Has anyone ever had any luck with a Lee aluminum mold?

[Rickf1985]

I have several Lee aluminum molds and I have not been able to get decent boolits from any of them. And yes, I have tried every trick that has been thrown out there. I have used them bare and smoked. I have used beeswax and 2 stroke oil. Just today working with a brand new 45 caliber ACP mold I went from casting at 600 and went up 25 degrees at a time all the way to 850. This is with a 1-10 WW to pure alloy and this same alloy makes absolutely perfect boolits in several of my Lyman molds. The very last thing I tried in addition to using my hot plate to heat the molds was to dip the corner of the mold in the pot per Lee's instructions. Well, that got it hot enough that I had to wait quite a while for the lead to solidify and even then I had wrinkles and even worse I now had lead in the vent grooves and now the mold will not close all the way and I have flash at the joint. Tried to get it off with a wood dowell but it is stuck in there good so I am guessing this mold is trash now. Made probably 300 boolits and I will bet there is at least a 75% rejection rate. The other molds I have for 30 cal and 223 are no better. I am casting either straight linotype or 50/50 WW pure on them. Same end results. So does anyone know how to make them work? And is the one with the lead in the vent lines trash?

[Winger Ed.]

The vent lines do need to be clean for it to fill out properly.
I wouldn't get too violent cleaning them though, maybe a wooden tooth pick will work and not scratch the blocks.

I use Lee molds once in awhile, and have found they like to be on the hot side, compared to my Iron molds,
and a little extra Tin in my normally rather soft alloy helps with the fill out.

[358429]

I will second adding the tin as beneficial to Casting bullets. Use a clean cotton rag that has been dabbed with synthetic 2-stroke oil you scrub the mold when it is hot the tinning and lead smears will come off, leaving you with a clean steaming mold.

[smithnframe]

Mine all work fine! Must be you lol!

[243winxb]

Warped mold from dipping in pot. Trash it.https://support.leeprecision.net/en/knowledgebase

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?media/casting-with-lee-molds.4127/full

[Misery-Whip]

I just lay the molds on top of the furnace with the sprue plate down before I plug in the furnace then walk away for 20 min. I come back its ready to go.

If your getting wrinkles the mold or sprue plate is too cold, need to add some tin, or needs degreased. I store my lee molds with Kroil on them and I use brake clean before they are heated up.

Before I oiled them when I put them away they would oxidize and would give me problems later.

Once heated up I run 1 mold at a time and chill it on a hot rag . The sprue cutter likes to be hot.

[FLINTNFIRE]

Well I have had quite a few lee molds and have been able to cast nice bullets from all of them , every thing from round balls , 9mm , 38/357 , 44 . 45 and 45 rifle and minie and Lee REAL molds , clean first then preheat or cast until they come up to temp. and then start saving .

I use brass , iron and aluminum molds , clean heat cast sprue lube while cavities are full a little not excessive , and I cast from wheel weights , range scrap and pure , or a mixture of all .

[kens]

As said above, wrinkles are usueally cold temps, oily residue.
And If I am having a really hard time with wrinkles, stop everything and clean out the pot. I have found residue in bottom of pot that caused wrinkles.
Clean out the pot and all becomes well
I use bottom pour pot
Have had good luck with Lee molds

[Wheelguns 1961]

Mine all work fine! Must be you lol!

This!

[stinjie]

I've had similar issues with a Lee 6 cav.I finally got good results after using brake cleaner on the sprue plate . It came new with a label on it,must have been the adhesive that created wrinkles.

[Winger Ed.]

Something else you might try is to hold the sprue plate holes up against the pot's exit hole
and then open the valve to sort of pressure fill the mold.

And be sure you have a clean nozzle to allow plenty of flow.
The faster the mold fills the better. It should about a second or less to fill one cavity.

[BNE]

New molds are finnicky. But I suggest you keep making bullets with it. They will get better. Lee tends to like it hot. Filling the vent lines probably means you got it too hot.

[poppy42]

This!

+1 also

[beemer]

I have quite a few Lee molds and like using them. If I have much trouble with one I open it up and stand it up in a pot of water and boil with a few drops of dish washing liquid. It does help to smoke them with a wooden or paper match, nothing oily like a candle. I also put a very small amount of lube on the pins. Of course the right temps and alloy does help.

[longbow]

I have had several Lee moulds over the years and currently have four I use. They all cast just fine for me!

I cast fast and hot. I do find that the Lee moulds cool quickly if not being filled and emptied at a brisk cadence.

Iron and brass moulds take longer to heat up but retain heat better between pours.

So, I'll say try casting faster. Cut the sprue just as the alloy is freezing then dump the boolits out and get another pour in quickly.

Longbow

[Walks]

Sounds like your molds may have oil residue in them.
Try spraying them with non-chlorinated brake cleaner. Be very careful if you try this with a hot mold. That stuff sprays everywhere. Use safety glasses and do it well away from your lead pot and any other heat source.

I've been having Good Luck with Lee molds for almost 35yrs. Also N.O.E., Arsenal and Accurate aluminum molds.
Just got to remove ALL oil from them and pre-heat properly.

[Rickf1985]

Warped mold from dipping in pot. Trash it.https://support.leeprecision.net/en/knowledgebase

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?media/casting-with-lee-molds.4127/full

You sent me a link to the knowledge base but no idea where to go from there. Maybe what you posted is from the knowledge base? Right in the directions from Lee it tells you to dip the mold in the pot so I do not understand where they are coming from with the statements on there. Contradicting information so I guess they owe me some money or a new mold.

[Rickf1985]

New molds are finnicky. But I suggest you keep making bullets with it. They will get better. Lee tends to like it hot. Filling the vent lines probably means you got it too hot.

Oh I definitely got it too hot! When the vent lines fill with molten lead it is too hot but it got that way from dipping the corner of the mold in the pot, Direct from the Lee direction sheet. As I said in the beginning, I started cold on both the lead and the mold and worked my way up all the way to too hot. I got some good bullets but at least a 60-70% reject rate. I will know more as I go through the pile tomorrow.

[Rickf1985]

+1 also

I will not even quantify this, or all the others that said the same. If you read my original post you will see that I had no problems at all casting perfect bullets from two different Lyman steel molds with the same alloy and even through out all of the temp ranges I tried with the Lee. No, it is not me this time.

[Rickf1985]

Sounds like your molds may have oil residue in them.
Try spraying them with non-chlorinated brake cleaner. Be very careful if you try this with a hot mold. That stuff sprays everywhere. Use safety glasses and do it well away from your lead pot and any other heat source.

I've been having Good Luck with Lee molds for almost 35yrs. Also N.O.E., Arsenal and Accurate aluminum molds.
Just got to remove ALL oil from them and pre-heat properly.

I cleaned the mold several times during the session with brake cleaner after trying beeswax on the pins, then regular wax, then two stroke oil. Tomorrow I will attempt to get the lead out of the vents, it is preventing the mold from closing all the way. If I succeed at that then I will do the boiling in soapy water bit and try again but I have no idea how I am supposed to lube the sprue plate pivot or lock. No matter what I use it is going to get in the cavities at some point. And Longbow, I am casting fast enough that the mold gets so hot it will not cool for 6-7 seconds before I can cut the sprue. I can move pretty fast.

[longbow]

It was just a thought. Some people cast, empty then examine the boolits before refilling the mould and wonder why their mould cools off.

If you are casting fast enough that the sprue stays molten for a few seconds it sounds like your lead and mould are hot enough.

Maybe you do have some oil or something in cavities. It wouldn't hurt to clean with solvent or brake cleaner and wash with dish soap though I seldom do more than wipe the mould down, put some sprue plate lube on the pivot, mould top and alignment pins then pre-heat until the sprue plate lube just starts to smoke.

As for sprue plate lube, use a Q-tip to wipe on a very thin film... it takes very little to work. If you put on too much yes it can get in the cavities. A drop is way too much.

Other than that, I've got nothing.

Longbow

[longbow]

Okay, one more thing... when you go to clean the vent lines heat the mould and try wiping the lead off with a rag or paper towel. Lead will not bond (solder) to aluminum. If heated to lead melting point it should wipe off.

If that doesn't work then use a wood toothpick or skewer to scrape/poke/pry the lead out of the vent lines while the mould is hot. DON'T USE METAL!

Longbow

[45DUDE]

You might try putting it on a heat plate for a couple of hours. I bought a .308 mold I hated 4 years ago. I had some time this past week and left it on a heat plate and it started acting right.

[Tar Heel]

With 26 Lee molds in use and no issues with any of them, I suspect your process is the culprit here. May I suggest you stop using all the petroleum products and other products to clean or prepare your molds. When new, I clean once with M.E.K. to remove ALL traces of lubricant from the mold. After one or two throws to heat the mold, the bullets are perfect. The issue is not the molds sir.

Perhaps your alloy is contaminated as well. You mention WW metal in the mix. You may have Zinc in there messing with you and causing problems. All of my Lee molds cast beautifully with Lyman #2, WW metal (not zinc), 20:1, 30:1, pure lead, and other alloys.

I preheat by placing the mold over the pot during warm up, not in the pot or touching molten metal. Most of the time I preheat by casting into the mold and letting the alloy heat it up. As mentioned above, my last mold threw perfect bullets in 3 casts from a cold mold.

There is something going on there besides Lee molds.

[JoeJames]

I have found that after the melter has gotten the alloy to the right temperature, to put the Lee mold on top of the melter upside down with the sprue plate barely sticking down into the melt. Then a wait a bit, and start casting. Got the idea from the free internet book "From Ingot to Target". Google it and it is free on the internet. Also got the idea of using sawdust for flux from the same book, BTW.

[Rich/WIS]

Use six Lee 6 cavity and four NOE 5 cavity molds, all aluminum and have had no issues with any of them. Heated on a hotplate and with alloy in the 725-750 degree range get good bullets on the first or second pour.

[Rickf1985]

Well, This is an interesting thread. If you read the thread from start to finish you will see that obviously I am not the only one that has issues with these molds. The interesting part is that the solutions cover the entire range of what some say to do and some say to never do. Some people say to use brake cleaner and some say to never use it, but both of those people are having success. Some say oil and some say wax for lube and no for the other but both are having success. Some say smoke and some say never. See what I am saying here? It seems like everyone had problems and kept trying until something worked for them, even if it did not work for someone else.
I am open to all suggestions but I will tell you that of all the suggestions mentioned so far I have tried 98% of them. I am not new to casting, been doing it off and on for 50 plus years. And I thought about the zinc but first off I have had the alloy tested and no zinc. plus when I melt down my wheel weights I do it very slowly with a thermometer in the pot and as soon as they are barely melted at about 600-650 I scoop out the clips and anything else floating. I have caught one or two zincs but I am pretty efficient at pre sorting. But zinc melts at 750 plus so I am nowhere near melting in a zinc at 600-650. And as I have said several times, all my steel molds are producing perfect bullets at the same temps with the same alloy and the same pour methods. I don't think I mentioned pour methods, I am using both bottom pour and ladle. Basically I am trying anything and everything to try to find the sweet spot. And yes, I have also put the mold right against the spout on the bottom pour pot. I think that was what plugged up the mold.

[zarrinvz24]

Aluminum molds are notorious for absorbing oil and taking a long time for it to cook out. I would recommend a soak for a few days in denatured alcohol, Coleman fuel (white gas) or Gasoline. Then wipe down with paper towel and try it. The 2 stroke oil is wiped on with a q-tip and then wiped off with the dry end (only leaving trace amounts). It took me a long time to get what I felt was reasonable boolits from Lee style molds. I eventually traded off all my Lee molds and am 100% Lyman steel. They have their own set of issues, but are much less finicky than the aluminum ones.

[Rickf1985]

I just looked up my alloy in the calculator and I am pretty light on tin so what I am going to do is add a 1/4 pound of pewter to each ten lbs. of alloy I have and that will give me 2.1 tin, 2.5 antimony and 95.4 lead. That should bring the tin up to a good level for fill out. I was at .05 on the tin before. And I will go back to the 2 stroke oil on the molds. I had done that before on my 30 cal mold and it seemed to work well there, I had release issues on that mold which I believe were mechanical in nature.

[gwpercle]

I've been casting with Lee moulds since the first single cavity moulds came out for $8.50 ...
A kid in high school could mow a lawn or two and afford them easily . I own a lot of moulds and most of them are Lee . I cast with a open pot and Lyman lead dipper , pressure casting .
Since 1967 I have lost count of the number of boolits cast with Lee moulds .
It isn't the Lee mould ... it's all casting technique , proper cleaning , alloy , mould lube , temperature and fluxing .

Maybe you aren't holding your mouth right !
There is a bit of learning curve to Lee and all aluminum moulds , just keep trying different things and don't be afraid of heat ... I cast mine right at "frosty" and be sure and flux often with wood shavings, beeswax and Marvelux flux ... not one , but use all three .

And a "must" is proper mould preperation , degreasing and break in ...read the Stickies on this subject ... it's a must do to get good boolits.

You can do it !
Gary

[Jason Gilmour]

I’m likely not as experienced as some her but I have never had any issues. I clean them real good and smoke with a lighter and the bullets drop free and are filled out if the mold is warm enough.

[MT Gianni]

When you are casting try putting the ladle directly on the sprue hole and pressure casting. When it's full, continue to pour the contents of your 1 lb ladle over the mold and let it run back into the pot.

[Targa]

Hopefully adding more tin will help you out. I have around a dozen Lee molds and have never had an issue with any of them, I run about 2% tin in my alloys.

[oley55]

...I store my lee molds with Kroil on them and I use brake clean before they are heated up.

Before I oiled them when I put them away they would oxidize and would give me problems later.



Doesn't flushing with brake cleaner wash away most or all of the lube under the sprue plate pivot and require lubing the pivot every time? No matter how sparingly I apply lube it seems to eventually gravitate toward the nearest cavity and cause bullet base fill-out problems. So I avoid doing anything that requires me to use more than a the barest whiff of lube.

[johnnybar]

I just had 5 more 2 cavity Lees delivered to my door for $19.98 each and added them to my dozen or so 2 and 6 cavity Lee molds. Never had any issues other than my urge to cast too fast and frost bullets. Only other mold I own is an old Lyman RB mold a friend donated. I clean everything, smoke cavities, lube as Lee recommends and get busy casting. I get great results with Lee's REAL bullets in my various Hawkens.

[Rickf1985]

One thing I have found is also the issue with lubing the sprue plate contaminating the cavities. No matter how light I go it ends up in there. I have tried beeswax, 2 stroke oil, candle wax. All gave me issues and I ended up spraying it down and starting over. Lee also recommends using never seize as a lube, I have tons of it as I am a mechanic but I hate using it as it gets on everything. In saying that I can picture it getting all over the mold. Has anyone tried it? And what do you use?

[Wheelguns 1961]

To lube the sprue plate, I fill the mold with hot lead, when the sprue hardens, I cut it off, and while the bullets are still in the cavities, I wipe the top of the mold and the bottom of the sprue plate with a rag lightly wet out with 2 cycle oil. I use very little oil on the rag. As for lubing the pins, whenthe mold is up to temp, use a q tip dipped in the same 2 cycle oil to wipe the male ends of the alignment pins. A little oil goes a long way. I don’t use any more oil unless the pins get sticky.

As far as cleaning the molds, I just use hot water, a drop of dawn, and a toothbrush. I have smoked them, and I have used brake cleaner. I don’t bother anymore. To me, the key is getting the lead and the mold at a good temperature, and regulating your casting speed to keep them there.

[megasupermagnum]

All I can say is that if you learned on Lyman molds, you probably picked up some odd methods. Lyman molds are some of the crankiest molds there are to get to work.

If you can figure out how to get a Lyman to cast a perfect bullet, a Lee should be a cake walk.

[TurnipEaterDown]

I have a fair number of molds, LEE, RCBS (iron), Lyman (iron), Saeco (iron), LBT (Aluminum), NEI (Aluminum), Accurate (Aluminum), Mountain (Aluminum), from 1 hole to 6.

I will say that each mold has it's own preference for pot temperature and technique of pour. (I ladle pour all my bullets.) I have had some molds that cast nice looking bullets down to 620 degrees, some cast well at 770.

My experience w/ LEE aluminum molds is mixed, but if you know what you are getting and prepare them properly usually work well for a couple thousand bullets. I have worn out some LEE molds.

First w/ LEE I deburr the cavity edges. Can do this with a flexible mild abrasive stick, careful use of 400-600 grit wet dry, sometimes even a thumbnail.
Second I wash them in my solvent tank, scrub the cavities w/ a q-tip soaked in solvent, and then spray off w/ gun scrubber or equivalent and let dry.
I will usually pre-heat molds when casting, sometimes by just setting on the propane burner frame a little bit from the edge of the flame, sometimes by letting the entire base of the mold rest on top of the molten lead until the lead just quits sticking. Mold closed. Never warped a mold, and I have cast thousands of pounds of bullets.
I most often also end up over pouring the first 3-4 casts out of a mold. Fill the cavities, dip again, pour generously over the top of the mold.

Yes, usually wrinkly bullets are from lead too cold, sometimes from a mold still dirty. I have cleaned some LEE molds 3-4 times by above method before they behaved.

ALL aluminum gets an oxide skim on it in Moments after being processed (formed from molten, or machined). The average person has Never see un-oxidized Aluminum. I have work mates that have worked Decades in the materials industry w/ Aluminum, and this is a fact. Also, oxide film on Aluminum is protective and stops additional oxidation from forming by normal atmospheric contact. You need some type of corrosive contaminant effect to "see" corrosion on aluminum. I don't put anything on an aluminum mold for storage. Wipe it off, set it in a cardboard box in my reloading cabinet. 25 Year old LBT molds cast like the first day (or better).

For cleaning unwanted lead splatter from a mold, use a number 2 pencil. Sharpen it, and use the point. Veral Smith taught me this. Also, the graphite / clay mix will not harm the mold and can lubricate a sliding interface.

I also wear leather gloves when I cast. Pigskin, old deer skin hunting gloves, etc., and I will just wipe lead smears off a hot sprue plate with the gloves if I shear them a smidge early.

I lube sprue plates with a mold lube that I got off auction on GB years ago. I am betting it is a silicone lube. I haven't seen it on there for over a decade. My 2 oz bottle is still 1/2 full.
If interested, probably something similar can be purchased from commercial high pressure die cast supply houses, they use a variety of mold lubricants. Comes in gallons, so I don't know what you'd do with that much, nor what formulation is best for bullet molds.

I lube alignment pins w/ LBT mold lube sticks (the black ones ~0.2" dia) or a bit of 50/50 alox soaked into a q-tip.

Maybe some of this helps, maybe not. Good luck all.

[Mk42gunner]

I have several Lee molds, 1,2, and 6 cavity. Some can be cantankerous to figure out, but they have all eventually given me good results. Eventually.

The worst was a six cavity group buy mold that the alignment pins kept moving on. Figuring that out took a while, especially since it was my first six cavity mold.

Another needed to be heat cycled about four times before it started working, then it rained boolits out like it was Hensley & Gibbs mold.

I haven't moved the temp dial on my pots in years. I set them as Gearnasher recommended about fifty degrees over liquid temp, and regulate mold temperature by casting cadence. I am about out of that particular lot of Wheel Weights, so I may have to do that again.

When lubing the sprue plate, you only need lube on the pivot point, nowhere else. On the six cavity molds it is easy to take them apart when cold and use aluminum anti-seize, for the one and two cavity molds I put a teeny tiny drop as close under the screw head as I can get it then call it good.

I do tend to color in the sprue plates with either a lead pencil or soapstone, both seem to work without migrating anywhere. This lets the sprue fall off, and seems to prevent galling of the top of the blocks.

Keep trying and don't get too frustrated, you will eventually figure out how to make them work.

Robert

[RKJ]

You might get a hot plate and heat your molds on it. I kept getting wrinkles until I started using one, it made a world of difference.

[G W Wade]

An old trick I use for cleaning different things that need to be scrapped. I grab an extra set of chop sticks. The bamboo sticks are tough and can be shaped to fit the job with out scratching the surfaces. GW PS Am a cheap #$%

[414gates]

Post a picture of the reject bullets. The more experienced casters here can tell right away what's not right.

[AlHunt]

I cleaned the mold several times during the session with brake cleaner

Chlorinated brake parts cleaner leaves a residue. Non Chlorinated only.

If you doubt me, squirt some of the regular stuff on your fingers and rub them together. You'll feel it.

[Rickf1985]

I don't think you can even buy chlorinated brake cleaner anymore but I assure you it does not leave a residue. 50 years as a mechanic and I would know for sure if I sprayed cleaner in a drum or rotor and then put the shoes/pads on and they glazed over that there was something left over that should not have been there. And those companies would have gone out of business very quickly! What you feel on your fingers is your skin reacting to the chemicals! You are not supposed to get it on your skin. Yes, we all did it and I am sure we will all pay for it. Many of my mechanic friends have died from skin cancers, not to mention mesothelioma from brake dust. Now, carburetor cleanor CAN have other chemicals in it that leave residues. Mostly top cylinder lubes

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

One thing I have found is also the issue with lubing the sprue plate contaminating the cavities. No matter how light I go it ends up in there. I have tried beeswax, 2 stroke oil, candle wax. All gave me issues and I ended up spraying it down and starting over. Lee also recommends using never seize as a lube, I have tons of it as I am a mechanic but I hate using it as it gets on everything. In saying that I can picture it getting all over the mold. Has anyone tried it? And what do you use?
full synth 2 stroke oil.
Using q-tip ...one drop of oil... rub q-tip on the HOT sprue plate, and not on the mold. The volatiles will smoke off instantly, leaving just a residue that will not run into cavities. During casting, you may need to reapply (rub q-tip on plate), you know if this is necessary if there is slight alloy buildup on plate.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Well, This is an interesting thread. If you read the thread from start to finish you will see that obviously I am not the only one that has issues with these molds. The interesting part is that the solutions cover the entire range of what some say to do and some say to never do. Some people say to use brake cleaner and some say to never use it, but both of those people are having success. Some say oil and some say wax for lube and no for the other but both are having success. Some say smoke and some say never. See what I am saying here? It seems like everyone had problems and kept trying until something worked for them, even if it did not work for someone else.
I am open to all suggestions but I will tell you that of all the suggestions mentioned so far I have tried 98% of them. I am not new to casting, been doing it off and on for 50 plus years. And I thought about the zinc but first off I have had the alloy tested and no zinc. plus when I melt down my wheel weights I do it very slowly with a thermometer in the pot and as soon as they are barely melted at about 600-650 I scoop out the clips and anything else floating. I have caught one or two zincs but I am pretty efficient at pre sorting. But zinc melts at 750 plus so I am nowhere near melting in a zinc at 600-650. And as I have said several times, all my steel molds are producing perfect bullets at the same temps with the same alloy and the same pour methods. I don't think I mentioned pour methods, I am using both bottom pour and ladle. Basically I am trying anything and everything to try to find the sweet spot. And yes, I have also put the mold right against the spout on the bottom pour pot. I think that was what plugged up the mold.

This is so true. many ways to skin a cat.
There are a few other members here that only cast with Iron molds, so if you never get the hang of casting with Lee molds, you won't be alone.

[robg]

i cast with lee molds 223/308 several /357/45-70 all work fine for me .did have one mold that cast boolits fine except 2 thou undersize ,gave it to a friend who wanted an undersize mold as he is powder coating his boolits

[Tar Heel]

I bet the folks at Lee read this and are quite entertained by all the gyrations we go through instead of following the simple directions packed with each mold.

[AlHunt]

The interesting part is that the solutions cover the entire range of what some say to do and some say to never do.

All that means is that Lee molds tolerate a wide avenue of operating conditions and methods

However, with lead in the vent lines, you ran that one way too hot and may have baked in some kind of contaminant. The mold can probably still be recovered. It's just a lot of work.

Check to see if you warped it before you spend a lot of time trying to fix it.

[kens]

Are you pouring bottom pour pot?
Ladle casting?
Is there residue in bottom of the pot?

[OS OK]

"Geez....whatt'a read this thread, it leaves me shaking my head in disbelief!"

I'll give it to'Ya straight up, how to make things work...every time, any mould ... steel, brass or aluminum.

CLEANING...Pert'near any solvent will dissolve oils on the surface but oils get into the micro-pores of the mould metal. If you want clean, boil it.
Bring it to a rolling boil for 10 minutes with with a dab of Dawn in the pot. Do this two times.
I disassemble my moulds so I get the oil out of every place including screw threads & threaded holes.

https://i.imgur.com/dP79UYH.jpg

When you pour the top 1/3 of the water off, put it under the faucet and replace the water on the opposite side of the pan as you pour...keeps the oils on top of the soapy water and going over the edge and out.

After boiling two times, boil a third time in fresh water only...now you will have 100% of that pesky oil out of any part of the mould.

https://i.imgur.com/D25Xikw.jpg

DRY THE MOULD...sit it in the bright sunlight or on the wood burner stove, anywhere it'll heat up to 150º or so and allow it ample time to dry completely. Since I'm in the kitchen using the wife's stove already I dry moulds in the oven at 325ºƒ, they dry pretty quickly, even in the screw holes.

https://i.imgur.com/hQEvYYD.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/XNqWFYS.jpg

Yeah, I know...I can already hear the whinning about all the time & work involved. If this is already too much for you or anyone else, just disregard this post and move on.

Now...if you have stuck with this...LUBE IT WITH ANTI SEIZE.
Use a q-tip or swab and use it sparingly...don't glob it on, a little goes forever. Anti Seize is made to use in very high temperature applications, it doesn't burn off part of it's ingredients and leave a thick or carbonized scum behind. It just stays there doing it's job 2 or 3 times longer than any other lube I ever tried to use.
Other oil type lubes get hot and get thin and meander all over the mould, eventually they get over in a cavity and your casting just irons them into the pores of the metal again.
Put it on threads of the screws, put it on the underside of the sprue plate & rub it in until you can't even see it or feel it anymore (rub with a clean cloth and try to rub it all off...it will remain in the pores of the sprue plate). Dont get any in the fill holes of the other side of the plate.
Put it on the edges of your tongs that come in contact with the mould so that the aluminum does not gaul on the steel tongs. The mould halves need to swing on the tong easily so that they come together without effort (align)...otherwise the pins will bang up the edges of the female side of the mating holes and eventually make the mould halves not come together perfectly, you will start seeing light through the mould.

https://i.imgur.com/f4bgivu.jpg

If your sprue plate is not sharp, place it on a 400 or 600 grit sand paper on a piece of glass or granite or something dead flat and smooth...put your fingers in the fill holes and sand lightly in circles until the entire underside of the plate is shiny around each of the sprue holes, that sharpens them.

https://i.imgur.com/s1ep4pn.jpg

REASSEMBLE...Your mould is spic & span clean & lubed properly & ready to cast like a house-a-fire.

PREHEAT THE MOULD...any way you want to, I suggest a hot plate oven with a BBQ thermometer in the topside so you know how hot the mould is preheated. I suggedst 300 ~ 400ºƒ...usually the mould will cast perfect cast within 2 fills & throws, many times on the first fill.

CADENCE...I think you already know about this but with aluminum being such a great metal to transfer heat, I sit my filled mould down on the base of my pot to allow the heat to run out of the mould for about 3 or 4 seconds. That'll keep it cool. You can get a piect of scrap metal or better yet a chunk of aluminum to sit it on and the heat will fly out of the mould. Now you can pick your cadence up without overheating and casting small casts.

https://i.imgur.com/rxCjTM4.jpg

This little single cavity Ideal will fit just under the edge of my mould guide and sit there without falling off but I place larger moulds over on the base of the Lee 10 pound pot to cool.

That's about all I have to say in addressing your wrinkles and oil problem and I might add that I cast at 700ºƒ, sometimes 25º hotter in the winter when the shop is cold. I can still overheat the mould if I go too fast even at this low end casting temperature.

charlie

[Rickf1985]

Excellent write up. Is that mold knocker a piece of dowel with a piece of PVC pipe on it?

[JoeJames]

I bet the folks at Lee read this and are quite entertained by all the gyrations we go through instead of following the simple directions packed with each mold.This kind of tickled me. I actually read the directions that came with the Lee molds and they were spot on. When in doubt read the directions.

[Rickf1985]

I read the directions for the 9mm and got perfect boolits from it but they are small, smooth boolits. I also got a 311-041 mold and I did the exact same thing and I have never, ever gotten good bullets from that mold. I found a ton of flash at the parting line of every cavity so all the boolits were sticking in the mold. The boolits just look like crap even if I get rid of the wrinkles. They look dirty even though the lead is spotless. The same batch of lead makes perfect boolits in other molds at the same time. This, and the mold I am working with right now, the 452-255, are the main reason for this thread. I should say that I bought a 2 cavity 45 cal aluminum Lee mold that makes perfect boolits........ But it fell apart! One of the newer style molds where the handles are part of the mold. Super cheap construction. Thin handles with a steel pin in an aluminum block that gets heated and cooled constantly. Did they really expect those pins to stay in there for very long? Since I bought it second hand there is no warranty, "Send it in and we will fix it or give you a new one at half price". Better than nothing I guess. Any of the other mold companies would give you a new mold in a heartbeat if their mold failed. Then again, you get what you pay for.

[OS OK]

Excellent write up. Is that mold knocker a piece of dowel with a piece of PVC pipe on it?

Yes it is, also has about 600 grains of lead poured in a hole at the end.

[downzero]

I love my Lee molds so much that I sold almost all the others.

[Rickf1985]

Yes it is, also has about 600 grains of lead poured in a hole at the end.

I am stealing your idea! I have been looking for a decent knocker and I certainly was not going to buy one.

[OS OK]

I am stealing your idea! I have been looking for a decent knocker and I certainly was not going to buy one.

The neet part is that you can give the sprue plate a light tap with a little inertia in the whacker and you don’t need to hit hard, especially on multi cavity Moulds where you let it sit a little too long and it got good’en hard.

[Rickf1985]

Well THIS is interesting. I was looking around for info on one of my Lee molds that the pin that holds the mold to the handle fell out of and I came across this from Lee. This sort of goes against everything I have been hearing about how you are supposed to run Lee aluminum molds hot. Which is also what I have found, at 450 it is going to be wrinkle city. And I thought you were SUPPOSED to set it on the pot and also according to my instructions on the last mold I got which I JUST read yesterday they tell you to dip the corner of the mold IN THE LEAD until it is hot!!!!! And if I am casting steadily with 750 degree lead that mold will get over 450 real damn fast!!!! And it will stay there the whole time I am casting. Guess I have destroyed that mold huh? Well, it is one of the few Lee molds that gives me good bullets, up till the pin fell out. I will stake the pin back in and continue to destroy the mold I guess.

The maximum operating temperature should be limited to 400 degrees with the absolute maximum of 450 degrees, for a maximum of 30 minutes. At 450 degrees the pins will turn a pale straw-yellow. Any temperature above this will excessively reduce the tensile strength of the aluminum block by annealing. Once this overheating occurs, the only option is to send it in for replacement.

The aluminum molds will not overheat by simply casting but can be overheated by preheating with a hot plate, torch, setting on top of the pot to heat up or immersing in molten alloy for an excessive amount of time.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I have gotten hundreds of good boolits from Aluminum molds. I just ordered a Lee 459-405 HB for a 4570 rifle. Judging by the numbers of serious shooters who swear by this boolit I have no worries. I will wash it off with a tooth brush, dish soap and hot water like I always do. Preheat it on the glass top stove and start casting.

[tankgunner59]

I use Lee molds almost exclusively and haven't had any of those problems listed in the list from The High Road, and I am a member on The High Road.
When I take my Lee molds out of the box I clean them well with brake parts cleaner. Some I can use clean after that others I had to smoke. But they all drop good bullets either way. I have had frosted bullets, and they all were correct diameter, and I have never found any oval bullets. I used to pre-heat mine by dipping a corner, but only for a few minutes, now I pre-heat by casting to get them up to temp, then I start saving them. The bullets I get while pre-heating I set aside and add them back at the end of the session when I unplug the mold. I haven't had any get oxidized but I also store mine inside the house so humidity isn't a problem. I have one Lyman mold as Lee didn't have the bullet weight I needed in my caliber and it takes a bit longer to pre-heat.
When I lube my Lee's I use the instructions, I use beeswax to lube the mold pins and the sprue hinge bolt without getting any in the mold cavities. I have had molds, I got good pills from on the last session, give me wrinkles. I let them cool, cleaned well and smoked if needed, and started casting again with no wrinkles. Most times I cast two pills in the same session letting one cool while casting with the other.
Just my $.02.

[DDriller]

I have 6 Lee molds and they all cast fine. 1 hole and 2 hole molds start getting frosted round balls pretty quick but size is the same. Frosted bullets cover with Hi-Tek real nice. 6 Hole molds generally start casting keepers after 4 fills after setting on top of the pot as it heats up. They are not as good a quality as Noe, Accurate, or MP but they are way cheaper and produce good bullets.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I have a 180 gr. gas checked Lee mold that I use for my Ruger American compact in .308. MOA boolit!

[Cosmic_Charlie]

These are some 405 gr. hollow base boolits from my first go with a Lee mold. Just sprayed it off with Gunscruber, preheated and casted. 292824

[Bnt55]

I just casted in a new lee mold last night, the first 30 or so bullets were wrinkled, then they started to shape up and cast nicely from there on out. I did get a little excessive with the beeswax sprue lube and some got around the cavities but that seems to smoke off and I kept casting...well, I had to keep casting, the lee pot was dripping so badly it was splattering if I didnt keep knocking the drip stalagmite over and putting the mold under the leaky spout. Guess I'm gonna valve grind the spout seat...again this week.