Broke my lee mould

[stillwell]

I just broke the sprue handle OFF my lee six banger!! i have used this mould before and never had any problems it has maybe 500 boolits thrugh it. is this a common problem or am i doing some thing wrong? i wil call lee tomorrow

[Tazman1602]

I just broke the sprue handle OFF my lee six banger!! i have used this mould before and never had any problems it has maybe 500 boolits thrugh it. is this a common problem or am i doing some thing wrong? i wil call lee tomorrow

Oh gosh no don't call Lee. I'll take that broke mold off your hand for $10 + shipping.

Call Lee dude, they're as good as Dillon most of the time...........they'll make it good.

Art

[HORNET]

Breaking these seems to be fairly common. It usually seems to be caused by trying to cut too many sprues at once with things too cold OR by failure to get the sprue cutter handle set right before casting so the camming doesn't work right. The usual preventative is to verify that the handle link is in the right place before casting and to pre-heat the mold, then warm it up by casting only the first couple of cavities for a few pours, then adding more slowly until all 6 are up to temperature. Also make sure you're not squeezing the sprue cutter handle while you're pouring, it does weird things to sizes.

[stillwell]

the mould was cold just seems weird i may just make a new handle at work though

[blaster]

I snapped one off once myself. I called Lee and, once I got through to them, they sent me a new sprue lever free of charge. Look up the part # before you call and that will speed things up.
Like hornet said, to keep from doing that again it helps to fill and drop the first cavity then the first and second and so on, once you get them all full you will be up to temp. Also, if you let it get too hard don't force it, just stick a flat screwdriver under the cam point on the sprue lever (from the front) and open it with the handle. You can get a lot better leverage that way. Just about takes 3 hands though.

[swheeler]

Preheat it, no more breaky-breaky!

[Bullshop Junior]

What size hammer did you use to do that??

:shock:

[crabo]

What size hammer did you use to do that??

:shock:

Doesn't take a hammer, just a cold mold. I did it when I thought my hot plate was plugged in and wasn't.

[Dale53]

A LOT of us did this when we didn't realize what would happen with a cold mould and trying to cut a "too cold" sprue on six cavities at once.

I now pre-heat ALL of my moulds (iron, alum, and brass) on a hot plate while the pot is heating up. Then, just to be sure, I cast the two front cavities, then four, then finally, ALL of them.

I'll probably never break another sprue handle as when the mould is hot the metal shears with little effort.

The advice to clamp ONLY with the mould handles (and NOT with the sprue handles) is REALLY good advice.

Dale53

[Shiloh]

The sprue cutter lever is what has been my molds weak point.

I keep several on hand, but pre heating helps a lot.
There was a post here about a guy who made one out of scrap steel rather than the pot metal LEE uses to make them.

Shiloh

[stillwell]

i would have thought it would have taken a hammer too. I WAS WRONG. the handle is made of some junk cast/pot metal i wonder if thhat is for reason other than cost

[BSkerj]

Broke one about 2 months ago. I bought it from Midway and they replaced it. Had a new one within a week.

[stillwell]

i did a little searching for any one that made a better handle and found more posts just like this one i looked in the stickys for this before i posted. lee sprue handles might need to be a sticky

[223tenx]

I haven't bought a new one in a while, but did they stop printing instructions that accompanies the mold that explains how not to do this?

[Phat Man Mike]

if you try to work the molds cold and don't lube the ends it's easy to break a handle!!! what kind of lube are you using ? I broke one once then found Bullshop lube, works way better than anti-seize that I was using.. [smilie=b: and the folks at Lee are super just call them and I'd bet they'll hook a casting person up!

[Cloudpeak]

As others have said, preheat the mold on a hot plate. You can then cast 2, 3 and 6 cavities to finish bringing the mold up to temps. Once you have experience in setting the dial on the hotplate, you will dial in the right temp and can cast 6 cavities right off the bat and will be able to easily open the sprue cutter. If you over heat, it will take awhile for your sprue to solidify. Set the dial a bit lower next time.

[Pitmaster]

I've broke several of them lately. Now I will make sure the mold is hot before pouring. I also have a friend who is opening a skunk works and I think I will have make me some extras out of scrap.