Gun Show Mold

[cabezaverde]

Anyone have any thoughts for a fix on this.

I picked up a Lee 6 cavity at a show last week for about the price of the handles.

Here's the thing.

The bolt hole that holds the sprue plate is stripped out. Any ideas on a repair? Remember, this is a bolt with a shoulder for the plate to pivot on.

Do I need to track down a buddy with a lathe to make an oversize bolt?

I also thought about JB welding the old bolt in place and seeing how that would hold.

[Gar]

Before you use JB Weld, try going to a hardware store and getting a heli-coil the size of the bolt thread. You'll enlarge the bolt hole, screw the heli-coil in and then screw the bolt into the heli-coil. Should work.

[No_1]

+1 on the heli-coil trick. It is too expensive to purchase the kit for a single use but for possible repairs to other moulds down the road the purchase could be justified. Once you purchase the install kit then you are set except for replacement heli-coils which are much cheaper. The kit consist of a oversize specialty tap, intall handle, tang breaker and drill bit. So simple to use you will wonder how you every got by without it. I current have kits from 1/4" to 1/2" and will eventually get kits for smaller thread sizes.

Robert

[cabezaverde]

Are the coils made in a size and thread that I can just buy a replacement bolt from Lee? The bolt is really buggered too.

[No_1]

The repair kit takes the hole back to the original thread size.

Robert

[mr mom]

i broke 1 of mine , took it to the local tool and die shop ... showed them what happened and they fixed it for nothing .....

[cabezaverde]

Would any of you Heli Coil owners be willing to do this job for $$ or a donation to the site?

[Bill*]

cabezaverde: That's a great idea, I hope someone takes you up on it. But if not, an automotive machine shop like NAPA can do it for you. Good Luck either way.

[Cactus Farmer]

I have a fair collection of heli-coil sizes.....anyone know what size this screw is?
I'm sure I can do it,if I have the right size...... Pay shipping both ways and a $25 donation to the site?:coffeecom
PM me and we'll talk......

[crabo]

I have a fair collection of heli-coil sizes.....anyone know what size this screw is?
I'm sure I can do it,if I have the right size...... Pay shipping both ways and a $25 donation to the site?:coffeecom
PM me and we'll talk......

And a new one costs.......

[cabezaverde]

I think I might have found a local option for getting this ifxed up.

Thanks to all for your help.

[JIMinPHX]

In addition to helicoils, there are also thread repair inserts that are a little larger in outside diameter & that are a solid bushing, rather than being a coil. They are frequently sold individually & often take a regular tap to make the next size up thread. For instance, you can get a 8-32 inside thread in an insert with a 1/4-20 outside thread. There are varieties of these inserts with stakes built into them that get hammered down after they are installed to keep them from backing out. They make for a very robust repair. You can get them from places like McMaster Carr & MSC.