Mold Storage Ideas

[shaman]

We recently took some water into the basement and some of it got into the Shamanic Reloading Cave. No big deal-- it just got me thinking. I was overdue anyway for adding some shelves, so I added enough shelving to get all the ammo boxes off the floor. Everything is off the floor now, except the box holding all my bullet molds. These got a little soggy, but I got everything dried out right away and put in another box.

I'm looking for ideas on how to store a few dozen molds.

Many thanks in advance.

[WHITETAIL]

shaman, sorry to hear about your basement.:veryconfu
I can feel for you, because I also get water in
the basement when we get heavy rain.
What I do to try and get everything up.
Is put shelves up and I collect bread boxes.
They line the top part of my reloading room.
I keep my molds in zip lock bags with WD 40
sprayed all over them. Then I put them in large
coffee cans and up on the shelf they go.
When I need to use a mold I just spray them
with Carb cleaner. And they work for me.:holysheep

[LenH]

The older gentleman that taught me to cast and reload mainly had Lyman & RCBS 2 cavity molds. He always coated them in gun grease and wrapped them
in some brown paper and cleaned them with break cleaner before his next casting session. He kept the molds in ammo cans. He had a work shop that was
not climate controlled.

I use the same brown paper ( it looks to have a wax type coating on one side.) but I just spray them with gun oil and put them away in a big Rubber Made container.
That is for big Iron molds. The aluminum molds I generally just put them in the box they came in with no lubrication.

[Froogal]

I use zip lock food storage bags to keep my primers protected from dampness. The big bags would probably hold a couple of molds.

[tja6435]

We moved at the end of 2016. Before we packed the truck, I packed all of my molds into 5 gallon buckets with water tight lights, I wrapped the molds in newspaper and packed them tightly into the buckets. I wrote which molds were in each buckets on the lid. Sadly to say, they all are still packed but I think by this fall I'll be able to unpack some and begin casting again.

[cwlongshot]

Seems every year when ground is froze and it rains heavy, we get a lil water in... Of coarse, I keep everything possible off the floor, but allot simply cannot be helped/removed. I have a bunch of the rubber maid tubs great for VK trips in the back of the PU and great for basement storage. Pretty cheap at home improvement places too.

Just a idea, I have 2x4 shelving built to accept these across most of my basement walls. Its become a organized storage area! :) My wife likes it for summer/winter clothing storage too.

CW

[SvenLindquist]

VPI paper in a ZipLoc (short term) or in gamekeeper shrink wrap bags (long term)

You can also get Velcro closing anti rust HD foil bags on Amazon. Same one military has replaced cosmoline with. I use them here in the FL Keys ---- rust central !

NO oil or grease as you will have a major cleaning job when you go to reuse them.

WD 40 should never get near any gun or reloading equipment. It is good for drying out a wet distributor should you have a vehicle w/one.

Be sure you cast a boolit in them and don't cut the Spue.

[dragon813gt]

Assuming you don’t store w/ handles on these boxes from Harbor Freight work well. There are sixty molds pictured.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7874/33310189478_30d0e9ec26_b.jpg

I put a few desiccant bags in each one and change them out quarterly. They’re usually pretty dry. The boxes won keep out all moisture and certainly not water.

[upnorthwis]

They go in the gun vault that has the heating rod and desiccant bags.

[mdi]

I often squirt my iron molds with Kroil, and keep them in a Rubbermaid type box.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?61126-Kroil-in-the-mould-I-did-it-it-works!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

there are some ideas in this thread

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?115858-Rust-Free-Mold-Storage-on-the-cheap

[Cherokee]

I've had good luck just storing steel mold in a 20mm ammo can since about 1980, no oil or such, just sealed from moisture and protected from each other with cardboard separators.

[leadhead]

Use a plastic ammo can...There water proof and a few desiccant bags and your set.
Been keeping mine like this for 30 years and have had no problems.
Denny

[Rcmaveric]

I have a realy large ammo can from work. I think its flare can. I went to the dollar store and got some foam board. Then with some ingenuity i built compartemts and boxes out of the foam boad with elmer's glue and tooth picks. Everything is now nice and near and organized. I put some desicant in there and the cans are hermetically sealed.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190225/0fe894bef4b3fd44f6fa18f93437bcfe.jpg

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[Petrol & Powder]

When it comes to water and basements, I've been there and done that. It sucks.

Tools are a lifetime purchase and need to be cared for if they are going to last a lifetime. Unprotected ferrous metal will rust and that's a fact.
For short term storage of mold blocks they get oiled while they are still warm and then placed in cardboard or plastic boxes. For long term storage, RIG (rust inhibiting grease) is applied while they are still very warm and they get placed in boxes when they cool down. Those methods require the mold be de-greased before use but that's the price you pay to prevent iron from rusting.

I like ammo cans for storage because they are airtight and waterproof. A piece of oil soaked cardboard in the bottom of the can is good insurance in addition to oiling/greasing the items in the can.
Wooden boxes with tight lids are also good for rust prevention but they aren't as good as ammo cans if the box ends up in standing water.
Getting the items off the floor is key.

ALWAYS place a safe on a pedestal even if it's only gets the safe a few inches off the floor. A could of inches can be the difference between water in the safe and a dry safe. Plus, the air gap under the safe will stop condensation from forming on the interior floor of the safe.

[kevin c]

I have mostly aluminum molds. Still, they have fittings of ferrous alloys that I don't take off, so molds for long term storage have the handles removed, are put into a Ziplok bag with a VPCI chip, and that goes into an 50 cal ammo can with a good seal along with silica desiccant packs. The same with molds I use regularly, except they go into a 20mm ammo can with the handles on.

[Winger Ed.]

No basement, but years ago, the humidity in my shop ruined a couple molds and a die set I'd left out.

After I got done cussing:
I took my dies and molds out of their plastic boxes and put them in
1 pint home canning jars and filled them up with motor oil.
It is messy to take 'em out and use them, but no more rust either.

Long term storage ones get dipped in motor oil and put in a home vacuum sealed freezer bag.

[abunaitoo]

We have a real problem with salt air here.
I store my molds in tall ammo cans.
I've found dry white rice, in a small cheese cloth bag, works well as a desiccant.

[Jlw6636]

Guess I need to start adding Ammo cans for mold storage to the list of items needed for mold storage!

[T_McD]

No basement, but years ago, the humidity in my shop ruined a couple molds and a die set I'd left out.

After I got done cussing:
I took my dies and molds out of their plastic boxes and put them in
1 pint home canning jars and filled them up with motor oil.
It is messy to take 'em out and use them, but no more rust either.

Long term storage ones get dipped in motor oil and put in a home vacuum sealed freezer bag.

That seems like a good way to make them last forever, a bit overkill but I like it.

Have you tried cleaning them without solvents? (In case of zombie apocalypse)

[ascast]

I use GI ammo cans, 50 cal. I NEVER grease, oil or any of that. I do add desicant from the sewing store. I try to put molds in hot. This creates a slight vacuum when it cools. It will suck a bit when opened. Some out fit ( on fleabay) makes plastic insert that will double or triple your capacity. Tractor supply and Harbor Freight both carry these cans, and many other sources. I have molds in these cans for 40 years and no rust. That's moving from upstate ny to b'ham Al and back. Lots of humidity- no rust. I can't understand why so many guys like to spend so much time and energy greasing, and decreasing. Ya just don't need to, plastic bags in cans, buit bags alone will rip good luck

[izzyjoe]

My shop is a dirt floor pole barn, so I'm familiar with rust! I have to keep my powder and primers in the house, and the other reloading stuff I keep in air tight container in the shop. I watch the weather constantly, so when it rains and the temp gets above around 60's I have to wipe down everything with WD40, G96 and transmission fluid. Mound are stored in a large plastic container wrapped in rust prevent paper. Most of my hand tools are rusted up, but that won't keep the from working, but reloading stuff is a different matter.

[lightman]

In the past I oiled mine and stored them in an ammo can. After the collection out grew the ammo can I bought a large MTM dry box for them. Flooding is usually not a problem for me but humidity is.

I've seen test where the plastic ammo cans and dry boxes don't seal as well as the original ammo cans. If flooding is a problem I would use the original ammo cans. You can get a lot of molds in a 20mm can!

[44Blam]

I've been putting mine in sealed plastic containers with a bit of damp rid desiccant...
I had one Iron mold that rusted at one point, so after that I made sure I keep it in zero percent humidity...

[bedbugbilly]

I store mine pretty much like dragon shows in his photo. Mold blocks that I use often I store with the handles on in plastic shoe boxes. Mine are not stored where there can be a water issue though. I store primers, percussion caps, etc. in waterproof ammo cans. I have some army surplus as well as number of the plastic ammo "cans" that Harbor Freight sells and they seem to work great and just as well as the old surplus cans do.

IIRC - I used to see surplus waterproof cans of all different sizes at gun shows that I've gone to (haven't been to one in a long time). They used to have large surplus "chests" of various sizes that were waterproof. You might look in to something like that.

Sorry to hear of your water issue - it's no fun for sure. Fortunately, the biggest thing I have to worry about are the humidity changes between seasons (in MI) - nothing like what some of you have to worry about. I often wonder about the guys in Florida - my folks had a place years ago - a double wide with an outside "room" at the end of their car port where their washer and dryer were. I was amazed at the problems the "salty air" raised with some things.

[ranger391xt]

I have started using these Sistema snack boxes that another member posted in a similar thread awhile back. They are airtight and the small box can hold three Lyman dual cavity molds or one of Miha's 4 cavity hollow point molds with a set of pins still in it. The larger bix can hold three lee 6 cavity molds or others if similar size (i.e. I have an 8 cavity aluminun mold from Miha that fits as well. The litte compartments on the end can store the pins.

You can pick them up at Meijer (@ $5) or Wally World (@ $4).

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190226/c569003cc7ce8df473e0707806a2e0c6.jpg

I also put one of these "Inhibitor Chips" in the container with the mold(s). I found them at Menards. 20 "chips" are 5 bucks or so.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190226/edb070fe91647f6d9f791f997c6f51ab.jpg

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[shaman]

Thanks all for the replies. I think I'll try the ammo box idea; I have a couple tall ones that should work.