I Broked my Lee Mold.

[Hanzy4200]

The first 6 banger I purchased was this little 124 gr Lee TL design. It has cast many a thousand good bullets. Alas, the sprue plate was becoming loose and bullet bases were suffering. I've never encountered this with any of my Lee molds. I saw only one option, and I gave it a twist with a wrench. It was pretty cold at the time, and I did maybe give it a bit of muscle, but it snapped. I've already ordered a 4 cavity Lyman, but I hate to waste anything. It suffered my learning curve, so it's not in pristine condition. Any ideas? Will Lee fix it for a reasonable amount?

[Boolit_Head]

Can't hurt to call them and ask. They might just replace it.

[HangFireW8]

What is the "it" that snapped?

[stubshaft]

What is the "it" that snapped?

Sounds like the sprue holddown screw.

[RogerDat]

If the pivot screw for the sprue plate snapped off while one can with care drill out a screw or drill and use an EZ-out it takes a bit of skill and more than a bit of care to drill out a steel screw in an aluminum mold. Easy to slip off the steel and remove enough aluminum to enlarge the hole.

Going through mental list of snapped screw / bolt removal approaches.... Running a drill bit backwards can remove a loose screw with no head, but you still have little room for oops. Drill press and drill out screw to next size tap hole then tap threads for next size up screw. Cutting a slot in the top with a dermal cut off wheel so a screwdriver can be used to remove it. The aforementioned drill hole for EZ-out but realize if the EZ-out bottoms out it will snap, and in small sizes they tend to expand the screw going in which makes it harder to remove.

My top choice would be to just drill down the screw to remove and then re-tap threads for next size up. While at it drill in from the side to tap for a set screw that clamps the pivot screw so it can't work loose. One thing I really like about my NOE molds is that set screw holding the pivot screw.

One thing to bear in mind is if Lee won't repair it then it is already broken so not much to lose by trying to fix it.

[rsrocket1]

I did that with the sprue hold down screw on one of my Lee molds. I sent it in and they got the stump out and replaced the screw with a new one and sent it back at no charge so I simply paid for shipping out there. Now I know only to tighten it down until it stops. There is no need to use force because the screw needs to hold the sprue plate loose enough to pivot.

[woodbutcher]

[smilie=s: Uhhhhhhhhh.A little hint for removing broken screws/bolts.Crack open yer wallet and buy a set of LEFT HAND drill bits.They work great.A lot of times,the screw/bolt remains will start to back out just from the heat generated from the drilling.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[RogerDat]

[smilie=s: Uhhhhhhhhh.A little hint for removing broken screws/bolts.Crack open yer wallet and buy a set of LEFT HAND drill bits.They work great.A lot of times,the screw/bolt remains will start to back out just from the heat generated from the drilling.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

Forgot to mention that part about left handed twist when I mentioned using a drill to back them out.

I have heard of people putting a small tuft of fine steel wool in the threads when the put the screw in so it won't back out. Never tried it myself but it seems like it should work.

[john.k]

Use a drill bushing,and use Ridgid brand splined Ezi outs......Like all Ridgid stuff....they just work.......Everyone should have a set.

[John Boy]

Lee Precision Satisfaction Guaranteed ... https://leeprecision.com/satisfaction-guaranteed.html

[NikA]

I would guess Lee will replace the bolt for free, but repairing the mold will cost at least shipping. I'll second the use of left-hand drill bits. Once you get it out, you might want to drill and tap the side of the mold for a set screw: I use a 10-32 cup point grub screw with a small piece of stripped copper wire (18 ga) to keep the sprue plate bolts from loosening during use.

[Hanzy4200]

Thanks for the input guys.

[deltaenterprizes]

I can fix it, but you will need to supply the new screw!
A new hole can always be drilled and tapped in the opposite corner!

[gwpercle]

Forgot to mention that part about left handed twist when I mentioned using a drill to back them out.

I have heard of people putting a small tuft of fine steel wool in the threads when the put the screw in so it won't back out. Never tried it myself but it seems like it should work.
It works like a charm...I had two moulds that wouldn't stay tight for hell or high water, cast three boolits ...tighten screw...I got sick of that and tried the strands of 0000 steel wool ..... and neither of them have come loose !!!! I am shocked this works. I was going to unscrew one and when it didn't back out easily, I just left it alone...it's tight now so I'm not going to mess with it.
Be careful of the RH and LH threads...
Gary

[AlaskaScott]

I like to take my welder and form a bead on the broken bolt, then pause. Watch the bead go from orange to red, then form another bead...repeat until high enough to grab with pliers. This has only failed me once, and that was a steel bolt that broke off recessed in a steel head. Funny enough this is the second time today giving this advice.

[RED BEAR]

I snapped off the screw that holds the spruce plate on a Lee 32 two cavity mold while trying to shorten the bullet for 32 auto. It is one of the new style molds just drilled the screw out and kept going all the way through went to Lowes and bought a steel bushing ground a notch in it to fit the step on bottom of mold and put a #10 bolt all the way through and used 2 nuts to lock it . come out great and cast nice 65 grn rn with one lube grove. But drilling all the way through may not look all that pretty but it worked great.