Lee mold simply will not work

[Rickf1985]

Most people that follow my posts and threads will know I am not one to bash Lee's products. Most of their stuff works quite well and a lot more works well enough to get the job done. But mold, well, that is another story. I do have a couple Lee molds that work very well. I also have a couple that simply will not produce a good bullet no matter what you do. This mold I bought new so I started right out from the beginning and went by the book. Washed the mold with acetone to get all the oils off of it, and sat it on the pot for an hour. Now, A shiny aluminum mold sitting over top of a lead pot with just two skinny contact points will never ever get hot. After an hour sitting on top of the Lee Pro 20 pot at 750 degrees the mold was at 190 degrees checked with a contact thermometer. BUT, I wanted to follow the directions so when it did not work and I had to talk to Jerry I had all the bases covered. So then it went on the steel plate on top of my hot plate which is set at 450 degrees. Once up to that temp I did the corner in the pot test, not hot enough. Now, I have seen somewhere in Lee's publications that you are NOT supposed to put the mold in the pot and right in the directions it tells you to. But they do not tell you what to do if it is not hot enough. So, moving on. Like any other mold I start running lead through it to fully heat it up. Note, I purposely did not lube the pins or sprue plate hinge at this point yet because I want to see how long it takes to get rid of the wrinkles and I do not want ANY form of contamination. So, as usual with Lee molds I had wrinkles. 20 casts later it was exactly the same. I started at 700 degrees and I am using straight wheel weights. I have already been casting with several other steel mold today with no issues at all with this alloy. so I bump it up to 750. I am running a PID so temp is well controlled. No change after another 20 casts. Bump it up 800, no change in the wrinkles but the bullets are getting harder to get out of the mold. I should mention that from the beginning I had two cavities that simply would not release. I could beat the handles off of the mold and they would not come out without my prying them out. So the rest of the testing was done without using those two cavities unless I forgot and then they just stayed full until the run was finished. So last try was 850 degrees, everybody says Lee molds like to run hot, well this is almost 200 degrees over where I usually cast wheel weights!!!! Nada, still wrinkled. Ok, back down to 700 degrees, heat is not the answer. I cleaned the mold well with brake cleaner and lubed the pins and hinges and instantly had even more wrinkles. Cleaned the mold again and no more lube. Smoked the mold, Worked fantastic, for about 5 casts. Bullets fell out, except the same two cavities. There is a mechanical hang up there that I will look at later. But I am also not smoking the mold every 5-10 casts. And by now I am well over 100 casts through this mold. So, at this point I am fed up with their directions, and their molds and I bring out the spray weapon, Graphite spray. Spray it down, nozzle leaks, spray myself down, not happy. STILL will not release and still look like crap.
Soooooo, Tomorrow I will call Lee Precision and I am sure I will be put through to Jerry so Jerry can tell me all the things I did wrong. I will simply refer him to this post.
So now you can all say I am a Lee basher because I am bashing their molds. In this case, yes I am.

[gloob]

I was frustrated at first, but I no longer have any issues with any of my Lee molds. I don't smoke them, don't clean them, don't do anything but cast bullets. If they don't drop out instantly, they usually only take a couple taps. So long as you stay in the zone and keep pumping out the bullets. I keep two bins to drop into. One for the sprues and for the first few dozens warmup drops, and one for the good bullets once they start dropping. As soon as you get the bullets out, fill 'er back up. Don't let the mold sit empty, and if you do, expect to warm it up again.

I cast a batch of 2 different bullets the other month after years of hiatus, no problem. Didn't do anything at all to the molds that were sitting in the garage.

One trick that keeps my Lee molds dropping good is to pour a healthy amount of extra hot lead on top of the sprue plate, about as much as will pool there without spilling over. This seems to keep the mold at the right temp. I don't go from one hole right to the other. I let the sprue plate fill over before moving to the next hole.

[Winger Ed.]

I had a burr on one that let the boolits hang up.
Not wanting to use anything violent, I rubbed the open part of the mold on my blue jeans.
That fixed mine.

I tried the graphite a few times.
It worked, but filled some details of the mold, like the sharp edges of the driving bands.

[M-Tecs]

Burrs in Lee molds have been common for me. Once removed they tend to drop well. I've also had a couple that had venting problems but that was a long time ago. Haven't had any venting issues since switched to the crosshatch style venting. Wrinkles and not complete fill outs tend to be an issue unless I use a hotplate or I really increase my casting cadence to keep the mold blocks hot. Casting they fast sprue smearing becomes an issue but the hotplate solves that.

My real issue with Lee is the lack of consistency between cavities. I started casting with some 4 cavity Lyman molds that were very consistent. Next came some H&G that even in the 10 cavity molds had incredible consistency. The only reason I have or use Lee molds is because they offer designs not offered by others.

[Rickf1985]

I just looked at it under a glass and it is rough! The design has the bottom edge of each bullet rolled in a hair and on 4 of the cavities this is nice and smooth but the other two it is chattered bad. The mold is a 358-158 and is a wadcutter with many fine grooves. Those grooves look like crap also due to tool chatter. I am sure I can polish them out with a Dremel and a small buff but why should I have to? And that will take the sharp edges off the grooves, not like they are sharp now. It is only a wadcutter so I am sure doing that would not affect the accuracy at all. I am also sure I am not going to get anything better even if they do agree to replace it.

[gloob]

If you want to polish the surface without smoothing over rough edges, you might consider leaving the dremel out of it. Diemakers use fine hard stones to burnish the surfaces of a die for the final finishing, by hand. But you have to grind them into the appropriate size/shape to fit what you're doing.

Stone like translucent arkansas stone works well, because it is pretty easy to shape with diamond tools and grinders. It'll remove tiny tiny amount of metal, but mostly it will move metal. Pushing down the high spots to fill in the low spots.

The stone doesn't have to perfectly fit the mold. It just has to be small enough to reach, and rounded without sharp edges. Just a rounded off point of a small bit of stone, expoxied to a handle. Sounds complicated, but if you have the right tools, it's pretty simple. I have near a dozen such implements, only requiring slight shaping to do this sort of job. I made/use them for deburring and burnishing of metal parts in hard to reach spots. Whether for reloading or otherwise.

[Castaway]

Just got a double cavity 500 gr RNFP and cast today and yesterday with it. It’s the easiest mould I’ve ever used for dropping bullets. All I have to do is open it and both bullets fall out. No tapping needed

[cwlongshot]

Seasoning helps immensely.

Going over /thru mold by looking washing and file/stoning the mold, before ever casting also catches the lions share of problems.

LEE is plagued with problems. Nearly all are associated with sub standard materials.

Lee molds require a lil extra work to run properly. Only one I have had that was a *** was the Key Drive slug mold. Not commenting ta speak of my issues. Lets fix yours.

First off; Mold temp of 190° just isnt hot enough. Especially to start. Seasoning a mold is done @ 400° for 30 min a few times! Ya heat it hold that heat and allow to cool to ambient temp. What this does is help to cook off and draw out oils used in manufacturer and storage.
A hot plate is world superior to the age old practice of warming molds atop the pot. A hot plate can be had for under 20$.

Some times a mold simply requires being heated to and past dropping "frosty" bullets. This cooks off and pulls out those oils that cause the problems you are finding. IT WILL CLEAR UP!

I have molds from nearly all common makers I recently had a MP mold give me fits as your experiencing. My resenent was quelled when TWO friends who bought SAME MOLD also had SAME PROBLEMS. This tells me that these molds probably saw something different. Weather it was diff oil or storage or old stock it was something that was not cured with out cleaning and cycling that all of us did! So even when doing everything "rite" you simply sometimes just need MORE HEAT!! Now step away from the torch. Just use that Hot Plate your gonna go buy and cast bullets! IT WILL CLEAR UP I PROMISE!

CW

[Rickf1985]

CW, With all due respect, did you read my little article? I described in full detail the cleaning, the hot plate up to 450, the lead temps in stages up to 850. I fully appreciate what you are saying but this is far from my first rodeo with these things. I also cleaned that mold many times throughout this casting session. After seeing the defects in the mold the release was never going to happen but the wrinkles, certainly not heat or oil related. I suspect it has to do with the extremely rough condition of the interior of the mold not allowing free flow of the lead. I will see if my fancy overpriced Apple phone will get some closeups of it tomorrow.

[BJung]

I'll confess that I have less than stellar casting practices. I have a 40-175 TC Lee mold I bought used and it's a PITA. Bullets never drop out. At best I get two bullet groups. The first weighs 182-183gr. The second weighs 185-186gr. I think the previous owner worked on the mold because the bolt on top is different and always comes lose.

As I said, bullets never drop out. I take the corner of a screwdriver, stick its corner into the base of the bullet and flick it out of the mold.

To heat my mold, I place it on my hotplate until the lead in my pot is melted. I'll use a propane torch to melt the ingots and speed things up. Then I stick the corner of the mold into the molten lead and heat the mold with a propane torch. I'm just too impatient. I'll take the propane flame and work around the mold. My focus is where the mold touches the lead in the pot. When lead stops sticking to the mold, it's hot enough to cast. I'll drop my bullets as soon as I see the lead solidify. Then I'll use a wood mallet to tap the die so the parts line up.

[Rickf1985]

Heating a mold with a torch is just going to ruin it. It will warp and never seal right nor drop round boolits.

[Rickf1985]

I got some good pics of my mold, quite surprised at what that phone camera will do. But I need to clean out the rest of the graphite I put in there to be able to get a clear view of what is going on. I just sprayed it with brake cleaner while it was hot and it left a lot behind. I will scrub it out tomorrow with brake cleaner and a nylon brush and get better pics and post them. Some really bad machine work is my issue apparently.

[rbuck351]

Leement it using a fine rock polish. That should clean up the imperfections so the boolits will drop out easily. I also smoke most of the Lee molds and after you smoke them a few times it lasts a lot longer. Also I set the pot temp high and cast fast until the boolits start to frost and run it there or just below frost.

The way I look at Lee molds is they are a cheap unfinished diy mold that will need finished. Sometimes you get one that works well right out of the box and sometimes you don't. The only Lee molds I have that I haven't been able to fix are the bore riders that are 2 to 5 thou under bore size on the nose.

[Rich/WIS]

Two questions. Are you sure your hotplate temp setting is correct? How long do you pre-heat the mold? My hotplate doesn't have temp readings, just low, med and high and found it needs to be just shy of medium to heat the mold to temp. Also takes at least 20 minutes on the hotplate. To keep it heating evenly made a cover from a butter cookie tin with a slot for the handle to stick out and a wire bail type handle to make it easy to put on and tale off. Using this system it seldom takes more than one pour to get good bullets. This is with the 6 cavity and may require some tweaking with a double cavity.

[longbow]

what rbuck351 said.. Leement your mould. As has been mentioned, Lee moulds often have small burrs at the edge of the cavities and those burrs will hold boolits in place. I have had iron moulds with burrs as well but it is more common on Lee moulds.

Leementing

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?358488-Lee-menting-The-Spinning-of-boolits
http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/Classics/Lee-Menting%20a%20Mold.pdf
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?12479-Leementing-Explain-this-to-me-please

Leementing is fine lapping to just remove burrs. Yes, you shouldn't have to do this but Lee moulds are inexpensive and not as well finished in general as higher end (and cost) moulds. A little TLC will fix them and they work just fine.

Do not use a Dremel on your mould!

Leementing is easy and effective and will not harm your mould. I only have a few Lee moulds these days. I bought both the 1 oz. and 7/8 oz. slug moulds and one dropped slugs as well as a Mihec mould, the other did not and it had some small burrs around the cavity and on the core pin at the drive key split. A little Leementing and some careful work with 600 grit silicon carbide paper removed the burrs and slugs drop out easily now.

As for the wrinkles, it is possible that the venting is not clear so check that. Also, if the sprue plate is too tight to the face of the mould blocks air cannot bleed out the top and that can lead to poor fillout specially at the base. I can't say I have had that issue with a Lee mould but have with Mihec moulds which are finely machined and fitted. I loosen off the sprue plate so that it will almost swing free and that usually fixes the issue. I have also used a jeweller's file to remove just a hair off the top edges where the mould cavities meet under the sprue plate to allow air to bleed out there. The vee left after filing should be no larger than vent grooves in the mould face so very small!

If you can't solve wrinkles any other way try this.

Longbow

[farmerjim]

I have about 40 lee molds. All cast well. Some have one of the cavities hang up. A light tap with my 1 1/2 inch stick takes care of it. I have never cleaned a mold. I will heat cycle them three times before use on a hotplate. I heat them on the hotplate before casting and get good boolits within the first 5 casts. I use 2 molds when casting to speed things up. ( I only use one on 22 cal to keep the heat up.) I do find that the newer Lee 2 cavity do not hold heat as well as the older ones.

[schutzen-jager]

after my last problem with a defective LEE die set, after many decades i will NEVER buy another LEE product again ! - they used to be a great company to deal with, but now they are totally uncaring about product quality + it is futile to deal with their customer service - i am sure many posters here will disagree with me but more will -

[243winxb]

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


Lyman- While antimony is used to harden the bullet, the mixture of tin is critical, for while antimony mixes with lead in its molten state, it will not remain mixed when it solidifies. If tin were not added, we would have pure antimony crystals surrounded by pure lead. A bullet of this type , while it feels hard , would certainly lead the bore and eliminate all potential for accuracy.. In a lead-tin-antimony mixture, the antimony crystals will be present just the same, but they will be imbedded in a lead-tin mixutre. As the bullet cools the tin will form around the antimony-lead keeping your bullets from leading the bore.

Add some linotype. Lee mold will never cast as good as an iron mold. Lyman, RCBS & Saeco. Imo.

[Rickf1985]

Ok, I cleaned the mold up very well and I polished up a couple of burrs. Washed it again in hot soapy water and then again in acetone and tried casting. Forget it. Getting it super clean did nothing more than make the cavities that were releasing now become balky. So I smoked the mold with matches. Got the original cavities back but not the two bad ones. Still had major wrinkles. Lead at 800 degrees. This is way hotter that I have ever cast wheel weights in the past. So I smoked the mold with straight acetylene. At this point I really do not care. I am having to take full hammer swings at it to get those cavities to release. It is just a matter of time before the handles break. They are not going to replace the mold anyway so I don't care at this point. Came in and saw the thread about Leementing so cleaned everything up again and went about that. Only abrasive I have beside valve grinding compound is fast orange hand cleaner with pumice. Well, it cuts. Cleaned it all up again and tried it. Got one working a tiny bit but not number one. Broke it all down, cooled off and did those two again. No change. It will release but I have to beat on the mold arm opposite the bad cavity, and I mean I have to BEAT on it! Oh, still wrinkled and now at 900 degrees. I know this pot will hit 1,000 because I have seen it happen but I am done. Before anyone comments again about the hot plate, it is a piece of 3/16 steel plate on an old circular electric burner. I am checking the temp with the contact probe on my Fluke meter and also the laser temp gauge. They are within 50 degrees of each other. I even put a piece of lead on the plate next to the mold and it melted! Hot enough? Plate is reading 610 degrees. Mold is reading 530. Vent lines in mold are perfectly clear and I have not lubed the pins after all that washing so no oil contamination. That same alloy is working just fine in other molds at the very same time I am having trouble with this one. As far as a cold mold, the sprue is taking 10 plus seconds to cool.
I was going to call Lee but I don't think it is worth wasting any more time on this mold, they are not going to cover it anyway and telling them is is a *** is not going to bother them in the slightest bit. I don't even think the Lee family even has that business anymore, Like Midway I think it has probably been sold to a conglomerate. I may be wrong but the way they talk to customers leads me to believe that compared to how it was a few years ago.

[Martin Luber]

For one, l would talk to them; l have have good experiences there.

For stubborn moulds I have run a propane torch flame into the cavities and the block face as the mould is held slightly open. If that doesn't burn it off, nothing will. Good luck

[indian joe]

Ok, I cleaned the mold up very well and I polished up a couple of burrs. Washed it again in hot soapy water and then again in acetone and tried casting. Forget it. Getting it super clean did nothing more than make the cavities that were releasing now become balky. So I smoked the mold with matches. Got the original cavities back but not the two bad ones. Still had major wrinkles. Lead at 800 degrees. This is way hotter that I have ever cast wheel weights in the past. So I smoked the mold with straight acetylene. At this point I really do not care. I am having to take full hammer swings at it to get those cavities to release. It is just a matter of time before the handles break. They are not going to replace the mold anyway so I don't care at this point. Came in and saw the thread about Leementing so cleaned everything up again and went about that. Only abrasive I have beside valve grinding compound is fast orange hand cleaner with pumice. Well, it cuts. Cleaned it all up again and tried it. Got one working a tiny bit but not number one. Broke it all down, cooled off and did those two again. No change. It will release but I have to beat on the mold arm opposite the bad cavity, and I mean I have to BEAT on it! Oh, still wrinkled and now at 900 degrees. I know this pot will hit 1,000 because I have seen it happen but I am done. Before anyone comments again about the hot plate, it is a piece of 3/16 steel plate on an old circular electric burner. I am checking the temp with the contact probe on my Fluke meter and also the laser temp gauge. They are within 50 degrees of each other. I even put a piece of lead on the plate next to the mold and it melted! Hot enough? Plate is reading 610 degrees. Mold is reading 530. Vent lines in mold are perfectly clear and I have not lubed the pins after all that washing so no oil contamination. That same alloy is working just fine in other molds at the very same time I am having trouble with this one. As far as a cold mold, the sprue is taking 10 plus seconds to cool.
I was going to call Lee but I don't think it is worth wasting any more time on this mold, they are not going to cover it anyway and telling them is is a *** is not going to bother them in the slightest bit. I don't even think the Lee family even has that business anymore, Like Midway I think it has probably been sold to a conglomerate. I may be wrong but the way they talk to customers leads me to believe that compared to how it was a few years ago.

hot mold + hot lead ......wrinkled boolits ??? = you either pouring too slow, or sprue plate holes are too small, or temperature aint what you tellin us

[1hole]

... Tomorrow I will call Lee Precision and I am sure I will be put through to Jerry so Jerry can tell me all the things I did wrong. I will simply refer him to this post.
So now you can all say I am a Lee basher because I am bashing their molds. In this case, yes I am.

Most people have no problems with Lee tools, a few do; wonder why?

I'll just say that learning to cast boolits well has a learning curve, it can't be learned by reading or hearing anyone's simplistic "instructions" or recalling distant memories.

[turtlezx]

amazing you have done all of the above and not got good results
you certainly tried

[Dusty Bannister]

In one of the threads, comments are made that suggest that getting a mold TOO hot will result in sticking bullets. Maybe you are preheating too hot and could consider starting with a warm mold and melt temp of about 720 or so and see what happens as you cast fast and dump without any significant delay.

Since you seem to be lapping a mold and then trying to cast with it, you are perhaps removing any patina and this compounds the issue since the mold is no longer considered broken in? Consider putting that mold in someone else's hands to see if they are doing something different and the mold works. Make sure the blocks are secure on the handles since if you have insecure mounted blocks, they will probably twist when opening and that might jam the soft alloy in the lube grooves. On a 6 cav mold, I hold the sprue cutter handle after cutting the sprue and while dropping the bullets, then lay the blocks on a flat surface as I close them and then position the sprue cutter in the closed position. I do not let the sprue plate flop around.

[Rickf1985]

It's funny this came back up. I was casting some bullets out of pure lead the other day for barrel slugging and that mold was laying there and I grabbed it and dumped a load of lead in it, stone cold. I mean 28 degrees cold! All the cavities dropped right out but the same two I have been having trouble with, had to beat them out. But the surprising part was the bullets. Pure lead with no tin and they did not look all that bad. The lands still looked terrible because that is just how the mold looks but I noticed that the wrinkles were consistent. The temp did not make any difference as I kept going and warming it up. Same exact wrinkle every time. So it has to be a venting issue although even looking at it with a 20X loupe I can see the vent lines are all perfectly clear end to end. That was not my job for the day so I left it at that but just thought I would mention that. A couple of the cavities dropped perfect bullets the first time on a stone cold mold and every time after that so the mold heat theory does not hold any water.

[Dusty Bannister]

Pure lead does not cast as large at alloys containing antimony (shrinks more). You might be missing the fact that mold heat does affect the casting from a mold. You say "lands" but I suspect you mean driving bands. Verify with a diameter reading to see if the casting is as large as the previous bullets cast from an alloy.

[Rickf1985]

Just grabbed one of pure and one of wheel weights and measured with micrometer. WW is .356-361 and pure is .357-362. One thousands difference larger for pure. and .005 out of round.

[longbow]

If the mould is casting oval boolits that would explain why you are having to beat them out of the mould. If you are measuring beside the seam and at 90° to that and getting those dimensions the cavities are poorly machined. It is likely that the cavity in one mould half is deeper than the other and that is why you are having to beat on the mould to get boolits to drop out.

If the mould is supposed to cast at 0.358" the measurements you are getting are not even close. A thou or so larger or smaller than spec or a thou or two out of round maybe but not 0.005".

I'd be telling Lee and sending it back!

I have no issues with Lee products in general but do not have any Lee boolit moulds except for 7/8 oz. and 1 oz. slug moulds and their 00 and 000 buckshot moulds. The 1 oz. slug mould dropped slugs easily though they are slightly oval, the 7/8 oz. slug moiuld had some burrs I had to remove but now slugs drop easily. The 00 buckshot mould works very well, haven't tried the 000 buckshot mould yet but will soon. But I generally buy boolit moulds from Mihec, NOE or Accurate these days because they work and cast to the size I order.

I think you got a lemon from Lee.

Longbow

[GONRA]

GONRA accumulated a couple dozen Lyman-Ideal and
Lee SINGLE CAVITY moulds over ~60 years.
NEVER had any of these crazy mould problems.
MULTICAVITY moulds are much more susceptible
to sloppy fixturing in the cherry milling machine.

[GregLaROCHE]

I have quite a few Lee molds. Some drop boolits easier than others, but all work for me. When I get a new mold, I spray it down with break cleaner and then wash with dish detergent and warm water. I then start casting, nothing more. Sometimes I takes quite a few cycles to get a new mold functioning as I would like, but they all seem to come around. When I have finished casting, I let them cool and spray them with Ballistol. Before the next use, I clean them with break cleaner and dish detergent again as before. That’s what works for me with Lee and other molds.

[Larry Gibson]

I've never had such problems with any mould since I learned how to properly clean them. Once my Lee moulds (I've may in single, double and 6 cavity) have been cleaned I do not oil them again. Nor do I oil any other aluminum mould after cleaning and use.

"So, as usual with Lee molds I had wrinkles. 20 casts later it was exactly the same.". This tells me the mould is simply not completely clean. I use a bit different technique than is usually recommend. It is a very simple method. Some years back I posted the method and received such an uproar from the usual suspects I swore to never post it again. Too bad because it is simple and always works on aluminum, steel or brass moulds......

[Rickf1985]

Well Larry, If you are going to make a statement like it was not clean enough and your way works better but you will not post it then why do you say anything at all? I assure you I have used every method ever mentioned to clean that mold from brake cleaner with and without acetone to pure acetone to hot soapy water. I have documented everything I have done as I went but it seems a lot of people commenting apparently do not read the whole thread, and a lot of them do not read past the title!

[Larry Gibson]

I'll PM you.

[kevin c]

I’m curious too, Larry. I’ve learned that it’s very hard to argue with success, so I hope you won’t mind letting me know what you’ve found that works.

[Mike W1]

I'd also appreciate reading your results Larry. Never had any troubles myself but new info is good to have.

[Larry Gibson]

Well Larry, If you are going to make a statement like it was not clean enough and your way works better but you will not post it then why do you say anything at all? I assure you I have used every method ever mentioned to clean that mold from brake cleaner with and without acetone to pure acetone to hot soapy water. I have documented everything I have done as I went but it seems a lot of people commenting apparently do not read the whole thread, and a lot of them do not read past the title!

Assuming you got the PM? Have you tried it yet?

BTW, I did read the whole thread.

[Cast10]

If I had spent money on a product I was not pleased with, I’d call the folks back. Give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sorry for your troubles.

[Rickf1985]

I got the PM last night when I got home from the hospital. I broke a couple ribs working on my truck in the morning and had to get the job done before going to the hospital. Which took most of the day. They found a couple cracked ribs and told me there was nothing they can do and to just take it easy. Yup, Been there and done that. That is why I did not stop to go earlier. But needless to say I was not really up to reading computers all night. I read Larry's method and I have never tried it but I will. I have used this method many times over the years to remove oil from contaminated brake drums. I am not going to comment on here since apparently this has caused Larry some problems in the past, I will leave it up to him how he wants to handle that. I will say that in this case I do not think contamination is my problem, I think it is piss poor machining plain and simple. I will try to get some magnified pics when I get a chance. I have to take a trip for the next three days so when I get back I will do that.

[Larry Gibson]

First priority is getting yourself better. No problem on this end, can wait for further discussion.

[Rickf1985]

Sooner or later I have GOT to start realizing that at 70 I have got to stop doing heavy work on the vehicles. But when the truck needed ball joints the shop screwed that up so bad I ended up having to replace the complete upper control arms. And I was out of the truck for three weeks. There are no good mechanics out there anymore.

[Larry Gibson]

Got the same problem at 75, heart says charge....body says retreat......

[john.k]

As an experiment ,I took a Lee 2 cavity mould straight out of the box,didnt clean or smoke it ,and started casting bullets.........worked perfectly.........now oddly enough ,for years I cast with the lead too cold,shiny bullets with rounded edges .....but no other problems .........But,if you cast too cold,you never have oxidation and dross.....doesnt happen.

[Larry Gibson]

Heating a mold with a torch is just going to ruin it. It will warp and never seal right nor drop round boolits.

Not necessary so for some purposes. I've also read for many, many years that dipping the corner of the mould into the alloy will also warp the mould. I don't heat the mould with a torch to bring it to casting temp but I do use it to "clean" the mould (more to follow). I also have been "dipping" for years with iron and aluminum moulds, particularly 4 - 6 cavity moulds, and haven't warped a one.

[Larry Gibson]

I’m curious too, Larry. I’ve learned that it’s very hard to argue with success, so I hope you won’t mind letting me know what you’ve found that works.

and


I'd also appreciate reading your results Larry. Never had any troubles myself but new info is good to have.

Okay, I'll post it.

Forget soap and water.

Clean mould blocks inside and outside and top and bottom of the sprue plate with acetone, brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner (my preference) by simply spraying it on and scrubbing a little with an old tooth brush. Pay particular attention to the cavities.

Let dry, it won't take long.

Now [here's the part where I get yelled at, cursed at and proposed I be banned from the forum] using a propane torch with a medium flame play the flame across the mould, inside and out including the cavities and the top and bottom of the sprue plate. Slowly play the flame back and forth and you will see moisture or oil or whatever come to the surface and evaporate. When it evaporates move the flame on until the entire mould is done. Contrary to popular criticism you are not heating the mould hot enough for anything to warp. Yes, it will be too hot to touch but that's all.

Let the mould cool. When cool I swab the cavities out with a clean dry Q-Tip. I also prep the top of the blocks, top and bottom of the sprue plate and the alignment pins with a graphite mould prep.

That's it. The mould is now ready to pre-heat and begin casting with. You should get excellent bullets within two three casts. If not, then the alloy probably doesn't have enough tin in it or you are not getting the moulten alloy into the cavity quick enough.

I cast with the alloy at 710 - 725 degrees generally, let the moulten alloy fill the cavity quickly from my BP Lyman Mag20 and let a very generous sprue form even if some alloy runs off.

I was shown this method many years ago by an old bullet caster. It works on any kind of mould. Since using this method I have never expeienced the problems you're having. I did experience them previous to the use of this method.

[M-Tecs]

and



Okay, I'll post it.

Forget soap and water.

Clean mould blocks inside and outside and top and bottom of the sprue plate with acetone, brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner (my preference) by simply spraying it on and scrubbing a little with an old tooth brush. Pay particular attention to the cavities.

Let dry, it won't take long.

Now [here's the part where I get yelled at, cursed at and proposed I be banned from the forum] using a propane torch with a medium flame play the flame across the mould, inside and out including the cavities and the top and bottom of the sprue plate. Slowly play the flame back and forth and you will see moisture or oil or whatever come to the surface and evaporate. When it evaporates move the flame on until the entire mould is done. Contrary to popular criticism you are not heating the mould hot enough for anything to warp. Yes, it will be too hot to touch but that's all.

Let the mould cool. When cool I swab the cavities out with a clean dry Q-Tip. I also prep the top of the blocks, top and bottom of the sprue plate and the alignment pins with a graphite mould prep.

That's it. The mould is now ready to pre-heat and begin casting with. You should get excellent bullets within two three casts. If not, then the alloy probably doesn't have enough tin in it or you are not getting the moulten alloy into the cavity quick enough.

I cast with the alloy at 710 - 725 degrees generally, let the moulten alloy fill the cavity quickly from my BP Lyman Mag20 and let a very generous sprue form even if some alloy runs off.

I was shown this method many years ago by an old bullet caster. It works on any kind of mould. Since using this method I have never expeienced the problems you're having. I did experience them previous to the use of this method.

I missed the controversy on this one. I have used an acetone soak since the early 80's for cleaning molds. I have been using a propane torch for pre-heat since the late 70's until about 20 years ago when I switched to a hot plate.

I started casting in the late 60's with Lyman 4 cavity mold and move to 6, 8 and 10 cavity molds. The torch or hot plate has never created an issue for me.

In essence the only difference between Larry's method and mine is I didn't/don't let the mold cool for additional cleaning. I do lube it hot.

[Rickf1985]

When I made that post about ruining the mold with a torch it was because I have seen people do it with a MAP gas torch and an oxy-acetylene torch, both of which are way too hot if not handled correctly. And these people were not handling them correctly. You cannot heat the mold super fast with the torch or it WILL warp. Slowly and evenly and not super hot is fine. But most people nowadays do not have the patience to do that. GET IT DONE! NOW, NOW, QUICK!!!!!

That was why I made that post.

[gloob]

Having just casted some, I'll add another tip. If you get a good rhythm going, but then some or even all of the bullets don't drop within a few seconds? Just pretend you didn't see that, and everything is fine. Close it up and "fill" it again, even if the cavities are all filled, already. I mean just pour some fresh lead onto the sprue plate and just keep going. The bullets will more than likely drop out, easy, on this cycle. You keep the mold to temp, and you keep your rhythm going.

When I first started casting (with Lee molds) I need to have a "club." I learned from another member to have a big stick to tap the mold or even tap out stubborn bullets. It never left my hand. Nowadays, I just snap the mold open, sharply once or thrice. If they haven't all dropped out, I just keep going. It'll sort itself out.

[rbuck351]

I have used a propane torch for preheating for a lot of years after cleaning with brake cleaner. The moisture you see when heating a mold is not coming from the mold but is produced when a gas (propane ) burns and then condenses on the cool mold until it warms enough that condensation stops. I usually smoke my Lee molds and sometimes have to Leement them if they refuse to drop bullets. I no longer beat on my molds as I open them with gloved hand. Sometimes I have to tap the mold handles lightly at the back side of the mold to get a slightly sticky boolit to release.

[Winger Ed.]

I don't use a hot plate or torch. I leave the mold/handles laying across the top of the pot for awhile as it heats up.
If I take a break, I leave them up there then too. Coming back, 2-3 pours - if any, gets 'em hot enough to work well going forward.

I've had boolits often times that don't really stick in the mold, but don't drop right out either.
Usually, briskly opening the handles puts enough of a shock on the mold blocks, they fall out.
Other times, (I wear those big arc welding gloves) I can just flick the back end of the boolit with a finger tip and it drops out.
If they stick so much I need to tap the handle's pivot point, I figure there is a bur or something going on I need to deal with.

[kevin c]

Thanks, Larry.

I also clean with acetone. I also have reheated the cleaned mold to ~450° and rewashed them in the hopes that I’ll get any residual oil that leaks out, but your way sounds more efficient, and safer than what I once did to preheat: blocks directly on an 1100 watt coil burner (with no ill effects, though I’ve backed away from that and now use an intervening metal block to diffuse the heat).

[Larry Gibson]

My method is not for "pre-heating" the mould. It is for the getting the last "moisture' off the moulds. It is only done if the mould is oiled and cleaned again with a solvent.

I "pre-heat" the mould(s) by also laying them across the Mag20 while the alloy melts and comes to casting temp. Or if using a cold mould I dip the corner in the alloy until it no longer sticks to the mould.

Again, my method is for cleaning, not pre-heating.

[Larry Gibson]

...... The moisture you see when heating a mold is not coming from the mold but is produced when a gas (propane ) burns and then condenses on the cool mold until it warms enough that condensation stops. I usually smoke my Lee molds and sometimes have to Leement them if they refuse to drop bullets.

I don't buy that. The reason being is I don't oil or need to clean my moulds between casting sessions. Once cleaned they remain clean. Playing the propane flame over the surface of a cold mould that already has been cleaned with this method reveals no "moisture" appearing. Thus, if the moisture is from the flame it should appear, it doesn't.

I made the mistake of "smoking" some moulds once, Lee and Lyman. Didn't work well at all. I found using a cleaned mould and a good alloy resulted in no problems what so ever. I will never advocate smoking any mould. I currently have 30+ Lee moulds and 50+ Lyman, Accurate, NOE and MP moulds plus a couple others. Using the cleaning method posted I have no problems casting excellent bullets with any of them. Smoking a mould to me is simply putting a band aid on the problem instead of fixing it.

[rbuck351]

That is strange. Every piece of cold steel or aluminum I have applied a propane torch to has instantly shown moisture. When burning any fossil fuel two things are produced, CO2 and H2O. I'm also not aware that steel or aluminum absorb water. Other methods of heating metal (non torch, hotplates and such) don't have the moisture show up.

I only have 40 or 50 molds from Lyman, rcbs, NOE, and Lee. The only ones that benefit from smoking are the Lee molds. As they get older and have a lot of casting time, they tend to not need more smoking.

[kevin c]

Well, if the propane torch method works, in that there aren’t any bullet wrinkles after prepping the mold that way, then I’m willing to give it a go.

Reminds me of breakthroughs in medicine where the established schools of thought were all wrong but couldn’t accept it (“Wash my hands to prevent deaths from post partum fever? What a ridiculous idea!”) If the new can be demonstrated to work, then the old needs to be reconsidered.

I got a new mold coming. We shall see!

[gloob]

Weird. I wonder how much of this stuff is a "ritual" of sorts? I mean, if it works the first time, maybe you just keep doing it? Or maybe there are specific issues that are created by lead contaminants, pouring speeds, technique. So one person benefits from this step or that, but not the other.

I sooted my first Lee mold, and it helped, at the time. But when I upped the pace and poured more lead on the top of the sprue plate, and just learned how to tip that sprue back into the pot, that wasn't needed. I didn't do any prep or cleaning of my next 5 Lee molds. I haven't touched the inside of the cavity of most of my molds, ever.

The only real cleaning is of the top of the mold and the bottom of the sprue plate, where lead smears slowly build up if I open the plate too early.

BTW, what I do for the sprue is to crack the plate open, carefully, so as to not drop the sprue. Then I CLOSE the sprue plate as I slide the sprue back into the pot, like sliding a pizza out of the pan. That way you don't accidentally splash the top of the mold.

Sure, you can just collect the sprues and then stop and dump them back in, once in awhile, but that breaks the rhythm.

[john.k]

Its the same principle as heating a gear to pull off a shaft ......if you see a gear with a coloured burn mark in a couple of spots,you know it has been ruined by an incompetent mechanic........experience and common sense are the necessary qualities to avoid wrecking things with a torch.........however gear makers have to specify that torches never be used ,simply because of the 10% that ruin a gear ...or bearing.

[cwlongshot]

When I made that post about ruining the mold with a torch it was because I have seen people do it with a MAP gas torch and an oxy-acetylene torch, both of which are way too hot if not handled correctly. And these people were not handling them correctly. You cannot heat the mold super fast with the torch or it WILL warp. Slowly and evenly and not super hot is fine. But most people nowadays do not have the patience to do that. GET IT DONE! NOW, NOW, QUICK!!!!!

That was why I made that post.
100%.

I don't like to suggest using a torch for just that reason. An experienced hand is a completely different scenario.

But, The average Joe, who just started casting, it's likely just gonna ruin it. because he gets it too hot too fast, lack of experience in the operation.

CW

[Larry Gibson]

I have used a propane torch for preheating for a lot of years after cleaning with brake cleaner. The moisture you see when heating a mold is not coming from the mold but is produced when a gas (propane ) burns and then condenses on the cool mold until it warms enough that condensation stops. I usually smoke my Lee molds and sometimes have to Leement them if they refuse to drop bullets. I no longer beat on my molds as I open them with gloved hand. Sometimes I have to tap the mold handles lightly at the back side of the mold to get a slightly sticky boolit to release.

I just went down to my man cave and ran the propane flame over a Lee mould and a Lyman mould, both of which I haven't used since BC (Before COVD). I saw what you are referring to on both moulds. However, that is not the "moisture" I am referring to. When you have a new moulds or one that has been oiled and you clean with brake/carburetor cleaner, let dry and then run the flame lightly over the mould you will see a lot more "moisture" appears to come up out of the metal and evaporate. Sometimes it will even bubble a bit.

It doesn't take very much heat from the PROPANE torch flame to cause this. When the "moisture" has evaporated stop using the propane torch on that area. All the hub bub over use of a torch of any kind to "pre-heat" the mould isn't what I'm talking about. What I am talking about was told to me many years ago when I was a novice caster. I have shown numerous others this method over the years and they all are amazed how simple it is to do and how well it works.

Once they are cleaned with this method they cast good bullets right away. If you don't oil the mould or "clean" it again this doesn't have to be done again. As I've mentioned before I do not "smoke" moulds for any reason. Nor do I use a hot plate, not even when living and casting in the colder, damper climates of Oregon and Washington.

[skeet1]

Most people that follow my posts and threads will know I am not one to bash Lee's products. Most of their stuff works quite well and a lot more works well enough to get the job done. But mold, well, that is another story. I do have a couple Lee molds that work very well. I also have a couple that simply will not produce a good bullet no matter what you do. This mold I bought new so I started right out from the beginning and went by the book. Washed the mold with acetone to get all the oils off of it, and sat it on the pot for an hour. Now, A shiny aluminum mold sitting over top of a lead pot with just two skinny contact points will never ever get hot. After an hour sitting on top of the Lee Pro 20 pot at 750 degrees the mold was at 190 degrees checked with a contact thermometer. BUT, I wanted to follow the directions so when it did not work and I had to talk to Jerry I had all the bases covered. So then it went on the steel plate on top of my hot plate which is set at 450 degrees. Once up to that temp I did the corner in the pot test, not hot enough. Now, I have seen somewhere in Lee's publications that you are NOT supposed to put the mold in the pot and right in the directions it tells you to. But they do not tell you what to do if it is not hot enough. So, moving on. Like any other mold I start running lead through it to fully heat it up. Note, I purposely did not lube the pins or sprue plate hinge at this point yet because I want to see how long it takes to get rid of the wrinkles and I do not want ANY form of contamination. So, as usual with Lee molds I had wrinkles. 20 casts later it was exactly the same. I started at 700 degrees and I am using straight wheel weights. I have already been casting with several other steel mold today with no issues at all with this alloy. so I bump it up to 750. I am running a PID so temp is well controlled. No change after another 20 casts. Bump it up 800, no change in the wrinkles but the bullets are getting harder to get out of the mold. I should mention that from the beginning I had two cavities that simply would not release. I could beat the handles off of the mold and they would not come out without my prying them out. So the rest of the testing was done without using those two cavities unless I forgot and then they just stayed full until the run was finished. So last try was 850 degrees, everybody says Lee molds like to run hot, well this is almost 200 degrees over where I usually cast wheel weights!!!! Nada, still wrinkled. Ok, back down to 700 degrees, heat is not the answer. I cleaned the mold well with brake cleaner and lubed the pins and hinges and instantly had even more wrinkles. Cleaned the mold again and no more lube. Smoked the mold, Worked fantastic, for about 5 casts. Bullets fell out, except the same two cavities. There is a mechanical hang up there that I will look at later. But I am also not smoking the mold every 5-10 casts. And by now I am well over 100 casts through this mold. So, at this point I am fed up with their directions, and their molds and I bring out the spray weapon, Graphite spray. Spray it down, nozzle leaks, spray myself down, not happy. STILL will not release and still look like crap.
Soooooo, Tomorrow I will call Lee Precision and I am sure I will be put through to Jerry so Jerry can tell me all the things I did wrong. I will simply refer him to this post.
So now you can all say I am a Lee basher because I am bashing their molds. In this case, yes I am.

I had a Lee 6 cavity mold, 312- 155, that would not release any of the bullets. I started measuring the cavities and found the mold was bored off-center where there was more of the bullet in one half of the mold than in the other half. I took photos of the method I used to measure the cavities and of the mold and sent them to Lee and they promptly sent me another mold. The new mold is perfect and casts very good bullets that I shoot in my 300 Blackout. I have nothing bad to say about Lee they stood behind the product and made things right.

Ken

[gifbohane]

I will start by saying that I will not buy or use Lee products AND that I know that there are tons of guys that would stake their lives on them.

But it seems to me that the original poster asked for solutions (of which I have none) and the Lee fanatics essentially are telling him that it is his processes that are bad, not the Lee products.

There has to be a reason for the poor results and Lee might have a solution.

[Rickf1985]

Ok, I am back. Been busy and been sore after breaking a rib so I have been taking it easy. Yes, I asked for solutions, actually I asked for suggestions, same thing. I got a lot of them and I fully expected the usual deluge of "Lee sucks" posts. I generally ignore them. Lee has not been in business for 60-70 whatever years for selling total junk. Most of their stuff works just fine, including the molds. The internet is great for one thing, that is everyone pointing out their bad experiences but nobody that has good experiences saying much of anything. So you will hear 10 bad for every one good. The people without issue simply do not talk about it. Ok, That said, Larry has given some good info on a solution that has worked for him over the years. I can tell you I have used this method in other uses in the automotive industry to do exactly the same thing so I know it works as stated. I have not tried it with molds yet. In this case I do not think it is going to work due mainly to the condition of the mold. See the picture. I have several pics of the different cavities but this is one of the ones that will not release and the other one looks just like it. The ones that will release look better but not much.

309542

[243winxb]

Lee has the fix for everything. [smilie=l: https://support.leeprecision.net/en/knowledgebase

I think, Higher alloy temperatures
will result in greater shrinkage as the bullet
cools, thereby producing a slightly smaller and lighter
bullet than one cast of the same alloy at a lower temperature.

The shrinkage will allow the bullets to drop free of the mould.

[Carrier]

Sure looks like a lot of lead stuck in it from what I can see in the picture.

[gloob]

Sure looks like bits of lead. And I'm guessing that would be solved with more heat.


I will start by saying that I will not buy or use Lee products AND that I know that there are tons of guys that would stake their lives on them.

But it seems to me that the original poster asked for solutions (of which I have none) and the Lee fanatics essentially are telling him that it is his processes that are bad, not the Lee products.

There has to be a reason for the poor results and Lee might have a solution.

Process is everything with the Lee molds. They don't automatically pour perfect bullets from step 1. If that's what you want, you can't use cheap aluminum molds with minimal finishing. A cheap Lee mold works good enough when you hit the sweet spot, and aluminum molds need to be kept hot by constant pouring. So you can't worry about a bullet not dropping each and every time you managed to put some molten lead into it. When you get them dropping, you'll empty your pot in no time.

Sure, there could be something more wrong with the mold than usual. But man... all the advice of what I had to do with my first Lee mold? That was hours of wasted time for me. I was just using it wrong.

And no, don't turn up the temp on the pot. Unless you want dull undersized bullets. Get and keep the mold hot by pouring lead fast, and lots of it (on top the sprue plate). If you stop to worry about getting every single stuck bullet out, you can't get the mold working in the first place.

In addition to turning up the temp, OP also was trying to fill only 4 of the 6 cavities for testing. Nope. Fill the entire sprue plate/mold all the way, all the time, and take w/e drops out. If two cavities are "permanently" plugged, fill them over, anyway. Once hot, they might start to drop. I bet his first two Lee molds were better than average, and he just never used the typical one.

If it's your first time casting, or if it's your first Lee mold, even, then it's 90% chance your expectations that are off, not the mold. Other molds might drop the bullet out like magic every single time. Lee makes molds just good enough to work when you know what you're doing, and they make lots of good bullets really fast... because that's the only way they work. All the time setting up and waiting for the lead to melt, that works fine for me. If you want to make 4 of this bullet and 2 of another while sitting at your bullet making bench that's clean enough to eat at, then Lee molds will suck.

[FrankJD]

Lee ball molds for trad muzzleloaders - Excellent!

Lee bullet molds for cartridges - no thank you.

[rbuck351]

If your mold is still that rough you need to leement it until it smooths up. If those spots in the mold grooves are lead a light lement should fix it. If not lead, you need a fine valve grinding compound or some other compound that cuts better than what you used. If heating with a propane torch, you need to move the flame all over the mold not keeping it at anyone spot for long. I open the mold handles so I can apply the heat inside as well as outside.

There is the possibility that the cavities were cut off center or the mold got loose in its holder as those two cavities were cut. If so, there is probably no fix for it.

[Rickf1985]

If you click on that pic it will enlarge and you will see that those are not bits of lead but what they are is pits in the mold. And I had the lead temp as high as 850 in my experimenting, that was mentioned in the beginning of the thread. For those that have not done so please read from the beginning to see what I did in this testing process. And that cavity was leemented with valve grinding compound.

[ascast]

After seeing those pics, I would send it back for replacement.

[Larry Gibson]

After seeing those pics, I would send it back for replacement.

That's my opinion also and what I would do.

[Rickf1985]

I am going to call them. I don't even remember where I bought it. It could have been from the S&S on here for all I know but I do know it was new, it was still sealed when I got it. So without a receipt they may not do anything with it. A few years ago that would not have been an issue but new people and new times.

[john.k]

looks more like a tapped thread than mold cavity....whats all the grooves for?

[Rickf1985]

Lube?

https://leeprecision.com/6-cavity-tl358-158swc.html

[rbuck351]

It looks like there was poroisity in the mold blank when the mold was cut. Small air pockets in the cavities can fill with lead and make the boolit stick. Send Lee an email with the photo and they should send you a new mold. That is clearly a defect in the mold production and not fixable.

[gwpercle]

It looks like there was poroisity in the mold blank when the mold was cut. Small air pockets in the cavities can fill with lead and make the boolit stick. Send Lee an email with the photo and they should send you a new mold. That is clearly a defect in the mold production and not fixable.

:goodpost:
Like !
Gary

[rintinglen]

That exact mold was one of two Lee molds that I have had that gave me grief. Like you, I had a devil of a time getting them to drop from two cavities, and the problem was that I was letting the mold cool while I struggled with those two recalcitrant cavities, so I was getting wrinkles from the good ones. I eventually broke the sprue handle on it and threw it away. The other Lee mold that gave me grief was a single cavity 30 cal, 160 grain, RN mold that just didn't have enough volume to keep the mold hot enough to prevent wrinkles. Unless I was casting at warp speed, it would cool enough between casts to cause problems. I got some good boolits from it, but the reject rate was too high for my needs at the time. I gave it to a friend of my daughter's who was getting into the silhouette game.

[gloob]

My 6 cavity Bator mold is my most-used. The sprue is bigger than the bullets. When I used the 2 cavity 175 grain pistol mold the other day, I was surprised when after clonking on it to break the cold sprue on the first pour, the bullets jumped out. Totally cold, didn't even set it over the pot. Course they were wrinkly though, for the first maybe 20 drops. Those just get dumped with the sprues.

The problem is if you stop to closely inspect when your bullets are good, that might take so long that your mold cools off, lol. I probably dump a lot of good bullets back into the pot just to be sure.

[GRid.1569]

I’m reminded of the old adage “You only get what you pay for”… Lee molds are cheap, can’t reasonably expect top quality can you ?… but in my experience they work well enough….

[farmbif]

if the mold cavities are pitted I would defiantly send it back or put it on a shelf and chalk it up to a bad experience. I dont use many tumble lube designed bullets. my recommendation, since your after a semi wad cutter in 38 cal. get yourself one of these mp molds and never look back.
https://www.mp-molds.com/product/358-429-keith-hollow-point-plain-base-4-cavity-mold/

[longbow]

I have lapped several moulds and while you say you Leemented that one with valve grinding compound it does not look lapped to me. When I finish the surface has a smooth and slightly frosted look to it. What grit valve grinding compound did you use?

The cavity looks poor but not terrible but if you can get a refund that is obviouslty the best way to go. If not, I'd do a little more serious lapping then try again. What have you got to lose?

It is possibly though that the cavity is not dead center in the mould blocks If that is the case, bullets will likely never release easily. Does the bullet always stick in the same side? Looking back at your post #27 you said the boolits mic at 0.005" out of round. That is a lot and implies that the cavity is likely off center. A serious lapping using one of the good boolits may enlarge the small diameter enough to remove some of the out of round and may help release but if you lap that cavity or two cavities and enlarge by a thou or two then you will be getting larger and likely different weight boolits to the other cavities. What diameter are the other cavites casting to? If larger than the small diameter of the bad cavity/cavities then a serious lapping of the bad cavity/cavities might work.

At some point though, unless you like to tinker and fix things just because, it is worth deciding how much work you want to put into that mould.

Longbow

[rockrat]

I clean my moulds with Berrymans B-12 carb cleaner. It has acetone, alcohol, ether and MEK. I spray well and let sit for a minute and spay again. I lube the sprue plate hinge bolt and alignment pins, I then put it on a hot plate for at least 1/2 hour, on high. I take the mould off the hot plate and put the end/corner in a pot of 715-725 degree lead alloy, for 1 minute. Wipe the lead off the end and start casting. If the lead won't wipe off the end real well, maybe another 30 seconds in the pot, but don't have to do that too often.
Usually get decent bullets on the second or third cast. Each mould is different. Sometimes I have to get to the 5th cast on some moulds.

Looks like the chips didn't get flushed out well during machining of the mould. I would send it back for a replacement.

[indian joe]

CW, With all due respect, did you read my little article? I described in full detail the cleaning, the hot plate up to 450, the lead temps in stages up to 850. I fully appreciate what you are saying but this is far from my first rodeo with these things. I also cleaned that mold many times throughout this casting session. After seeing the defects in the mold the release was never going to happen but the wrinkles, certainly not heat or oil related. I suspect it has to do with the extremely rough condition of the interior of the mold not allowing free flow of the lead. I will see if my fancy overpriced Apple phone will get some closeups of it tomorrow.

wrinkles ???always a heat issue - heat of the lead in the mold - cant always be cured by making the pot hotter - the wrinkles are caused by the pour solidifying as it it poured - so if you're working in cold weather its worse etc - I take those LEE molds and drill out the hole in the sprue plate - you wouldnt believe how much easier life gets -its developed into a habit soon as I get a new LEE mold I yank the sprue plate and drill it out. (i go up three or four drill sizes) HA! did the same with a new brass mold I got from CBE - big fail !!had to fit a new sprue plate.

[longbow]

I don't drill them out, I use a countersink to enlarge the sprue hole in pretty much all old Lyman moulds I have and some others. A larger sprue hole does help with casting... at least with ladle casting large slugs or boolits.

I also loosen sprue plates up a bit so they almost swing free and often bevel the top edges of the mating mould block corners to provide a vent right uner the sprue plate. A very small bevel! Think vent line.

These things do help with pouring and fill out... for me anyway.

Longbow

[Rickf1985]

I don't drill them out, I use a countersink to enlarge the sprue hole in pretty much all old Lyman moulds I have and some others. A larger sprue hole does help with casting... at least with ladle casting large slugs or boolits.

I also loosen sprue plates up a bit so they almost swing free and often bevel the top edges of the mating mould block corners to provide a vent right uner the sprue plate. A very small bevel! Think vent line.

These things do help with pouring and fill out... for me anyway.

Longbow

I finally called Lee about this mold. Well, as I thought they are only offering a 50% replacement which after shipping, "special handling" and tax comes to $54.45.
Just $9.55 shy of full price. I could have gotten the same mold from Midway for less but I told Lee I would take it from them since this way they cannot say again I have no receipt or they do not know how long I owned it. I opted for a different mold also and got the 148 grain full wadcutter. Regular lube type.
They basically told me that since I did not have the receipt and they had no record of my buying it, (from them) then they would not give me full warrantee on it. I told her I bought it from one of their suppliers but don't remember who and if I kept every receipt for stuff like molds and dies and little stuff I would need a filing cabinet just for receipts. And a lot of places do not send a receipt with the products. My printer died a couple years ago and I swore I would not replace it again. So I do not print the receipt online. They did say it was defective but tough luck on the warrantee. This was from Brenda who I have had issues with in the past denying me warrantee on new items, specifically a new turret press a couple years ago. So I told her that I will take this mold and from now on I will no longer push for the Lee products online like I have done for years. I will make sure that if anyone asks about Lee's warrantee process I will tell then Caveat Emptor. And also since I have already had issues with the new 6 pak press and the tech support on it is flat out ridiculous I WILL be returning that for a full refund before you can tell me it has been too long or I don't have a receipt. And I will be going to RCBS or Redding or Lyman for one of their progressives due to their no questions asked guarantees.

Brenda's reply says it all about how much Lee cares about their customers anymore.

Brenda at Lee Precision, Inc.
Staff - 03/23/2023 10:16 am

Richard,

Sorry to hear that you have that view.

I do show that your order is processing.

Thank you for your order.

Sincerely,
Brenda
Customer Service

Lee Precision, Inc.
4275 County Road U
Hartford, WI 53027

phone (262) 673-3075

And with that I will be closing out the story on this mold for now. They originally wanted me to send it back on my dime and I told them to keep their freakin' replacement. It would cost me as much to send it back as they were offering a new one for. So they told me I could keep it. I have no idea what I am going to do with it but I will experiment with it over the summer and reopen this thread at that time.