screw w/beeswax. Works for me.
P.S. Make sure you remove any hardened lead from the top of the blocks and sprue plate, because once there is lead built up in these areas, lead will just keep adhering to the lead already present. Works for me, good luck.

[CeeHoo]

Thanks for the advice.

Has anyone removed Lee single/two cavity mold handles? Do the screws have normal right-hand twist? Mine seem to be extremely tight. Not sure if there's lead buildup somewhere. Can't see any hints of that from the outside though.

[nitro-express]

Cast with your mould until it's up to temperature, leaving the bullets in the cavities and lubricate the sprue plate and the top of the mould with a cotton swab dipped in two cycle synthetic oil. You hit the pins and hinge at the same time. Just the barest amount will serve. You won't get rid of all the galling but it will mitigate it considerably. Excessive tin will lead to smearing on moulds as well.

The 2-stroke oil hint is a keeper. Galling will happen if you do not do this. I've chased this every which way to Sunday. You can polish the top of the mold, it cannot be too smooth. Even from new I give it a polish, and make sure there aren't any high spots on the edges. Polish with 0000 steel wool or cloth and Autosol. The aluminum sprue plate is hard anodized, leave it alone, it should be OK. 2-Stroke oil will not gas or mitigate like other lubes. Use sparingly, with a Q-Tip barely wet with oil. I use Polaris Blue, so I think any of them will work. Once galled, it's a bear to get it good again. I've had to lap the top on a flat surface with fine (600 -> 1200). I slope the surface a bit toward the edges, and polish after lapping. It needs to shine like a mirror, then 2-Stroke oil. On one mold I lapped all the air vents off. This was on a dual cavity. Then I lapped the steel plate, made it baby butt smooth, then blued it. But without 2-Stroke oil, it won't last. I'd almost given up on aluminum molds, but they work OK for me now. As soon as you notice any galling, about 5 # of alloy, re-apply the 2-Stroke oil.

Aluminum on aluminum will gall, fact of engineering, hot aluminum will gall on about anything, not as badly, but hot aluminum is soft. IMNSHO there are better metals to use, none are cheaper. Titanium may work, perhaps aluminum bronze. But I'd still put a dab of 2-Stroke on those.

I fully endorse the use of 2-Stoke oil.

I also like the 6 cavity LEE mold, it works very well if.................you guessed it, 2-Stoke oil.

Nitro.