Well, I out-smart myself yet again..

[trooperdan]

I recently bought four old Lyman moulds from eBay, cheap because they were missing all screws and sprue plates.. Not a problem, sez I, 'cause I know Lyman makes mould rebuild kits! So I orders in four rebuild kits and find ain't no way they is gonna fit! The moulds are the old 1"x1 3/16 or so size, much smaller than todays single cavity. Gotta wonder whyinthehell did someone remove the sprue plates? Not exactly a crisis situation as I COULD take a sprue plate froma mould that isn't doing anything and use it temporarily but I have to ask if anyone has and spare sprue plates?

BTW, the rebuild kits have a MUCH thicker sprue plate than the original, the replacement measures just shy of 3/16" whereas the originals are about 3/32"

Anyone need any single cavity rebuild kits... for modern large single cavity? :)

[David R]

Watch Ebay for the spure plates and screws. :)

[13Echo]

Dan it's easy to make a new plate out of aluminum sheet. There were articles in the Rifleman in the 70s about aluminum plates and how effective they were. I've made some for one of my moulds that had a warped steel plate and it works well. Just get some aluminum from the hardware or home supply store, make a template to fit the mould out of cardboard and use it to mark the aluminum and cut it out with a band saw, hacksaw, or whatever you have and drill for the pivot and sprue hole. Drill the sprue with a bit the size you want the opening to be then countersink with a larger bit but don't go all the way with the large bit. You don't want a knife edge with the aluminum plate. I've used 1/8" and 3/16" plates.

Jerry Liles

[Buckshot]

..........As 13Echo said. A good weekend project. If you decide to use steel, use hot roll and not cold rolled or cadmium plated stuff.

..............Buckshot

[D.Mack]

Trooperdan AS for why they removed the sprue plates, simple they probably warped another on a mold they liked better, and your molds were the source for thier replacments. DM