help with lee mold

[bisley45]

I just got my first lee 6 cav mold and I cant git it to make a good bullet at all I have tryed evry thing under the sun but no go the lee 2 cav molds I have are great I got the 6 cav because evry thing I reed about it was good I am sure it is something simple but I cant get it here is what I have done
cleaned and lubed polished the cavatys got the mold so hot that the bullets looked like they had frost bite and still no good some of them come out allright but not many can any one help

[SharpsShooter]

First, you need a big hammer and a cinderblock.... No No just kiddin...If I understand it right you almost have to treat those 6 bangers like 6 individual moulds, paying close attention to flow rate and temp seem to be the winning combo. If you are frosting all the boolits, then I would suspect it is a flow problem. Fill each cavity just like you do your single and double cavity lee's and see if it cures your problem. FWIW

[Buckshot]

..............Bisley45, while it is a fact that moulds are a rule to themselves, and each is an individual, they are still only metal. Yours constructed exactly the same as all the rest. It will eventually respond and cast good boolits. Let's just back up and check some stuff out.

1) Install the handles, close the blocks and hold them up to a bright light source to see if any light can be seen between the blocks.

No light? Then.............

2) Clean the blocks. Mainly the block faces and cavities. I use carb cleaner and a toothbrush. I confess to using at least 1/4 - 1/3 of a can for a new out of the box mould.

Or

Partially fill sink or suitable plastic bowl with Very hot water and a bit of dish detergent with just the mould blocks in it. Scrub with a toothbrush, rinse in very hot water. Air dry.

3) Re-assemble on handles. Use Bullplate lube following directions, or spray mould block tops and underside of the sprueplate with some type of graphite or moly lube. Or use a pencil and cover the surfaces mentioned above with pencil lead.

4) With a butane, or Zippo type lighter, smudge the cavities. They do NOT have to be solid black. A mild discoloration suffices.

5) Set mould on top of your furnace to heat. When just uncomfortably hot, use a toothpick to pickup just a tiny dab of boolit lube for each spot and apply it to:

A. Each alignment pin (lube on the pin only, and not spread across the block)
B. The side of the sprueplate pivot screw (you'll see it suck under the screwhead)
C. The underside of the sprueplate hold down bolt
D. The sprueplate cam handle pivot
E. A more substantial amount to the mould handle pivot joint

6) To start, stick the end of the blocks into the molten alloy, lifting on occasion until lead no longer sticks. At that point, wait a few moments for the heat to migrate up the blocks.

7) For starters with the blocks about 1/2" below the spout, lift the valve to dump into the first cavity. As you see the alloy 'bounce' (indicating a full cavity) push or pull the blocks to the next without lowering the valve handle. Repeat for each cavity until they're all filled.

Depending upon alloy flow and the size of the cavity, tactile or muscle memory will soon have a somewhat jerky start-stop motion become a rather smooth pushing or pulling of the mould under the spout. Personally I start with the cavity farthest from me and push the blocks in. The flow of lead doesn't spoil my view that way.

I also tilt the blocks slightly down. This is to keep alloy from splashing too soon into the next in line. If that happens I push the blocks in past it to the next in line. Commonly the bit of lead going in early has a tendancy to cool before the balance follows and you get a wrinkle or crease on the nose.

8 ) You should have a 1 piece sprue when the blocks are full. When you cut the sprue cleanly, the sprue due to it's weight should just fall off the sprueplate when you tilt the blocks.

Since the blocks had been placed in the alloy, your first couple pours may have these boolits looking somewhat crystaline on the surface. If they're fully formed they're keepers. Just establish a smooth comfortable rythym to your movements. The boolits should change appearance from the extremely hot crystaline appearance to possibly a more dull look. So long as they are crisply filled out, they're keepers.

If after a bit you start getting rounded edges that should be sharp corners, you either have to increase your casting tempo or crank up the heat in the pot a bit. This is a sign that the blocks are cooling too much between pours.

A very important aspect is that the placement of the furnace and how you are moving to cut sprues and dump the boolits should be comfortable to you. You should not have to hunker down or crank your head oddly to see the lead flowing into the blocks.

http://www.fototime.com/EB8491CA90B0461/standard.jpg

I have the mould level when filling set just below eye level. I can stand naturally and without craneing my head simply look down while the mould fills. Once done a small turn to the right has the spruebox at a level to where I don't really have to lift the mould up to get it over the box.

That saucer with a rag in it is to aid in heat removal. The saucer has water in it so the rag remains damp. Sometimes the noses of the slugs will will begin to show signs of getting a bit too hot, while the rest of the slug is just fine. Dragging the blocks across the pad allows you to maintain a comfortable casting tempo.

A bit hotter alloy fills details better and when you're fresh you can maintain a fairly decent casting speed, so the pad can help keep the boolit count up! With things cooking along you can run a cycle about every 15 seconds or so without straining anything or hurrying. With a 6 cavity mould that's 24 slugs a minute. In just 15 minutes you'll have 350 or so good boolits.

If you're casting moderate sized 30 cals (185grs or so) you'll empty about half a 20 lb pot. Not too bad!

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

[RugerFan]

bisley45,
When using straight wheel weights and fill problems ensue, I've found that adding 20% linotype works wonders.

[MT Gianni]

Buckshot, you really should write your post seperate and make a sticky. great info that will be used often as this question is asked about once a month. gianni.

[bisley45]

thanks evry one