Mold cleaning alternative to brake cleaner

[kenk]

Good morning,
Would gun cleaning solvent work ok to degrease a new Lee mold, as I don’t have any break cleaner on hand
Thanks in advance

Ken

[Maven]

Warm, soapy water or even Simple Green and an old, soft toothbrush work quite well, Ken.

[Bazoo]

I use lighter fluid. The stuff for a zippo. I spritz the mould good and dry it. Then as I preheat the mould, I open the sprue cutter and fill the cavities with fluid. It boils in the cavity when the mould is hot. Seems to scrub all the nooks and crannies good. It has never burst into flames like I first expected it would doing this.

[stubshaft]

In answer to your original question, I would say NO since gun cleaning solvent leaves a slightly oily residue. Alcohol, acetone, hot soapy water will work just fine.

[Polymath]

Easy Off oven spray, light scrub with soft brush, Rinse. Go to work.

[Maven]

You don't want to use lye based Easy Off on an aluminum mold. The baking soda version (white can with blue writing, blue top) won't harm aluminum.

[kenk]

Very good, thanks folks!


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[Winger Ed.]

You're supposed to clean them first?

Hmm.
I accordance with the first rule of Man Law which clearly states:
'Throw away all instructions, and disconnect or otherwise bypass all safety devices'

Not too long ago, I took my new Lee 9mm mold out of the package and it looked clean and dry.
So I went to work with it, and it did just fine.
Oh well, I'll try and do it right next time.:bigsmyl2:

[Mal Paso]

Heat will evaporate any oil left from machining. Oven at 400F or hotplate.

[243winxb]

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

[GhostHawk]

I've been using liquid wrench dry lube on all my new molds for the last 3-4 years.

Does a great job of cleaning, removing everything just using a cotton q-tip with a drop on it.

By the time the mold warms up all is evaporating leaving a very thin dry layer.

Works great on sprue plates also as lead does not seam to like to stick on it.

For the cone shaped holes leading to the mold I use a ball of 0000 steel wool, polish them well, then clean with dry lube.
If lead wants to stick I'll wipe it with a little thinned alox and let it dry, bring it back up to heat. The alox cures to an enamel like finish that is smooth and leaves lead nothing to stick to.

Looks like one 4 oz bottle of dry lube will last my lifetime and some lucky caster is going to inherit half of a bottle free.

[kevin c]

I use acetone and a toothbrush.

[winelover]

Denatured alcohol or any of the gun cleaners labeled as degreasers.

Winelover

[kenk]

Thanks!


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[DougGuy]

Don't overlook nail polish remover, it's usually 100% acetone, read the bottle.

[AlaskaMike]

Warm, soapy water or even Simple Green and an old, soft toothbrush work quite well, Ken.

Regular Simple Green isn't something you want to use on aluminum. I think they make one they claim is safe to use with aluminum, but I've never seen it.

[Froogal]

Never underestimate the versatility of common rubbing alcohol.

[Martin Luber]

I found preheating iron moulds after scrubbing with Dawn and water caused flash rust so I stopped doing that.

Brake cleaner, gasoline, coleman fuel ( is naptha aka looking ghter fluid) are all good, outside.

[kenk]

Thanks, alcohol and a q tip is what I’ve used in the past


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[gwpercle]

Thanks, alcohol and a q tip is what I’ve used in the past


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Denatured Alcohol works better than Isopropyl and Lacquer Thinner works even better .

Acetone soak will pull out the cutting oils from deep in the metal pores . Give blocks 8 hours to soak . After just cleaning with a Q-Tip or tooth brush , Heat wll drive more oils out , there fore you clean and heat blocks three times ...

But after soaking in acetone for 8 hours the blocks are sucked dry of oils !
Gary

[Tonto]

Yesterday I started to prep a new RCBS mould for a casting session. A couple squirts of brake cleaner followed by two hot water and Dawn scrubs with an old toothbrush then sitting the handled mould on the Lee pot. Once the alloy was melted and fluxed, corner dipped the mould for 30-45 seconds and the second pour produced keepers. A little further into the session the mould top, spruce plate and locator pins were treated with a mould prep/2-cycle oil. Easy, fast and it’s tough to beat these iron moulds.

[DocSavage]

Regular Simple Green isn't something you want to use on aluminum. I think they make one they claim is safe to use with aluminum, but I've never seen it.

Simple Green stainless/aircraft when I worked for a major jet engine maker we used it for cleaning stainless steel and exotic alloys.

[HumptyDumpty]

Regular Simple Green isn't something you want to use on aluminum. I think they make one they claim is safe to use with aluminum, but I've never seen it.

That's their aviation-specific product. It can be had from Aircraft Spruce.
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/09-00809.php

[PhilC]

I use ordinary lacquer thinner same as I use in my (paint) gun washer...can get at any auto paint supply store.

[Charlie Horse]

I use lighter fluid. The stuff for a zippo. I spritz the mould good and dry it. Then as I preheat the mould, I open the sprue cutter and fill the cavities with fluid. It boils in the cavity when the mould is hot. Seems to scrub all the nooks and crannies good. It has never burst into flames like I first expected it would doing this.

AKA naphtha.