New to me mould leaving skirts or feathers on the top of the boolits?

[paraord]

Hey All,

So I got a decent deal on a Lyman/Ideal 358242 121 grain. Well Kinda. The sprue plate says 125 grain and ill be honest I havent weighed one yet. But I cast a freaking boat load. Gotta do something at work on lunch right?

This 4 cavity really drops boolits. Casts well, fills well, drops well, heavy as an anchor. But I am having this problem that its almost like the mould likes to leave a skirt or feather on the left and right of the 2 furthest boolits on the top between the sprue plate and the mould. The 3rd from the handles is the worst. I attached a mess of pictures. Its really only enough to bother me likely but I want it to be clean.

I put the parts on the granite Starrett surface plate and could see some light specifically around the middle and mostly on the 3rd boolit. And of course this is on only one half of the mould. The sprue plate seems to have a little misshape to it as well. If I ream out the sprue plate catch bolt it could probably give me the down pressure needed enough for clean boolits as the previous owner (or somewhere between its birth and my owning) gave it a bevel on the sprue plate to ease closing it back up.

Let me know your thoughts, I have access to a surface grinder but have to double check the grinding wheels are in good shape. I was thinking maybe it was a small enough of a defect that I could lap it maybe? I will update with a picture of one of those boolits tonight when I get home and of course I didnt think to take a picture while casting. Ill get the mic out and determine exactly how far out it is.

http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz154/paraord1911/Mobile%20Uploads/0127171044_zpswn5rnqrd.jpg (http://s823.photobucket.com/user/paraord1911/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0127171044_zpswn5rnqrd.jpg.html)

http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz154/paraord1911/Mobile%20Uploads/0127171044_zpswn5rnqrd.jpg (http://s823.photobucket.com/user/paraord1911/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0127171044_zpswn5rnqrd.jpg.html)

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http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz154/paraord1911/Mobile%20Uploads/0127171048a_zpsjddqeijk.jpg (http://s823.photobucket.com/user/paraord1911/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0127171048a_zpsjddqeijk.jpg.html)

http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz154/paraord1911/Mobile%20Uploads/0127171102_zpsd9h4dvo9.jpg (http://s823.photobucket.com/user/paraord1911/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0127171102_zpsd9h4dvo9.jpg.html)

http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz154/paraord1911/Mobile%20Uploads/0127171105_zpspkwpsgqt.jpg (http://s823.photobucket.com/user/paraord1911/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0127171105_zpspkwpsgqt.jpg.html)

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[Maven]

I'd be tempted to hand lap the top surfaces of the mold & bottom of the sprue plate with #320 -> #600 emery cloth, liberally wetted with WD-40 or some such fluid. More difficult to remove too much metal that way if you check your progress frequently.

[bosterr]

I'd be tempted to hand lap the top surfaces of the mold & bottom of the sprue plate with #320 -> #600 emery cloth, liberally wetted with WD-40 or some such fluid. More difficult to remove too much metal that way if you check your progress frequently.


What Maven says on a thick piece of glass.

[tward]

+1 on the lapping, I use a piece of marble flooring, put a little water on it and the silicon carbide sheet will stick to it. Put a bit of water on the paper then move the sprue plate or mold in a figure 8 pattern til it's all nice and flat. Good luck and good casting. Tim:bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

[paraord]

Lapping it is. The most severe of the overflow mics at .0046. I will lap it with emory at the grits that Maven suggested and checking often against the surface plate for flatness with a light. So it will be probably monday or tuesday and I will update with pictures as well.

It also appears that with some downward pressure on the end of the sprue plate that gap dissapears. Could that be from the beveled edge someone gave the plate where it meets the stop screw allowing upward play or no tension? That screw has a shoulder and the shoulder bottoms out when it hits the threads so It would be a constant under normal conditions

[plainsman456]

I would test the sprue plate for warpage as well.

That said that mold can be made to work as intended.

[runfiverun]

they probably had the screw at the back pulling down on the plate locking everything in place.
a quarter turn should pull it all down again.

my guess is they had the pivot screw too tight to begin with which lifted the sprue plate up.
then turned the back screw down and forced the plate into position with their thumb or knocker.
eventually this galled the plate and they took a grinder to it.

I'd try another sprue plate before I got all worked up, and only tighten down the screw enough for the plate to lie flat...

[P Flados]

I have "fixed" a few molds with the same symptoms.

Most of my problems have been issues with the sprue plates not being kept up tight against the mold blocks (lee two cavity).

The number 2 problem has been not-flat sprue plates.

I have cleaned up the mold blocks a couple of times. As I recall, this has been mostly to reduce the damage from of galling / scoring.

Lapping sounds good. I have found that the flashing problem stops before you get perfection. The lead should not flow noticeably once the gaps are reduced to "small".

It is important to make sure the is sprue plate is held in contact with the block at the pivot screw and at the opposite corner with the slot. With the rounding at the slot, you may want to try to find a screw with a larger diameter head.

Most of my mold damage was either Lee quality issues and/or self inflicted.

A lot of damage can come from smacking the the sprue plate such that high stressed are created at the sliding surface. I have gotten away from using a tapper at all if I can get away with it. Using a gloved hand and cutting sprues while the lead is solid but soft gives me much better feel. I feel much more "in control" and am confident I am getting drastically less wear and tear. Once hot, the only tapping I do is to remove a boolit that will not drop out.

[OS OK]

"We Texicans was brung up to respect our sprue plates like we handle our women. hitem just hard enough to get the job done! . . . :bigsmyl2: . . . Anything else won't getcha a harmonious outcome..."

[paraord]

Well I know I said I would update last week but decided to forego the honing and try a little less invasive approach first. A new sprue plate, seeing as the old one was beveled and the holes were drilled a little larger.
16 dollars later and I'll be casting tomorrow with the new sprue plate. Although I noticed I got great fill and less skirts with the alloy at 715 F.

http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz154/paraord1911/Mobile%20Uploads/0206171651_zpswzcb18qe.jpg (http://s823.photobucket.com/user/paraord1911/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0206171651_zpswzcb18qe.jpg.html)

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As you can see, much less light coming through there. I'm hopeful this will Just about take care of everything. I'll post some pics tomorrow as well of the casting I get done.