What's Your Mold Maintenance Between Casting Sessions

[bbogue1]

I am a newbie to casting. I have a mold (with handles attached) ​with a little rust on the steel parts. What do you do to prevent rust from destroying the finish on your mold(s) and to keep your molds in tip top shape when they are stored between casting sessions?

[Beagle333]

Spray em with RemOil and put in ziplock sandwich bag. Put back on shelf.

On molds with handles attached, I spray with RemOil, put sandwich bag over mold and secure with rubber band. (the wide, thick ones that I get with bundles of broccoli), and put back on shelf.

You will probably get as many different answers to this question as if you had asked "What's the best gun for cast boolits?" ;)

[osteodoc08]

My steel molds get oiled with whatever's handy. Remoil, Kroil, etc. Aluminum and Brass molds nothing special. I keep mine on a shelf in a climate controlled room with rubber bands keeping the halves together. The NOE molds go back into their boxes with labels facing me.

Alwsys keep mold halves banded. If they're mishandled, dropped or whatever, the cavities will not take a hit.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

SNIP...

You will probably get as many different answers to this question as if you had asked "What's the best gun for cast boolits?" ;)
Absolutely !
and that is partly due to the different climates we live in.

My Minnesota summers are nearly as humid as south-east TX. But the Minnesota winters are nearly as dry as AZ...go figure?

Back when I first started my casting hobby, I always sprayed them with Kroil after the mold cooled off, and just stored them in the box they came in. Then I bought some 'air-tight' food storage containers with snap closures and a silicone seal. I figured that'd keep them from rusting and wouldn't need to oil 'em up...and then wouldn't have to clean 'em before casting. Well, I had a iron ballisticast mold rust up on me...So I've re-started "kroiling" all my iron molds after use...but I still store them in the airtight food containers...cuz I already got 'em, but I wouldn't buy them again, although they do work nicely for NOE's aluminum molds.
Good Luck.

[gwpercle]

I give mine a coat of Liquid Wrench Dry Lubricant , I use the liquid and apply two coats with a Q-Tip. To all surfaces .
You can also use the spray can and shake off any excess. Let dry a few seconds and your done.
The LWDL will not contaminate the cavities, it makes a great mould release.
I coat all surfaces , rubber band the handles together and tuck the mould into a tool box, with handles attached . Next casting session, just heat up and cast, no need to remove it. I live in Louisiana and moulds stay in a uninsulated , unconditioned out building...lots of heat and humidity .....no rust .
I do this with all my moulds , stell, iron and aluminum.
Gary

[country gent]

I'm still old school here. I mix up sticks of paraffin with synthetic 2 cycle motor oil and let cool. After use while mould is still hot I coat with this and let it cool with a thin coating on it. For long term I even still leave the last bullet cast in the moulds. This seals and protects the moulds and dosnt run off or thin with time.

[OuchHot!]

VPI Paper and an ammo can with desiccant.

[FISH4BUGS]

I let mine cool down, then spray the mould ONLY with WD40 (go ahead - flame me - I DARE you). I then wrap the mould and handles in a plastic bag - the kind you get at the supermarket. Then I tape the bag around the handles nice and snug and label what it is. The put them away in Tupperware snap lid container that is big enough to hold moulds and handles together.
I have moulds that I use MAYBE once a year that are fine when I undo the wrapping. They are stored in the unheated man cave that goes from -10 to 90. never had an issue whatsoever.
Summers can occasionally be hot and humid, but winters are cold and dry. I have never seen even a HINT of rust anywhere.

[lightman]

After I use them I spray them with whatever oil I use on my guns, wrap them in an oily rag and put them in an ammo can.

[longbow]

I have to say I am old school too! I am glad to see so many on this thread say they use some sort of oil or preservative (even WD40!). I normally use a mix of WD40 and 30 weight oil. it is thin and wicks in everywhere then I think the WD 40 gradually evaporates but I get a nice thick oil layer all over the moulds when I do this and they are goopy when I take them out next..

I grew up in Vancouver B.C. with nasty humid winter and summer Pacific coastal weather... rain then more rain and high humidity. Back in my early days basically there were iron moulds and more iron moulds ~ Lyman, Ideal, Ohaus, RCBS and I am sure others though I never saw the likes of Cramer moulds or H&G in Vancouver. Lee was just starting out and being young and broke I tried Lee products and some of their moulds came home with me. Their early moulds seemed to do the job well enough but contrary to what some say about aluminum moulds not needing rust protection, that totally ignores the fact the the sprue plates are steel and if the sprue plate rusts it will score the top of the blocks so... long story somewhat shorter, I oil all my moulds ~ iron moulds because all of them can rust and aluminum and brass moulds because steel sprue plates and alignment pins can rust.

I do no special cleaning or prep before casting other than to wipe off the majority of oil then pre-heat the mould almost to the melting point of lead ~ when the sprue plate lube starts to smoke its ready.

A few pours and I have keepers.

It works for me and I have never had a mould rust... or gotten tinning in a brass mould.

I am an advocate of oiling/waxing/Kroiling/WD40'ing or whatever moulds when they are put away. I see no harm or difficulty in doing it and it pretty much guarantees rust protection.

I am a belt and suspenders kinda guy.

Longbow

[dg31872]

I spray them with WD40, remove the handles (cause I have more moulds than handles), wrap them in plastic bags and put them on shelf in my bedroom closet.
Before use I use Dawn, hot water, old toothbrush and scrub them good. Air hose to get the water off the mould and heat it up good before casting. I do this with all my moulds, iron, aluminum, and brass. No problems so far.

[FISH4BUGS]

I let mine cool down, then spray the mould ONLY with WD40 (go ahead - flame me - I DARE you). I then wrap the mould and handles in a plastic bag - the kind you get at the supermarket. Then I tape the bag around the handles nice and snug and label what it is. The put them away in Tupperware snap lid container that is big enough to hold moulds and handles together.
I have moulds that I use MAYBE once a year that are fine when I undo the wrapping. They are stored in the unheated man cave that goes from -10 to 90. never had an issue whatsoever.
Summers can occasionally be hot and humid, but winters are cold and dry. I have never seen even a HINT of rust anywhere.
....and oh by the way, I clean my moulds with BrakeKleen, a brake parts cleaner spray. I use a rag to wipe the mould down after spraying, then a QTip to carefully clean the cavities after spraying them again.
Works just fine for me.

[dragon813gt]

Wipe down the sprue plate and any other steel parts w/ synthetic two stroke oil and place in a storage box from Harbor Freight. Those boxes are stored in my basement which never exceeds 50% RH. I don't own steel molds due to the climate and the fact I prefer custom molds.

[bangerjim]

How I prevent rust on molds:

1) never ever buy Fe molds

2) buy brass molds (4 to 6 cavity) from quality vendors on here

3) buy aluminum molds (2 and 6 cavity) from various sources

I have 3 Fe molds and even here in the desert SW they rust! I spray them with a VERY light coat of Fluid Film and store them in an air-tite container (of your choice). Be warned - many of those "oil in a spray can" are almost 100% vehicle with very little oil in them. When the stuff eveaproates there is not protection. That is why I ban WD-40 from all my shops. (Water Displacement - formula #40 says it all). I guess it took them 39 trys to get it right for water displacment???????

Problem solved.

And remember - - - oil in the mold cavity does NOT cause wrinkles - under temp mold/Pb causes them.

Do whatever floats your boat. Have fun!

[fecmech]

VPI Paper and an ammo can with desiccant.
works well for me

[Texas by God]

I store them full of whatever alloy I used casting. Wipe the outside of iron moulds and the sprue plate of all moulds with an oily rag.
Stacked neatly in a file drawer.

[HATCH]

I have little Tupperware containers that hold one mold each (master caster molds).
I coat the mold with synthetic 2 stroke oil (I mean really pour it on)

When I put the mold in the machine I spray brake cleaner on the mold before I start casting.
It removes the oil and its good to go

[LenH]

Spray with Remoil and wrap with VPI paper and put on a shelf.

[Walter Laich]

Al molds: nothing special. Will wire brush if the top bolt(s) show any rust--usually once is all it takes

Fe: after cool go in own plastic tool box in house with desiccant packs in there. House has A/C of course.

[barrabruce]

I just slap a bit of eds red around in and around the mold when they are just cool enough to touch.
Put them back in a ziplock bag and place them in the drawer..
Seems to have worked well so far.

[tankgunner59]

All of my molds are Lee aluminum molds. So I don't do anything to them during the warm months here, since I cast outdoors. When the weather turns I clean them with brake cleaner. I always store them in their boxes with the handles attached. I only have one mold I haven't used yet, for my 7.62X54R boolits. Time to start as soon as the rain slacks off.

[1_Ogre]

After a casting session, I let the moulds cool completely, then give them a good spray of RemOil (get it on sale at Wally World), then store them in a 20mm ammo box. Next use, good spray with brake cleaner and they are good to go.

[Eddie Southgate]

Leave them in a cardboard box with a bullet in them .

Eddie

[trixter]

196705

As you can see they get stored with the rest of the casting stuff. I don't have any steel molds, mine are all aluminum, so no worries.

[RogerDat]

Mostly aluminum but I apply some ester oil with a Q-tip same as I do when I begin casting. Seems to work ok in an unheated garage. Michigan is fairly damp part of the year.

I think it helps to get them out and cast with them frequently. Gives me a chance to check the die and handles for rust or oxidation.

[BrutalAB]

The last step of my clean up process is to dunk the still hot iron mold (still on handles of course) into a peanut butter jar full of sae 30 non detergent oil. Nothing special about the oil choice, just bought it on accident one time and found a use for it. After the application of oil I just sit them on my casting bench in the garage.
Before use I give molds a generous spray of brake parts cleaner.

No rust so far, in Kentucky where it is always humid.

Is there any reason I should wait for the mold to cool before oiling?

[lightman]

I just upgraded my mold storage container from a couple of 50 caliber ammo cans to an MGM dry box. This let me get all of my molds back into the same place. I still plan to leave them with a light coat of gun oil and wrapped in a shop rag.

[Walks]

Iron molds & detachable handles I coat with Vegetable oil, store in plastic bags. Aluminum molds wI think or without handles; I coat the ferrous parts with Ballistol & store all in gunsafe with dehumidifier.