Rust?

[Wandering Man]

Well, I think its happened. With my old eyes I haven't yet put the mold under a bright light, but I think I'm seeing the beginning signs of rust in the mold. The boolits don't fall out easily, and that is my only symptom.

I've been leaving my mold in its box in our gun safe. The problem seems to be that the safe is at the end of a hall, and the A/C vent blows directly on it. Every time I take the mold out of the safe condensation begins to form even before i get it out of the air-conditioned house and into the humidity of my work area in the back yard.

Living on the Gulf Coast in a house built in the 1920's, there is no escaping humidity.

So my question: Do I polish with steel wool? Can it be polished without permanently damaging the mold?

Thanks,

WM

[bedwards]

(mild rust) cleaned mine with a tooth pick and pencil eraser, then worked it with a #2 pencil lead.

[mtgrs737]

I had a Brand new mould that got surface rust in the two days that I left it un-oiled here in Kansas. What I did was to drill a hole in the base of a few boolits and screw in a small tap and use it to lap the mould with some toothpaste. This removed all signs of the rust pronto and as a huge benifit it now drops boolits without even a tap on the handles! It didn't take long to do the proceedure, it was a four cavity Lyman 429421 SWC mould and I used a new boolit for each cavity. You can use a drywall screw with the head cut off instead of the tap if you don't have one. Be sure to clean the mould well and remember to oil it after it cools down after casting. All is not lost, and opertunity to improve the mould is knocking! Good Luck!

[Echo]

+1 for the use of a number 2 pencil...

[HeavyMetal]

Cleaned many a mold with a new #2 pencil and the eraser on the other end.

Tooth paste next move if the rust persists!

[Wandering Man]

Thanks folks.

I'll try the pencil first, and I really like the boolit polisher.

My plan for the future is to keep the mould in a a drybox with dessicant and keep the molds in a closet with desiccant and move it to a closet so there won't be such an extreme change in temp when I take it out.

WM

[montana_charlie]

I've been leaving my mold in its box in our gun safe. The problem seems to be that the safe is at the end of a hall, and the A/C vent blows directly on it. Every time I take the mold out of the safe condensation begins to form even before i get it out of the air-conditioned house and into the humidity of my work area in the back yard.
For what it's worth...

Moisture from the air condenses on metal surfaces when they are colder than the surrounding air. If you would place your mould in a plastic bag before storing it in the safe, it would have that protective skin around it when you removed it from 'cold storage'.

Then, you would leave the mould sealed in the bag until it had come fully up to the temperature of your work area. At that point, no moisture would condense on the steel when you opened the bag.

CM

[pdawg_shooter]

I had a Brand new mould that got surface rust in the two days that I left it un-oiled here in Kansas. What I did was to drill a hole in the base of a few boolits and screw in a small tap and use it to lap the mould with some toothpaste. This removed all signs of the rust pronto and as a huge benifit it now drops boolits without even a tap on the handles! It didn't take long to do the proceedure, it was a four cavity Lyman 429421 SWC mould and I used a new boolit for each cavity. You can use a drywall screw with the head cut off instead of the tap if you don't have one. Be sure to clean the mould well and remember to oil it after it cools down after casting. All is not lost, and opertunity to improve the mould is knocking! Good Luck!

Hey Guy, what part of Kansas? Dodge City area here.

[shotman]

The Kroil will work if you seal in a zip bag. It dont if left in open. rick/shotman

[montana_charlie]

Hey Guy, what part of Kansas? Dodge City area here.
I lived in Dodge City for a bit more than a year. Dad worked for a TV station that had it's transmitters and studios at Ensign. I was in fifth or sixth grade at the time.

Also lived in Topeka and Mission as a boy, and finally Wichita from '69 to '71.

Left my wife in Wichita when I headed for Vietnam.
(sounds like a line from a country song...)

CM

[leadman]

If I'm putting a mould away for awhile I clean it and spray with graphite or moly. This cleans off easily with brake cleaner and a toothbrush. You can leave it on the outside of the mould with no problems.

[hammerhead357]

Wandering Man I have cleaned rust out of mould cavities with 0000 steel wool wrapped around a thin piece of wood (match stick) turned very slowly with an electric drill. I cleaned one half on the mould and then the other half. On multipul cavity moulds I have had to replace the steel wool several times. I go very light with this and have never boogered up a mould.
I have not used the toothpaste and boolit technique but it sounds like it would work also....Wes